Startup Advice
How to Start an Elderly or Disabled Persons Transportation Service
Starting an elderly or disabled persons transportation service is a rewarding experience if you do it right. We provide a friendly, comprehensive guide that demystifies what it takes to be successful.
Wondering how to start an elderly or disabled persons transportation service? We take you step-by-step from start to success.
Elderly and Disabled Transport Business Essentials
The elderly and disabled persons transportation industry has experienced growth trends, due largely to the rising care and medical needs of seniors, and legal decisions that protect the rights of disabled individuals to have equal access to social activities.
While some companies specialize in medical transportation, others transport disabled and elderly individuals to and from daycare programs, social events and other activities.
Operational Requirements
To launch an elderly and disabled transport company, you'll need a fleet of vehicles that are capable of accommodating physically challenged passengers.
Passenger vans that have been modified with wheelchair lifts and other assistive devices are common. These vehicles can accommodate 8-10 passengers, but can cost as much as $40,000 or more, even on the secondary market. If startup capital is limited, it may be possible to utilize one or more cars to launch on a limited basis.
Most elderly and disabled transport companies also feature a centralized call or dispatch center, especially if the business provides on-call transportation. As your company grows, your dispatch center will also need to grow to accommodate increased workloads.
Marketing Tactics
The families of elderly and disabled passengers often rely on referrals from service providers to locate qualified transport companies. Sometimes, service provides themselves will even contract transportation for group events.
Consequently, you'll need to proactively network with senior centers, healthcare providers, daycare centers and other community organizations to raise your profile among seniors, the disabled and their families.
Creating a Business Plan for an Elderly or Disabled Persons Transportation Service
A common mistake for a new business owner is to not create a business plan.
The key benefit of writing a business plan is that it establishes both a framework and a roadmap for your business. If you don't have a business plan, your leadership will be handicapped, choosing short-term opportunities at the expense of long-term benefits.
Start by defining your business mission. The process of writing a mission statement doesn't have to be complicated. From there, it's time to initiate the hard work involved with writing the rest of your elderly or disabled persons transportation service's business plan.
Review the Competition
Before you open an elderly or disabled persons transportation service in your town, it's a good idea to see how you will fit in the competitive landscape. Try our link below to find competitors near you. Complete the form by entering your city, state and zip code to get a list of elderly or disabled persons transportation services that are close by.
Is the local market large enough to support another elderly or disabled persons transportation service? If not, you had better be sure that you are doing things much better than the competition.
Talk to People Who Are Already in the Business
Once you've finished assessing the competion, it's a wise move to have a conversation with someone who is in the business. It's very unlikely that the local competition will talk to you. What's in it for them?
But, a person who owns an elderly or disabled persons transportation service on the other side of the country will be much more likely to talk with you, given that you don't compete with them in their area. In that case, the business owner may be more than happy to discuss the industry with you. Our estimate is that you may have to contact many business owners to find one who is willing to share his wisdom with you.
How do you find somebody who runs an elderly or disabled persons transportation service in another city who you can speak with?
No problem! Just use the link below and try a random city/state or zipcode. Then start dialing for advice until you are successful.
Advantages of an Elderly or Disabled Persons Transportation Service Purchase
Every entrepreneur dreams about building a highly successful company from the ground up. Yet elderly or disabled persons transportation service startups aren't easy - many fail within the first year.
There are a lot of factors that need to be considered in buying vs. starting a business. By buying a profitable elderly or disabled persons transportation service, you'll shorten the amount of time it takes to achieve a return on your investment because you'll have the advantage of a proven operation and an existing customer base.
Franchising May Be a Better Way to Go
Your odds of growing your business go up significantly if you decide to franchise and benefit from the prior work of others and their lessons learned.
As part of your process in starting an elderly or disabled persons transportation service, you ought to investigate whether franchising might increase your chances of success.
The link below gives you access to our franchise directory so you can see if there's a franchise opportunity for you. You might even find something that points you in a completely different direction.
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