samfibby: My family use to own one, thank god we gave it out on time. From experience, only 20% of investors make anything out of this business. Reasons why this business fails are:
Corrupt lastma officers, VIO, ever greedy policemen, greedy drivers.
To suceed in this business, get a good mechanic with sound knowledge of danfo bus, get a middle aged family man as your driver (preferably a ibo man or calabar) or better still be ur own driver.

Good points joor.
It all depends on how one sees it. See it as serious business (with ups and downs), your chances of success are very high.
See it as a faultless ATM or money-making oracle, na high b.p get u. (even ATM dey develop fault sometimes).

This biz , like every other one, isn't for everyone. Especially if u dy look 'uche' face.

Chinom:

This is the only reasonable comment here. The rest are just too negative. Posted by people who will never be businessmen because they are too afraid and cynical. If the biz is that bad, how come we have so many buses on the road. You people are giving too much power away to the drivers. To really succeed in Danfo biz, you have to make sure you are not solely dependent on the returns from the bus for your survival.
The driver must be a married man with children. He needs the income much more than you do, so he will make sure not to lose the bus. So, if i withdraw the bus from him for 1 week, he will never mess up again when and if i give it back to him.
I have 3 buses parked in Lagos with all sorts of people begging me to drive it on whatever term i choose. I have not given them out yet because i'm not ready yet. I can assure you that once i'm ready, i will get whatever amount i plan to realise from the biz. The key is to choose a driver who needs the money more than you do and you should be ready to park the bus at any point in time. I know of drivers who fix the bus with their own money and still make their returns. Success in the Danfo biz depends on your personal situation.

My friend don't be naive, you should learn that in life there is never smoke without fire. I have run a small transport business in the past amongst other things and i know people who have. Transport biz in Nigeria has very little to do with your business acumen or skills. As a matter of fact if you are doing it small scale (1-2 buses) it's actually one of the easiest businesses to conduct in theory.

Now here's why most small scale transport biz fail = staff!! As long as you are not driving the Danfo yourself, there is NO incentive you can offer most of the characters that call themselves drivers,that will satisfy them = FACT. Whether you want to give them the bus after 6 months or 1 year. Whether you want them to pay you weekly instead of daily. Whether you want them to pay you less than the normal going rate for size of bus.
You name it,i've seen it tried many times and fail.

Per my second paragraph above the transport biz that do succeed are because of = staff. Offer two different drivers the same incentives to reduce chances of them defrauding you and their responses will be different. Some will behave most will run the biz down. As much as i hate to say this there is a big element of luck involved with transport biz. Because how else can you tell an honest man from a dishonest one? And before you put too much emphasis on honesty there are other equally if not more important characters you need from your driver for the biz to succeed.Your driver has to care about you and the welfare of the bus as well.

My summary is this,transport biz is lucrative! Especially if you start it on a medium to large scale. However failure rates are very high if you start small and are not driving the bus yourself(because of the difficulty in finding tustworthy driver/conductors). The advantage of starting with more than one bus is that you will have a back up of income for the inevitable and usual stories of tyre puncture,seizure of vehicle by VIO,Lastma,Police,Engine failure that suddenly repaired itself towards the end of the day,fuel scarcity,beaten up by thugs,car accident etc etc.
Something you may want to consider is doing a State-state service instead of within one state if you are starting with one bus,this requires more planning and logistics but is statistically more successful!

Good luck and go for it is my advise but prepare your mind and be ready to apply aggression on a regular basis as you will be dealing with people that understand nothing else. I'm telling you from experience!

caesaraba:

Thanks for the advice. But I have my reasons starting with 3. At least I won't develop "heart-attack" when one vehicle is down. Plus, I don't plan on depending solely on the revenue from the business. #trying to create multiple streams of income.

bros i beg u in the name of God,start with one and increase the no over time,i am talking from experience

It is so interesting that the majority of contributors to this thread speak one thing in different ways. The one thing relentlessly talk about is STAFF/DRIVER

Non of them talk about other technicality involves in the business, i guess because they believe its a business that can succeed naturally in Nigeria economy.

However, its so sadden to see that STAFF is the major reason while nigeria unemployment has been staggering unresolved. An average driver will complain there is no work, and if given opportunity he will disappoints his employer. I strongly believe that Nigeria unemployment situation is not governmental but bad unemployed Nigerians.

One of the best way to have a healthy economy is good human resources. People who are willing to work, faithfully and heartily. But like many said, its hard to find. We have to apply God to everything, e.g God fearing person, Someone that fear God and many terms that have to do with God. While in other nations their economy have strive very well because people are law abiding, willing to work, passionate about being responsible and want to be a manager or business owner some day by climbing the ladder gradually.

