Building A Fleet For A Small Business: Top Tips

A business fleet can serve a variety of purposes for your company, including delivering goods to consumers, picking up supplies, picking up customers, facilitating national expansion, providing an incentive for employees, and even serving as a branded advertising medium on the road.

Nonetheless, managing a commercial fleet can appear to be a daunting task. After all, fleet management can be a near-constant burden with unpredictable vehicles and ongoing costs.

This post will go through the most important factors to consider while running a fleet and will answer some of your most pertinent questions.

What vehicles do you need?

The vehicles you choose to make up your fleet will be determined by the fleet’s purpose.

In general, company vehicles will either suit the needs of a certain task or be used as a reward to motivate personnel.

The former will necessitate vehicles with specific functions. A compact or large van, for example, will help you transport equipment or supplies, whilst a saloon is more suitable for taxi companies or corporate transportation.  Construction businesses may need to purchase skip trucks.

The latter necessitates automobiles that appeal to your essential personnel. This is the type of vehicle that someone might wish to be spotted in.

Should you lease or buy your fleet of vehicles?

Contract hire is used by the majority of enterprises. This means that the leasing firm assumes the hazards of car ownership.

Do not simply choose the choice with the cheapest monthly rates. Consider the provider’s track record and the types of IT services they provide. Because, as we will see below, a fleet management solution is critical to your fleet’s seamless operation.

Many companies now outsource management, so you will not have to deal with logistics. Service and maintenance are almost always included in the price.

However, there are benefits to buying your fleets, such as no limitations on mileage or usage, the ability to remove vehicles from your fleet when you need to rather than keep them for a specified amount of time, and no penalties for ending your lease early.

Things to think about when buying your fleet

Purchasing automobiles for your fleet is more expensive, but it provides you with complete control over your vehicles and costs.

You should calculate how much it will cost to buy and maintain your vehicles throughout the course of their useful lives.

The following are the major areas that cost.

  • Servicing costs
  • Depreciation
  • Fuel costs
  • Maintenance
  • Repair

How to keep your costs low

There are numerous methods you may take to keep your fleet’s expenditures low. Here are some of our best recommendations.

Fuel is one of the most expensive aspects of running a fleet. This depends on the current price of gasoline or diesel, as well as how the vehicles are utilized. Here are some basic guidelines:

  • Choose vehicles with a low fuel economy.
  • Measure your fuel consumption and look for patterns that could affect your costs.
  • Drivers should be taught how to make efficient use of their vehicles.
  • Maintain proper tire inflation.

Insurance is another significant cost to business owners. Some cars and vans have better insurance ratings than others, so start by looking for and investigating these vehicles.

Many insurance providers offer fleet insurance policies that are far less expensive than purchasing individual policies for each vehicle. Some companies may even provide you with a nationwide network of repairers as well as legal support as a regular feature.

You can also deploy the use of vehicle tracking software to help cut insurance costs and see what drivers are doing. Vehicle tracking software allows you to keep track of the actions of your fleet. Whether you have a two-car fleet or a larger, multi-vehicle operation, vehicle monitoring has a number of capabilities that will benefit your company.

Service, maintenance, and repair costs can all add up as well. Depending on the kind and model of vehicle, leasing firms typically offer full maintenance packages at varying fees.

These are a good option because leasing businesses can negotiate much better terms than you could on your own because of their considerable economies of scale. If you buy your vehicle, keeping on top of your maintenance and developing a relationship with a trusted repair center can help keep costs down.

Conclusion

Running a corporate fleet takes dedication and hard work, but a well-managed fleet may pay off handsomely.

You can build a fleet of vehicles that helps you provide exceptional customer service while also accelerating expansion by carefully considering your business and its demands.

The Fear Of It Coming Back.Chronic Illnesses & Starting A family.

I’ve just hit 40 and it has taken me through an unexpected whirlwind of emotions. The biggest is my biological clock…… the tick, tick ticking.

You see, it’s not uncommon for women to have children later in life now, after a career, and getting to where they want to go, they has been a huge surge in mothers having children past the age of 37, or ‘geriatric pregnancies’ as they are known!

But add to that a chronic illness that is debilitating when it kicks in makes it all the more harder when you consider starting a family.

You see, I feel so tired all the time. This is nothing new. I’ve been suffering from chronic fatigue now and similar symptoms from the age of 19 and a lot of my symptoms would worsen around my cycle. Cold sores, exhaustion, brain fog.

I was only 19 and I still couldn’t burn the candles at both ends, and when I did, I would end up taking more and more days of work just to recover, not from a hangover, but a debilitating exhaustion that made just getting dressed a mission.

