Does this sound like a good business idea?

[Ketley67]

I live in a rural location with a population of 50K residents. Local hospital is 20 miles away. Public transport is a nightmare.

My Mum is currently having a lot of appointments and it’s made me realise just how difficult it is to attend these without support.

Im thinking of setting up a taxi service where I pick you up, take you to the appointment, accompany you in the waiting room and then bring you home again.

I’m thinking id charge a set amount per appointment eg. Cost of mileage and then X amount on top, so maybe £40 total.

The NHS does provide hospital transport but you have to be approved for it so not everyone is eligible.

What do you think? Good idea?

Fair play @Ketley67 - not many posters have the guts to come back and apologise for making a mistake and being rude. It sounds like a stressful time for you and your mum. I'm not sure it's a particularly sensible business idea but hope things get easier for you.💐

I’m usually really calm, and I try to be polite at all times.

But, I once lost it at the woman on the end of the phone for Argos customer care when my tv broke. No idea what came over me!

My point is, it happens. I’m sorry about your mum.

I think it sounds like a WONDERFUL idea.

If you could staff it with people who were maybe DBS checked? Care workers? Could request female?

If nothing else I would a million percent pay for this for appointments for elderly relatives that I personally couldn't attend because work but would be so much more reassured they had something more than just a cab ride, someone to actually help them out and in the appointment etc.

If you don't do it I will it's a great idea in a growth market (aging population)

I think there would be a market for it but wouldn’t you need to be registered as a taxi driver with all the proper insurance if you’re getting paid to drive people? Maybe even a DBS if it involves anyone vulnerable. You also need to add on parking charges and think about what you charge if there’s bad traffic so the journey takes longer or if the clinic is running behind and there’s a longer than expected wait. Set amount per appointment doesn’t make sense really. Maybe a taxi metre for the drive then a waiting charge for the hanging around. I expect you’d end up with charging a lot more than £40 to even pay yourself minimum wage. Doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea but I think you need to properly research it including potential competitors.

Also OP sorry about your mum and well done for apologising instead of just disappearing.

Thankyou, I’m just exhausted, I won’t go into it all, not looking for a pity party, I just need to read replies properly!

I think as others have said you’d have to register as a taxi, similar issues of being rural and there is a taxi company and a volunteer group that run ones.
for 40 I think you will have to think about what happens if an appt runs late, I have had lots of appts the last two years and some ran late by hours

Not if you register in Wolverhampton 😡

Op I read it the same way that you did, it could have been worded a bit differently. Obviously tone gets lost in messages

Locally, and in the area where I work there's a charity that does exactly that. My Grandad ran one in his retirement, and when he moved to a new area set one up there. So that's four areas that have that as a charity.
They have volunteer drivers and charge only for petrol.

So I think you'll struggle to run it as a business venture.

Sounds like the sort of thing my dm might like too…. @drachh could you pm me the franchise so I can see if they operate in her area?

Check if there’s a charity volunteer service doing this in your area, if not then set it up and look for grants. If you’re wanting to help vulnerable people you’re never going to be able to charge them that much just to get to a hospital appointment and many won’t be able to afford it. Grants viable though. Though this business idea may just be your brain’s way of helping you through a hard time - do you really really want to spend your time being on call for people and dealing with people who are ill/have dementia/have continence issues/throw up/are aggressive/are in pain for little money and the hours of form filling it takes to get grants. It’s a lovely idea, I think we’d all love to have someone supportive who would help us out and just make the whole experience easier.

I know someone who set something up like this recently in her local town. She started with a similar idea to yours OP, but expanded it a bit to make it more of a sustainable business by making it a 'Companion Service' So things like taking people to and from appointments, taking people to do their shopping, helping with meal prep, helping with admin, and companionship in general. She got all the relevant DBS checks and insurances, and seems to be doing well.

My read is she'd be setting this up as a business not a cash in hand thing. Definitely cash in hand would not be a legit proposition but with the appropriate checks and certifications, and a well thought through pricing model which took all of that into account, I believe this would be an excellent business / service model which basically fills the gaps the public sector can no longer help with.

The type of commercial model you outline sounds about right - would need to be a quoting mechanism based on hours of care workers time (as that's what they are really, a care worker that drives, not a taxi driver that cares) + mileage for fuel + parking + whatever portion of overhead to allow for ongoing things like DBS and any other licenses. Those 3 things would add together to form a fee per appointment on a quoting system. Could easily set up a GPT to run the financial bit.

This kind of thing will be such a growing market with an aging population wanting support in ways the public sector can't provide. Plenty of elderly people who maybe don't have kids or their adult children live miles away and can't help with the day to day stuff.

Obviously it depends on the demand in your area, but I’m sure a while back a minor celebrity (I want to say Jason manford but I’m not sure), bought a mini bus and set this scheme up for people in his area for completely FREE. And not a single person asked for it

You’d be better off offering a companion service. Pick up and accompany to appointment and bring home. I’d charge a flat hourly rate. I’d use this for my parents when I can’t help them out.