Entrepreneurship Class Assignment

For my class, we each have to create a detailed business plan for starting a business. My brother (truck-driver for a food company) has always joked around about buying his own truck and having me be his dispatcher, so I decided to use that for my business. Part of the assignment requires direct industry research, so I am hoping that a few people will be willing to answer a few questions for me.

1. What sort of overhead expenses are involved, such as licenses, association dues, insurance, bonds, state or federal fees/permits, etc. and how much are these?

2. Are there any direct expenses (like a fee per load arranged) that are involved or other related expense (such as something that isn't required but improves your business)?

3. How significant are losses on loads (non-payment, damaged products, etc.) to your business? Responses could be words (minimal, regularly, ...), percentages, amounts, ranges or however fits.

4. How many trucks/drivers do you routinely work with?

5. How many hours per week are dedicated to your business? (Feel free to be as detailed or general as you like)

6. Please describe your business income. (I don't want to ask this too specifically as I understand this is a pretty personal question. Any information that would help my assignment would be appreciated.)

7. What techniques have you used to attract customers and what would you consider most successful?

8. What would you consider to be the biggest pitfall/risk/challenge and reward/plus/bonus of this business?

 

Thanks for your response. I think I am going to narrow down my "business" to "just" a broker to simplify things. Having the truck side of things seems like it is very complicated.

He is a regional driver in the North East, so anywhere from Illinois to Maine & only goes as far south as like Delaware. Most of the time his outgoing loads involve stopping at 3-5 customers for deliveries and picking up a load at a vendor on the way back.

The school is Morrisville College in central NY. I am currently working on my Bachelor's in Business Administration and planning to go for my MBA in Accounting. If all goes well, I am hoping to become a CPA.

 

Thank you for your response. I am finding a lot of information in these forums.

 

I know, that's why I put it in quotes. But it is simpler than having my assignment on both the trucking side and the dispatching side. It at least narrows the information I need to gather. I don't think anything about this industry is simple.

 

While I might not need it to actually be a broker, I do need it for this assignment. I wish I could just tell my professor that I found something that doesn't need a BP, so assignment done. If I was actually going to try to become a broker, a well written BP could help with the capital for A/P.

By the way, thanks for mentioning the capital thing. I'm not on the section for start-up costs but it would be good to mention in the section I am working on today. I have to indicate the barriers to entry and having sufficient working capital is a significant one.