But in Nigeria case, the person has to be God fearing and if you are not the person that sees vision, how will you know God fearing among 1000 people that apply to drive your Danfo or what happen if the once God fearing become Satan fearing during the course of his employment driving your Danfo? I think the best thing to do is to examine ourselves and see why many of us are unemployed, its not that people don't have the money in their account or have the opportunity to source for money to start business, but the problem is who is a genuine worker and not a walker. Because many of us we get job and walk on it until the capital evaporated.

A man who has invested in one Danfo business can create a multimillion venture, if only there are faithful employees as he runs his business. Here is how. He bought a Danfo and got a good driver who work with genuineness, he delivers N4000 every day and work lets say 5 days a week. For the first 3 months on average there will not be a problem with the Danfo except one service maintenance every three months. lets say that cost N4000 also. The driver lest assume he makes N2000 at every delivery.

1. N4000 X 5=N20000 a week

2. N20000 X 12= N240,000 per 3 months

3. Servicing for the first 3 months N4000- N240,000= N236,000

4. 236,000 X 4= N944,000

His net income will be N944,000 for at least a year before any major repair. After a year, he deducts N100,000 for major repair and he will have N844,000.

After the first quarter of another year, he would have made another N236,000 or slightly more depending on economy. But lets stay with our current average of N236,000.

5. 844,000 + 236,000 = N1.080,000

Lets say during that period of 15 months, there are other miscellaneous expenses, such as police arrest and settlement, tire repair, he spent N80,000.

At this time with 1 million, he can buy another bus, which i think its around N800,000 on average if secure from the border. At the end the owner will make 100-200k depending on the cost of the new Danfo.

let also imagine that the new Danfo didnt start work until 3 months time because of paper etc, although this will be hardly possible because all could be done in a month.
At the end of the year, The owner would have gotten 236,000 X 2 = 472,000 for the new van and 708,000 for the old van.

Total=1,180,000

The owner now has 2 busses with an estimated gross/ net income 1,180,000 and his net worth/ Capital and income of 2 buses that cost 800,000 each totaling 1.6 million and 1.180,000= 2. 8 million.

If this continues with acquiring busses every year, his income will increase and his net worth will increase. The man can afford to reassign his first driver as Manager and the second as Supervisor and if the business continues this way, even with some unforeseen disaster, and the owner is not trying to fly to be Dangote in 2 years, he will save himself from some un-calculated risk or venture into business that he thinks he can make 1 million on it in a minute. Eventually, he can now study other reasonable business in his line, e.g selling spare part, expanding to long distance or cross border transportation, haulage, and many more within the line of transportation. By doing this, it will be difficult to fail because, he is already in transportation, but he would quickly fail if he jump and want to own an airline company though its transport company, its a total kind of transport business that you need lots of professionals to manage for you, except, you have acquired enough money not borrowed, to buy an airline company with the help of an acquisition company and banks that help you look into it and with the intention of perhaps first buying 30% of the share of the company to understand the business first.

Nigeria has not gotten there yet at least not with these so called unemployed that majority are undedicated, untrustworthy, unwilling and several un, and un to qualify them. One day we will get to a point where will not worry about our staff trustworthiness but business statistic and analysis that could work for our business.

@Obalola7, you did a fantastic job with your analysis. Staffing is one of the major problems bedevelling almost all forms of business enterprises in Nigeria. But it is more pronounced in the transport sector.

Most of the drivers out there have the mindset that, they are the ones doing all the work and risking their lives on the roads. So why should they be honest in rendering accounts to the owner. They forget that the owner/manager has to channel all other reources of biz (Capital {Motor vehicle and money for registeration and maintenance}, human resource mgt {motivating the driver, in form of salary and other incentive}, planning {in form of expanding the biz and adding more fleet} and most especially dealing with other external factors that may influence the biz).

Before I went into Inter city transport, I had to do a lot of brain storming and I actually had to drive the vehicle myself, for a period of two months before registering with a State Transport company. As I am writing this, I still doing more brain work (thinking of the best way to keep my driver motivated and keep the car running). For instance, I have to give my driver the last week of 2012 (i.e. 24th to 29th). All the money he got that week was his to keep and the vehicle also conveyed his family to and fro from there village.

