Thinking of Starting an 'Executive Chauffeur' Business

[JGBinks]

Dear members,

I have been out of work for coming up to 2yrs and have decided to change my career.

I am considering in looking into setting up an 'Executive Chauffeur' business, where by I would be the sole employer and operator.

I would like some help and advice if possible from someone who's in the profession please.

Also would it be advisable to gain some work experience and if so is anyone willing to give this to me.

We've all been there at some point in our lives - where you go for a job interview or what ever and the BOSS turns round to you and say's he/she is sorry but they can't give you the job because of your lack of experience.

I have to ask the question though - "How do you expect someone to gain the neccessary experiences needed, if nobodys willing to give you the chance"???

ANYWAY.

Oh and i'm 27yrs old so whats the insurance etc going to be like??

Thank you for reading and look forward to hearing from you all.

Yours sincerely

JGBinks

 

It isn't clear how evolved your thoughts are on this, so forgive me if this is a bit basic, however the 2 kety things you will need are:

- CAPITAL = Car, uniform, insurance, marketing costs etc.

- CONTACTS = do you know any people or businesses who are likely to use the service? How do you intend to reach your market?

I'm sure you have thought of & addressed these questions, but it is worth throwing your thoughts into the pot..

 

[Lease4Less]

It isn't clear how evolved your thoughts are on this, so forgive me if this is a bit basic, however the 2 kety things you will need are:

- CAPITAL = Car, uniform, insurance, marketing costs etc.

- CONTACTS = do you know any people or businesses who are likely to use the service? How do you intend to reach your market?

I'm sure you have thought of & addressed these questions, but it is worth throwing your thoughts into the pot..

Have to agree with this.

Ensure that you have a business plan and that you follow it. The car is the big one. Most finance comapnies will not finance you due to the nature of your business, (they consider chaffauer services the same risk as taxi companies). What is your target market? You will need a decent motor to make the right impression.

I think you will find the car itself and the insurance is very expensive, and to market this as a new venture is going to be difficult.

 

[davwik]

First thing to do is to sit down and list your driving skills and your personal temperament,are you an aggressive person,do you have body piercing etc ,etc is there anything about you personally that is abrasive to others. your driving same applies.aggressive etc etc.

There are specialist instructors that tutor would be chauffeurs, sit down and do your research on what particular service you are going to offer, corporate, private etc, is there a market in your area for your service , whats the competition, sit down and do a business plan, lots of free advice around if you look.

Do you need LA approval as Private hire etc, lots of serious questions to answer before you even consider what vehicle etc.

If you do not do the legwork before hand you will probably fail or end up being a very disillusioned taxi driver.

 

[profitxchange]

You do not necessarily need a car - you can sell yourself as a Chauffeur using the client's car. I often see ads for people looking for this sort of service. You will need to be an excellent driver, also understand all the niceties of "service" - you will get nowhere if you are just a driver, you need to think much much wider, also consider training for "close protection" driving etc.

Read competitors adverts.
Let me have your email address & I will look out an old draft brochure design I did for this sort of service. (the words anyway)

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Start saving.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1322067.htm

As seen in the Time Out thread

 

Start saving.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1322067.htm

As seen in the Time Out thread

Wow - thats a lot of depeciation!!

 

[Beachcomber]

Might be worth considering a similar service for ordinary folk which I thought up (probably not the first) many moons ago.

You could offer a servcie where you will pick up and take a customers car in to the garage for it's servicing / MOT etc then deliver it back to them either at work or home etc.

I'm sure many people are fed up of having to take time off of work to sort out these routine things and would be happy to pay a fee to have someone do the running about for them so they don't have to.

You won't need your own car (fold up bike to go in the boot to get you back home?) and you won't need a uniform (although will need to be smartly presented)

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I did think of this years ago but thought very hard to get enough clients to make it pay

Did nearly go the private hire route running a biggish Ford Galaxy type people carrier car on the major airport runs from where you live and say another pickup 20 miles further down the road, start out early in morning and return mid/late afternoon, even tow a small trailer for bags etc, main road driving and good MPG, cash in hand or card machine with fixed prices

Good Luck

 

I would say your budget for startup needs to be around £12,000 as a minimum for a respectable vehicle and some other basic necessities.

