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Running a successful coach charter or bus hire company is a full time job, often operators start with one or two vehicles and actually drive them themselves. But as your business becomes more popular and you want to expand, what are the best ways of doing this?

Draw up a Business Plan

Any business will benefit from having a business plan, and is definitely a very useful tool for a coach charter company. One factor that makes this so important is the amount of investment needed to buy extra vehicles to accommodate the number of passengers that you are targeting.

You need to draw up a plan of the type of customer you wish to target, for instance corporate to sightseeing and everything in between.

Evaluate Your Company

Incorporated in your plan will be a full detailed evaluation of your company, how it is legally structured and what services you provide. Including the location of your head office, where your vehicles will be serviced and parked, and the hours that you operate.

Now list the increase in the number of vehicles you wish to progress to, this will give you an indication of the increase in cash flow you will need. Then you can evaluate how many fares you will have to get to each month to keep up with loan requirements.

Evaluate Your Market

You need to fully understand your market, who your competitors are and the market you wish to attack. Then develop a plan how you are going to market your company to ensure the business is a success.

Do in depth market comparisons, such as fare prices and charter costs, the sort of levels of service they provide and what are the vehicles like. Make direct comparisons with your company and the sort of clients your competitors target. You might find that you wish to find a niche that is so far being ignored.

Do You Need To Expand Your Management Team

As you expand you will also need to expand your management team, try to hire experts in the field you are hoping to expand in. Don’t take risks, ensure the new leaders have plenty of experience in relevant transport businesses.

Market Your Company

A marketing plan is essential if you want to create and develop a market for your services. You need to implement a strategy for your marketing, when and where to target and the type of customer you want to target.

Do not ignore digital marketing, in this day and age of the internet online marketing is often the most effective way to reach your target audience. Professional digital marketing companies such as Voova Digital can be invaluable to your cause.

Ensure that you have an effective and clear website, that customers can access and get replies from 24 hrs a day, plus they can get all relevant information about your services and pricing easily and book their charter at a click of a button.

Get Financial Advice

Finally it is important to get professional financial advice, somebody that can do cost analysis of your fares and costs, and make sure your business is profitable. A good accountant may also suggest new technologies that will assist the business and raise the income profitability.

Software such as vehicle tracking systems by companies like eCoachManager, is one way to operate smarter and increase profits, it will also assist drivers in their day to day job.

If you put the building blocks in place before you try to grow your business then you will surely reap the rewards.