Taxi Driver Online

hi
anyone managed to succesfully own /run/or set up a business whilst taxi driving ?

any advice on related or complimentary activities would be great.

thanks

Steve

Have you tried selling the big issue?

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Grandad,

no i havent but then i am not homeless - if i were i may have to......


my apologies if the original post was ambiguous in some way


my question is aimed at those drivers who have an element of self worth and want to better themselves and are prepared to work hard to become succesful and can share useful advice or experiences in this particular area.

(RUNNING A BUSINESS AS WELL AS DRIVING A TAXI)

Steve

Have you tried training?

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Theres nowt to stop anyone from running a business whilst Taxiing, it may even be a Taxi Business of your own with a seperate Minibus side to it, however the more Businesses you run the more the paperwork you encounter...the only real danger is that you burn the candle at both ends and become a danger on the road through being overly tired and that will come back to haunt all of us..unless of course you have your own employees, but then again if you did you wouldnt be Taxiing for someone else in the first place..

If its riches you seek...forget the fechin Taxiing.

Well if you want me to be serious.........

Firstly why don't you start by building your own taxi business. If you are in an unrestricted area you should be able to start with one car and build up a clientel so that you can add additional vehicles when needed.

Myself, I started with a Jaguar Sovereign for wedding hire and then added a Rolls Royce silver Shadow. You can pick them up for peanuts you know.
This would run very easily alongside a taxi business although the return may not be very quick.
I then added a stretched limousine, my council were willing to license it so that made life a bit easier. The next step was to increase the number of limousines as the demand at that time was huge.
As the demand for the limousines levelled off we looked at finding something for the weekdays as weddings and limo work was mainly weekends. We then bought a Peugeot 406, which was the standard car for a taxi around my way, with the intension of trying to get on the council list for school transport. We managed to get on the list within 2 months and we have been able to build a small fleet of cars to service these contracts. I employ a few part time drivers who are happy to work just the school hours, They are mainly recently retired people who just want part time work with very little hassle. I have also bought a car for executive type work and our latest purchase is a 16 seat minibus.
We started in 2000 and built slowly.
We have now sold the wedding cars to concentrate on the school work and the limousines.
We have recently launched a website for the taxis, executive hire and minbus with a link to our existing limousine website. Take a look if you like at www.elaines-taxis.co.uk
Remember that running your own business is not as easy as it sometimes appears. As my old boss used to say, "if it was easy, everyone would be doing it."
If you want to ask me any questions, feel free to PM me.

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Grandad,

Steve I wish that I had thought of it years ago. The trouble with starting a business is that you need an income, unfortunately the income to start is not always there and puts a strain on the person and the business.

If I had my time again I see it as a wonderful opportunity to start a business and also to have an income whereby you can to a degree come and go. As the business grows then the taxiing can be tailed off to suit, but as others have already said do not over do it.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

the bit about the big issue selling tickled me, cos i went up to a big issue seller today and said
KNOCK KNOCK
WHOS THERE (SAID THE SELLER)
I SAID I THOUGHT YOU WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HOMELESS

When are you getting the Hurst

If you mean a Hearse for funerals, we did have one. It was white and was going to be used by the CO-OP funeral service. We got the car, spent a lot of money getting it just right and then the CO-OP never used it. In 3 years it only left the garage to go for MOTs. That was a big mistake. It was sold last year to someone who wanted it for the Bubble Gum rally.

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Grandad,

Isn't that a sausage?

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IDFIMH

No, that is a wurst.
A Hurst is a person who scores a hat trick in the world cup final against Germany.

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Grandad,

Yep. In a manner of speaking.