Adam Torres and Scott Buss discuss building businesses.
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Show Notes:
What makes an entrepreneur at the age of 45 start their first business? In this episode, Adam Torres and Scott Buss, Founder of Advent Jets, explore the Advent Jets story and how Scott has grown a global business organically.
About Advent Jets
ADVENT embodies the essence of “arrival of mobility,” a concept they wholeheartedly embrace. Their commitment to excellence is evident in their personalized approach to every client. Unlike traditional private jet companies, Avent Jets transcends boundaries, operating as a comprehensive white-glove concierge service with flight capabilities. Their inception stemmed from a comprehensive analysis of the travel industry, resulting in a business model tailored to cater to diverse needs while clients are away from home.
For CEO Scott Buss, establishing Advent Jets was a natural progression. With a background deeply rooted in aviation sales, management, and consulting, he had fostered enduring relationships with the world’s elite clientele, including prominent figures shaping today’s top businesses.
Advent sets itself apart by granting access to over 5,000 aircraft worldwide, often with as little as four to six hours’ notice, ensuring seamless 24/7 booking availability.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on Be Our Guest to apply. Okay, so today I have Scott Buss on the line, and he is founder of Advent Jets.
Scott, welcome to the show. Thank you, Adam. I appreciate you having me on. Scott, did I pronounce your last name right? Bus? Correct. Correct. You did. I just wanted to make sure. Bus with two S’s. Got it. Very memorable. I gotta make sure I’m not butchering the name to start us off here on this Monday morning as we record this.
No, no. That’s an easy one to say, you know? Hey, I’m in man. I do. Sometimes we do some I’m from Michigan originally, Scott. So I grew up with, let’s say Midwestern names, pretty straightforward for the most part. We started doing a bunch of interviews internationally and I’m like, man, no, I get that.
I’m from Wisconsin originally. So we’ve got the Midwest in common. So you’re, oh wow, you’re from Wisconsin originally, okay, so let’s just dive right into this. So, what led you to build this global business? You’re from Wisconsin, you’re a Midwest guy too, what made you want to take over the world with Advent Jets?
And I put those questions off, not you. No, no, great, great question. So I always had big vision and dreams and in the Midwest, they have an air show every year in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where Oshkosh B’gosh overalls are, and it’s called the EAA air show. Experimental aircraft association. So when I was younger, I always liked to go to the air show and see the different jets and the concord back in the day and stuff like that.
And I always loved travel. I love sports and I love music. And so when I formed my business in 2018, I kind of just saw it and. grow and kind of like, that’s my dream. You know, what guy or female or a couple or family doesn’t either like to travel or music or concerts or events and things like that.
So that’s kind of how I formed my business. I mean, but most people, when They don’t get to the point of starting the business, like they may be consumers of content. I like to say versus getting out there and creating it. what was there a tipping point? Or was there this moment where you’re like, I can’t get this idea out of my head?
Like, like, how was your buildup? Everybody’s a little different. Yeah, so I always share adversity. If you don’t mind me sharing three things of adversity I’m a very spiritual person. And so I was in the mortgage and real estate world for 20 plus years at a high capacity. And basically, one, I went through three things in life that got me to where I’m at.
In 91, my best friend committed suicide. I was 20 years old. So back then, suicide wasn’t as common as it is today, unfortunately. another And I share three of them is I grew up with a band of dad. They are out there. Basically I’m an only child. My mom’s my world. Basically, my dad used to call and say, I’m coming to get you for the weekend.
I’d be all packed, ready to go. And never, he’d never call, never show up. So that kind of always geared me towards friendships, relationships, business to communicate very well. And then third. The most important, which is it’s not embarrassing, but it’s made me who I am is, unfortunately, I got a little drinking and driving trouble and I have a no, I didn’t kill anyone.
I didn’t hurt anyone. Thank God. But I had to sit 4 months in prison and believe it or not, when I sat 4 months in prison, that’s how I formed my business. When I came out in July of 7th of 2018, that’s where I formed my business. Wow, a story. And to sit there and to have that four months to really do maybe some reflection, I’m guessing, some type of reflection probably went on, huh?