So managers of transport biz should sometimes compromise to keep the staff happy and keep the morale high.
But never withhold the rod of punishment if they want to take you for granted. The staff wants the job as well as you want the money.

eagle,eye:
@Obalola7, you did a fantastic job with your analysis. Staffing is one of the major problems bedevelling almost all forms of business enterprises in Nigeria. But it is more pronounced in the transport sector.

Most of the drivers out there have the mindset that, they are the ones doing all the work and risking their lives on the roads. So why should they be honest in rendering accounts to the owner. They forget that the owner/manager has to channel all other reources of biz (Capital {Motor vehicle and money for registeration and maintenance}, human resource mgt {motivating the driver, in form of salary and other incentive}, planning {in form of expanding the biz and adding more fleet} and most especially dealing with other external factors that may influence the biz).

Before I went into Inter city transport, I had to do a lot of brain storming and I actually had to drive the vehicle myself, for a period of two months before registering with a State Transport company. As I am writing this, I still doing more brain work (thinking of the best way to keep my driver motivated and keep the car running). For instance, I have to give my driver the last week of 2012 (i.e. 24th to 29th). All the money he got that week was his to keep and the vehicle also conveyed his family to and fro from there village.

So managers of transport biz should sometimes compromise to keep the staff happy and keep the morale high.
But never withhold the rod of punishment if they want to take you for granted. The staff wants the job as well as you want the money.

I strongly believe in your workers encouragement program. There are many ways to do that. However, Average Nigerians would hardly think with you, rather, he is thinking how he can defraud you to buy his own bus or even steal the bus from you or render your bus/solid capital and cash/liquid capital worthless. In a society where everyone is willing to work and there is rule of law, you do not need to drive, all you need to do is verify the identity of the driver and hand him the key. There are lots of them that through joblessness are now Agbero, there should not be any reason why a bus should have a conductor, agbero or any other duties except the driver.

Teejayphillip: Bros u had beta say no,cos nah crious hypertension u wan gif ursef....

Afta a while,its gonna b one issue to the oda... today LASTMAN issue,2mao tyre issue,radiator,agbero's mata etc...

Dnt jus embark on it...

I wuld ave advice HIGHER PURCHASE DEAL,bur u knw ow funny pple are. They'll pay parts n leta turn it anoda tin...

Jus put ur mind off,or beta stil save enuf money n buy a brand new bus and gif it 2 dis Transport company,all u nid du is 2 provide an insurance cover 4 it... It makes mor sense dan danfo biz...

Hi TJ,

Please give me further update and heads up on the second option. It's the second time I hearing this and I do not know the least step to take in realizing this. How do I get the transport companies involved, what is the modus of payment, what do we gain, who has the reversionary interest on the bus. You may send me a mail on hard_body99@yahoo.com. I will so appreciate.

hardbody:

Hi TJ,

Please give me further update and heads up on the second option. It's the second time I hearing this and I do not know the least step to take in realizing this. How do I get the transport companies involved, what is the modus of payment, what do we gain, who has the reversionary interest on the bus. You may send me a mail on hard_body99@yahoo.com. I will so appreciate.

The second option TJ is talking about should be the Franchise system of running a transport company.
Let's say you buy a bus (New/high grade Tokunbo, depends on the company's policy), you register it with the company (say, Peace Mass or Young). Normally you will have to paint your car the company's colour and they have a percentage of your income for using their Company Logo and Name. On the part of the company, they will monitor your vehicle and can even provide a driver for you and sometimes help you to manage your cashflow (but it is always advisable to provide your own driver and make your driver account for you).

But before you go this route, make sure you have done your due dilligence on the company. Visit the company and find out some things about how they operate. Goodluck.

If it is a HIGHER PURCHASE business, then you buy a bus and give it to a driver. Calculate all you must have spent in getting the bus running (i.e. cost of vehicle and registeration), you give your driver a target amount to render to you on weekly or monthly basis. This target amount includes, initial cost and estimated profit. Most times the driver will be the one that will take care of maintenance and after completion of the term of agreement will own the car.

In theory, HIGHER PURCHASE is good. But in reality a greedy driver will go for maximum returns in a very short time. He will make the enough money to buy his own car and come back to tell you that he cannot continue with the terms agreed. Give you back your car (which is most often a write off/scrap) and go and buy his own bus.

Again goodluck.

transportation is a good business.
can we discuss? send ur email address or contact.

As with any business, it is never what you do, but how it's done.
DO NOT listen to the failures, detractors and no-ambition-having crowd here. Only a few have offered sensible plugs to possible loop-holes and challenges.
Everyone knows someone who has failed at something, and are quick to tell it. As Jay-Z (a business Mogul) said, " I can't base what i'm gonna be off of what everybody isn't".

