Start a private transport service
Among the businesses focused on door-to-door or private service, transportation service appears as one of the main ideas, since it constitutes a profitable opportunity. This is especially due to the need to comply with the times set by companies and schools to maximize efficiency in each environment. In addition, this type of service allows you to explore other lines of business such as car rental for travel, trips, etc.
See how to earn profits with service-related businesses
Why a van?
It’s possible to get a van from $10,000 to $15,000, even less if we buy it second-hand. They’re easy to drive, practical for many needs and safe. In addition, it allows the displacement of more than 5 people, exceeding the capacity of a conventional vehicle and has other spaces where necessary items can be comfortably carried, which will be useful for a wide variety of sectors.
For all of the above and more, below we present a series of aspects that you should bear in mind if you have decided on this profitable business idea or if you are considering it:
Who is the service for?
Mainly, we need to identify our target audience to know who we are going to address and in this sense, focus the advertising and promotion strategies that we will talk about later. Then, your clients can be the following:
School sector: Private institutions, mostly, that hire you for the displacement of their students to the entrance and exit of the school or for pedagogical exits to places within the city.
Labour sector: Pick up people who work in certain companies or who live in very remote areas to transport them, staff outings to training sessions, etc.
Artistic sector: Music bands, singing groups, artists or other related to the sector, may easily need your service for their presentations in areas of the city.
Individuals: Many large families or those with items to carry, usually hire this type of service to move around in a much more comfortable means of transport than the conventional vehicle and with much more space to store their belongings.
But the possibilities do not end there, surely you will find many other sectors in which you can offer your service and that they need it, so it is very important to promote the transport company.
Start equipping yourself
For this service it is not enough to have the means of transport, which in this case would be the vans, but it will also be necessary to acquire the relevant knowledge and licences to start operating. The vehicles will be vans and preferably have an office to separate spaces and schedule services. You can hire a specialized driver if your clients require it and someone to take care of it inside the service office, which, not necessarily must be open to the public but you will be able to install it even in your house.
You must not only learn how to drive, but also learn basic repairs so that you can get out of any circumstance in case of failure and comply with the conditions of the car. Don’t forget to have the necessary licenses and permits to operate.
Establish a business model
For example, from Monday to Friday you can alternate the school’s and company’s schedules to meet on both sides (you may need more than one van), while on weekends, you can rent the car for rides, excursions and other requests that your clients have. For this reason it is necessary that you keep a record and order of the services, this way you will have all your accounts and activities of the day very clear and organized.
Promote your door to door transport service
In addition to the creation of a website where you can be contacted and social networks, it is necessary that you have flyers and/or business cards about the service always at hand, where your contact details and name of the person in charge are. In this way, at any time you can offer your service and those interested will have a means by which they can easily contact you.
Do not worry about having five vehicles now that you are starting, with one or two it is very good to start, especially if you are going to set up your office, besides, with the passing of time you will gain experience to be able to hire and choose your staff very well.
Requirements to start in Private Transport Service
First, there must be an infrastructure and physical space where to take the transport orders, store the units and do maintenance, having a waiting room for passengers using the service and the business administration.
Secondly, it is imperative to have a minimum
two units in order to provide the private transportation service, in addition these units must contain enough seats with well calculated space, space for luggage and basic amenities, such as air conditioning and perhaps audio and video for long trips and tours.
Take into account the acquisition of multiple contacts in terms of hotels, restaurants and possible terminals where the service can be provided with the appropriate formal permits.
To have personnel trained in customer service, tourism and other services, in addition to having competent and skilled drivers at the wheel. It is also required that the units are insured in case of accident during the provision of private transport service.
Finally, to acquire the appropriate permit for the circulation of the units and the provision of the service, so that there is no problem with the law in this regard.
Advantages of private transport service
The transport business belongs to a basic need of modern society, if there was transport as it is known the world would move much slower, that is why the transport business has a high demand, competition and market, generating high profitability according to the service and quantity of units available.
Another advantage is the alternative of always having transport for the family, since nowadays in many countries transport can be a very annoying element in the monthly family budget.
Success storiesÂ
A successful company in the sector is Epic Transfers, located in Spain, they are a young company but have taken an interesting rise, in addition they count on their well organized platform and a very extensive portfolio of clients to date, promises to be our
successful business.
Epic transfer has a young but highly trained team, all coming from the world of transport of people who, decided to found the company, with the promise that it is possible to travel with the best quality conditions at reasonable prices.
Nowadays, they provide private transportation in all the airports of the country, proving to be a company committed to the private transportation service, always being at the forefront of satisfying the needs of the client, in order to constantly motivate the improvement of the service.
Obstacles that may arise: Although the van service is one of the most requested, you will need to work hard in promoting it to get customers and a continuous activity, not only in the holiday season or weekends, to allow you to become your channel of income. It is also important that you have a reliable driver (in case you can’t do it yourself), to offer the transport service, because you will meet customers who may need to travel and others who rent the van for a weekend, for example.
Final recommendation: Recognizing your audience allows you to know to whom you should offer your service. The final recommendation of this article is focused on motivating you to constantly look for customers, especially in the initial stage, because unlike a neighborhood store, your customers are not around the corner every day, but you may have customers from other areas of your city who hire you and you can only reach them with very good advertising, so much perseverance and encouragement.