Thursday, 28 September 2017

Feeling Uber exposed?





You would have to have been living under a rock over the past year to have missed the amount of news that has been flying around about Uber – the company that has revolutionized the way people book and pay for taxi rides – but incase you missed it, with a flourish, Transport for London have revoked Uber’s licence to operate in London – potentially putting 40,000 cab drivers out of work.
Such a bold move has been met with mixed reactions – some people are annoyed, saying that Uber is the best thing that has happened to the taxi industry.  Some people are happy – saying that Uber have been operating outside of the law for too long.  Whilst others could not care less
I like Uber.  I like the concept.  And even though I live in an area which has yet to see the revolution, I appreciate Uber when I am in a place that they operate – I even have the Uber app installed on my phone
I can understand people having really strong feelings about companies like Uber – but the way I see it is - if you don’t like them, if you believe that they are unsafe, if you don’t like their business ethics and you disagree with the way that they treat their drivers – then the answer is simple – DON’T USE THEM!
Personally, I think that banning them from operating is a step too far.  They have been given 21 days to appeal the decision – and since the initial announcement, the conciliation process between Uber Chief Exec and The London Mayor (who also sits on the panel of Transport for London) has begun – so maybe it isn’t all over just yet.
But what happens if the ban is upheld?  Will other cities around the world follow suit?
But this email isn’t about Uber – it is about your business and the potential risk you might be in.
Uber not operating in London means that over 40,000 licenced drivers will potentially be out of work.
They will see their main source of income swiped from under their noses without much warning.
And if you are like many small to medium sized business owners the same thing could happen to you
Stop to think about this for just a moment - If your business relies primarily on one client for the majority of its income, what is stopping that client from leaving you tomorrow?
If you rely on one employee within your business to bring in the majority of work, what is stopping them handing in their notice and going to a competitor?
If you rely on just one method of bringing in new leads and clients, what’s stopping it from becoming less effective next week and your lead flow drying up?
The answer to all the above is, of course NOTHING!
No matter who you are or what sector you work in.
And the only solution to this problem is to build a business that generates new leads and new business on demand - so you will never rely on just one client, you will have all the business you need plus a waiting list of prospects wanting to work with you.
You will never have to rely on just one employee because the more leads your business generates, the better your company will perform and all of a sudden, your underperformers become better performers. 
And you will never have to worry about your lead flow drying up because you will have leads coming in from a variety of sources and across a range of channels.
Sound good?  I know, it sounds like common sense – so why do so many business owners fall into the same trap?

If you want to learn how you can make your business Uber-successful (get it?) and how to limit your exposure to the risk of having one major client, then call us now to have a chat – we are a friendly bunch and there is always someone available to talk

Call Consultancy on 084 3289 3288 and Recruitment on 08456 894 894.  Alternatively, you can email us at enquiries@blueboxconsultancy.com or hello@blueboxrecruitment.com

Or if you just want to check us out and find out what we do and who we do it with, then go to our websites at www.blueboxrecruitment.com or www.blueboxconsultancy.com

Until the next time, take care, be bold, and do good business