Everyone knows the public transport business in Nigeria has major challenges, but nevertheless, they are manageable if you are innovative and think outside the box.

For instance, one of the major set-backs for this business is the fact that drivers have been notorious for plying the routes all day, making cash, but only remitting lies of being tied up at the workshop all day, or haven being arrested and the many other tales. Since you're not there with them you have no choice but to accept the story right?? .. WRONG!

Here is your fix for that: If you are going to invest significant amounts into a vehicle for business, there is no reason you cannot invest an additional 15k Naira into a GPS/GPRS tracking device. With this you can see or read exactly where your vehicle is at all times either on a PC or on your phone. Install this at an undisclosed area of the vehicle.

Before hiring a driver, disclose to the potential driver that the vehicle is equipped with said device. plus its movement can and will be effectively monitored throughout the day.
If the individual had no prior plans of being honest with the job, he will retract and fade away instantly. If he goes ahead with it, he has committed to being accountable for his movement (whether he likes it or not)

Again, like any business, it has to be planned and effectively managed to attain success. While i have offered a solution to just one major aspect, every other aspect also has a solution, you just need to dig it out.

@Ramalot, I have made enquiry about the tracking device and was told that it is about 45k. Hope to get a tracker of the 15k you quoted. But only a few people are in the tracking biz in the east and they don't advertise... if you or anyone reading this know of a company that can equip my car with a tracker in the east, I will be grateful. At least it's another angle of corroborating your driverks story.

Fable tales

saxywale: It boils down to how well you can manage others and how much innovations you can bring into the business. I know two young guys that started with 5 buses. These guys now have well over 50 buses when I last heard about them. They brought a plot of land where they use as their office and mechanic workshop. They have the drivers, mechanic, panel beater and rewire on their payroll(monthly salary). I don't really know much about their business model but these guys are already multi millionaires from the business.

eagle,eye:
@Ramalot, I have made enquiry about the tracking device and was told that it is about 45k. Hope to get a tracker of the 15k you quoted. But only a few people are in the tracking biz in the east and they don't advertise... if you or anyone reading this know of a company that can equip my car with a tracker in the east, I will be grateful. At least it's another angle of corroborating your driverks story.

The 15k (about $100) is based off the price of a standard unit here in the US. There are more expensive ones, but a basic one will get the job done. I don't sell trackers, but i'm sure u can find someone to help you order one from ebay or amazon.

eagle,eye:
@Obalola7, you did a fantastic job with your analysis. Staffing is one of the major problems bedevelling almost all forms of business enterprises in Nigeria. But it is more pronounced in the transport sector.

Most of the drivers out there have the mindset that, they are the ones doing all the work and risking their lives on the roads. So why should they be honest in rendering accounts to the owner. They forget that the owner/manager has to channel all other reources of biz (Capital {Motor vehicle and money for registeration and maintenance}, human resource mgt {motivating the driver, in form of salary and other incentive}, planning {in form of expanding the biz and adding more fleet} and most especially dealing with other external factors that may influence the biz).

Before I went into Inter city transport, I had to do a lot of brain storming and I actually had to drive the vehicle myself, for a period of two months before registering with a State Transport company. As I am writing this, I still doing more brain work (thinking of the best way to keep my driver motivated and keep the car running). For instance, I have to give my driver the last week of 2012 (i.e. 24th to 29th). All the money he got that week was his to keep and the vehicle also conveyed his family to and fro from there village.

So managers of transport biz should sometimes compromise to keep the staff happy and keep the morale high.
But never withhold the rod of punishment if they want to take you for granted. The staff wants the job as well as you want the money.

May God bless you, this thread has bin very useful. Its funny how we overlook things, while they can be of great benefit. As a graduate you need to make a difference. Am self-employed and i think i would like to venture into transport biz also. If a driver delivers ₦4K/day, who will be responsible for fuel, car wash e.t.c

yasuleiman:
May God bless you, this thread has bin very useful. Its funny how we overlook things, while they can be of great benefit. As a graduate you need to make a difference. Am self-employed and i think i would like to venture into transport biz also. If a driver delivers ₦4K/day, who will be responsible for fuel, car wash e.t.c

Though I pay him salary now, but that will have to stop by Febuary. Fuel and washing the car is on him.
While maintenance is on me.

