There’s no denying that fuel gets more expensive each year, and as a result, people are looking for alternate ways to travel, from using public transportation to carpooling. If you’re like other enterprising individuals, you might consider using this trend to your advantage and enter the passenger transportation business. 

Maybe you weren’t too sold on the idea of, say, a car-hauling business, so you turned to transportation. You could start an app-based taxi service (think Uber), a car shuttle service, or a passenger bus service, to name a few. If you’d rather not wait around for your next group of passengers, you’ll want to consider the last option. 

So how do you get started? Here are some tips to remember.

5 Tips on Starting a Private Bus Transportation Business

Decide on a type of private transportation business

Before you get started on paperwork and other legal matters, you need to decide what kind of service you’ll provide, as far as private transportation businesses go. Do some research on the present modes of transportation available in the city or state where you plan to start the business. Then, you’ll see if another transportation business is needed, and if so, what problems your business will help solve.

Private buses, for instance, can run within a city, within a state, or across states. Some can even cater solely to corporate passengers, ferrying them from the office to any number of designated stops on a set route every day. If you don’t mind going out and driving corporate passengers around every day, then you can focus on that. If you’d rather limit the number of trips you make each month, consider a business that uses coach buses to ferry a group – say, a tour group – within a state or across states. 

Work on your business plan

Your business plan should include an executive summary that describes your target market, the services you provide, and your goals. Other details to include are key aspects of your business such as your location, mission statement, expenses, what kind of vehicles you’ll be getting, and how much you expect to earn. 

You’ll want to think about how you’ll get the coach bus – or buses – you’ll be using. Renting one when you need it is a good idea if you’re just starting out, because it means you won’t have to worry about parking, and you won’t need a physical storefront; buying a coach bus means you’ll need those two things as well. 

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider purchasing a bus, of course. As with other mobile businesses – like a mobile IV therapy business, for example – if you are both the owner and operator of the vehicle, you’ll be ready to go at practically a moment’s notice. Compared to renting a coach bus, where you’ll have to wait and see if there’ll be one available for your use on the day you need it. 

Once you decide if you’ll be renting your vehicle or buying one, don’t forget to include it in your business plan. 

Raise the necessary funds

There are five different ways to raise the funds you’ll need. The first option is to use your own financial resources. This can be risky, though, because if you’re not careful, you may go overboard and then you won’t have as much as you need to pay for things your family needs. The second option is to turn to friends and family. You could just ask for a loan, or convince them to invest in the company in return for a percentage from future profits. 

A third potential option is to crowdfund your business. This option makes it possible for many people to give even a small amount to your cause because all those small donations add up. The fourth option is the opposite of crowdfunding, with you going to a small community of wealthy investors and asking them to invest in your business in return for a stake in the company, ownership equity, or convertible debt. 

Last, but not the least, there’s the good old bank loan. You can usually get more capital through this option compared to the first four, but you’ll need to provide collateral that’s approximately the same value as the loan you’re hoping to get. 

Budget

Once you have your capital, use your list of foreseeable expenses to decide how much of your funds to allocate to each, from acquiring the first coach bus or two, to fuel, to marketing. It may be a good idea to operate this business from the comfort of your own home and work with one or two people you trust at first. Then, when you have a steady stream of income, you can think of moving to a separate office and hiring more people, not to mention investing in additional coach buses if necessary.

Get your business license and registration

Before you can actually start operating, though, you’ll need to register your business and get your license. For a passenger transport company, there are various permits needed, and if you own the coach buses you’ll be operating, you may be required to get insurance for each one.

This is where knowing what your business model is and what service you plan to provide can help. You may feel overwhelmed by all the paperwork you need to do and the licenses, permits, and other documentation you’ll need to get. The truth is, you just have to know what requirements your business needs to fulfill, and don’t bother with the rest. So make sure you do your research to know what’s compulsory and what isn’t.

There are other things you’ll need to do when starting a private bus transportation business, such as promoting your business and finding clients. But the things mentioned above are the most important for getting the business up and running, literally and figuratively.

Need help in finding the right vehicle for your business? Check out the best deals on coach buses for sale here.