| Offering Car Rentals in London |
22 Jul |
After the success of the four restaurants that we own, I decided that it was time to try something new. Sure, I could open another restaurant, but sometimes you get bored of what you are doing and need a change of scenery.
But it isn’t easy finding a new business to start. Without the experience of knowing how things work, starting out in a new niche can be a big headache. Thankfully, my team of advisors come from a wide range of business backgrounds, and if they don’t have the knowledge they need to advise me, they certainly know where to find it.
After careful deliberation and brainstorming with them, we decided that the best business that I could start would be a firm that offers car rentals in London. The market isn’t too saturated and there are some nice opportunities that we will take advantage of them.
We haven’t found a suitable location yet that would make our storefront easily accessible to everyone looking for a car hire in London, but I am sure everything will fall into place shortly. I am just so excited to try something new, and if the revenues meet the projected earnings, it is going to be well worth the time invested in the project.
read comments (0)| Negotiating the Best Price |
25 Jun |
One of the things that I learned from my mother was that it was okay to haggle over the price. I have never seen a better negotiator, and my mother haggled over a lot of things - everything from school fees to a box of cereal in the supermarket. Had she been a businesswoman, I am sure that she would have done very well.
Whether it was genetics, or her invaluable teachings, I became a shrewd price negotiator as well. Though I had not achieved the level of success that my mother had, I still put it upon myself to get the best price wherever I went.
In fact, this week, I had some great successes when it comes to getting a better price. You see, I was out looking for used trucks in Fort Worth and happened across a dealership that supposedly would not turn down any reasonable offer. To me that meant a challenge, so I took it.
I started to look around the lot, and when the salesman greeted me, I wasted no time in trying to get a better price than what I had seen on the new trucks in Weatherford just last week. After one short hour, I found myself with keys in hand for the truck that I had dreamed of owning at a price that I would have never dreamed possible.
Posted by digi in Parts & Accessories on 06 25th, 2009
| Sound Quality |
28 May |
I’m certainly not an elitist hipster, but I do enjoy listening to music an awful lot. Actually, most people do. I suppose it’s when you start thinking that the music you enjoy is the only good kind of music, that you become a music snob. Anyway, I like most every kind of music, and I’m always eager to try to learn about new kinds of music and why people like them. I have to admit, though, that I’m a tiny bit of a snob when it comes to the quality of speakers.
Low fidelity speakers are kinder to some genres than others, but any can benefit from a sound system that reproduces sounds accurately and with a healthy, robust volume at each pitch. That’s why the stereos that come packaged with cars annoy me. Not so much because they aren’t amazingly great, but just because they cost like they should be, and aren’t. I’m sure if you buy a thirty thousand dollar car it has a nice stereo, but anyway they always cost five times as much as they should. I found out you can get Toyota accessories like stereos online pretty easily. I’m not just talking cheap impersonation Toyota parts, either. You can find official genuine Toyota parts, like cd players, speakers, mp3 players, etc.
Posted by digi in Parts & Accessories on 05 28th, 2009
| Is it all bad news for U.S. Automakers? |
3 May |
Apparently the news is not all bad for auto manufacturers in the United States. At least as it relates to subsidiaries of U.S. companies that are manufacturing and selling their vehicles in China. Companies like GM that are dangerously close to declaring restructuring bankruptcy status here in America, are growing by nearly 25% in the mainland of China.
Several U.S. companies are claiming a stake in the over 1.11 million auto units sold per month in China. Be clear, however, these are not automobiles that are built in the U.S. and imported to the Far East. These are local plants building vehicles with the use of local labor.
Apparently, China’s drivers are coming into their own love affair with the prospect of owning their own cars. Much like American’s love of affordable cars and fuel in the 50’s and 60’s, citizens of the largest country in the world are finding social status and pleasure associated with auto ownership.
With the help of the Chinese government, both manufacturers and car buyers are receiving assistance to help the automotive industry hit boom times. And with billions of potential customers, why not? Now if U.S. manufacturers could make a product worthy of importing to China…
Posted by DCT in Manufacturers on 05 3rd, 2009
| Purchasing the Right Auto Accessories Early Can Help Your Car Hold Its Value |
29 Mar |
Aside from buying a home, the biggest expense most people face in their adult lives is buying a car. But whether you buy a new car or a used vehicle, it only makes sense to protect the considerable amount of money that you’ll invest in your car. What are some accessories that can help protect your car and aid it in holding on to its resale value? Well, for one thing, many car owners consider investing in grill guards, rear bumper guards, and tail light guards to protect their cars’ front ends and rear ends from damage resulting from a collision or even just a clumsy driver who can’t parallel park without slamming into the bumpers of the cars in front and behind. City driving can be murder on a car’s exterior, which is why just about every driver needs to think about adding extra protection to his or her car’s exterior. Grill guards and the like are some of the most useful and cost-effect auto accessories anyone can add to their vehicle and really help save on wear and tear to a car’s exterior. When you add accessories like these to your car, you never need to worry about leaving it parked in a public place again.