Helo house. Pls how can I get a dyna truck on hire purchase plan ?
Clemjohn0@gmail.com

All, transport Biz is a good biz and very profitable indeed but it depends on how you handle it.
People go into transport biz without any prior knowledge of what exist in the biz.
Imagine someone thta bought a car and does not even know what a crburettor or alternator is in a car, such person can not do such a biz and those are the ones complaining and giving negative reports on this forum.
Yes there are bad drivers and there are good ones but it still depend on you the owner.
Some owner are very greedy that they will not want to spend money on fixing their car but they will always want to get returns, its not possible.
An owner will tell a driver to manage a fault on a car and this will result on some other greater faults that will now be bringing greater expenses, thats how trouble will start.
The biz is not for everybody but for people that are determine to invest money on it.
I am into the biz for close to 4 yrs and we are moving higher its a nice one go for it with a determined mind and you will see what comes from it

eagle,eye:



Though I pay him salary now, but that will have to stop by Febuary. Fuel and washing the car is on him.
While maintenance is on me.

Thanks, it seems you have mastered the art of handling these drivers.

yasuleiman:
Thanks, it seems you have mastered the art of handling these drivers.

Lols... am just a learner.

eagle,eye:


I stay in the east and I use a sienna van for the biz.

Every biz is risky, but if you don't take risk how will you succeed. It is better to try and fail, than not to try at all.

siena is cool though.

LMAO....i really don't mean to be rude buddy,but you are clearly a JJC in this matters. Let me tell you why your suggestion below won't work.It is highly impractical!. Okay let me pose scenarios to show you how useless a tracker would be.

Scenario 1.Your driver goes on his daily runs,you check the tracker and he is moving fine. But it doesn't tell you he is actually carrying cement bags and doing construction runs instead of carrying passengers. Reason he does this is because carrying load pays big bucks(which you won't see by the way) then he can take most of the day off claiming mechanical problem. Also carrying such heavy loads drastically reduces the life span of your Danfo and damages the shock absorber.
Question= How will a tracker tell you what he is carrying?

Scenario 2.Your driver goes on his daily runs,you check the tracker and he is moving fine. He comes and tells you at the end of the day that Police collected money because of traffic infringment on the drivers part that could have meant seizure of the vehicle(if he had not bribed with the whole days money).
Question = How will a tracker tell you if he is telling the truth or not?

Scenario 3.Your driver goes on his daily runs,you check the tracker and he is moving fine. He comes and tells you he spent half of the day's earnings on a new tokunbo tyre. When in reality he planned with his vulcanizer friend who had a tyre lying around to swap theirs with yours (that had no problem) andchop the money way.
Question = How will a tracker tell you what he was doing at each point he stopped in his route and how will a tracker determine the truth of the story?

Scenario 4. Mr Tracker owner,how many times will you be checking the tracker in the day? The driver leaves around 5:30am - 6:00am and is back around 8:00 - 9:00pm.
Question = Will you be looking at the tracker at all those hours every day the bus leaves your presence? If not then it's pointless. And even if you were that jobless,it still will not help in any of the scenarios i mentioned.

I've posted this not to discourage anyone but b'cos i've done this biz myself first hand i want to offer this insight to anyone considering the biz who may be reading this. Besides my first million (in naira) was made via an idea i read from a foreign blog in London.

Mr poster it's a potentially well paying biz,but the pitfalls are very many,read what i posted above and try and deal with them as they arise. In Danfo biz there is no month of the calendar that you will ever make your projected earnings complete = FACT!. If you accept this and are not discouraged then you might succeed. Good luck and God Speed!

ramalot: As with any business, it is never what you do, but how it's done.
DO NOT listen to the failures, detractors and no-ambition-having crowd here. Only a few have offered sensible plugs to possible loop-holes and challenges.
Everyone knows someone who has failed at something, and are quick to tell it. As Jay-Z (a business Mogul) said, " I can't base what i'm gonna be off of what everybody isn't".

Everyone knows the public transport business in Nigeria has major challenges, but nevertheless, they are manageable if you are innovative and think outside the box.

For instance, one of the major set-backs for this business is the fact that drivers have been notorious for plying the routes all day, making cash, but only remitting lies of being tied up at the workshop all day, or haven being arrested and the many other tales. Since you're not there with them you have no choice but to accept the story right?? .. WRONG!

Here is your fix for that: If you are going to invest significant amounts into a vehicle for business, there is no reason you cannot invest an additional 15k Naira into a GPS/GPRS tracking device. With this you can see or read exactly where your vehicle is at all times either on a PC or on your phone. Install this at an undisclosed area of the vehicle.

