ISmall-Business.net

Intelligent Business Solutions

  • Home
  • Strategy
    • Small Business Strategy
      • Combining Niches to Maximize Profit Potential
      • High Ticket Versus Volume Niche Selection
      • How to Know When to Cut a Business or Niche Loose
      • Never Put All Your Eggs in One Basket
    • Sales Strategy
      • Facebook Networking Versus Paid Advertising
      • Brainstorming a Successful Sales Funnel
      • Best Practices for Profitable List Building
      • Backend Sales Strategy Tips
      • A Better Way to Use Webinars for Profits
      • Creating a Welcome Email That Makes Money
    • Production Strategy
    • Human resource strategy
  • Management
    • Business action plan
      • 7 Things to Send JVs to Get Them Onboard
      • Don’t Make JV Promises You Can’t Keep
      • How to Host a Challenge and Maximize Profits
    • Small Business Management
      • Putting Profit Tasks First During Time Management
      • How Self Doubt Sabotages Your Financial Success
      • Repurpose Your Content to Save and Make Money
    • Business Management Topics
      • Fighting the Stigma of Failure
      • Figuring Out the Perfect Launch Date and Time
      • Bonus Creation That Catapults You to Leaderboard Domination
      • Do Customers Prefer Video or Text Courses
      • Minimize Your Risk of Refunds with These 5 Tips
      • How Often Should You Email Promo Material
      • Narrow Niche Domination
      • Perfecting the Launch Process for Increased Profits
    • Business Management Blogs
      • Nobody Expects a Perfect Expert
  • Ideas
    • Find business ideas
      • 5 Lucrative Non IM Niches
      • 6 Niches That Are Hot on Social Networks
      • Are PLR Stores a Viable Way to Make Money
      • How to Know If a Membership Site Is Right for You
    • Idea feasibility
      • How to Make Money Off a $7 Product
      • Recurring Income Options
    • 10 top business ideas
      • Could Coaching Bring in More Money Than Products
      • Individual Coaching Versus Group Coaching Profits
      • Building a Reputation as a Powerful Affiliate
      • Pinterest Profit Niches
    • Low cost business ideas
      • Making Money Off eBooks and Reports
  • Valuation
    • Business Valuation
    • Increase business valuation
      • Making Wise Investments in Tools to Further Your Business
    • Business Valuation Methods
    • Understand business valuation
  • About
    • About Me
    • Blog
    • Contact Us
    • Sitemap
    • Privacy Policy
  • Strategy
  • Supply Chain
  • Customer Focus
  • Entrepreneur
  • Biz Opportunities
You are here: Home / Biz Opportunities / The Fundamental Components of a Car Sharing Business

The Fundamental Components of a Car Sharing Business

February 12, 2018 by Asif Nazeer Leave a Comment


The Fundamental Components of a Car Sharing Business

Car sharing is hot right now. In fact, the car sharing business is so hot that many car manufacturers are afraid that the traditional model of car ownership is about to collapse.

Car sharing is a relatively new development in the U.S. As a matter of fact, most domestic car share companies claim a history of a decade or less. Nonetheless, it is quickly gaining popularity with the younger crowd. Between 2010 and 2015, the total annual revenue for car sharing businesses doubled. Before 2024, experts believe it could increase another 34 percent to $16.5 billion.

It’s safe to say that now’s a good time to get into the business of car sharing.

Fortunately, running a car sharing company isn’t much different from running any other business. Here are the steps for starting your own car sharing business.

 

RELATED ARTICLE: 5 PROFITABLE AUTOMOBILE-RELATED BUSINESS IDEAS

 

Understand the Market

You aren’t the only entrepreneur with the genius idea to capitalize on the car sharing craze. Currently, there are 27 car sharing companies operating in the United States. What’s more, others overseas are eager to move into the American market. Before you launch your own car sharing enterprise, you should probably understand how established businesses understand the question, “What is car sharing?”

Here’s a snapshot of the more successful car share companies out there:

  • Zipcar. The world’s largest car sharing company, and one of the most aggressive at purchasing its competitors.
  • Car2Go. Another major car sharing competitor, owned by German auto behemoth Daimler.
  • Enterprise Car Share. A long-term car rental business that has recognized the demand for short-term car sharing.
  • Maven. GM is hedging its bets with its own car sharing program, which is a hybrid of short- and long-term rental.
  • Turo. Using Airbnb’s model, Turo is a car sharing business that allows personal car owners to rent out their vehicles.

Undoubtedly, there are a few regional car share organizations available in your area. You need to understand the drivers in your market before you develop a business plan for your car share company.

 

 

Find Your Niche

Unless your market is untouched by the existing car sharing players, you will need to distinguish your new outfit from the others. One of the best ways to do this is by targeting car share users whose needs are not currently being met.

Hopefully, your market research will uncover a niche that is unaddressed. Otherwise, you can take inspiration from any of the following minor car sharing programs. These are limited to individual cities or small regions around the U.S.:

  • Student CarShare. This Canadian car sharing outfit operates around universities in Ontario, Canada.
  • FlightCar. This is a peer-to-peer car sharing business that services 11 airports.
  • BlueIndy. Specializing in electric cars and adding public charging stations, this Parisian company functions only in Indianapolis.

