Start up your own Taxi Company?

Start up your own Taxi Company?

So you have a Taxi Driver's Licence, what now? You have a few options, Firstly we'll look at starting your own Taxi Company.

So you want to be your own boss and take charge of your life. Thats great, working for yourself gives you flexibility and control over the work you do and most of all you get to keep all the money you make! Lets look at some of the Pro's and Con's involved

Pro's:

• You are in charge, you are the Boss!
• You decide when you work
• You get to make up the rules 
• You can choose who you hire to work for you
• You Decide which vehicles you will drive
• You get to name your company and choose your logo and marketing materials
• You run the finances so you decide what to spend money on and what not to
• If you are successful, you could grow a big company and make lots of money!

Now the funny thing about the Con's is that they are very similar to the Pro's, as you will see below:

Con's

• When you are the Boss you have to personally be responsible for everything. While you may be able to employ staff to take over some of the work for you, you will still need to make sure everything is running smoothly because if you don't you could lose everything!
• You decide when you work: let's bear in mind that lots of taxi firms operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Customers don't care if you need to sleep, they need a Taxi and they want it now! you need to be available when they call or they will go elsewhere.
• You can choose who you hire to work for you: Firstly you need to find people to hire and advertising can be expensive. Then you need to ensure these people are trustworthy, there are lots of ways you can get ripped off by your staff and if you don't protect yourself you will get ripped off.
• You Decide which vehicles you will drive: And when they go wrong you have to pay to have them fixed.
• You get to name your company and choose your logo and marketing materials: More work for you to do and if you can't do it yourself then you'll need to pay someone to do this for you. Advertising your Taxi Company is important if no one knows you exist how will you get any customers?
• You run the finances so you decide what to spend money on and what not to: Accounting is hard work if you don't know what you are doing. If you want to avoid paying too much tax or get fined for not paying enough then you will need an Accountant.
• If you are successful, you could grow a big company and make lots of money: On the flip side, if you are not successful you could end up with massive Debts or Bankrupt!

Conclusion:

Starting up your own Taxi Company is not impossible, I've done it! But be warned it is not easy and you need to be ready to work really hard and very long hours. But with a bit of luck and knowing the right people you could do it too!

Stay tuned for the Pro's and Con's of working for a Taxi Company

~Taxi Blogger

How to Become a Taxi Driver

How to become a Taxi Driver?

So you have decided that you would like to become a Taxi Driver but how do you do it?

There are a few things you will need to do in order to become a taxi driver and unfortunately it is not as simple as sticking a taxi sign on your car and heading off to pick up passengers.

So you want to become a licensed taxi driver rather than an illegal one? Now the thing about becoming a taxi driver is that the rules are different depending on where you are in the UK. 

First you must decide which town or city you want to drive taxis within. Taxi Drivers are licensed by the local Council and each Council has their own variation on the requirements a person must meet in order to become a taxi driver. Now although there is some variation every Council follows a few basic principles  One thing that is for certain is you will need a Licence to drive a Taxi and your vehicle will need a Licence to be a Taxi (The vehicle licence is covered here). Once you have decided where you want to drive taxis the most sensible option is to contact the Local Council and ask them what to do. The next step generally includes filling out lots of forms, below are some of the forms you can expect to have to fill out.

Application form: This will include all of your standard personal details

Medical Examination by a doctor: You need to be medically safe to drive a taxi, you'll not be allowed to drive a taxi if you are blind for example.

(CRB) Criminal Records Bureau: You also need to prove that you are not going to harm your customers in anyway, sex offenders are a big No No for example.

DVLA: You will also have to prove you can legally drive the vehicle you are hoping to transporting customers in.

Knowledge Test: And finally you have to prove you understand how to be a taxi driver and that you know your way around a bit.

Once you have filled out all the forms and met with your Council you can expect to have to wait between 4 and 12 weeks. This is largely down to the time it takes for the CRB check to come back.

Your Taxi Drivers licence will be valid for 1 to 3 years and it can cost between £250 -£1000. 

So now you have your Taxi Drivers Licence what next? Will you go solo and start your own business or will you work for an existing Company? 

Stay tuned for my next Blog where we will discuss the Pro's and Con's of working for yourself.

~Taxi Blogger

The Basics: What is a Taxi?

What is a Taxi?

"Seriously, your kidding me right? Everyone knows what Taxis are!"

Upon first glance, the answer to this question seems pretty obvious, however, not all "Taxis" are actually Taxis. I'll Explain...

When everyday people use the word "Taxi", it tends to be used for any vehicle that seats between one and eight passengers and transports them from any location to any destination for a fee. 

This is only half correct because there are actually two kinds of "Taxi" and legally they are quite different. 

Now most people don't know the difference and in most cases they don't need to, it is the job for the Taxi companies and the regulatory bodies to ensure that the vehicles they operate are doing so within the law.

Without going into too much detail, the world of Taxis is divided into Public Hire and Private Hire, you are either one or the other and you can not be both. The main difference between Public Hire and Private Hire is that only Public Hire vehicles can pick up passengers from a Taxi Rank or be hailed in the street. 

The only way you can only travel in a Private Hire Vehicle if you have booked it in advance. However both Public Hire and Private hire vehicles can be booked either by telephone, over the internet, from an App on your mobile or from a kiosk.

Now strictly speaking only Public Hire vehicles are actually Taxis. Just to confuse things even more in the UK they are legally known as "Hackney Carriages", this is an old term dating back to the horse and carriage era. 

So where does that leave us with Private Hire vehicles? Well, they are often called other things like Minicab's or private hire cars. Other vehicles such as stretch Limousines, party buses or wedding cars are also types of private hire vehicles.

So, if you didn't before, now you know what a Taxi is.

~Taxi Blogger

Welcome to Total Taxi Knowledge

Hello and Welcome to Total Taxi Knowledge

The purpose of this Blog is to share the knowledge I have gained over the last few years working within the Public and Private Hire Industry. 

I'll be covering all aspects of running your own Taxi Company, from your first pick up to running a fleet of 50 cars. 

I'll be reviewing existing Taxi Companies and share some top tips on how to make it in the Industry

We'll be exploring the different Taxi licencing policy's that exist throughout the UK and how this affects your business.

We'll also be keeping you up to date with technological developments that are improving safety and performance within the industry.

Oh and I'll direct you to all the suppliers you will ever need.

So, lets get Started

~Taxi blogger