How to increase the size of your taxi business?

Just like any UK business, running a taxi service in your local area is no easy ride. But having conquered the first steps and formed the basis for your operations, where do you go next? Britain is a nation of people constantly on the go, so there are plenty of opportunities to be had. It’s just a matter of reaching out and being able to grasp them whilst they’re around. So from managing a small taxi service with one or two cars to being a dominating force in your local area and beyond, you need to know how to increase the size of your taxi business and add value to your customers.

Work with people who love what they do

Just like any business or organisation, your most valuable assets are the people you employ. That’s why, as a business owner, you should hire drivers, operators, and dispatchers who can convey the values of your brand. Your staff must be pleasant, helpful and approachable throughout each step of the customer’s journey, always putting safety and convenience above all. Yet how can you trust them to provide high-quality services when most of your staff will be working off-site?

Of course, you could try offering more money, but people who are motivated in this way rarely make good taxi drivers. So when hiring, you need to be looking for those who have a natural affinity for what the job entails. After all, operating a taxi and manning the phone lines is all about providing a service, so everyone involved should be able to take pride in the fact that they’re able to play a vital role in someone else’s day.

Eager to increase the size of your taxi business? Having second thoughts over the expense? Apply for Alternative Finance and learn more about how your taxi business could benefit.

Run a targeted marketing campaign

Next, if you’re to increase the size of your taxi business and remain sustainable, running a targeted marketing campaign to draw more and more interest is essential. Yet, as well as researching your target audience and choosing whether or not to specialise, marketing also requires an effective strategy to be in place. As such, this means having to plan which techniques to use in order to decide how to promote your taxi business.

Website development

If you haven’t already, you should design and create a website for your Taxi Business that will lay the foundation for conveying your message. As well as developing a website that’s appealing and easy to navigate, you can upload blog and multimedia content discussing your services, unique selling points, and latest developments. Plus, you’ll also need to create landing pages to allow customers to make bookings conveniently, quickly and easily, driving up revenue.

Social Networking

As well as creating a website for your Taxi Business, you should also be exploring how social media can add value to your campaign. One of the great things about sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube is that you’re able to set up community pages for your taxi business, making it easier for you and your customers to stay connected. Plus, you can regularly upload the content that you’ve created onto your community page and use it to redirect customers back to your landing pages, converting enquiries into bookings. In addition, in order to add more appeal, you could also feature promo codes, viral videos and contests to draw further attention.

Adwords

Also, you could try unleashing the power of Google AdWords and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) to drive further traffic to your taxi business and get noticed by specific types of customer groups. Just be aware that although this can be a great tool to make use of, getting your head around it can be tricky and you will need to pay for it. So if you haven’t worked with Adwords before and yet see the potential, you may want to try hiring a marketing manager who has.

Fleet Branding

In addition, if you want to get your brand noticed by thousands of people each day and develop a noticeable presence in your local area, brand your fleet. Fleet Branding is a visible marketing tool offering you a large-scale advertising platform generating impressions that could eventually turn into leads, regardless of whether your taxis are moving along a high street or parked in a taxi bay. Besides, if you’re wondering how to value a taxi business, know that your vehicles are an important aspect of your business’ balance sheet.

Improve communications between customers, operators, and drivers

As your Taxi Business increases in size and employs more staff, one of the most common challenges you need to overcome is communication. Being able to maintain strong communication between your drivers, dispatchers, and customers are vital. If there is a breakdown in this area, coordinating and assigning requests to drivers correctly is going to be challenging. Plus, you also need to make sure that drivers aren’t passing back incorrect information, as well as claiming to be 3 minutes away when in fact it’s more like 10 minutes.

As a worst case scenario, discrepancies of this nature may lead to customers missing flights or events they’ve paid for in advance, leading to a negative review at the very least. Fortunately, there are many Taxi Dispatch Systems available that can help you track, monitor and assign requests more effectively, including: Wireless Innovation, Autocab and TaxiCaller.

Allow customers to pay fares using the credit cards

Finally, if you are to make your services more convenient and increase the size of your taxi business, allow your customers to pay using their credit and/or debit cards. Sure, cash is still the most popular choice, especially outside of London, but more and more people across the UK are choosing to pay using either their cards or an electronic payment app such as Apple Pay, Google Pay or Paypal. As such, consider providing your drivers with card readers. Not only will this avoid having drivers waiting for customers to withdraw cash from an ATM or painstakingly count out change, but payments could also be completed in no more than a couple seconds with the money entering your account straight away.

Looking to increase the size of your taxi business?

Looking to increase the size of your taxi business and expand into new markets can be an exciting time. But it’s an undertaking that requires research, careful planning and, of course, access to sufficient amounts of capital. Yet regardless of whether your goals involves moving into a new office, acquiring more vehicles and/or hiring more staff, there are plenty of funding opportunities available that could support the expense. So rather than strain your finances, all you need to do is source a suitable finance agreement for your taxi business, which is where could help.  

At Rangewell, we’re an Access to Finance specialist who’s mapped over 400 lenders to offer you a comprehensive overview of more than 23,000 business finance products. Our services are free and easy to use and we’ll also support and guide you through the application process. So if you’re planning on increasing the size of your taxi business and need help supporting the expenses, apply for Alternative Finance today or find out more with Rangewell.