Looking for advice…. New owner

[nitrostowing]

I’m a new business owner but have years of towing experience.   Looking for advice on how to ramp up business.  Some say motor clubs, some say forget it.  Insurance is enough to about kill a new business.   Our company is purely towing and recover and we do not have heavy equipment.   Just trying to figure out how to survive the first year or 2.  

[EdsTowing]

With all due respect, it's a difficult task. Unless you were in uncharted waters where nobody else worked primarily, there's typically a lot more guys then needed in any given area. In my opinion, Motorclub work is the beginning to the end...more so now more then ever. The only real profit being made off of clubs is when you're non-contracted and hit them for what it's really worth or better. Unfortunately that isn't going to be much volume that way. Non consensual Police towing is typically some of the highest paying work out there but you can't live off of it. Unless you are in a large metropolitan area and then I would assume there are quite a few getting a piece of the pie. I say "Typically" because I have seen some police rotations in the country that certainly aren't worth the effort. Non consensual Private Property towing can be lucrative but prepare yourself for the misery that goes with it... Don't anticipate a Google rating over 2.0...LoL It's only viable again if you are in a higher population area. It's not a big factor in my town.

 

That leaves private work or some commercial accounts if available. If guys have medium or heavy equipment, I usually suggest getting in with the big fleets. They can have the type of volume to sustain. Otherwise, in reality you can have great customers that will use you whenever they need help but that might only be once a year, if that... So then you need lots & lots of them. Not too many auto only fleets out there.

 

I'm going to think about it and chime in again when I can...

[ProTower]

Ed is giving you some reality in his post. Motor club work should be thought of as "overtime" would be to a factory job. Definitely not something you can base your business on while hoping for something else. That being said you need to get Towbook or similar software to utilize what motor-club work you can get. If you have it contact them and tell them you would like to have the ability for the motor-clubs to send you calls directly based on your GPS location so when you go on a long tow you might pick up a return tow or road service on the way back. Take the ones you can make money on and turn down the losers, nobody can force you to lose money.

 

Don't expect to get a lot of replies on this subject as there is no real answer to your question. Everyone that is successful has obviously found a way to do it and most of the time it was just very hard work and sacrifice that got them there.

Good luck and feel free to reach out if you have any questions that I might help you answer.

[EdsTowing]

Honestly when I look at the "Secret to my success"...it's versatility. I do Light to Heavy duty towing & recovery, auto & heavy truck repair, some road service, Body shop, refurbish work, welding/fabricating and more. So when I am looking at my business, the key is that  it works in the "Big Picture". Sometimes one aspect gets slow but then there are lots of other stuff going on. If I had to rely on just my towing, I would be in a lot different situation. It enables us to look at what does the best and then place the emphasis on that. So now we don't do near as much light duty towing as we did 5 and 10 years ago, but my revenue sales are 2 1/2 times what they were back then. What's that they say? "Work smarter...." you get where I'm going. But honestly the versatility factor is what allows us to pick & choose....and stay in pursuit of the "Cream"...

 

Whatever the answer is...."Discounted Volume" isn't it.

 

Of course that's just my opinion...I could be wrong.