Matthew Fitch learned it the hard way: Sometimes you’ve got to look — twice! — before you leap.
Fitch, 38, is the owner of Aerial Adventures Demos in Hopewell, Va., one of a handful of national parachuting companies that drop skydivers into outdoor events, with clients including San Francisco’s Emerald Bowl and the Atlanta Braves.
Last summer Fitch got national press after jumping into Duke University’s football stadium. The problem? He was supposed to be at the stadium of the team’s archrival, the University of North Carolina, about eight miles away.
The experience left him undeterred. “We’ll jump into anything,” he says.
That includes a new business venture. Last month the former Navy communications officer opened No Limits Skydiving, a parachuting school. After eight years his event-jumping business had hit a plateau of about 30 appearances per year, which generated $100,000 in annual revenues. He hopes that the school, which will charge $225 per tandem jump, will quickly grow to double his business.
For Fitch, investing in the school included a $10,000 down payment on an airplane. He also purchased several $10,000 tandem parachute rigs and spent thousands more building a Web site and printing flyers.
Photo by mistereels.