Before hiring a driver, disclose to the potential driver that the vehicle is equipped with said device. plus its movement can and will be effectively monitored throughout the day.
If the individual had no prior plans of being honest with the job, he will retract and fade away instantly. If he goes ahead with it, he has committed to being accountable for his movement (whether he likes it or not)

Again, like any business, it has to be planned and effectively managed to attain success. While i have offered a solution to just one major aspect, every other aspect also has a solution, you just need to dig it out.

Krucifax: LMAO....i really don't mean to be rude buddy,but you are clearly a JJC in this matters. Let me tell you why your suggestion below won't work.It is highly impractical!. Okay let me pose scenarios to show you how useless a tracker would be.

Scenario 1.Your driver goes on his daily runs,you check the tracker and he is moving fine. But it doesn't tell you he is actually carrying cement bags and doing construction runs instead of carrying passengers. Reason he does this is because carrying load pays big bucks(which you won't see by the way) then he can take most of the day off claiming mechanical problem. Also carrying such heavy loads drastically reduces the life span of your Danfo and damages the shock absorber.
Question= How will a tracker tell you what he is carrying?

Scenario 2.Your driver goes on his daily runs,you check the tracker and he is moving fine. He comes and tells you at the end of the day that Police collected money because of traffic infringment on the drivers part that could have meant seizure of the vehicle(if he had not bribed with the whole days money).
Question = How will a tracker tell you if he is telling the truth or not?

Scenario 3.Your driver goes on his daily runs,you check the tracker and he is moving fine. He comes and tells you he spent half of the day's earnings on a new tokunbo tyre. When in reality he planned with his vulcanizer friend who had a tyre lying around to swap theirs with yours (that had no problem) andchop the money way.
Question = How will a tracker tell you what he was doing at each point he stopped in his route and how will a tracker determine the truth of the story?

Scenario 4. Mr Tracker owner,how many times will you be checking the tracker in the day? The driver leaves around 5:30am - 6:00am and is back around 8:00 - 9:00pm.
Question = Will you be looking at the tracker at all those hours every day the bus leaves your presence? If not then it's pointless. And even if you were that jobless,it still will not help in any of the scenarios i mentioned.

I've posted this not to discourage anyone but b'cos i've done this biz myself first hand i want to offer this insight to anyone considering the biz who may be reading this. Besides my first million (in naira) was made via an idea i read from a foreign blog in London.

Mr poster it's a potentially well paying biz,but the pitfalls are very many,read what i posted above and try and deal with them as they arise. In Danfo biz there is no month of the calendar that you will ever make your projected earnings complete = FACT!. If you accept this and are not discouraged then you might succeed. Good luck and God Speed!

Your post is so funny, and reflects all that is wrong with the Nigerian entrepreneurial mind state. Rather than focusing on solutions, you expend time and energy doing the opposite.
Every point you made is exactly like saying.. "hey, don't drink water, you can choke and die in the process if it sips into your windpipe". It's called RISK.

That said, i'll address your points.
1. Almost all trackers over $80 have an audio monitoring device, and in some advanced cases; video monitoring.
With this tool installed, and the driver fully aware of this, what are the odds he will be willing to play those games with you.

2. Refer to 1 above ^^.

3. You sound quite desperate to discredit a solution. The tracker is a 'tracking and monitoring' device, not a lie detector.
Hence, it resolves issues arising from that, and not EVERYthing related to the business.

4. If the business is important to you, maybe you would. Then again, YOU DON"T HAVE TO. There is something called a 'breadcrumb trail'
and based on your frequency setting options you get a report showing either on a map or in text form, every place the vehicle traveled to throughout the day, complete with street names, vehicle speed, timestamps and all. If you have the time and wish to monitor it in real-time, you have the option to.

Advise to you and others like you: Reinvest the time you designate finding 100 reasons a business would fail, and put it towards finding 1 solid reason it would succeed, and go for it.
GO HARD OR GO HOME.

Hi
Thanks for all Ųя contributions but Ȋ̝̊̅ will like τ̲̅ȍ know if Ȋ̝̊̅ can get a G̶̲̥̅Ơ̴̴̴̴͡.̮Ơ̴̴̴͡D̶̲̥̅ bus aπϑ where for 200-300k
So Ȋ̝̊̅ start dis danfo biz in Enugu

prizeless4: Hi
Thanks for all Ųя contributions but Ȋ̝̊̅ will like τ̲̅ȍ know if Ȋ̝̊̅ can get a G̶̲̥̅Ơ̴̴̴̴͡.̮Ơ̴̴̴͡D̶̲̥̅ bus aπϑ where for 200-300k
So Ȋ̝̊̅ start dis danfo biz in Enugu

NO.

ramalot:

Your post is so funny, and reflects all that is wrong with the Nigerian entrepreneurial mind state. Rather than focusing on solutions, you expend time and energy doing the opposite.
Every point you made is exactly like saying.. "hey, don't drink water, you can choke and die in the process if it sips into your windpipe". It's called RISK, you business rookie.