Depending on the market your aiming for, I would say the best 'executive' style cars you could probably opt for and still get away with charging decent money would be a 2002 onwards BMW 7 series or 1999 onwards Mercedes S Class (both by preference diesel). I think these give the right impression and anything less may be tricky to command the right rates. I know in your shoes, I wouldnt be spending £20k+ on a car.

On a budget, something like this you could pick up for around £6000:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1872328.htm

a 3.2 petrol isnt going to cost you a fortune and still has a relatively sensible mileage to give you a good year or 2's use. A diesel would be circa £8-10k depending on mileage and spec.

Or something like this on the bmw line up

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1859389.htm

That one is the 745i with a big 4.5 litre engine so I would try and opt for a 735i (3.5) or diesel if you can stretch to it. You should be able to pick a petrol up for around £6.5k and diesels kick off at about £9k. The petrol's will give you no better than 25mpg realisitcally and the diesels approx 10mpg more than this - so you would need to factor in just how much driving your going to do and if the premium for the diesel is worth it.

I know if I were looking for attractive business transport I would most definitely be satisfied with either of the above and you can disguise the age with a £100 personalised plate.

So say you take £7k for a petrol car....

Insurance I would allow £2-3k for

Marketing - you can probably do a fair amount for free on the web, but I would think about your target audience and whether your looking at mail shots, leaflets etc.

I would probably think you could keep this fairly low and allow about £1000 initially.

A website is pretty important for this sort of thing too, advertising your services, professional photo's of the vehicle etc. I would also look at doing wedding car hire as there can be some decent money in that as a sideline. uniform etc. on top around £1000 all in.

Obviously initially I would think your price structure needs to be attractive for these people to entice them in initially and then gradually increase your margins.

Have you thought about doing shuttle runs for well known business runs? - i.e. to airports/train stations etc? you could always offer a set rate service from the town you live in to the airport. I would also consider some sort of a 'loyalty' card whereby say they use you 5 times they get their 6th use free or something. I could see businesses using you for this as it could be fairly cost effective if they have a few people going abroad on business.

 

[marlinman]

I set my chauffeur service up 3.5 years ago, best thing i've ever done.

I previously worked as a taxi driver, and this gave me my first leads in setting up a chauffeur service.

Car cost me £21,000 (Mercedes E-class saloon)
Insurance £1,200
then there are added costs, web site, taxi badge, car taxi plate, business cards ect ect ect Total £2,000+

The rewards are great if you do your home work, my business just keeps going from strength to strength. Recession? what recession........!

 

[thetime22]

How did you get on? any updates?

 

[marlinman]

Thriving business now, best thing I've ever done. New clients and work cones through constantly.
Sept 2010 was so busy, but Oct, Nov were even busier and this Jan 2011 is well up on last Jan 2010.

 

[marlinman]

Incidentally, I have helped 3 friends set chauffeur business's up and they too are doing well.
We also work as a co-operative during very busy periods, and help each other out if needed.

 

[luvbusiness]

I set my chauffeur service up 3.5 years ago, best thing i've ever done.

I previously worked as a taxi driver, and this gave me my first leads in setting up a chauffeur service.

Car cost me £21,000 (Mercedes E-class saloon)
Insurance £1,200
then there are added costs, web site, taxi badge, car taxi plate, business cards ect ect ect Total £2,000+

The rewards are great if you do your home work, my business just keeps going from strength to strength. Recession? what recession........!

Nice looking cars and website

 

[marlinman]

Very fortunate to have a good friend who designs web sites and is very good at SEO.
He is just doing another site for another friend at present.

We do not really compete for business too, my customers are faithful and new customers usually come along after having bad taxi or chauffeur experiences.

Competitive rates, excellent cars, puntual service and smart looking drivers, combined with great up to date testimonials does the business credit.

Wedding cars are my big growth area
2008 - 14 booking
2009- 148 bookings
2010 - 256 bookings
2011 - over 100 at present with enquiries most days.down on last year though Jan 1st advanced bookings.
Testimonials are why I'm getting enquiries.

 

[workingnomad]

Do you need some of license to do this from the council?

 

[marlinman]

Yes,
We are licensed as taxi drivers are with local council.
Weddings are insurance only, no taxi badge required.

 

[workingnomad]

If you took people around in a 7 seat MPV say, for instance on a pre-arranged guided tour into the countryside or whatever, could you still get away with just insurance or would this be considered hire and reward?

