Have you come up with an idea that you think will put other car sharing services to shame and out of business? If so, you are off to a great start, but building a car sharing business on this idea will take a lot of time and effort. As we can see by looking at major shared mobility services around today, there is no single formula to success in the carsharing business, but there are some general stages that most newcomers in this field go through. Let’s review them.
1. Formulating your vision
Most businesses start with an idea, but the process begins in earnest when this idea is fleshed out. For example, if you want to offer customers the option to ride with a cuddly companion (like a puppy), you should think about where the animal will come from and how the animal’s welfare will be ensured. This crucial first stage is needed to weed out bad ideas and test those that remain. For example, you can pitch your idea to several people and see how they react, using the responses as a gauge for future customers.
2. Doing research
While it’s great to be focused on your car sharing business venture’s success, you should never make the mistake of forgetting about your competitors. It is essential to conduct diligent research on competitors before launching your business. This includes analyzing their business model, the type of clientele that they attract, their marketing methods, etc. Given the difficulty of carving out a spot in a market niche that is already filled with contenders, it is best to just find your own niche and spin on service, appealing to those customers who are not enamored with the existing options.
3. Planning and preparation
Once you have established a firm vision for your car sharing business and its place in the market, you can start actively preparing for launch and bringing resources together. You will need to conduct a thorough analysis of the costs that will go into launch and running the service itself after launch, along with the revenue you expect per day/car/user or another metric of your choice.
If you are providing the cars for the fleet yourself, you will need to acquire them and find a place to keep them before launch. If you plan to use the cars provided on a temporary basis by drivers, you will have plenty of paperwork and insurance procedures to go through before you can safely launch. It is also recommended to build both an app and a website for users’ convenience.
4. Testing
Conducting a limited rollout is a great way to test the efficacy of your business model and make quick changes before exposing the service to a wide audience. For example, you can hold a beta launch for customers who were most excited about your service and signed up early, collect their feedback and reward them with treats. This will leave them with a positive impression that may outshine any shortcomings while giving you the information needed to make key improvements before full launch.
5. Launch and support
It will be crucial to have specialists ready to support and engage with customers from the very first day of launch. This will show how serious you are about fulfilling clients’ needs and your strong level of preparation that indicates an organized operation.
Your idea for a car sharing business will have legs if you pay attention to the startup business launch tips that are proven the help businesses succeed.
