Taxi firm start up?
Author
Discussion

robinh73

Original Poster:

1,161 posts

218 months

Saturday
quotequote all
Afternoon all. A bit of advice please. I run my own tree surgery business which does nicely, however I had open heart surgery mid June this year which whilst that went well in itself, I have suffered with complications and now diagnosed with an auto immune condition. Not the end of the world but I feel that my role in the tree game has to change whereby I am not as hands on but instead focus on the quoting etc. This got me thinking about a second line of work to top up the income and I wondered how mad it would be to set up a taxi business? Are there any taxi drivers on here? Is it lunacy or a positive step?

sherman

14,606 posts

233 months

Saturday
quotequote all
Lunacy.
With Uber etc the local taxi firm with a catchy phone number is dead.

robinh73

Original Poster:

1,161 posts

218 months

Saturday
quotequote all
sherman said:
Lunacy.
With Uber etc the local taxi firm with a catchy phone number is dead.
I probably should have added that I am based in North Wales where Uber isn't exactly prominent. Were I in a city I would totally agree but up here private firms are the norm.

Sheepshanks

38,074 posts

137 months

Saturday
quotequote all
We had a guy who was semi-retired from Ruthin way do our airport taxi run home from MAN to Chester - he was subcontracted, I think twice based on text messages we got, by our local firm who we booked with.

He said he tended to do the night time airport runs - he picked us up, we were an hour late, at 1AM. He had another one to go to straight after, he was a bit tight for time, it was landing as he dropped us off. That would have stressed me a little, but he didn't seem bothered. He said he very little normal taxiing, but it was there if he wanted it. Seemed to suit him.


Om

2,086 posts

96 months

Saturday
quotequote all
There is certainly a market for it. Taxis are few and far between and those that are around know how to charge!

Worth considering how robustly the incumbents may defend their patch though.

smifffymoto

5,177 posts

223 months

Yesterday (04:53)
quotequote all
I live in a leafy Cheshire village where the local council won’t licence Uber cars ,whether out of principle or to protect the already licensed taxi and private hire cars.

All that is happening is an influx of Uber cars registered in Wolverhampton taking local business.

TheDrownedApe

1,486 posts

74 months

Yesterday (06:12)
quotequote all
smifffymoto said:
I live in a leafy Cheshire village where the local council won t licence Uber cars ,whether out of principle or to protect the already licensed taxi and private hire cars.

All that is happening is an influx of Uber cars registered in Wolverhampton taking local business.
I live in south warwickshire and the majority here acquire their licence from Wolverhampton due to the prices they charge. I think they are the cheapest in the country.

ashenfie

1,726 posts

64 months

Yesterday (08:25)
quotequote all
I think to make any money you need to get contracts. School runs and medically related regular jobs are particularly lucrative. Don’t worry about drivers and cars if you have work they are easy to find.

Sheepshanks

38,074 posts

137 months

Yesterday (09:28)
quotequote all
smifffymoto said:
I live in a leafy Cheshire village where the local council won t licence Uber cars ,whether out of principle or to protect the already licensed taxi and private hire cars.

All that is happening is an influx of Uber cars registered in Wolverhampton taking local business.
They may still be local people - Wolverhampton has made a business out of issuing private hire licences, regardless of where the drivers live.

the-norseman

14,668 posts

189 months

My dad took over a taxi firm that his brothers had been involved in for many years, dad has since died and his younger brother run it into the ground but it was a very hard business to run, insurance being the main ££££ on a fleet of cars. Then there is the need for apps these days etc.

I was talking to a local driver the other week who has switched from a firm to Uber and says its the best thing hes done.