My local authority were not very helpful on this and kept assuming I was talking about a large minibus, grr!

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

Dear members,

I have been out of work for coming up to 2yrs and have decided to change my career.

I love it!

 

[Christine Hough]

I heard of someone who gave up teaching, bought an exec car and offered sightseeing chaufered trips round the Lake district.

He put cards in the topmost hotels and did very well. (The sort which have a helipad for clients to use)

But this was a decade or two ago so I do not know what things are like now.
My inclination is to think though that this sort of service is valued as much now as ever and if you have a good knowledge of a tourist area to ensure people are taken to the sort of places they are interested in then you might have a good niche.

 

[popunder]

Testimonials are why I'm getting enquiries.

Indeed ... are you listening, every other local business?!

It staggers me how many businesses just don't get this. "Word of mouth is so important" they say, but even after years in business they have NO written testimonials to use on websites, written quotes, leaflets or print ads.

 

[marlinman]

If you took people around in a 7 seat MPV say, for instance on a pre-arranged guided tour into the countryside or whatever, could you still get away with just insurance or would this be considered hire and reward?

My local authority were not very helpful on this and kept assuming I was talking about a large minibus, grr!

If your getting paid to take passengers anywhere then it's hire & reward (taxi work)
If you get stopped by police your in big trouble if they think your operating as a un-licensed taxi, with no insurance, no taxi badge, no taxi plate. If your involved in a accident, your insurance will NOT pay out for injuries or deaths occured by your passengers and you will certainly be arrested for many offences.
Fully licensed and fully insured is the only way to be. I see accidents daily on our motorways, and I have 5 million pounds public liability insurance so all my clients are covered.

 

[GaryF]

Marlinman, your posts are very inspiring and I think you've offered some good encouragment. I've noticed that you have some grammatical mistakes on your site, also you keep spelling "business's". It's a not dig, just trying to help out. Get your webguy to chuck it in word and then re-upload the text.

 

[marlinman]

Indeed ... are you listening, every other local business?!

It staggers me how many businesses just don't get this. "Word of mouth is so important" they say, but even after years in business they have NO written testimonials to use on websites, written quotes, leaflets or print ads.

Ah, another believer in testimonials
I'm not the only 1 out there. In todays rush for success people often forget testimonials, but here's a good example of why they ARE important
TRIPADVISOR have you ever used this?
Extremely popular for people to find out if where they are going has a good reputation.
Would you use someones services if they were slated for poor service by everyone, or go for someone who's client base praises the service.
I know what my answer would be.

Whats yours?

 

[marlinman]

Marlinman, your posts are very inspiring and I think you've offered some good encouragment. I've noticed that you have some grammatical mistakes on your site, also you keep spelling "business's". It's a not dig, just trying to help out. Get your webguy to chuck it in word and then re-upload the text.

Hi GaryF,

I have mailed my web guy for him to look at this.
Thank you for the compliment too

I love my work, my wife thinks i love it more than her

 

[workingnomad]

f your getting paid to take passengers anywhere then it's hire & reward (taxi work)

So how come people call themselves Chauffeurs and ferry people around without the proper taxi badge? See what I am getting at? I agree about insurance.

 

[marlinman]

So how come people call themselves Chauffeurs and ferry people around without the proper taxi badge? See what I am getting at? I agree about insurance.

As with many professions there are people operating without the legal things in place.
I have seen several chauffeur companies close over the past 2 years after legislation to make them all come under the umbrella of taxi licensing. They could not because of many factors like :-
Vehicles to old to be registered
Drivers with criminal records unable to get taxi badges
Increased costs due to licensing
And lastly, being registered and legal, means they can no longer work cash in hand because they need to keep records of work in line with taxi licensing regulations.

These however do not stop a few rogue so called chauffeurs operating illegally and they will get caught some day. I just hope it's not after killing someone in a un-road worthy vehicle that would get a enhanced MOT twice a year if they were legal. Or after someone gets assaulted or worse by a un-licensed driver who's got a serious criminal record who should not be trusted with passengers. That's why taxi licensing CRB all potential drivers, to weed out rapists, murderers and peado's and those with violent or criminal records.
This was not the case with Limo's and chauffeurs until 2 years ago, and why the government changed the rules. And I fully support those changes.