That said, i'll address your points.
1. Almost all trackers over $80 have an audio monitoring device, and in some advanced cases; video monitoring.
With this tool installed, and the driver fully aware of this, what are the odds he will be willing to play those games with you.

2. Refer to 1 above ^^.

3. You sound quite desperate to discredit a solution. The tracker is a 'tracking and monitoring' device, not a lie detector.
Hence, it resolves issues arising from that, and not EVERYthing related to the business.

4. If the business is important to you, maybe you would. Then again, YOU DON"T HAVE TO. There is something called a 'breadcrumb trail'
and based on your frequency setting options you get a report showing either on a map or in text form, every place the vehicle traveled to throughout the day, complete with street names, vehicle speed, timestamps and all. If you have the time and wish to monitor it in real-time, you have the option to.

Advise to you and others like you: Reinvest the time you designate finding 100 reasons a business would fail, and put it towards finding 1 solid reason it would succeed, and go for it.
GO HARD OR GO HOME.

Like i said spoken like a JJC,but hey to each his own. You are arguing with someone who has owned and set up businesses here and abroad. You sound like you read this in a book or saw it in a movie.Tracker ko helicopter ni! I can tell you haven't cut your teeth in biz,especially transport biz.
Go back and read my post carefully,it wasn't to discourage the poster but to highlight the realities at the end of which my own conclusion was for him to enter but with caution!

Mr Poster asked about Danfo biz, we that have actually done the biz are telling him how it is,but you are heeing and hawing like a cheerleader like it's all good! I have set up biz in Abuja, Lagos and London and while this is not to blow my own trumpet it's to tell you,you are out of your league on this and you can put this poster in trouble with your overly rosy depiction of reality.

It's a rough but lucrative biz,that your talk of a tracker is a joke. If i ask for biz advise i want to hear from people who have actually done the biz and not someone who thinks he has an idea of how it might work.

Thats my 2 final two cents on this matter,a word is enough for the wise!

Krucifax:


Like i said spoken like a JJC,but hey to each his own. You are arguing with someone who has owned and set up businesses here and abroad. You sound like you read this in a book or saw it in a movie.Tracker ko helicopter ni! I can tell you haven't cut your teeth in biz,especially transport biz.
Go back and read my post carefully,it wasn't to discourage the poster but to highlight the realities at the end of which my own conclusion was for him to enter but with caution!

Mr Poster asked about Danfo biz, we that have actually done the biz are telling him how it is,but you are heeing and hawing like a cheerleader like it's all good! I have set up biz in Abuja, Lagos and London and while this is not to blow my own trumpet it's to tell you,you are out of your league on this and you can put this poster in trouble with your overly rosy depiction of reality.

It's a rough but lucrative biz,that your talk of a tracker is a joke. If i ask for biz advise i want to hear from people who have actually done the biz and not someone who thinks he has an idea of how it might work.

Thats my 2 final two cents on this matter,a word is enough for the wise!

Hey, it's okay. The guy you quoted just suggested that a tracker could be used in monitoring the vehicle.
You will agree with me that transport biz is lucrative, even though it has a lot of pitfalls. We should encourage enterpreneurs who think of venturing into it, rather than discourage them. Like I said earlier, without risk taking how do you wish to succeed.
In America, it has been noted that for every 10 businesses that opened 9 is bound to fail within it's first 5 years. But the one that has a chance to succeed will be given maximum encouragement. Most developed economies rely heavily on small and medium scale enterprises.

eagle,eye:



Hey, it's okay. The guy you quoted just suggested that a tracker could be used in monitoring the vehicle.
You will agree with me that transport biz is lucrative, even though it has a lot of pitfalls. We should encourage enterpreneurs who think of venturing into it, rather than discourage them. Like I said earlier, without risk taking how do you wish to succeed.
In America, it has been noted that for every 10 businesses that opened 9 is bound to fail within it's first 5 years. But the one that has a chance to succeed will be given maximum encouragement. Most developed economies rely heavily on small and medium scale enterprises.