New niches appear every day. For example, many massive housing complexes in big cities are considering adding car sharing programs as amenities for their tenants. Even rural zones that were previously considered not-ideal for car sharing programs are beginning to see interest in the sharing economy. So that you can succeed, be sure to develop a strategy that allows you to avoid directly competing with established companies.

 

 

Choose Your Tech

Before you finalize your car sharing business plan, you need to acquire your tech. Technology is a necessity for car sharing. This is what makes short-term rental convenient for consumers. Car sharing programs require a fleet of vehicles as well as an armada of hardware and software to assist consumers and the back-office. At the very least, your outfit will require:

  • Keyless entry and ignition systems for customer access to vehicles
  • GPS systems for tracking vehicles
  • A website and mobile portal for information and transactions
  • A billing engine for managing accounts and payments
  • A fleet management tool for scheduling use and maintenance

Fortunately, you can find car sharing platforms with much of the software components built in and ready for your customization. Still, you can expect to spend between $1,000 and $1,700 per vehicle on hardware. Additionally, you’ll spend about $40 to $60 per month on software hosting and support.

 

Develop Your Cost Structure

There is one final component of a car sharing business: the cost structure. All businesses have expenses, but the costs incurred by car sharing can be substantial. Setting aside the initial purchasing of vehicles, maintaining a fleet is expensive. In addition to the regular expenses of running any business, such as employee salaries and office utilities, you will likely pay for:

  • Fuel
  • Vehicle maintenance
  • Cleaning
  • Parking

To survive these costs, you need to pass many of them on to your users. This requires you to develop a strong cost structure that consumers won’t scoff at. Typically, car shares charge monthly member fees as well as per-mile rates. You should consider what is right for your audience as you develop your cost structure.



Source link

Filed Under: Biz Opportunities

About Asif Nazeer

My current sphere of interest is Internet Marketing - Worked for many years in finance and banking. I now consult for small businesses and starts ups. Also involved in venture capital for new companies.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sign up for our newsletter and receive a free EBook on how to boost productivity






Find it

Blog By

Small Business Consultant and Accountant helping grow your small business Read More…

Follow us online

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

The Benefits of Buying an Apartment in a Gated Community

Featured image from damacproperties.com Especially if you own a home-based … [Read More...]

  • 4 Steps to Take When You Quit Your Job – Careers
  • How to Find the Best Auto Insurance for Your Needs – Business
  • The Key Differences Between a Virtual Mailbox and a PO Box – Business

Archives

  • March 2023 (4)
  • February 2023 (2)
  • January 2023 (5)
  • December 2022 (5)
  • November 2022 (8)
  • October 2022 (7)
  • September 2022 (6)
  • August 2022 (6)
  • July 2022 (13)
  • June 2022 (11)
  • May 2022 (7)
  • April 2022 (8)
  • March 2022 (12)
  • February 2022 (8)
  • January 2022 (11)
  • December 2021 (9)
  • November 2021 (10)
  • October 2021 (11)
  • September 2021 (3)
  • August 2021 (10)
  • July 2021 (12)
  • June 2021 (5)
  • May 2021 (10)
  • April 2021 (17)
  • March 2021 (40)
  • February 2021 (39)
  • January 2021 (58)
  • December 2020 (66)
  • November 2020 (59)
  • October 2020 (34)
  • September 2020 (47)
  • August 2020 (37)
  • July 2020 (2)
  • May 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (1)
  • March 2020 (33)
  • February 2020 (25)
  • January 2020 (20)
  • December 2019 (27)
  • November 2019 (28)
  • October 2019 (34)
  • September 2019 (38)
  • August 2019 (13)
  • July 2019 (44)
  • June 2019 (40)
  • May 2019 (58)
  • April 2019 (51)
  • March 2019 (43)
  • February 2019 (44)
  • January 2019 (43)
  • December 2018 (47)
  • November 2018 (43)
  • October 2018 (58)
  • September 2018 (44)
  • August 2018 (60)
  • July 2018 (49)
  • June 2018 (58)
  • May 2018 (54)
  • April 2018 (39)
  • March 2018 (46)
  • February 2018 (48)

Biz Opps

Featured image from … [Read More...]

Featured image by Andrea Piacquadio via … [Read More...]

Featured image by Jacob Morch via … [Read More...]

Customer Focus

First published in Exchange, the magazine of the … [Read More...]

Entrepreneurs

Uptown Cheapskate is a resale store for young … [Read More...]

A team of neuroscientists in the United States … [Read More...]

This article was translated from our Spanish … [Read More...]

Strategy

If you buy something through our links, we may … [Read More...]

In helping celebrate Black History Month, Facebook … [Read More...]

ZOHO started its current Email Marketing Basics … [Read More...]

Supply Chain

Although managing inbound shipping can be … [Read More...]

© Copyright 2015 iSmall-Business.net · All Rights Reserved · Powered by ISmall-Business.net · Admin