Yeah, so I was always kind of a spiritual Catholic, but more of a spiritual non dominational. And what I didn’t realize is when I kind of hit rock bottom, every day I’d go into the library. I would read the Entrepreneur, Wall Street Journal, write down names, numbers, till to this day, I still have all the paperwork in my office.
what I did is when I came out and I just attacked it, what I didn’t know, all my life, God was building this business. I just didn’t know when and how. And so when I hit rock bottom, I figured, you know what? He’s been building this business all my life. So that’s kind of how I built it. And Scott, I’ll tell you, it’s, interesting how God is always working in our lives and we don’t, we think we have these plans.
I’ll give you a quick one. so myself and the other business partner here, Sharag the other co founder, our original name of the company was actually Money Matters. And it was because I was a financial advisor. I was in finance and we thought that we were going to, that. That’s our niche, right?
That’s what we’ll teach. And one day I’m having this conversation, obviously a podcast interview, just like this. And, the guest says, you know, Adam money matters, but mission matters too, and I swear, Scott, it was like, God just, when he wants to talk to me, just, it doesn’t just snap his fingers.
I just felt like this. Like it was almost like I was hitting the stomach and I was like, Oh my God, that’s what I’m supposed to be doing. So I tell you, you know, speed it up a bit. I tell Chirag, I’m like, Hey, how’s the, how about mission matters for a name? And he’s like, Oh, that sounds good. So then we leave it for like a month or so.
And then Chirag calls me and I can’t make this up. Like it’s just divine. Like he, he calls me and he’s like, Hey Adam, you know, I’ve been thinking lately I think , we should name our company mission matters. He said it, he said it, Scott, like it was like, we’d never had conversation.
Like he was just inspired. And I was like, you know, Chirag, I think you’re right. Life will, but if we go on the website and we know this is going to, this name is going to be taken, right. We know it’s going to be taken 100%. But if we have enough money in the bank, we’re buying this domain. And he says, and I said, but I’m not going to look at it.
I’m not even going to look it up. If you don’t commit to that, I won’t even look it up. And he’s like, all right, it was more money than I ever thought I’d ever pay on a domain. And within nine days, Scott, within nine days, we started. And just to give you some context, we already had 1500 plus interviews in we’d already published.
At least we already published at least 40 authors in our book series. We’d also had a website, we had traffic. We did the impossible, which is build an audience from scratch, like in a couple of years, and we literally started over. It’s not hard enough to build it. I mean, from scratch, brand new podcast, brand new show, zero subscribers, starting back at zero all over again.
But you know what? That’s God telling you that you got the right name and the mission matter. Because you know, Adam, when you love what you do, it’s not about the money, because when you love what you do, the money will come. And it’s monetizing relationships. I always use this phrase, and I have it on my, one of my monitors, people are limited.
God is unlimited. Yeah, and I listen. I mean, I’m still a little hard headed, but I don’t always know. And I’m like, Oh, am I making this up? But yeah, congratulations on all the success. And that’s a, that’s a great story. But like you said, you kind of like what you, I can relate to is I started my, and I’m, I’m older.
And this was my first business ever in 2018. And, and I’ve never spent money on marketing, advertising, it’s all been organic referrals. So, so I can kind of relate where a lot of times people will build a business and then you have to go get the clients. We’re kind of, we did it grassroots, right? So.
Take me back to the early days of what that looks like to be organic and in growth to not And i’m not and by the way, we i’ll say this to the audience I don’t want to get emails or this or that from all our marketers out there, but just for everybody listening. Yes We do marketing. Yes. There’s our services.
Yes. We pay the facebook people to for ads and all these other things But there is an alternative , and I’m talking to the alternative. Like, what was that? Take us back to those early days, Scott, of what it was like to start organically. Cause I don’t think the young, some of the young entrepreneurs out there might not even know that’s an option.
Yeah, exactly. Basically, all it was is, yes, I have social media for the business. However, I am, like I said, I’m a little more old school. Basically, it was the relationships that I have and just monetizing them and just when you’re people. I always to say this in life. People buy people. I’m very big on trust and transparency.
