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?
Entrepreneurship Class Assignment
Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by CollegeStudent, Jun 10, 2019.
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Here is something to get you started:
The journey begins - purchased a truck.bzinger and Midwest Trucker Thank this. -
There are enough new truck/new company threads on here to write your report for you. lol. Cool your doing it though. Just hang around the forum especially in the owner operator, experienced driver, and broker areas and you’ll see plenty.
Good luck. -
This industry isn't truck driving, it is logistics and it is HUGE. Much bigger than the automotive and health care combined. SO to nail a BP down, you have to break the what segment you want to focus on to make it realisitic.
Your brother is a local driver, he sees one little aspect of the industry, what is now called "last mile" work. It is vastly different than say Heavy Haul or Expedited Freight.
So I have to ask, what school?
I always ask this because it is something I think you should say.
Go to this link and download the spreadsheet from OOIDA, this has been used for BP by one of my former drivers, I also used it for projection of revenue.
Figuring Cost Per Mile, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
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Ridgeline said: ↑OK here is the thing and I don't want to sound discouraging, but a business plan (BP) for this industry is hard to do when you are on the outside looking in.
This industry isn't truck driving, it is logistics and it is HUGE. Much bigger than the automotive and health care combined. SO to nail a BP down, you have to break the what segment you want to focus on to make it realisitic.
Your brother is a local driver, he sees one little aspect of the industry, what is now called "last mile" work. It is vastly different than say Heavy Haul or Expedited Freight.
So I have to ask, what school?
I always ask this because it is something I think you should say.
I won't list them, I will point out something that will help you understand them.
Go to this link and download the spreadsheet from OOIDA, this has been used for BP by one of my former drivers, I also used it for projection of revenue.
Figuring Cost Per Mile, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers AssociationClick to expand...
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. -
Midwest Trucker said: ↑And of course this one: Some numbers for new O/O
There are enough new truck/new company threads on here to write your report for you. lol. Cool your doing it though. Just hang around the forum especially in the owner operator, experienced driver, and broker areas and you’ll see plenty.
Good luck.Click to expand... -
Just a broker is not that simple.
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x1Heavy said: ↑Just a broker is not that simple.Click to expand...
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You don't need a BP to be a broker, you just get your authority, get a bunch of internet load board accounts and start cross posting or scraping loads off of one and posting on another board.
A broker has very low overhead, the biggest issue for them is capital for A/P. -
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.
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