 

[workingnomad]

Well I don't see how it is fair that someone who drives a few people around on an educational tour once a week should have to fall under the same regulations as a full blown taxi driver.

This country strangles small business with red tape and one size fits all regulation. No wonder so many people start up elsewhere!

 

[showtimeni]

I set my chauffeur service up 3.5 years ago, best thing i've ever done.

I previously worked as a taxi driver, and this gave me my first leads in setting up a chauffeur service.

Car cost me £21,000 (Mercedes E-class saloon)
Insurance £1,200
then there are added costs, web site, taxi badge, car taxi plate, business cards ect ect ect Total £2,000+

The rewards are great if you do your home work, my business just keeps going from strength to strength. Recession? what recession........!

if its the best thing you have ever done...why are you selling?

 

[Parthelan]

if its the best thing you have ever done...why are you selling?

He's not :|

I wont sell my business.............
But it opened up a good thread and certainly made me realise a few things.

 

[marlinman]

Well I don't see how it is fair that someone who drives a few people around on an educational tour once a week should have to fall under the same regulations as a full blown taxi driver.

This country strangles small business with red tape and one size fits all regulation. No wonder so many people start up elsewhere!

Without taxi licensing:-
Drivers with a history of sexual assaults or rape could be collecting your drunk daughter up from night clubs.
Peados could be taking your little daughters on school runs.
Conmen/swindlers could be taking your elderly confused mother to the bank prior to shopping.
A drunk driver could be collecting you from the social club.

And all of these trips could be in a very dangerous vehicle that is not fit for purpose without a MOT and no insurance.

That's what taxi licensing are trying to stop. But yes it may seen a unnecessary expense for a honest hard working driver.

How do you seperate honest and insuitable drivers without CRB?
Ask a criminal who's about to make money from you "are you honest with no criminal record driving a safe road legal car"?
I don't think so.

 

[workingnomad]

I agree there has to be some regs, but a taxi driver and someone who occasionally uses a vehicle for a business like tours should not fall under the same regulations.

 

[marlinman]

You could get a vehicle with over 8 passenger seats assuming you have a PSV license?
These are exempt of taxi & private hire licensing, but still have some regulations.

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

I agree there has to be some regs, but a taxi driver and someone who occasionally uses a vehicle for a business like tours should not fall under the same regulations.

Really? Why not?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

The law might have changed since I tried taxi work, but in Norfolk there is/was two classes Normal Taxi where you take a knowledge test and are allowed to stop and pick up customers, the other is Private hire, no knowledge test and can only pick up pre arranged customers which is normally long distant runs, weddings with smart cars etc

 

[workingnomad]

Because the difference is that taxi drivers drive around all day and the only component of their business is to transport people from A to B.

Someone wanting to start a touring business that involves a lot more than 'A to B' trips should not be treated like a taxi.

For tours, the the actual transport aspect probably only makes up 25% of the whole package, not a 100% like taxi.

Understand?

 

[marlinman]

The law might have changed since I tried taxi work, but in Norfolk there is/was two classes Normal Taxi where you take a knowledge test and are allowed to stop and pick up customers, the other is Private hire, no knowledge test and can only pick up pre arranged customers which is normally long distant runs, weddings with smart cars etc

Laws in taxi licensing changed 2.5 years ago, making things a lot strictor and to incorporate Limo's and chauffeurs to rid the streets of dangerous vehicles and drivers.

But your referring to HACKNEY TAXI (these can pick up anyone flagging them down in YOUr town only)

PRIVATE HIRE (Not officially allowed to call themselves taxis) can only pick up from designated points with PRE-BOOKED BOOKINGS. Although in most city centres this rule is flouted constantly, with many people trying to get home. This is also the time UN-LICENSED private hire drivers ply for trade.

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

Because the difference is that taxi drivers drive around all day and the only component of their business is to transport people from A to B.

Someone wanting to start a touring business that involves a lot more than 'A to B' trips should not be treated like a taxi.

For tours, the the actual transport aspect probably only makes up 25% of the whole package, not a 100% like taxi.

Understand?

No not really. A person is either driving a car with paying passengers or they are not. Regardless of how often, how far or other services offered the vehicle and driver need to reach a minimum standard.

 

[workingnomad]

Whats stopping someone with a PCV running a taxi service from a 9 seater mini bus without the hire and reward regulations?

Can you see it makes no sense?