No matter if you’re going to buy a car. I’ll use this example. You’re going to look at 5 cars at 5 different car lots. You just looked at 25 cars. You’re kind of confused. But if 1. Gentleman or one woman gives you good service a little bit higher or this or that you’re going to go and buy with what you want And so the organic with me kind of having my list when I came out of the prison In 2018 building up my social network and stuff.
I never spent money on marketing It was just always Creating a list of people that I knew how I could reach out and bring value and service or a win win situation. And so I bring up days before we even had phones, you know, I worked when my very first phone was a 93. I know I’m aging myself, but organically.
Now it’s a little bit different because there’s organizations, companies out there that you can pay to expedite everything. I did it the old fashioned way, the grassroots, but I wouldn’t change it for the world because it made me who I am today. And it made my relationships a lot more valuable in a way.
If that makes sense. Yeah. And this concept of, and I, I want you to talk maybe a little bit more about this, concept of relationships and what it’s meant in your business. And specifically also like the concept of monetizing a relationship, because sometimes I have these conversations with people and I’m like, you know, if you believe in your product, if you believe in what you’re doing and if you’re, it’s adding value, then everybody should have one.
I don’t. And if they’re related to you, they should have two. That’s the way I look at it. Exactly, yeah. and I agree, and it’s, you know, it’s getting to know people, sales is sales, but it’s building a rapport. If you’re dating somebody, building a friendship, a business, it’s all questions. You answer, it’s building rapport.
And I think in today’s society, you’ve got to be very diverse. I never went to college. I’m very street smart. And I would, I use that word just because. I think you need to be around StreetSmart, not that the books aren’t helpful, don’t get me wrong, but monetizing relationships for me, meaning building a relationship, trust, transparency.
How can I bring value, but what can I do to bring you value as well? How can we monetize this relationship so it’s a win win? Is it a rev share? Is it an opportunity for marketing? Is it an introduction? Everybody has different ways of monetizing relationships, right? Because most people It’s like, Oh, I run a business.
I need to get paid. I need to get paid. But when you think that way, it’s not the right way to think. Sometimes, even though you’re in business, how do I monetize these relationships to bring long term value? Because the relationship is less, you have to go out and get another relationship or get another sales.
Because if they’re working with you in Cluncher, if it’s a partnership, a relationship, a joint venture, they’re doing the work for you. Right? So that’s kind of how I think on monetizing relationships. Don’t get me wrong, do I still go out and network and things like that? Yes, always. Of course, yeah. as we said, open this up, I’m from the Midwest too.
So, I’m curious on your end, so AdventJet, you’re, I mean, obviously you’re dealing with a higher end clientele in terms of, let’s just say, you know, their needs. and servicing them and also, you know, the private jet client, it’s a different clientele. I know when I was. Kind of working my way up some previous career.
I was in finance almost 14 years. I’ve been doing this now full time, eight years. So I remember when I was working, thank you. Appreciate that. I remember when I was working my way up to different markets and I, still remember to this day, the first time I drove down in Beverly hills and I’m seeing all these.
Palm trees, these huge houses. And I’m going to my, I’m going to the poor side of Beverly Hills where I was moving and I’m just looking and I was not only awestruck, but I was a little intimidated to go after that other clientele that I knew I have to get over that if I was going to survive and even thrive in that market.
Did that come naturally to you or how did you deal with that? That’s a great question. I think the number one thing goes back to how did I start my business? why do people don’t because of fear, right? There are people are afraid same thing with, you don’t know who’s. Who, especially being a little older, you don’t know who knows who, who’s bank account has more zeros.
So when you bring that up, it’s like when I moved out to Scottsdale from the Midwest, same thing, palm trees, 20 million homes. I lived out there for six years or something, right out of college. Yeah, so you, you get it. That was my first step out. Yep, that was my first step from the Midwest and I’m like, what’s going on?
So I had the exact same experience. Go ahead, please. so you get it because I’ve been here 11 years. I also lived in Denver. But the thing is, is when you break down with the white people, God brings people together for reasons. You have to figure it out. We have to figure it out. And no matter, even today, the success that I’ve had, I’m still a simple person from the Midwest.
