Bus transportation as a profitable business. Intercity passenger transportation as a business

According to many entrepreneurs, the bus transportation business cannot generate much profit today due to low profitability. And the biggest problem in this direction is the almost complete absence of roadside service or its very low level. Moreover, modern buses do not have the necessary comfortable travel conditions. Unfortunately, if you look at the realities, these words are confirmed by the fact that many buses do not have air conditioning, toilets and other service attributes. And if they exist, they are often broken. And what can we say about a vehicle produced in Soviet times? These are not only inconvenient to ride, but also dangerous.

In any case, engaging in this type of activity can bring quite a lot of money if you take its organization seriously and start with creating a business plan. Of course, you don’t need to think that such a business needs your attention only at the initial stage. You will have to constantly monitor everything so that everything works, otherwise any downtime will bring only losses.

The beginning of the way

First of all, you will need to register your own passenger transportation business under the guise of an individual entrepreneur or as a legal entity. Next, it is important to obtain a license to provide the service.

After receiving all the necessary papers, you can begin to create a route and the enterprise itself.

Automobile transport

It is clear that the entire business will be based on buses. They can be bought or borrowed, and not only new copies, but also used ones. The main thing is that in the latter option, such a bus must be on the road, undergo technical inspection, and its maintenance should not be expensive, otherwise all the income will be spent on repairing such vehicles.

Buses are divided into:

• large – 50 seats;
• medium – 25 places;
• small – 15 places;
• for VIP transportation – up to 8 seats.

Regarding the last option, this service has recently been quite actively gaining momentum in terms of popularity among the population of the country. So you might want to consider this niche as well. To begin with, it is best for you to purchase one bus for some kind of test. If it begins to generate net income, then it makes sense to develop further in this direction by purchasing new vehicles.

Costs of starting and running a business

One-time costs include obtaining a license and registering a business. Of course, this includes the purchase of a bus. Regarding fixed costs, these include:

• conductor's salary;
• driver's salary;
• route rental;
• bus repair;
• spare parts;
• fuel;
• parking rental;
• vehicle washing, etc.

As practice shows, the invested money should be returned within one year of business operation. Some people manage to do this in three months. But this is influenced by many factors, ranging from the cost of travel of the chosen route and ending with the number of residents in the city. If we are talking about transporting passengers by bus around the city, do not forget that this type of activity requires a special license, which can only be issued by the central authorities. The approximate cost of such a document today is about $4,000. Moreover, it will take almost a month to be processed.

Premises

The building of your company should house a station where buses are serviced, washed, as well as office premises and an area for parking vehicles with security. If at the initial stage you do not have the required amount of money at your disposal, then consider the option of renting a parking lot, and you can use someone else’s car wash for money.

It is best to be located on the outskirts of the city, this will allow you to significantly save on rent. And to locate a large company you need a considerable territory, which in the city center can cost a large sum of money.

Approximate income and expenses

Having such a company, which has at its disposal 5 buses, there is an opportunity to earn a total of up to $200,000 at the end of the year. But part of this amount will go to pay employees, fuel, spare parts, etc.

The estimated cost per year would be $70,000. Thus, the average return on business is 4-5 years. In any case, first you need to draw up a correct business plan for passenger transportation by bus, where you note all possible costs and income in order to ensure the profitability of such a project and the advisability of starting it at all. We can only wish you good luck in your endeavors and create a truly high-quality, large passenger transportation company.

Passenger transportation is one of the most responsible types of business, along with the food industry. To open it, you need a special license. Anyone can engage in passenger transportation: you can draw up documents for a company or register as an individual entrepreneur.

Business requires investment, therefore, it is desirable that there should be no problems with the material and technical base from the very beginning. The most common types of business are urban, suburban, intercity passenger transportation and taxi services.

Taxi service

Taxi is a profitable business option, but it should be borne in mind that competition in this sector is high. Every city has several trusted taxi services. What does this mean: in order to establish yourself, considerable advertising costs will be required.

