How to Start a Public Transportation Business

Monday, April 22, 2013

How to Start a Public Transportation Business

Shuttle businesses provide useful transportation for two types of riders. Customers with airport reservations, but who want to avoid driving and parking inconveniences, ride to the airport’s door in a regularly scheduled shuttle bus or van. Vehicles pick up pre-booked customers at home or office locations, although last-minute customers can frequently be accommodated en route to the airport. On-demand shuttles function within many outlying regions that lack public transportation. Some shuttles transport customers to regional or hub airports, while other vehicles provide rides to customers on personal business.

Step 1

Organize your shuttle business. Select a business structure with a Certified Public Accountant familiar with transportation businesses. Consult with a commercial insurance agent with similar expertise and strong liability background. Visit your city or county clerk’s office for a business license, and inquire about local permits. Ask your state department of revenue about applicable sales taxes. Contact your state department of transportation about state regulations or permits.

Step 2

Analyze the shuttle service market. Obtain a regional map, and pinpoint the regional and hub airports within a two-hour drive. Identify shuttle services that currently serve those airports, and note any areas that lack airport transportation. Research local and regional transportation networks to uncover potential need for on-demand shuttle service.

Step 3

Establish your shuttle service area. Determine a geographic area within which you can provide reliable shuttle service. Identify area airports and other possible destinations, and travel those routes at different times to estimate drivers’ travel times. Utilize this information to create an operations framework for your shuttle business.

Step 4

Develop commuter and tourism packages. Encourage repeat commuter business by creating discounted packages for frequent airport commuters and business users. Design tourist-focused packages that include airport transportation, shopping or attraction transport and meal options.

Step 5

Obtain multi-passenger shuttle vehicles. Estimate the number of vehicles needed for your shuttle routes, and work with your accountant to determine if a purchase or lease option better meets your needs. Obtain handicapped-accessible vehicles to ensure that disabled passengers can easily be accommodated.

Step 6

Hire qualified shuttle drivers. Find courteous, experienced drivers with demonstrated customer service experience. Former bus drivers and other large vehicle operators may be good candidates. Contact your state department of motor vehicles to determine specific driver license requirements for shuttle vehicles.

Step 7

Market your shuttle business regionally. Work with a graphic designer to create rack cards and business cards. Place these promotional materials at hotels and tourist attractions, and consider a kiosk at regional and hub airports. Place ads featuring introductory discounts in regional newspapers' business pages. Join your city’s Chamber of Commerce, and market to fellow business members at networking events and expos. Find your chamber through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Things Needed

Business structure documentation
Insurance documentation
Business license
Local permits (if applicable)
Sales tax license (if applicable)
Permits from state department of transportation (if applicable)
Regional map with airports and existing shuttle services
Shuttle business operational framework
Commuter package documentation
Tourism package documentation
Shuttle vehicle documentation
Shuttle driver license requirements
Rack cards
Business cards
Ad rates and copy for newspaper ads

References (6)

Resources (2)

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1 comment:

Lone Mountain Truck LeasingMay 8, 2013 at 5:25 PM
Public transport is one of the most common challenge for all people and there are many ways where people can travel.There are some vehicles as well as automobile instruments can be used for that.
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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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Monday, April 22, 2013