If you want to run a more profitable taxi business, there are multiple approaches you can take. You can either increase your clientele, cut operating costs, or do both. Out of all these options, cutting costs is usually the easiest and cheapest one. This is why you should consider concentrating on making your operating costs as low as possible before you try anything else. Below we look at a few simple ways taxi drivers can cut their overheads.
Save On Insurance
Insurance is one of the most important expenses for taxi businesses. Thankfully, there are many ways that you can save on it. The very first thing you should do is look around for a new policy. You might think that you’re getting benefits from your current company because of your loyalty, but that’s not how things work. Insurance companies don’t care much about how long you’ve been with them and would rather concentrate on getting new clients.
This is why you should look at a comparison site like quotezone.co.uk. They will allow you to compare minicab insurance rates across the top insurance providers in the country. They will then allow you to switch your policy on the spot, whether it’s through email, phone, or directly on their site.
Monitor and Retrain Your Drivers
The way your drivers drive will also have a huge impact on your operating costs. It will affect things like how much fuel they consume, the probabilities of them getting into accidents, and how much you’ll have to spend on maintenance. This is why you need to have tight monitoring systems to keep tabs on how your drivers are driving. This will allow you to see things like idling times, acceleration and breaking, and if they’re using efficient routes. You will then be able to bring outliers in for an evaluation and teach them how to drive more responsibly.
Have an App
Not having an app as a taxi business in this day and age is a huge mistake. There is no reason for you to still rely principally on a call centre. Staffing a call centre costs a lot of money and having an app will allow you to cut your staffing costs immediately. One of the main reasons why so many people are turning to ridesharing services is because of how convenient they are. So, if you want to cut costs and expand your clientele, build an app right now.
Have Fare Limits
A lot of taxi drivers are afraid to set limits on who they will pick up, but failing to set limits could have a detrimental effect on the driver’s earnings. Having to pick up a client that is too far away from your base is not always worth it. Impose geographical limits on who you pick up to facilitate logistics and reduce costs. This is something you could implement easily through an app.
These are all things that you can do right now to reduce your taxi business’s costs. We would suggest that you look at your operation in detail and try to identify waste in your processes if you want to save even more.