But most importantly- these are prices and unique offers. Clients will use a taxi only if the price is cheaper and the service is at a high level.

There are the following options for creating a taxi service:

• Opening your own taxi;
• Purchasing a franchise.

Let's look at each in more detail.

Own taxi: is it real?

You can organize your own taxi service. But for this it is advisable to have your own practice in this matter. If you are a taxi driver, then there must be quite a few acquaintances from the taxi companies in which you worked together. To create your service you need:

• draw up a business plan;
• rent space for an office and call center;
• hire workers: you will need an accountant and dispatchers (an accountant can be hired on an outsourcing basis);
• have several cars - if drivers are without their own car;
• have your own car service or an agreement on cooperation on an ongoing basis.

So, there are two options:

1. The driver comes to work for you without a car. In this case, he is paid a salary and possible interest.
2. Driver with own car. This is the most convenient option: you don’t need to buy cars and have your own taxi fleet. The driver pays you tax on orders. It's much easier to work this way.

Please note that everything should be automated, each order is entered into the database.

Franchise and its advantages

When buying a franchise, you take a risk, but a real businessman cannot be scared by risks. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the main features of the franchise:

• You have the right to use the taxi brand from which you purchased the franchise. If this company is well-known in the region and also has a good reputation, you are in luck. There is no need to come up with a name, develop a promotion policy and reinvent the wheel when working with advertising materials.
• A ready-made business plan for promoting a taxi service in the city will be provided. Usually a business plan takes a lot of time - you save it.
• The franchise involves the support of the central office. That is, you will always be advised and helped.
• The parent company provides training for new employees - dispatchers, taxi drivers and other personnel. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about hiring an employee without sufficient experience.
• Use of company equipment and call center. In particular, servers are provided. There is no need to independently organize communication with taxi drivers and come up with your own methods.

Important: many drivers use several taxi services at once to receive regular orders. Therefore, in order to attract new taxi drivers, it is necessary to create simple and profitable conditions for cooperation.

Intercity transportation

Intercity work is an opportunity to transport passengers:

• by car;
• by minibus;
• by bus.

It all depends on whether you have your own car or whether you will cooperate with drivers with their vehicles. Traveling by car over short distances (up to 6-7 hours of driving) is quite common. One driver can handle this. If the distance is longer, you will need 2 people. Usually replaced halfway through.

For intercity transportation, sooner or later a passenger car will not be enough; you will have to purchase a bus. Options from 15 to 50 seats are available.

Important: when buying a bus, always think about the passengers (this also applies to the entire business in general). Sit in every seat on the bus and check if it is comfortable. Learn the need to carry luggage. Otherwise, there will be no flattering reviews about your company. Nobody wants to shake on an uncomfortable bus with their knees resting on the next seat.

Starting capital may vary. Buying a bus, registering a company and creating a database will cost from 2 million rubles. Next, it depends on promotion and people’s needs for your services.

Business implementation consists of the following actions:

• study of the intercity transportation market in the region;
• drawing up a business plan;
• creation of material and technical base;
• registration of a company or private entrepreneur;
• registration of licenses;
• concluding an agreement with the Transport Committee on work on certain routes;
• purchase of transport;
• attracting employees (in the case of buses - at least two drivers);
• advertising and promotion.

Note: If you receive an order for transportation abroad in Russia, you will urgently need a driver with a foreign passport and visa. Take this into account and initially hire “field” drivers if you allow this option.

Your audience and geography

You can use the bus for:

• Transportation along a specific route. This is constant work according to a specific schedule. The downside is the expense of fuel even if few people are traveling.
• Transportation on request. Working on request is profitable: you set a certain price for the trip. This is usually done when there are shopping tours, business trips for employees of a large company, etc.
• Organizing your own tours. You can go on the above-mentioned shopping tours, as well as make tourist routes. At the same time, there is the possibility of cooperation with travel companies. Tours to capital cities are often organized to attend concerts and other cultural events.

Urban and suitable passenger transport: buses and minibuses

This option contains the difficulties and at the same time the advantages of the previous two. If you seriously decide to get into this kind of business, do not rush to buy Gaz minibuses and other domestic brands.