So here I am at 40, and my body feels so old and tired, I wonder how I will ever make it to 70 some days.

I was diagnosed as having vestibular migraines at 35 and it literally was nearly the end of me, a few times and counting. 24/7 dizziness, bedridden, learning to walk again which took 2 years in total as a mere 20-minute stroll would send my dizziness and exhaustion through the roof.

Vestibular disorders are also closely associated with anxiety and depression too. Not only can your body not function properly, but neither can your mind, your speech, your vision, everything is out of whack.

So after my last 5-year relationship broke down, mainly due to my illness and my partner becoming a carer rather than a partner, the fear is real when I started my new relationship.

I say new but I am 3 years and counting and my biological clock is running out. Yes, I am open to having children, and have been for the last 5 years bit I was always too sick to consider it.

The likelihood of you relapsing, being bedridden for months again, so dizzy you cannot hold your child to feed them let alone see them properly, and then you have to account for the pregnancy. Where the third trimester can floor most women with fatigue, you naturally question how the hell will YOU be able to cope with chronic fatigue, 24/7 dizziness and vertigo attacks?

That’s the thing with chronic illnesses.

They are ALWAYS lurking, and you never know when you are going to take that hit that will send you back to square one.

And the questions you have, my partner never experienced how debilitating my symptoms were, do I need ANOTHER carer in my life? Will he stay? How will he cope? How would he handle being a single dad, literally as I could not function and have debilitating dizziness for months at a time?

So hitting 40 for me has not been about ageing as such or losing my looks. It’s been all about coping mentally, physically and that fear of going back to square one.

Would my illness stop me from trying to have a family? No. I know plenty of mothers that have 3 plus children with the same condition I do. But I also know their struggles, exhaustion and fatigue and it’s something I have to take into account.

But for now, I am truly grateful I have a loving partner, I can work from home and at least today I can see clearly and walk without dizziness too.

YES. Chronic fatigue is ALWAYS lurking. Like today after a 20-minute ice skate 2 days ago I have spent most of it wanting to sleep on the sofa.

And as for being a mum? I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Six Fun Ways To Grab Your Customer’s Attention

We’re living in a world of instant gratification. We want instant streaming, instant answers via the internet and in most cases, instant noodles. Everything that we do is all about catering to a ‘wanting it now’ culture and we’re all guilty of indulging in it. Time has become a very limited resource, which means that we need to do all that we can to work to that demand. When your business is at stake, getting to know how to grab your customers’ attention is a must – and doing it in a way that’s appealing to them is even more important. 

Funny headlines aren’t doing it anymore, and clickbait is just a good way to annoy people who come to visit your site. Clickbait titles can enable your customers to feel lied to and manipulated, so you want to capture their attention in a way that makes sense instead. Whether you use Two Giraffes for your next video marketing campaign, or you choose to get online and start blogging, you have to consider how you can best grab the attention of your customers. Let’s take a look at five fun ways you can grab your customer’s attention!

  1. Make sure that you have your audience right. When was the last time you considered how you targeted your audience? Where possible you need to begin with narrowing down who that audience is, and then you need to consider how you can appeal to those in that location. Once you identify the gaps, you’re going to be able to appeal to them. The right audience is imperative if you want to be able to choose your campaigns effectively. 
  2. Offer a surprise. Who doesn’t like surprises? The best way that you can give your customers the chance to form an instant connection with you is to offer them the element of surprise. It’s that sense of utter delight that you want to embody and you want your customers to feel when they encounter your brand.
  3. Use your words. Whether you are making a video for someone or you are blogging for others, you need to decide your wording and ensure that you are using the right ones to appeal to your customers. You have to be careful in choosing the right keywords, and that means using the right keywords in your SEO and your blogging or vlogging. People often remember a message more than they remember anything else about the company. Consider the phrase ‘I’m lovin’ it’ and then ask yourself whether that simple one was memorable enough. 
  4. Use instant positivity. You want people to be happy while they are looking at your products, and that means cultivating instant positivity in your marketing. This will keep people interested in your brand. 
  5. Make it simple. Your campaign shouldn’t be too complex. Even the shortest video clip should be easy to follow and not too difficult – your customers need things to be easy! Take time to figure this out before you try to grab anyone’s attention!
  6. Today’s competitive business landscape requires you to stand out in order grow and be successful. You need to strategize and start campaigns that can truly grab your target audience’s attention without being too formal! However, if you’re unsure how to proceed with your marketing strategies, never hesitate to consult with an agency. Just look up “digital marketing agency Cayman” and see all the agencies ready to help you! Partner up and watch how they can make your business grow!