Two Years in Taxi Marketing
For around two years I’ve been marketing numerous taxi websites and generating revenue by charging a fee per call to a local taxi company. My main operation was in Edinburgh, with others in Aberdeen (partnering with Mark Boyd before buying him out) and Glasgow. I also owned a number of other generic names that were being held for development.
Once I had managed to push the sites into prominent positions online I felt I had to expand my marketing efforts further afield – particularly offline – for numerous reasons; I wanted more business and to not solely rely on SEO to build a brand. During this time I’ve been holding down my full time post whilst supporting my partner Christy as a student. It was fun and exciting to have a venture that was generating a respectable income and something that, to my knowledge, had never been done before (this particular revenue model in the transport industry).
I was not planning to sell the operation for a few years, but due to some unforeseen circumstances I decided it was time to purchase a house and have long term security. I’ve always been happy to rent as it is easy and means if I ever hit the jackpot I could quickly fly out the country haha!
I vaguely outlined (to avoid tyre kickers and idea thieves) the operation on a number of forums and John Lamerton, whom I’ve had dealings with before, is now the new owner. Under the new terms I still retain a small shareholding in the operation to assist in the smooth running of it and future developments, which I’m only happy to do. I think the operation has a positive future and no doubt in time John and his team will continue to build on the success. At this stage I feel it is only respectful to John not to detail specifics as I wish to protect his investment but we’re both happy with the arrangement.
The revenue model I promoted is now being used in other markets by friends and colleagues, and some taxi companies have even began offering it to hotels and guest houses as a way of securing new business. I’m proud of what I achieved and I’m already working on another exciting project.