It’s better to talk to experienced drivers who will tell you which option will suit both the passenger, the driver, and the business owner.

Things to take care of:

• quality transport;
• good route option;
• drivers with at least 5 years of experience.

Opening a passenger transportation business is a responsible undertaking. So always think about quality. Then safety will be guaranteed, and passengers will choose only your transport company!

A developed network of passenger transport is an urgent need of the modern world. However, in our country this area is not yet sufficiently developed, so opening your own passenger transportation business is a very promising business that can bring high income to the owner. But today's real business conditions are such that in order to stay in the market, you need to know about the possible problems and nuances of organizing such a business. In this article we will try to analyze the features of passenger transportation, the difficulties that await an entrepreneur, and also give some tips on running a business.

What documentation is needed to register a business, what laws are important to pay attention to?

To carry out commercial activities in this area, you must be an officially registered individual entrepreneur (IP) or open an LLC. But the most important thing is to obtain the appropriate license from the Russian Ministry of Transport. There are three types of licensing for passenger transportation: when using passenger cars, vehicles equipped to transport more than 8 people and vehicles with a carrying capacity of more than 3.5 tons.

We need to obtain a second type license. To do this, in accordance with government decree No. 749 of September 24, 2010, the following package of documents must be submitted to the Ministry:

Founders' agreement;
- articles of association;
- LLC registration certificate;
- document on registration with the tax service;
- statistical codes;
- actual and legal address of the enterprise, telephone number;
- bank account details;
- PTS of all cars;
- agreement on provision of parking;
- DB and PC certificates;
- copies of the technical inspection report;
- passport, work book and driver’s license (or several).

Additionally, before submitting documents, you must pay a fee of 300 rubles for consideration of the application, and upon receipt of the finished document - another 1000. The license is valid for five years from the date of issue, and each vehicle must have a separate registration card. If at the time of starting commercial activity you have less than two dozen cars, you can contact a larger transport company that can issue permission for cars to leave the route.

Arrangement of the bus depot

Choosing passenger cars is one of the most difficult moments; many people wonder: how to choose the right bus? You can hire drivers with your own buses or purchase vehicles yourself. At first glance, the option with drivers seems preferable, since the maintenance and repair of cars does not require your participation or the company’s expenses. However, such drivers are difficult to control; each of them can go to another carrier, change routes, and the owner of the organization receives less income.

In the case of purchasing buses, all the trump cards pass into your hands. But here it is important to have an accurately calculated business plan, correctly distribute expenses, and take into account income. It is the financial side of the issue that often fails novice businessmen. You need to select buses very carefully: they should not be too expensive, have good capacity and require minimal costs for repairs and maintenance.

Quite often, for transportation, domestic companies purchase Gazelles with up to 15 seats. These cars can accommodate more passengers with standing room, but such overcrowding can be dangerous on the road. Trouble-free operation of such vehicles lasts no more than 3 years, after which the profitability of the vehicle comes into question due to frequent breakdowns.

Therefore, recently one can observe an increase in the percentage of foreign minibuses on the streets of Russian cities. Usually these are Ford, Peugeot, Iveco buses. Such cars cost on average twice as much as Gazelles, so they require a large initial investment. But a number of advantages attract attention: large capacity (up to 26 seats), service life is at least 7 years, and repairs are required extremely rarely.

When buying a car, you need to pay great attention to the manufacturer’s warranties, service, and technical support. Some sellers offer favorable conditions for entrepreneurs, provide loans at low interest rates, and leasing. Most entrepreneurs do not recommend buying used buses from other carriers unless there is a compelling reason. Because such sellers usually remain silent about existing problems. When purchasing new cars, you should definitely check with the seller the permitting documents, for example, vehicle type approval (VTA). If there is such approval, then the seller:

You participate in various tenders;
- guarantees the quality of transport and its legalization in the country;
- ensures vehicle compliance with safety requirements;
- provides factory warranties in the presence of a separating list;
- will allow you to freely receive service from official dealers of the brand;
- quickly complete all documents.