Yes, money allows people to do different things or to pay it back forward and do different things. But I’m a very simple person. I don’t Usually go out and say what I do. I’m very private that way, but I’m also, I don’t care if a gentleman or a woman or a family has the biggest house or has the boats or the biggest cars or name brand, because I grew up poor and still to this day, money just allows you to do different things and you can’t be afraid because you just don’t know where the commonality is in people by people.
Like I said, it’s a rapport. And so. To speak on, you’ve been in Beverly Hills, you’ve been in Scottsdale. They’re kind of similar. It’s, hey, it’s very, it’s very posh, but you travel New York’s like that. Denver, there’s Cherry Creek. There’s other areas like that. It just comes down to who you want to be. And I have a perfect quote.
I’d love to read it to you if it’s okay. This is one of my favorites and it just kind of, it hits home and it’s, When I was down for my four month stint I found this and I read it and to this day, I, I live by it. It says, be more concerned about your character than your reputation. Because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
Hmm. That’s amazing. Man, I feel like you need to throw a scripture in there, too, at this point. This is how we start the week, Scott. Hey, you know what? I always say, you know, Adam, I always say every day I wake up, I’m blessed. You know, because no matter what we say in today’s world, society, yes, we can get political or not political.
whatever it may be, there’s something going on. And so, you know, If I have my batteries go out on my remote control, is that the worst of my case? There’s people out there that don’t have food, so you break it down and wake up and you’re healthy and trust me, like I said, I have, I’m a living experience of just being, being true to who you are and what God brought me in earth to do.
He’s. Yeah, he wrote my story. I’m just helping him fulfill it. Amazing. So what’s the vision for Advent Jets going forward? like what’s the master plan? let’s be a fly on your wall for a little bit. Yeah. So perfect. So Advent Jets, what we are doing is we are taking everything globally that, You want, besides aviation, you need executive protection.
You need a yacht. You need a villa. You need an executive assistant. you want to go to Super Bowl. You need Formula One tickets. You want to golf at Augusta. Whatever you need. I have access to partnerships and we are taking it to where you, you don’t have to call our concierge team 24 7. You can do everything.
We’re building a block chain. We’re going to go to a tech to tech. Some people like it. Some people don’t. That’s why we’re still going to have a concierge team, but you’re going to be able to do everything by app website. Where you can kind of experience what you want around the world or what if it’s a marketplace where you want to buy material items that are very nice name brand or sometimes people will not even fly private the reach out and say, hey, Scott, I want to go to the Super Bowl.
What can you get for tickets? So I’m more of a white glove concierge. Yes, the private aviation started everything. But I’m not afraid to where if somebody comes to me, I have travel agents that say, Hey, Scott, we need hotel rooms. Can you book us a bunch of rooms because of my relationships or partnerships?
So my goal is to, we’re working on some technology, IP technology as we speak to bring it out, AI and blockchain. Amazing. Well, Scott, it’s been great having you on the show. First off, if somebody wants to follow up and learn more about AdventJets, how do they do that? Yeah, best is our website is AdventJets.
com. Our Instagram is FlyAdventJets. And two email addresses, you could Scott at AdventJets. com and then you got Charter at AdventJets. com. And we’re all over social media and our team would be happy to do anything. If it’s a thought partner or it needs an idea or a connection or whatever. World, a big place, but it’s a small place when you’re working with like minded people.
Fantastic. Well Scott, again, appreciate you coming on to the audience. Hey, if you haven’t, if you’re a new, if you’re a new listener, you need to be a new subscriber. Hit that button. If you haven’t yet hit that subscribe button. Don’t worry. It’s okay. It’s just a subscribe button. It’ll be okay. Scott, seriously, it’s been so much fun talking to you.
I having another Midwesterner out here , with a success story like yours. I mean, it’s. It’s inspiring and I hope the audience got a lot of out of it as well. Cause I’m sure I did for sure. So thank you again. . I appreciate that Adam. And I’m always here for you guys and on all the success.
And like I said, if if I can do anything for you personally or business, you know how to reach me. I’m here.
