Ask Questions 
Share Tips 
List Your Business 
Coffee Talk with Experts 
Biz Planning | Sample Plans 
Idea 
Name 
$ 
Do It! 
Promotional Merchandise
Managing | Operations
Work @ Home 
Yoga @ Your Desk 
|
|
Expert Answers to Biz Questions
Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.
Ridesharing the Right Way: 5 Neglected Steps to Profitable Ridesharing
Uber and Lyft - and dozens of smaller and increasingly successful regional companies - have proven that ridesharing is big business. Rather than wasting money on a personal vehicle that will spend most of its life in a parking space, or wasting your time waiting for crowded, dirty public transit options, most folks are eagerly turning to convenient, speedy ridesharing, making it an excellent business idea for entrepreneurs everywhere.
However, starting a rideshare business isn't as easy as offering strangers rides and expecting payment. Entrepreneurs must approach ridesharing as a traditional business idea, drafting plans and marketing strategies that will enable stability and profitability. Further, ridesharing tends to require a few extra steps that some entrepreneurs fail to consider - like the following five steps to building a better rideshare business.
1. Create a Competitive Advantage
The rideshare market isn't brand-new, which means entrepreneurs have more than a handful of competitors. Therefore, it isn't enough to expect users to clamor for service since many will already feel comfortable using the big box ridesharing companies. Instead, entrepreneurs should create a competitive advantage by making their ridesharing experience unique.
Claiming a niche is perhaps the easiest way to garner attention in a competitive market. Ridesharing is rife with opportunities for agile startups to gain footholds because there are abundant niches to be claimed. For example, entrepreneurs might develop a rideshare devoted to transporting minors, one catering to physically disabled folks, one offering only luxury vehicles, or one committed to green practices. Though niches might require more planning, they are likely to pay off because they differentiate new ventures from established companies.
2. Consider Using Convenient Software
In a bid to save as much money as possible, many startup entrepreneurs strive to do everything in-house, from marketing to tech support. However, reassigning employees to arduous, complex tasks like software development not only wastes time and money, it can produce an inferior product.
Fortunately, ridesharing has existed long enough for third-party business solutions to appear. In particular, entrepreneurs should take advantage of options like RideCell, a complete ridesharing platform that organizes requests, vehicle tracking, routing, performance analysis, and more. Using pre-made software, at least initially, will help ridesharing businesses get moving sooner, attract an audience, and generate profits.
3. Complete the Legal Hoop-Jumping
Vehicles can be dangerous machines, and as such, every state boasts hundreds of laws dictating why, where, and how they may be used. Ridesharing businesses, which require vehicles, must understand and adhere to those laws if they hope to operate above-the-board. Typically, this means entrepreneurs must jump through some legal hoops before their ridesharing business can truly begin.
More and more states are requiring ridesharing entrepreneurs to file for Transportation Network Company approval (TNCs). These are most often acquired through a state's public utilities commission or transportation department. TNC approval ensures ridesharing vehicles are equipped with necessary safety equipment and drivers are licensed and trained.
4. Cover Drivers, Passengers, and Cars
While some entrepreneurs may prefer to leave auto insurance up to their drivers, some states mandate that ridesharing businesses must provide commercial insurance to keep passengers, drivers, cars, and the business safe. In such locations, states tend to set minimum coverage; for example, in California, new ridesharing businesses must have at least:
- $50,000 for death and personal injury per person
- $100,000 for death and personal injury per incident
- $30,000 for property damage
- $200,000 in excess coverage per incident
Ridesharing businesses in Periods 2 or 3 must purchase even more extensive insurance coverage, amounting to at least $1 million for death, personal injury, and property damage. Even in states that don't require insurance, entrepreneurs should consider insuring their drivers to protect their businesses and themselves from potentially ruinous lawsuits.
5. Continue Growing With the Market
Exciting changes are occurring in the transportation sector, and ridesharing entrepreneurs should pay close attention to emerging technologies to find additional opportunities to excel. For example, electric cars and other eco-friendly options should become more affordable and widely available in coming years, and claiming an entirely environmental fleet will likely be advantageous. Additionally, autonomous vehicles are likely to revolutionize the ridesharing market, lowering prices while raising safety and efficiency. As long as rideshare entrepreneurs are willing to adapt to market trends to grow, they should find ample success.
|
|
Small Business Tax Center • Idea Cafe Home • Sign Up • Biz Grant Center • CyberSchmooz •Coffee Talk with Experts • People in Biz Profiles • Starting Your Biz • Biz Planning • Running Your Biz • FREE Trade Publications • Marketing • Financing Your Biz • Human Resources • Legal & Biz Forms • Managing Your Biz • eCommerce • You and Your Biz • Gen X • Work@Home • The Fridge • De-Stress • Send an Award • Send an eGreeting • Yoga @ Your Desk • Web Guide • Idea Cafe in the News • About Idea Cafe • Advertise on Idea Cafe • Contact Us • Privacy Policy • Site Map • Small Biz News
Copyright 1995-2023, Idea Cafe Inc. Downloads are for personal use only, not for resale to others, and may not be reprinted in any form without written permission from Idea Cafe Inc.
DISCLAIMER: We hope whatever you find on this site is helpful, but be cautioned that it may not apply to your own situation, or be totally current at any given time. Idea Cafe Inc. and all of its current and past experts, sponsors, advertisers, agents, contractors and advisors disclaim all warranties with regard to anything found anywhere on this family of websites, quoted from, or sent from Idea Cafe. and its related sites, publications and companies. We also take no responsibility for comments published by others on these pages. TRADEMARKS: The following are Registered Trademarks or Servicemarks of DevStart, Inc.: Idea Cafe®, Online Coffee Break®, The Small Business Gathering Place®, Take out Info®, Biz Bar & Grill®, Complaint-O-Meter®, A Fun Approach to Serious Business™, CyberSchmooz™, and BizCafe™.
|
|
|
|