In this case, obtaining a transportation license or concluding a leasing or lending agreement will be much easier.

Potential profit

It is very important to calculate the expected profitability of your business. To do this, it is necessary to take into account the number of regular trips per month, the cost of the trip, the average number of passengers in the cabin, the cost of fuel, parking, washing, maintenance, driver’s salary, and repair work. According to these indicators, foreign cars are much more profitable. You can also reduce the cost of ownership by renting parking and garages in a remote area or outside the city. Additionally, it is worth concluding an agreement on the supply of spare parts, consumables and fuel from manufacturers.

Please note that advertising placed on the back of the bus and/or inside the bus can be a good source of additional income. This technique can bring in about 12 thousand rubles a month, which, you see, is very good. In all calculations, it is necessary to take into account the popularity of a particular route, the number of stops and cars already running. This can be called the cornerstone of a carrier’s success, so it is important to take a balanced approach to choosing a route. The solution may be to independently develop a route that is not yet in the city. You will need to carefully analyze the traffic situation in the locality, anticipate demand, and coordinate the route with the city authorities.

In conclusion, we can recommend that all beginning carriers carefully prepare for starting a business, learn about the specifics of this type of activity, and communicate with entrepreneurs who have been working in this area for some time. This information will allow you to competently approach the organization of all processes, correctly calculate risks and investments, and take into account the real situation. It is very important to think through development prospects and draw up a detailed business plan. In this case, you have a good chance of success in organizing your own passenger transportation business.

Transport services, along with healthcare and tourism, are one of the most promising and profitable areas of business worldwide.

Times have changed, modes of transport have changed and improved, but people's need for transportation has not decreased at all over the past centuries.

People are always on the move and constantly in a hurry to get somewhere. The steady growth of the population causes the emergence of new transport companies and attracts novice businessmen to this field.

Transporting passengers has always been a responsible and time-consuming task.. Because of this, many businessmen avoided this type of activity.

But today, transport services have turned into know-how and the interest of budding entrepreneurs in them has increased significantly. Businessmen involved in passenger transportation are “growing” very quickly. Therefore, having comprehended the theoretical basics, you can use them to organize a profitable and rapidly growing business.

What do you need to open?

Despite the fact that there are a lot of private and public companies involved in transporting passengers, problems exist in almost all cities of Russia. In view of this there is little competition in this field.

There are many types of transportation and you need to organize your business strictly based on the chosen direction.

However, to start your own business, you need to solve many general issues and go a long way from an idea to a finished business.

Which type should I choose?

First of all it is necessary to decide on the type of transportation, because the process of organizing a business directly depends on this.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, it is best to choose from the following areas:

• City transportation. Transportation of passengers within the city. At the same time, the maximum possible flow of clients is served. Here you will find more competition than in other areas.

• Intercity transportation. Less competition and more freedom in terms of pricing. The flow of customers will be much less than for transportation around the city and will depend on the specific day of the week.

• Taxi service. Organization of a business for transporting passengers to order. Here, unlike previous types, there is no need to determine a specific route for daily movements. The efficiency of operations will depend on the price per 1 km of track and the speed of response to the customer’s order.

To create a profitable business, It is necessary to find and analyze a large flow of information at the planning stage. 80% of the future success of the enterprise depends on how thoroughly you prepare for starting your own business.

List of events

In progress preparing a business plan your passenger transportation project, the main points should be covered:

• Business registration And obtaining a license for passenger transportation.
• Renting premises for the office.
• Creation of a car park and purchasing the necessary equipment.
• Route selection transportation and scheduling.
• Calculation of financial indicators and determining the company's future performance.

This is the main cluster of issues that should be worked through to create a profitable business. The result of such preliminary work will be a business plan, which includes all the key points that will need to be adhered to during the implementation process.

There also remains the question of planning the route. One has only to note that the enterprise’s budget should include the cost of renting a route, which will amount to approximately 20,000 rubles per month.