Posted by digi in Parts & Accessories on 03 29th, 2009
| Taking the Family to Cancun |
27 Mar |
When my husband and I got married, we went to Cancun for our honeymoon. Now, 15 years later, we are going back for a couple of weeks. Of course, this time we are bringing along two kids! We love going to the beach and just hanging out. It is one of the few things that we can do on family vacations that is actually somewhat relaxing. My husband’s parents are also coming along. They volunteered to watch the kids during part of the vacation so that my husband and I can have some time to ourselves.
We decided to get a couple of Cancun rental cars. We figured that would be easier than trying to cram 6 people into a cab every time that we wanted to go somewhere. I also feel that it is a bit safer for the kids. I can always make sure that they are in the back seat and that they are always buckled up.
We went on a family vacation to Florida a couple of years ago. We tried doing a tour of all of the amusement parks but it’s hard to stay on a schedule with kids. We ended up checking out rental cars in Orlando. That turned out to be much easier than dragging the kids around on buses!
Posted by digi in Recreational Vehicles on 03 27th, 2009
| Juiced up Ford Muscle |
10 Feb |
Everyone thinks that juicing in sports is a bad thing, with one huge excepting - auto racing! I’ve been working on juicing up my Mustang for the last year or so to be able to take her down to the tracks and run a few quarter miles. There is some good money to be made making side bets with other drivers. I only recommend doing this if you have full faith in your car. For me, my Mustang should be able to outperform most any other on the track. I’ve only put genuine OEM Ford parts into her so I know the quality of performance is there.
As for the upgrades, there are so many to choose from. So many different brands exist out there that the choices can become confusing. Just remember one thing; if it doesn’t say OEM, don’t buy it! I’ve gotten taken to the cleaners before I knew any better on cheap knockoff parts, so don’t waste your money. You won’t get the performance that you’re looking for out of garbage parts, no matter the price. The next time you’re in the market for Ford racing parts never, and I mean NEVER buy the lesser brands, they will only hurt you in the long run.
Posted by CarWhisperer in Parts & Accessories on 02 10th, 2009
| You Don’t Have to Be a Shop-Head to Understand a Good Deal |
7 Feb |
The problem for most people when they go in to buy auto parts, is that they feel overwhelmed. Let’s face it - most of us just are not good at cars. There are a few people who are mechanically inclined and if you are not one, it can be difficult to carry on a conversation with somebody who knows their stuff in a big way. That is alright, though. You don’t have to be an expert to know what a good deal looks like. You don’t have to work in a shop for decades to understand when some person is trying to take advantage of you. It just takes a little bit of time and research, coupled with some common sense.
Let’s say that you are looking for some Corolla parts, but you don’t know much about what you need. You might understand that your alternator is broken, but what does that actually mean in real world terms? Your first job is to go to a site like Toyotaparts.com and learn as much as you possibly can. After doing that, you will understand what exactly is broken, how much you can expect to pay, and lots of other details. It will be very hard for someone to take advantage of you after you visit there.
Posted by CarWhisperer in Parts & Accessories on 02 7th, 2009
| The Offer Stands |
25 Jan |
For graduation my dad told me he would buy me the vehicle of my choice as long as it was $10,000 or less. I mean seriously, that’s a heck of a great deal to me. I know that none of my friends are getting anything that cool for graduation. Plus I get to pick it out myself. And that is why I have been diligently looking for a cool truck!
So I made a call to a guy who has a nice looking truck on Craigslist for $12,000 because I know that sellers are budging a lot on price. I even came armed with a printout from Kelly blue book which said the truck should be worth just under $10,000. When I got there the truck looked even better than in the pictures. It has all kinds of truck parts and accessories which this guy has installed. Things like an equalization kit that makes the front end level with the back end, a tonneau cover, and even a fancy Quadzilla performance tuner to really make it rock and roll.
So I brought my dad back with me so we could negotiate this guy down to $10,000. Ugh, all we could get him down to was $11,000. And my dad isn’t budging on his offer either, so I couldn’t squeeze the difference out of him. Well this guy knows that my offer is still good, so hopefully he will call.
Posted by CarWhisperer in Miscellaneous on 01 25th, 2009
| Has the Recession Slowed the Car Rentals Business? |
21 Dec |
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for a few months, you know how bad the economy has been lately. It seems like every day there is another story about a company shutting down or a stock taking a dive.
One industry that’s undergone its fair share of struggles is the rental car market. Denver CO car rentals, Orlando rental cars, and other areas throughout the country are failing to meet previous years’ numbers. The reason for this is obvious. People aren’t traveling as much these days. And since fewer people are traveling, it’s harder for a company to sell a Denver car hire.
Now, this isn’t to say that the industry is dying because they still get regular sales from traveling businessmen. However, the next few months of recession will be difficult to wade through. That’s why many car rental companies are hoping for a big push over the holidays. If a large amount of people still decide to travel on Christmas, the rental car industry could get the lift it needs to round out the year.
It’ll be interesting to see where the industry goes from here. People will always need rental cars, but the industry needs to take new measures to entice new customers.
Posted by CarWhisperer in Auto Dealer on 12 21st, 2008
