Interview about starting a limo company

[limoveteran]

Hi all,

I've been reading a long time, but have never posted. I wanted to let you know that I heard a interview with Bill Goerl (he wrote a book about getting started in the industry) tonight called how to start a limousine business (http://www.startingabiz.com/starting-a-limousine-service/) that I thought would be useful to some of the people who have been posting lately that they were looking for info on getting started in our industry. It's pretty basic stuff, but there were a couple things I REALLY didn't agree with. He suggested that you could (or should?) start with just a business card and phone number and basically broker out jobs as you get them. I think this isn't the best advice as you really just become a middleman. But there are a few good points which make it worth checking out.

Best of luck and happy driving,

Mark aka The Limo Vet

[Greenpala]

Farming out when starting out is an OK idea. That may be a good start just to see if you will get your feet wet. Some people dont have potential for marketing. Some are made for marketing. That is how you test it if you will do well in this business.

[limoveteran]

Originally posted by Greenpala:
Farming out when starting out is an OK idea.

I was probably a little harsh in my original post. I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea, but sometimes having an investment in vehicles and equipment makes you a little more committed. I would be afraid that with just the investment of a few hundred business cards and a phone line -- likely less than $100 -- your incentive to stick with the business if the going gets tough just isn't there. In my opinion, when an operator like that goes out of business it gives the whole industry a bad reputation.

[TxLimoGuy]

It is an interesting concept and certainly is feasible to do. There are several high end companies in the US that ONLY broker jobs. They do not own a single vehicle.

The biggest area of concern I would see is that if a new guy has no experience then setting himself up as a farm out company is going to get him in a lot of hot water as he makes mistakes and learns from them. All startups with their own car (and no previous experience) will make lots of mistakes. It is inevitable. Add in another layer of complexity like farming out and it gets even more problematic. Managing farmouts is best done (in my opinion) after you have some real world limo experience and can anticipate and handle the pitfalls.

I would not recommend it for newbies for that reason.

[gunny]

Bill started off as a Gypsy & luckily with his personality plus certain key people including an advertising industry dad by his side & some damn good chauffeurs like a VP of Sales for HP who declined a transfer to Tx, Clique succeeded.

Bill stressed professionalism & training. The weddings especially which were all inclusive top-notch service provision. When others were using disposable runners, we were laying out cloth. No Tux's though.

Funerals were broken into with the hiring of a chauffeur (cough, cough) who brought in one account whereas one the Directors (2 brothers) was hard nosed & took a liking to a recent young retired Marine who had that military bearing & formality that fitted the Director's image of professionalism plus being about 30 years younger than most of the hired help didn't hurt either especially for the double-wide carries.

With Bill purposely keeping his fleet small, 7 vehicles max. for control purposes, I found it strange that he would bring up the Broker subject.
I would never recommend anyone starting off as a broker or more important, for anyone hiring a limousine service to go through a broker as they have ZERO product control & there is a "pass the buck" mentality if the product is not delivered.

As with all training tools & advice, take what fits & trash the rest.

[Steve W.]

I think in areas where you are not sure if there is even demand for a limo business it is a good way to guage the demand with little to no investment. Providing of course you have some contracts in place with what will probably by far away limo companies to do your jobs for you.

Then yea after that it's just a game of hoping nothing goes wrong, but even when you have your own fleet that is still there somewhat, you just have more controll over the problems that do come up.

[limoveteran]

Bill stressed professionalism & training.

Gunny, have you seen his book? Is it worth recommending? There isn't a whole lot out there for the newbie.

[gunny]

Originally posted by limoveteran:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Bill stressed professionalism & training.

Gunny, have you seen his book? Is it worth recommending? There isn't a whole lot out there for the newbie. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

For those that who don't know, I am Bill's USMC Recruiter & approximately 6 months before retiring we hooked up & I landed up working for him as a chauffeur & office manager. He taught me the trade & I dedicated myself to his business where he could split on worry-free vacations knowing his business was in excellent hands.

I have not read his book for personal reasons but I do believe he can provide invaluable insight into the limo industry.

[limoveteran]

For those that who don't know, I am Bill's USMC Recruiter

I'm always amazed how small this industry really is. Thanks for the recommendation, gunny.

(And happy 232nd birthday to the USMC!)