Today, minibuses are very popular in Russia. Residents of megalopolises and small towns fell in love with this type of transport for comfortable and quick movement. As a result of this, the route business is in great demand every day. People use these services every day, despite the absence of benefits when paying for the fare.
Shuttle taxis are especially popular in large cities, where they almost crowded out other ground-based public transport. In various places, their popularity is growing from year to year. Only in one Moscow shuttles there are almost ten thousand units. This indicates a high profitability of the business. Therefore, many may wonder how to open a minibus. This will be described later.
Background income
It is worth noting that in addition to fare payment, this type of transport can bring additional income. This once again underlines how cost-effective a fixed-route taxi can be. Business can and should be multifaceted.
- Advertisements placed inside your vehicle. Posters, business cards, information booklets and other advertising materials - this will bring a considerable income to the owner of the route business, if everything is organized correctly. Typically, these products, efficient and catchy, are placed closer to the passengers in order to attract their attention.
- Use of a car body as an advertising surface. This design is applied by specialists of the relevant agency in the form of a film with a bright image. Despite the fact that this type of advertisement is quite expensive, this does not prevent him from gaining more and more popularity.
- The provision of transportation services for excursions and other organized groups.
- Providing a vehicle for various celebrations.
So, if all of the above convinced you to open your own itinerary business, you just need to familiarize yourself with the main stages of this process. They will be described later.
License
To draw up a document for the implementation of this type of activity, you need to contact the transport inspection office at the place of residence. There you can find out in detail how to open a minibus. Bringing cars in accordance with the requirements established for this type of passenger transport will be mandatory. It is also necessary that staff members have people with the appropriate driver’s license and have passed special certification. A license is issued for a period of five years.
The receipt of this document is paid by the state duty of two types, namely: for considering the application for a license and for its issuance. For each vehicle at the enterprise, a separate accounting card is created. In different regions of the country, the amounts that need to be paid for a license are differentiated.
They can range from 350 to 500 dollars. Within 30 days, you will have a ready-made license in your hands. Without this document, passenger transport is strictly prohibited. For this, the legislation provides for a system of administrative penalties in the form of fines. Individual entrepreneurship allows you to engage in this type of business, you can also register as a limited liability company (LLC).
But the most important document is still the license for the right to engage in transportation. It is important to know when organizing a route business.The license is issued by the Russian Ministry of Transport. It is issued for the transport of more than eight people in a car that is specially equipped for this.
Documents required for obtaining a license
To start the activity you need the following materials:
- the charter of the enterprise;
- memorandum of association;
- certificate of state registration;
- Documents on tax registration;
- statistics management codes;
- Bank details;
- physical and legal addresses;
- rental agreement for parking;
- vehicle passports;
- driver's license database and PC;
- certificate of technical inspection of cars;
- documents of drivers (work books, driver's licenses).
Selection and purchase of cars
In this case, an individual approach should be applied. You will form your car fleet based on financial capabilities. 
However, you should not save on this point of expenses by purchasing used cars. Experienced taxi owners will certainly help with advice that is worth considering.
It is known that during a shift, depending on a given flight, a car can travel quite long distances. It is important to know if you want to organize a fixed-route taxi. Business in this case depends on the calculations. If you multiply the mileage by the total number of work shifts per day, and even by the number of days in a year, you get an impressive figure.
Such long distances are not always mastered even by a brand new foreign car. The most popular cars today are GAZelles (GAZ-322132) for 13 passenger seats. Ford Transit with 18 seats and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter with 19 seats are also in demand. Despite its price attractiveness, GAZelles are not too comfortable and roomy, and the operating conditions leave much to be desired.
If your financial possibilities are still somewhat limited, use leasing. But just do not save on cars! With this type of loan, you will reduce the cost of buying the necessary cars and get a discount on some taxes.
Route development
This is an important point. To find out how to get a route for passenger transportation, you need to contact the city administration. They regularly organize contests for transportation, in which you can and should participate.
