Rich Thomson, Founder & CEO of Dreamliner Luxury Coaches, expanded from 12 buses to the nation’s largest entertainment logistics company, serving A-list artists like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Drake, and more.

Subscribe to EOFire

Apple | Spotify | iHeart

Guest Resources

Dreamliner Instagram Account – Connect to Rich on Instagram.

Dreamliner LinkedIn Account – Connect to Rich on LinkedIn.

Dreamliner Luxury Coaches Website – Bringing A Personal and Customized Approach to every project.

3 Value Bombs

1) You can find the right people by finding the right leader in each group and build trust with them.

2) Team is important so focus on having the right people in the right places.

3) Recognize that you need to build relationships, credibility and trust with the founders and no matter how much you can do with the business you need to lean on the and gain trust from them.

Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.

Today’s Audio MASTERCLASS: How to Succeed as an Outsider in Your Industry

[1:12] – Rich shares something that he believes about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

People wants a back up plan when they are going to take a big risk and he was told from a guy that he trust to not have a back up plan, if you are going to take the leap and going to go for a shot, don’t have a back up plan. If you have a back up plan, you will always be willing to fail. Don’t be willing to fail, don’t have a back up plan and go all in and find a way to make it work.

[1:55] – Rich shares how he become the #1 solution to a real problem in a growing industry with Dreamliner.

He was very fortunate to start with 12 New York coaches. When he had the opportunity to acquire this coaches during Covid he took the leap and give it a shot and from there its been a focused of being the nicest, newest, high quality fleet although it started small with small opportunities that continued to arise and things that you can’t say no.

[2:54] – Rich gives one of those opportunities.

Relationships is what got him to where he is today. For Dreamliner specifically, he spend a lot of time with Kylie Irving who is the founder Diamond Coaches and had a lot of relationships across the industry in 20 years. He leveraged a lot spending time with her. And when it is her time to move on she asked him to buy the business, and that’s when the game changed. They become 23 coaches to 60 coaches and become top 3 or 4 bus company.

[6:32] – Rich talks about why sometimes jumping into an industry as an outsider is an advantage.

Prior to this business, he started to build his own private credit fund and he has been working with founder entrepreneurs his whole career on the finance side and he learned a lot of things that worked and that didn’t and it gave him a fresh perspective on his Diamond Coach business not as a bus guy but a business guy who learned the business, build a business and provide a product and service to his clients.

[8:26] – A timeout to thank our sponsors!

Franocity: Franocity has helped hundreds of people leave unfulfilling jobs and invest in recession-resilient businesses through franchising. Visit Franocity.com to book a free consultation and start your franchising journey with expert guidance!
NetSuite: NetSuite, by Oracle, is your AI powered business management suite, trusted by over 41,000 businesses! Download the free e-book, “Navigating Global Trade: 3 Insights for Leaders” at NetSuite.com/fire!
ZipRecruiter: See why 4 out of 5 employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day! Just go to this exclusive web address to try ZipRecruiter for free! ZipRecruiter.com/fire.

[11:04] – Rich shares the strategies he employ with his team to keep everyone happy.

Team is important and this is where he had a lot of adjustments because he had lack of experience with people with different types of employees with different skill sets. His focus is having the right people in the right places.
How he find the right people is find the right leader in each group and build that trust with them and rely on them to find for you the right people on board.
Find people that love their job and want to be there for a reason and who respect you and what you are trying to build and treat them fair. Make sure that they have good support, paid fairly, good healthcare, good benefits and support.

[14:14] – Rich talks about how he acquire legacy trucking companies into Dreamliner and how he get them to say yes.

He spend a lot of time with the guys and build relationships, credibility and trust with the founders. He recognize the he needs those people who built it no matter how much you can do with it and lean on them, gain trust from them.

[16:14] – Rich talks about what’s next for Dreamliner in terms of innovation and growth.

Right now it is a well-oiled machine and everything that they do with their clients is perfect and let it continue to go that way.
There are a lot of opportunity that is outside of music that they will start tapping into like Nascar, PGA, NBA, other racing sports teams and corporate events.
Diversification and open doors to a more consumer channel.

[18:45] – Rich gives his one key takeaway.

He wish he should have started earlier and have taken the leap sooner. The opportunity may not be there but just go for it. You will never ever get it if you have never taken the leap as scary or as tough as it might be. It doesn’t matter where you are at and just go for it, life is short.

[19:39] – Call to action.

Dreamliner Instagram Account – Connect to Rich on Instagram.
Dreamliner LinkedIn Account – Connect to Rich on LinkedIn.
Dreamliner Luxury Coaches Website – Bringing A Personal and Customized Approach to every project.

[21:28] – Thank you to our Sponsors!

Franocity: Franocity has helped hundreds of people leave unfulfilling jobs and invest in recession-resilient businesses through franchising. Visit Franocity.com to book a free consultation and start your franchising journey with expert guidance!
NetSuite: NetSuite, by Oracle, is your AI powered business management suite, trusted by over 41,000 businesses! Download the free e-book, “Navigating Global Trade: 3 Insights for Leaders” at NetSuite.com/fire!

Killer Resources!

1) The Common Path to Uncommon Success: JLD’s 1st traditionally published book! Over 3000 interviews with the world’s most successful Entrepreneurs compiled into a 17-step roadmap to financial freedom and fulfillment!

2) Free Podcast Course: Learn from JLD how to create and launch your podcast!

3) Podcasters’ Paradise: The #1 podcasting community in the world!