Besides, you should pay special attention to the marketing and promotion of your project. Today there are many creative ways to advertise your own brand that can be found on the Internet.

Questions regarding the choice of premises, hiring staff and advertising remain at the discretion of the entrepreneur himself. Specific decisions depend on the region of activity, the scope of the business and the competitive environment.

Organizational aspects

Registration

Once you have chosen the direction of your business, you need to take care of registering it. Entrepreneur can start its activities as an individual entrepreneur, but its capabilities will be limited and in case of expansion, you will have to re-issue the documents.

Therefore, it is best to immediately register as an LLC or CJSC. It is easier to register an LLC, which will allow you to provide a full range of services not only to individuals, but also to legal entities.

Registration with the tax authorities will take from 2 weeks and will cost the entrepreneur about 10,000 -15,000 rubles. Based on the results of registration, you will receive a “Certificate”, “Extract”, open a bank account and receive a seal of the organization.

Obtaining a license

It is prohibited to transport passengers without the appropriate license. Therefore, after registering a company, you will need to apply for a license to the Ministry of Transport.

To ensure that your license is not denied, you need to worry in advance about hiring experienced drivers with extensive work experience. If the organization’s vehicles have more than 8 seats, then the drivers must have category “D”.

When applying for a license, you must pay a fee of 6,000 rubles. The license is issued for a 5-year period.

Total expenses for registration of documents, taking into account unforeseen expenses, will amount to 25,000 rubles.

About the difficulties of organizing a business for passenger transportation by minibus and the features of vehicle equipment, watch the video:

Purchase of cars and necessary equipment

After completing registration, renting premises and hiring staff, you need to move on to purchasing vehicles. First of all on the choice of vehicle will depend on which direction of passenger transportation you are on. Cars will become the main asset on which work efficiency will depend.

Here we will consider the most common type - urban transportation.

Today there are several ways to organize a vehicle fleet:

• Hiring drivers with cars. The easiest option, which has many limitations.
  First of all, in this situation the entrepreneur receives much less profit.
  Secondly, minibus owners can voluntarily go to another route.
  The third pitfall will be difficulties in monitoring personnel. If conflicts arise with drivers, you will not be able to manipulate them, since all the “trump cards” will be in their hands.
• Purchasing vehicles.

Options for creating your own park

There are also several possibilities here:

• Buying new cars. If an entrepreneur has enough funds to purchase cars, then this will be the best and most profitable method of creating his own fleet. In this case, the entrepreneur will be the “true owner” of the business, he will personally draw up routes, hire and replace personnel without damaging the business.

• Purchasing a used car. Along with the advantages, the option also has disadvantages. It is worth remembering that the service life of a minibus purchased in this way should not exceed 3 years. Otherwise, constant problems with repairs will reduce the company's profits.

• New car leasing. New cars can be purchased on lease. This is an advanced form of loan-lease, at the end of which the vehicle can remain at the disposal of the company.

Entrepreneurs can create their fleet solely by leasing fixed assets, but in this case, each machine will have to generate sufficient profit per month to pay for itself.

Although leasing acquisition is accompanied by overpayments in the form of interest, by properly organizing your business you can create a huge and profitable fleet of vehicles.

Selection of equipment

Today for transport companies a huge selection of minibuses available for purchase.

The most profitable in terms of price-quality will be purchase of domestic GAZelle minibuses:

• The machines are very stable in operation and in the first 3 years of operation the maintenance costs will be low.
• On average, the cost of spare parts for one car will be 1000 rubles per month.

These minibuses consume a lot of fuel, but buying other equipment will be an unjustified luxury. Standard equipment for Gazelle minibuses costs around 700,000 rubles.

According to the new decree of the Russian government, every “route” transport engaged in passenger transportation must be equipped with the GLONASS system and have a tachograph.

When drawing up a budget, it is worth taking into account additional costs for equipment, which will cost approximately 70,000 rubles per 1 car.

Sample financial plan

Here we provide indicative financial calculations.