The sure way to fail in life is to make up your mind on doing something and look for a thousand reasons why you must do it irrespective of data to the contrary; this is what you call sentiment. What I usually ask people that do this is why ask for opinion when you have already made up your mind! Listein to the other person not thinking the way you are thinking, do a proper analysis of the situation and then make up your mind, that is the sure way to go.
Danfo business is good and lucrative but in my opinion, 8 out of every 10 investors in this business will fail. The fact that you see so many danfos on the road does not mean the owners are all succeeding. Look around you, you also see myriads of danfo parked for sale or parked because they are not serviceable. This is because people venture into it thinking the operators are making a lot of money and they want to as well.
Make sure you know what you are doing before venturing into this business; KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE is very key to succeed in danfo business.

Like all businesses, this isn't for everybody. I plan on running a complete company and this decision has not being a 'spur of the moment' one. Many thanks to all the contributors here. God bless.

SKYQUEST:

The sure way to fail in life is to make up your mind on doing something and look for a thousand reasons why you must do it irrespective of data to the contrary; this is what you call sentiment. What I usually ask people that do this is why ask for opinion when you have already made up your mind! Listein to the other person not thinking the way you are thinking, do a proper analysis of the situation and then make up your mind, that is the sure way to go.
Danfo business is good and lucrative but in my opinion, 8 out of every 10 investors in this business will fail. The fact that you see so many danfos on the road does not mean the owners are all succeeding. Look around you, you also see myriads of danfo parked for sale or parked because they are not serviceable. This is because people venture into it thinking the operators are making a lot of money and they want to as well.
Make sure you know what you are doing before venturing into this business; KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE is very key to succeed in danfo business.

Someone once said on this thread and I concur, "if you want to seek advice for a business, go to those running the business and not those who have all the theories of why the business may/not succeed."

If the op, wants to back off fine and good. But if you are a business man, you will agree with me that there is no business with a 100% sure proof way of running it.
Moreover, what I said ealier was that data have shown that for every 10 businesses opened, 9 is bound to fail. So you will give up as an enterprenuer because of that. For instance, I have ventured into different businesses and some I will tag a failure others I will tag near successes.
For now I'm in the transport sector as well as working as a civil servant. If the op, wishes to back off because of people who see the cup "half empty" rather than some of us who see it as "half full" so be it.

When Lastma official and two gun wielding drunk policemen caught my car on a Friday evening on my way home from work I decided not to argue with them because of the drunk policemen, They took my car to there garage and I went home with public transport, the following Saturday I went to bail the car, The Lastma guy in charge took a particular interest in my case because as I later discovered 97% of vehicles in their compound were commercial. We got talking and he showed me a commercial transport with the word "LOT" (meaning the drivers/owners refused to come and bail it for more than six months so it becomes property of Lagos state, I wondered why someone would do that to their investment), written at the back so its up for sale at the price of a recharge card but nobody is interested and there were a couple of them like that, I bailed the car went home and told my wife that I will buy four for transport but she advised against it, the following Friday I called my mechanic to tell him of my intentions & he advised against it too, then I went back to the lastma office and met with the lastma guy again after telling me the whole procurement process at the Lagos state ministry of transport he asked what I wanted the bus for and when I told him, he advised against it that based on his experience as a lastma official, if you are not driving the bus yourself don't bother (let me use his exact Yoruba words in English "bros you look like a gentleman I don't think you want to start dragging with this drivers) then went on to tell me different horror stories of this danfo drivers (Just one I remembered, a drivers delivering 4k a week was arrested twice in two weeks and given a ticket for 27K each and each time he took the ticket to the owner of the vehicle to go and settle)

Moral of the story if your mind is in the business pray about it that God should direct a reasonable person to you, only then can most of the calculations stated on this thread add up.

Question have been asked, "If the business is that bad, how come there there are so many commercial vehicle out there"? The truth is that the fact that the business is lucrative will make new entrants keep coming into it with only an intangible percentage succeeding and if God favours you, and you are one of the few, all these horror stories will not make meaning to you.

You have a solid point. Praying to God aside, I don't think this business is for those who are not willing to throw their all into it. I don't think it is something that can be done as a side business. So, if you are looking for a side business, don't go for it. But, if you are ready to do transportation business and make it your office, get the required start-up capital, a comprehensive business plan like every serious business should have, and then settle down and get to work.

From the posts here-in, one would think it is a no-go area to even think of running this business. However, if you know what you are doing, the population should be a gold mine.

It's a dog eat dog world. Like someone said earlier, go hard or go home.

@op, you should re-think your options thoroughly before proceeding. Godspeed.