Start A Transportation Service - Business Ideas
Transportation businesses offer ridesharing services, haul consumer goods, or ship supplies and products from one location to another. They target individual passengers, other companies, or global business partners.
If you are starting a transportation service, decide who and what you will serve, set up the business structure, register the business, and apply for the required business licenses or permits. To ensure a profitable business, incorporate proper hiring procedures and keep up with maintenance and recertifications.
Starting a transportation service requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell transportation service, or selling transportation service online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Key Stats
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
|
Office Space Expenses |
$0 |
$7,000 |
|
Employee & Freelancer Expenses |
$151 |
$252 |
|
Business Formation Fees |
$600 |
$5,400 |
|
Equipment & Supply Expenses |
$63 |
$700 |
|
Vehicle Expenses |
$2 |
$10,004 |
|
Retail Business Expenses |
$0 |
$3,150 |
|
Inventory Expenses |
$0 |
$5,000 |
|
Training & Education Expenses |
$0 |
$2,000 |
|
Website Costs |
$13 |
$215 |
|
Advertising & Marketing Costs |
$75 |
$2,486 |
|
Software Expenses |
$0 |
$225 |
Case Studies
•
$364K/mo
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
MTA |
mta.info |
31,438 |
|
|
Swoop |
flyswoop.com |
67,661 |
|
|
Forward Air |
forwardair.com |
96,141 |
|
|
MBTA |
mbta.com |
113,020 |
|
|
Metro |
wmata.com |
248,581 |
|
|
Metropolitan Transit System |
sdmts.com |
261,820 |
|
|
Diversified Transportation Services |
dtsone.com |
528,693 |
|
|
Frozen Food Express |
ffeinc.com |
570,279 |
|
|
Mirai Flights |
mirai.flights/new-order |
595,486 |
|
|
Nolan Transportation Group |
ntgfreight.com |
709,587 |
|
|
IPATA |
ipata.org |
862,824 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
|
Rewarding work |
Starting a transportation service can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about. |
|
High customer retention rates |
Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer. |
|
Gain exposure and experience |
This career allows you to gain experience working for multiple different businesses - which will benefit your resume and also keep things interesting for you! |
|
Daily physical activity |
Transportation Service's typically involve a much greater degree of movement than other lines of work. Most days, you will spend your day walking, running errands for your business, and performing a multitude of tasks. This can have a positive impact on energy levels and your overall health. |
|
Face to face interaction |
If you are the type of individual that thrives on human interaction, then this is the business for you! With a transportation service, you will be hands-on with customers and or employees every day. |
|
Strong Demand & Relatively Recession Proof |
The demand for transportation service is increasing year over year and the business is known to be relatively recession proof. |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
|
Motivation of employees |
If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees. |
|
Security Issues |
With any Saas business, data loss and security issues may arise throughout your process of building your product. It's critical that you understand exactly what you're responsible for and how to avoid potential issues down the road. |
|
Low margins |
The gross margins for your transportation service are typically around 10%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability. |
|
High employee turnover |
In the transportation service, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment. |
|
Lack of benefits |
With a transportation service, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming. |
|
Isolation |
Often times, as a transportation service, you typically work alone and do not have much face-to-face interaction with other team members. |
Marketing Ideas
-
1
Direct Sales
Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.
For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.
-
2
Word of mouth
Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.
Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.
According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.
Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.
-
3
Partnerships
A partnership is a formal agreement between two or more entities to oversee business operations and share profits and liabilities.
Creating strategic partnerships with an existing business can be a huge win for a startup.
This is considering that a partnership creates a new slate of future options for your startup.
On the other side, pursuit of partnerships could suck up a ton of time, and bunch of resources, and fail to materialize.
Therefore, entrepreneurs need to do proper research and evaluate the possibilities of achieving success through partnerships.
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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