Information please about starting a taxi firm?

catmulogen

Hi, my husband has been thinking about starting a taxi firm for some time. Now, I know that the current economic climate means that business in this area is not as busy as before but, he'd still be interested to hear from anyone who runs or works for a taxi firm. Any information about costs of equipment, rates for drivers etc would be greatly appreciated

ukbill69

Id suggest start out small, best to learn all areas and they maybe buying a people carrier, get insurance, advertise in local paper, be cheaper than rest of the firms around, maybe offer set fees for so far. Leaflets are not a bad way to go and go round and put them through as many doors as possible. Get a name people remember. I always make up names, when I say it to someone they never forget.

paulwf

There was a thread on this subject on this forum a month or two ago. It might take some searching but if you are prepared to dig through the old threads you should find it.

motorguy

catmulogen wrote: »

Hi, my husband has been thinking about starting a taxi firm for some time. Now, I know that the current economic climate means that business in this area is not as busy as before but, he'd still be interested to hear from anyone who runs or works for a taxi firm. Any information about costs of equipment, rates for drivers etc would be greatly appreciated

Has he any previous experience in this arena?

Pennywise

Firstly, he needs to contact the local council who are responsible for taxi licencing and will be able to tell him the rules/regulations he has to comply with and what fees he will have to pay. He'll need to buy a taxi licence, have a health check, and I think the car needs to conform to the standards the local council impose, i.e. size, age, type, etc. I think there is also a special taxi MOT. From my limited knowledge private hire licences for pre-booked journeys only are relatively cheap and easy to get, but the "hackney" licence (i.e. those allowing off-the-street pickups) are more restricted and far more expensive.

Secondly, he should find and contact the local taxi drivers association - most decent sized towns will have one, which is basically a local trade association and most are very useful for information and advice and making contacts with other taxi owners which is essential, especially if you're doing long distance runs such as to airports etc as you'd want to be carrying passengers both ways and the only way to do that is work with others doing similar journeys.

nexuss

He will need a massive amount of money to get noticed and to attract drivers.I know a guy who has 200 drivers and charges them £80 per week rent for the radio.He said most taxi firms are really struggling and taxi drivers are going into other lines of work.

motorguy

catmulogen wrote: »

Hi, my husband has been thinking about starting a taxi firm for some time. Now, I know that the current economic climate means that business in this area is not as busy as before but, he'd still be interested to hear from anyone who runs or works for a taxi firm. Any information about costs of equipment, rates for drivers etc would be greatly appreciated

What unsettles me about this is that if your husband has any links at all with taxiing, eg, has been / is a taxi driver or has worked in a taxi office, then he should know most of the basics.

If he doesnt, how can he expect to attract drivers away from other taxi firms, and how does he think other firms will react. Hint - Badly, and maybe violently.

catmulogen

Many thanks for all the helpful replies. As I said, my husband has only been thinking about this area which is why any information/ advice etc would be invaluable.

Paulwf: Thanks for remembering about the previous threads. They have been a great use

Pennywise: A great list Hubby's been to the local office and has found out the fees etc and said they gave him some good info. Going to google the Taxi driver's association now.

Pgilc1: Again, thanks for your response but I posted the question as I hoped to get help. My husband realises that it's going to be a long learning curve but we all have to start somewhere.

Merry Christmas to all :xmassmile

motorguy

catmulogen wrote: »

Pgilc1: Again, thanks for your response but I posted the question as I hoped to get help. My husband realises that it's going to be a long learning curve but we all have to start somewhere.

Merry Christmas to all :xmassmile

Then i would definitely consider maybe 6 months as a driver first to understand the workings of the business.

Also, he would need to think of what his 'unique selling point' would be both for attracting drivers to his company, but also for attracting customers. ie, why should customers use his taxi office over ones already established.

I'm not sure that economically its the best time to be doing this, given the taxi industry is being squeezed heavily at the moment with more drivers seeking a lot less work - there would be a school of thought that says 'oh if you can make a business fly in a recession then it will be a success' but thats justs the optimists twist on 'new businesses are even more likely to fail during a recession'.

Also, a new taxi company opened up in our town and their main 'rival' started a campaign against them - calling them to non existent jobs, spreading rumours about their staff, slashing tyres, threats of violence, etc, and i'd say there are a lot of taxi companies that would use underhanded means to protect their patch.

savemoney

Yes times are hard. I know one that delivers parcels and another take aways

My Brother use to do it and couldn't make a living he also did other line of work

Our town though is more or less sown up by one company owning many companies

nexuss wrote: »

He will need a massive amount of money to get noticed and to attract drivers.I know a guy who has 200 drivers and charges them £80 per week rent for the radio.He said most taxi firms are really struggling and taxi drivers are going into other lines of work.

nexuss

A lot are also taking escorts to their jobs.