Let Us Build a Taxi App Business in 400 Words

Taxi service apps are fast replacing the traditional cab services, they are here to stay. If you are wondering if there is more market, the quick answer is there is always a market in a competitive environment if you can differentiate your product.

So figure out why drivers and passengers should choose you.

Define your niche:

You may assume there is only one niche in taxi industry. That is incorrect. Consider huge options in motorcycles, bicycles, ?cars, luxury vehicles, vans, ?car-pooling, long distance travel, short distance travel ?in solving passenger travel challenges.

Another consideration would be are you automating a taxi business in traditional sense or prefer a more modern ridesharing model?

In the Kenya’s market, drivers are always seeking ways to take home a higher rate for fees, access to quick loans and health insurance for their families. Can your taxi app fix that?

Project vision:

As they say, you are getting into this business to solve a certain problem. Money will follow you; maybe not.

For instance a problem I see in Kenya is most people in middle class will drive their cars, stay in traffic, get to office, park the vehicle till evening and join the traffic again. Would car-pooling minimise traffic and provide efficiency for middle class? How do you get people to want to share their vehicle with strangers?

A Team:

Think about your team of co-founders, advisors, employees, investors and partners. Build your team as you progress.

Revenue models:

Will you monetise your business through commissions, service fees, advertising or other ways.

Develop Technical Documentation:

Your development team shall assist your develop user stories, technical requirements, functional requirements and business requirements. This will define your technical documentation and project scope.

Building The Apps:

You need 3 apps; one for riders, one for drivers and an admin web application to control actions of the drivers and riders.

Each of these apps will have features defined in the technical documentation above.

For you to go to market quickly, define essential functionalities for your minimum viable product(MVP). From MVP the user should be able install the app, use it and provide feedback.

Developer Requirements:

You probably need a dedicated team of 4 developers, project manager and block 100 days from their calendars.

As you speak with us on easy parts above, figure out marketing and financing strategies for the application.