Routes that are already known in advance and “rolled up” will start to generate income from the very first day. Having put maximum effort into the competition, as well as connecting the necessary connections, it’s realistic to win the competition and get one or more flights at your disposal.
You may also have a question about how to open your route. You can, of course, develop your own flight. To do this, carefully studying the selected area, you need to carefully think through and explore everything. With this approach, very soon your new brainchild will turn into a real klondike. However, it is still necessary to endure difficult times. After all, passengers will need a week or two to get used to the new route, and the minimum revenue will not immediately cover all costs.
Staff recruitment
This issue must be approached extremely responsibly. Indeed, not only your income, but also the lives of passengers will depend on the personnel. What could be more important?
You will need:
- drivers of category D;
- dispatcher;
- accountant-cashier;
- a medical professional - he will carry out a survey of drivers before leaving the route.
It will sometimes be superfluous to independently control the condition of cars. After all, a sloppy and irresponsible driver is often the cause of frequent breakdowns of minibuses. The driver must have a medical certificate, and his work experience must be at least 5 years.
Salary
Typically, drivers are set a minimum salary and a premium for increased production rate. Such a wage system is a very effective and powerful incentive. Like any other business of its own, the route business requires serious investments. Various factors affect its payback. And it’s very good that you can always use the opportunity of additional income, such as servicing holiday events, excursions, as well as advertising outside and inside your cars. Each has its own secrets to a successful business.
Calculation of income and expenses
One car makes a profit of about 2200 rubles daily. The costs of maintenance and operation - about 1000 rubles. Payroll contributions are about 500 rubles, and compulsory insurance is about 470 rubles. Net profit will be approximately 230 rubles.
In total, it will take from 600 to 7000 thousand rubles a month to pay taxes. The larger the fleet, the greater the income and less deductions from one minibus for the salary of the driver and the dispatcher. Also, as mentioned above, in this case, it is necessary to carefully select cars. For example, GAZelles are distinguished by considerable fuel consumption - about 20 liters per 100 km. This is important to remember.
The total fuel and maintenance costs for one GAZelle will be approximately 1000 rubles per day. The cost of insurance of a fixed-route taxi is about 30-40 thousand rubles a year, of which CASCO is about 12-20 thousand rubles, which is about 5-8% of the total cost of the car, and compulsory motor liability insurance is about 8 thousand rubles.
The main points of expenses for a taxi
The main costs in this case are:
- taxation;
- fuel;
- car insurance and repair.
Taxi business plan
The premises for the car park can be rented outside the city. This is the most economical option, as this rental will be cheaper than in the city. If you have a large fleet of vehicles, you can agree on direct deliveries of fuel and spare parts. It will also reduce costs. Other aspects of the implementation of this idea were described above.
Important points of running this business
When the documentary side of the issue is resolved, it seems that everything is very simple, and you can open a fixed-route taxi. In this case, a business plan is not difficult to draw up. However, some points are still better to clarify.
- Be sure to develop a route along which the transportation will take place. A large flow of passengers is always observed in the city - here the roads are good, and gasoline is used sparingly. The vehicle will be operated carefully, as the roads in the city are much better than outside. Include this in your business plan, as well as how to get a taxi route. This was stated above.
- Cars can be both own and rented. But we still know that the route business completely eliminates the use of vehicles in a gentle way.
- Do not forget that there is always a lot of competition in the city.
- Intercity and suburban routes are easier, there is less competition. However, there is one important factor that completely crosses out these advantages - roads. Outside the city, they can be worse, and the flow of passengers is somewhat less. We carefully study these aspects.
- We approach the choice of fare correctly. Everything should be within reason. Do not lag behind competitors, do not forget about profitability.
Total
Any business is always difficult to start. But if you still decide, then in this case, success will not take long. The route business is a fairly stable source of income, because in our time a person really needs public transport as a means of transportation that provides mobility to him. One has only to start, and who knows - suddenly this business will become a thing of your life?
