Diff Car - The newest member of the Personal Class Travel Family

Diff Car launches on Monday, and will effectively be my second taxi company, both operating in Cardiff. Since announcing the launch of Diff Car, I have been asked a number of times, why two companies? Won't they take work off each other? Wouldn't it just be easier, simpler and less confusing to just have one? Well, the honest answer to the last two questions, is no, and yes respectively. I'll answer the first one later

No they shouldn't take work off each other as Diff Car and Personal Class Travel have different target markets, so they should not take work off each other, although their is inevitably some cross over between the two markets, and some people who would shop in both markets, depending on the occasion

Yes it would be easier, simpler and less confusing to have one company, but there is a reason behind it. Since I started Personal Class Travel two years ago, I have never referred to it as a taxi company. My clients occasionally refer to it as a taxi or cab company, and I have never been to keen on that classification. Personal Class Travel has always provided a higher level of service than "just a cab" would. The level of service, is closer to that of a Chauffeur, but I don't operate the cars required to legitimately call the company a Chauffeur Company, so I have steered clear of that term as well. Personal Class Travel operates in the land between taxi and chauffeur. It is both, and it is neither. The marketing, and the pricing have always been aimed more towards chauffeur than taxi. So far it is a strategy that has been working well, and the company is ticking over as well as can be expected in the middle of a pandemic.

So why two companies? Whilst Personal Class Travel is ticking over, it still needs support, another revenue stream to prop it up. Especially at the moment, while our core market is not around. The obvious option was, and still is local taxi work. Indeed before I started Personal Class Travel, I drove for Uber for a number of years doing exactly that, and even in the first 18 months of Personal Class Travel's existence, I still carried on doing Uber to prop the company up in the short term. However, the rates for the driver on Uber are poor, and their driver support is horrendous. Ask any Uber driver and they will tell you the same thing. These are the main reasons I decided to start Personal Class Travel in the first place. During 2020 the issues with Uber became greater and greater and it became clear to me, that I needed something else other than Uber to support Personal Class Travel. Local taxi work is still the most obvious solution. I already had everything I needed to carry out the local taxi work, so why didn't Personal Class Travel just do it's own local taxi work instead of paying another company over inflated commission on poor rates. Seemed like a no brainer.

The glitch in the plan came when I realised that in order to attract more local taxi work to Personal Class Travel, I would have to drop the rates of Personal Class Travel, to make them more competitive and appeal to a wider market. This would lead to a lowering of service levels, too a level my current client base were unlikely to accept. How would a drop in service levels affect the Personal Class Travel name as well. I considered starting a "local service" lower rates with lower service, but again I wasn't sure how that would affect the name. That's when it dawned on me. The issue wasn't so much about service levels and pricing, as it was about Brand Protection. I needed to keep the brand "Personal Class Travel" protected, away from the local taxi market, so it didn't become known as "just another cab firm"

That is where Diff Car is born from, that is why as of Monday, I will effectively have two taxi companies. So Personal Class Travel can operate in the local taxi market, without the brand name being effected.

Two Names, Two Markets

What exactly is the difference between Diff Car & Personal Class Travel though, if they are both driving people from A to B? To compare the two in such a way would be akin to comparing Gordon Ramsey to the microwave operative in Weatherspoon. Yes, at the very basic level, they both do the same job. They both provide cooked food to paying customers, but the differences are significant. Instead of detailing exactly how Personal Class Travel & Diff Car differ, instead I will stick with the Gordon Ramsey / Wetherspoons Microwave Operative line of comparison, and use eating out as an example. Remember that? When we could eat somewhere else, other than our homes?

As I used to drive for Uber, I will compare Uber, Diff Car and Personal Class Travel.

Uber are McDonalds. A huge worldwide brand, and they are everywhere. If you want hot meal prepared by someone else, you are going to be hard pressed to get it cheaper. They are 24 hour, and it doesn't matter if you are in Cardiff, Cannock, Clydebank or Canberra, You know what you are going to get. It may not be the best quality, but it is consistent, and very popular with the younger generation. Cheap, Cheerful, give the impression they are amazing, but in reality not that good.

Diff Car are Chip Shops. Simple, no nonsense, no fuss. Walk in, hand over your cash, and walk out with a bag of chips and a battered sausage or piece of cod to satisfy your hunger. It is simple, effective, does the job. Honestly, where would Britain be without the Chippy

Personal Class Travel are the local restaurant you like to go to. The food is excellent, and the service is attentive. The prices are higher than both McDonalds and the Chippy, but not excessively so. The owner knows your name, and always has your favourite table ready for when you arrive. You usually have to book in advance, but if you phone up at short notice, or turn up on the day, they will do their best to fit you in.

So that is why I have decided two is better than one, and how the two companies will differ, and also how they will complement each other. So next time you are needing to get around Cardiff, I have two options to provide you with. The simple, no fuss Chippy of passenger transport in Diff Car, and the more refined, attentive restaurant of passenger transport with Personal Class Travel