Investment costs – 3,975,000 rubles.

• Registering an LLC and obtaining a license – 25,000 rubles.
• Purchase of minibuses – 3,500,000 rubles (5 GAZelle minibuses at the first stage).
• Purchase of additional equipment – ​​350,000 rubles.
• Office renovation and parking lot design – RUB 100,000.

Fixed expenses – 385,000 rubles per month.

• Office rent – ​​50,000 rubles (rent of a small room outside the city with a fenced parking lot for minibuses).
• Route rental – 20,000 rub.
• Fuel and lubricants and vehicle maintenance - 150,000 rubles. (approximately 30,000 rubles per minibus).
• Drivers' salary - 150,000 rubles.
• Utility costs – 5,000 rub.
• Other expenses - 10,000 rubles.

Income per month – 702,000 rubles.

• One minibus makes 10-14 trips per day. The number of flights depends on the distance and passenger flow.
• "Gazelle" can accommodate 13 passengers. Although many people get off in the middle of the route and new passengers often board, we will not take this into account to minimize profits.
• The cost of transportation is 15 rubles.

13 passengers * 15 rub. *12 flights on average * 2 directions (round trip) * 30 days = 140,400 rubles per month per minibus.

Based on the data obtained, the income from 5 cars will be at least 702,000 rubles.

Net profit – from 200,000 rubles after paying all taxes.

Passenger transportation - know-how of today

Running your own business means working 80 hours a week so you don't have to work 40 hours a week for someone else. (Ramona Arnett)

Passenger transportation is the know-how of today and a great business for those who want to learn its basics. The campaign market is very large, but there is not much competition as such. There are several types of passenger transportation and each entrepreneur chooses his own type for business. Passenger transportation entrepreneurs offer their services for transporting passengers and people use them with pleasure. The emphasis of the passenger transportation business plan should be the profitability of this business project. You need to take a very responsible approach to drawing up a production plan and take into account everything down to the smallest detail.

Descriptionenterprises

Types of transportation are varied:

• urban mode of transport,
• intercity transportation,
• taxi service.

Passenger transportation is a very profitable type of business. For the sake of his income, you can endure a certain period of inconvenience in connection with the preparation of the necessary package of documents for opening a business. The next stage is to register the business itself in one of the following ways: register either as a private entrepreneur, or register an LLC if it is an expanded enterprise. In addition, obtain a license to transport passengers, hire drivers, and begin creating a business plan for the successful development of a passenger transportation business.

Services

We ask passengers to start kissing right now so that the plane departs on time. (Advertisement at New Orleans Airport)

The main goal of the passenger transportation business is to transport passengers by various modes of transport. And as statistics show, one of the most popular means of transport for passenger transportation among the population is the bus. From a financial point of view, the bus is quite profitable. It has one more feature in terms of passenger transportation - it can be used both in urban areas and intercity. And this factor has a positive effect on increasing profits, but it needs to be used in business development. In addition, advertisers are happy to use the interior and body of buses to advertise their products. This is also very good for the development of the passenger transportation business.

Room

A business plan always contains information about finding suitable office space. But the main thing about it is the presence of a large enough area for parking nearby. It must be guarded and surrounded by a fence. Also make sure that your cars can be technically serviced in the parking area.

Staff

An important factor here is hiring drivers. Of course, this will partly depend on the number of vehicles for transportation. But for high-quality and safe transportation, it is important to hire experienced, very responsible, competent drivers. Indeed, in this type of business the human factor plays a leading role. And the profit in this case will also depend on the drivers. A driver with little credibility will have few passengers boarding the bus. GAZelle drivers, for example, must have at least three years of driving experience and preferably own a car of this type.

For 350 rubles, from our partners, with a quality guarantee. It is not publicly available on the Internet.
Contents of the business plan:
1. Privacy
2. Summary
3. Project implementation stages
4. Characteristics of the object
5. Marketing plan
6. Technical and economic data of equipment
7. Financial plan
8. Risk assessment
9. Financial and economic justification for investments
10. Conclusions