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}The majority of the sample business plans you find out there focus on the stuff: meters, cars, insurance, office, radio, etc. All these are crucial components for a taxi service, but having all these components doesn't guarantee you'll make any cash. A good example of this can be found at west midlands taxis. You must understand that having equipment does not equal getting results and making money within this company. What normally happens is that the taxi business owner understands the need for promoting his taxi business. Due to the workload of the majority of taxi business owners, this decision is frequently limited to giving away business cards and is tremendously affected by what an advertising salesperson comes with that specific week. The company selling the promotion comes up with an ad to satisfy the cab business owner's budget. What ad salesperson is selling is not and ad space results. This is actually the equivalent of shooting a firearm and then aiming afterwards. Not much possibility of hitting your target. How do you do it correctly? You consider it entirely from the very start, in the phase if you are creating your business plan. 1. Define Your Target Market. Your target market is who you believe the potential customers of your own taxi service are. The better you are able to define the potential customers of your taxi service, the more precisely you'll have the ability to aim your marketing message at them. Find out about where they live, where they work, whether they are married, should they have kids, what their level of income is, what newspapers they read, what radio stations they listen to, etc. You can discover your USP by answering the following question: "Why would potential customers select your taxi company versus the other choices available to them?" Do you've got the cleanest cars, do you drivers understand their way around town much better than anyone else, do your cars always arrive on time for the pick ups, is your company the safest (i.e. no car accidents) in town, etc. You get the idea. I don't know what it is for your taxi company, but you need to know. That is the message you promote. Many taxi businesses have difficulty with this. They don't believe they offer anything different. If that is the case, then you must create something which makes you different. To give an example to you how important the USP is, let me tell you about an individual who with his brother decided to go into the restaurant company. Early in the restaurant was unsuccessful and one brother bailed out on the other. His USP? "Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed." I probably don't have to inform you the name of the firm. Ton Monaghan's USP clearly positioned Domino's Pizza as the solution when you prefer to eat in and want something quickly. Note that Tom's USP didn't mention anything about the top ingredients or the most effective recipe from the heart of Italy. Just "Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed." Simple and to the point. Tom's USP was one of the main reasons in making him a millionaire. That is the power of a truly excellent USP. It isn't always easy. Some business owners take a lot of time before they finally hit on something that really works for their customers. But each time this is done, patience had paid off quite handsomely. 3. Select Your Media That Best Matches Your Target Market. As soon as you've your target market as well as your advertising message defined, only then you choose the media that closely matches those characteristics. Why should I pick your taxi service versus every other competitive alternative available to me? The answer to that question is the focus of your advertising message and should totally be thought through at the stage of producing a small business plan for your taxi service. Use it to exploit the weaknesses of your competitors and "Overcome the Pants Off Your Competition!"
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