If you have kids to drop off at school or you need to keep yourself ticking over while taking a college course, then taxi driving could be for you. Some hours are busier than others. If you only want to work weekday afternoons, say, you could be sitting idle for a long time.
That means you are self-employed, working the hours you want and keeping your fares for yourself, with no manager breathing down your neck. And get yourself some excellent specialist taxi insurance. Your cab is your livelihood after all so you want it to be well protected.
Remember: you can claim many of these costs back against tax, giving you a nice boost to your profits. Of course, there are a few boxes you need to tick before hitting the road.
You must have had a full driving licence for a year. Most firms expect you to provide your own vehicle, too. Depending on your local authority and the type of cab you wish to drive — public or private hire — there may be tests and checks you need to pass.
Picture it: driving around your home city or beautiful countryside in your comfy cab, your favourite tunes playing, enjoying chats with your passengers. Get yourself some great specialist taxi insurance before you set off. If the driver is working for a company, they will be dispatched by the company to go and pick up passengers. They may also drive around for different hours of a shift to pick up waiting passengers for fares. A taxi driver's shift may be very busy or slow, based on the area that the driver is working.
How busy the shift is and how many fares the driver collects will determine the pay structure for each day. There are basically four different types of taxi drivers and they each vary in both responsibility and job function:. Owner-Operators - purchase their own taxi. The owner is responsible for all aspects of the taxi and can work their own schedule.
This even allows the owner to lease the taxi cab to other drivers. Independent Subletters - lease a taxi cab from a company and pay for its use. This allows for more independence for the taxi drivers because they basically own their own business and work as they please.
Taxi Renters - rent their cab for their own shift and work for a cab company. As a self-employed taxi driver building up your own client base is a great way to ensure future work. Design yourself some business cards detailing your services, rates, contact details and anything else that you feel could help you secure work.
Hand your business cards out to customers once you have completed the journey, especially if you have built up a good rapport with the passenger as they will feel confident in your abilities and will be more likely to use your services again.
To secure regular work as a taxi driver requires relationship building and being able to prove to your customers that through using your services they will arrive at their destination safely and on time. Think outside the box and target areas where a regular taxi service is required.
Once you have built up a rapport with one of these customers they will be likely to recommend you to their friends who are in similar situations. Another great way to stand out from the crowd is to target a specific type of customer and tailor your service to their requirements. For example, if you are picking up customers from the airport, give them a small goody bag containing a local map, brochures on local attractions, biscuits, tea bags and of course your business card.
This relatively small investment goes above what is expected of a taxi service and will encourage customers to use you for their return trip to the airport. A large number of your prospective customers will be people who are going out in the evening for a few drinks so cannot drive home. With this in mind contact bars, restaurants and clubs and see if you can advertise your services in their establishment.
If you build up a good relationship you could make yourself their go to taxi driver for when they are asked to call a taxi for their customers. Where did you hear about us? I'd like to enquire about Call me back This morning This afternoon Tomorrow. Would you like to receive emails from us? Yes please No thanks. We want you to know exactly how our service works and why we need your details. Please read our Privacy Policy before you continue.
Qualifications and Training All taxi drivers need to be licensed and display their license clearly in their vehicle whenever they are working. The licensing conditions depend on the local council authority, but applicants are generally required to: Be at least 21 years of age.
0コメント