locoboy
|
| posted on 5/9/07 at 10:03 AM |
|
|
Trailer sales and Hire
Hi all,
Firstly i am not a registered trader as i dont feel that the potential business on the site will outweigh the monthly trader status subscription. I am
not here to Trade my wares but will answer any questions or enquiries that should come my way.
I have recently been tasked (by my existing employer) to set up a Trailer sales, spares and Hire business.
It is all up and running now at Trailer centre linky, we have a showroom and a parts department and any parts
not stocked can usually be sourced next day, from break away cables, brake shoes right up to replacement suspension units and hubs for custom or home
built trailers.
The reason i am posting this is that i am looking for thoughts from the members as to what other areas it may be worth advertising /canvassing/mail
shotting?
You will not become a millionaire by only selling trailers, its a cut throat market and the margins are small, but there is money to be made on the
hire side and this is something i really want to push.
We are advertising locally in the main newspapers and i have prettywell exhausted my advertising budget to date so i am looking for ideas of groups of
people that i can contact to introduce my hire service to them.
We have the following trailers for hire
Brian James car transporter
- £35.50 per day, or £60 per weekend, and longer rates negotiable.
camping trailer with locking ABS hard top.
1.2m x 0.92m
- £15 per day, £25 per weekend and £70 per week.
Box trailer internal 2.5m x 1.3m x 1.4 high - double locking rear doors, fully weather tight with a 2000kg payload.
- £15 per day flat rate
General light duty/garden waste trailer 1.45m x 1m with extended mesh sides (not yet on the our www) with a 500kg payload
- £10 per day
Other than the general public audience we are reaching with our newspaper advertising i was considering the following for phonecalls, emails,
maillshots etc - what do you think?
Scout / Guide groups
Secondary schools for sporting equipment, duke of edingurgh expeditions
Further education colleges for sporting equipment, duke of edingurgh expeditions
Local motorsports clubs
local garages that may require car transportation.
Do you have any other thoughts..........................?
ATB
Locoboy
|
|
|
|
|
MikeR
|
| posted on 5/9/07 at 10:12 AM |
|
|
DIY stores - you're doing up your house, need to dispose of the waste, hire a trailer.
Oh, comment on the site - the text isn't that easy to read with the picture behind it. Needs to be more bold.
What about a section on how to tow ..... most people don't have a clue (me included) and something that suggests the max you can tow (ie
don't caravan club reconmend 80% of vehicle weight or something)
Also ........ how difficult is it to fit a tow bar? If you're hiring out trailers, what about tow bars to pull them? Maybe even sell the tow
bars.
[cough] just followed the link to indespension via one of your pdf's ....... hmmm, opening text looks familar  they've also had the same
idea as me for tow bar fitting.
[Edited on 5/9/07 by MikeR]
|
|
|
Pdlewis
|
| posted on 5/9/07 at 10:30 AM |
|
|
May also be worth making people aware of the towing law as i know there are restrictions for people like me who obtained their licence after 2000
|
|
|
locoboy
|
| posted on 5/9/07 at 10:51 AM |
|
|
The site is by no means finished,
My mate did it for me as a favour and finished it the day before he went on holiday for a couple of weeks. The suggestions are noted and will be seen
to in the next week or so.
i just wanted something on the web address before he went on holiday and didnt want to keep getting him to change things as he was doing it as a
favour .
ATB
Locoboy
|
|
|
Avoneer
|
| posted on 5/9/07 at 11:44 AM |
|
|
I need a long 48mm jockey - have you got any?
Pat...
No trees were killed in the sending of this message.
However a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
|
|
|
brynhamlet
|
| posted on 5/9/07 at 11:44 AM |
|
|
How about a smaller size car transporter that will just be big enough for a Locost, or MK or similar. Theres probably lots of poeple on this forum who
might show an interest
The trailer I hire is so big my car looks lost on it
|
|
|
locoboy
|
| posted on 5/9/07 at 02:07 PM |
|
|
From my perspective its better to have a car transporter that will cover a multitude of jobs ie bigger, than be restricted to what vehicle i can put
on it, or indeed have a smaller one and a bigger one.
Dont get me wrong, if demand was there i would buy a smaller one, but there would need to be a fair number of requests for a smaller trailer in order
for me to go and spend another £2000 when the one i have hear is up to the job.
Pat you have U2U./
ATB
Locoboy
|
|
|
PeterW
|
| posted on 5/9/07 at 02:29 PM |
|
|
Agree with your comment about having bigger trailers etc so can be used to handle any load however.....
Big trailers need big cars, and you do need to consider that once you have a car on a trailer the train weight of the whole lot can exceed the towing
vehicle capacity.
One thing you may want to look at is hire periods - some people only want a trailer for 1/2 days to do a specific job - can you do this..?
Also, extended opening hours are good - 8-6 is a good start, and at least you get the chance to get a job done in a day.
Cheers
Pete
PS - lots of Scout groups have their own trailers - old manky ones that were built pre-war...!!
|
|
|
MikeR
|
| posted on 5/9/07 at 02:34 PM |
|
|
good point about opening hours ..... it can be a pain in the bum trying to hire something privately during the week if you're working.
EG hire late tues night after work, SVA weds, return weds afternoon would make a lot of people happy.
There was a great hire place around here that had 24 hour security. You could do all the paperwork on a saturday then collect the van any time of day
or night during the week. You checked it over with security to say "its in ok condition" when you took it and did the same on your return.
|
|
|
locoboy
|
| posted on 5/9/07 at 03:03 PM |
|
|
Agree with opening times and we would be more than flexible about collecting it or bringing it back so long as it did not interfere with another hire
period.
Also understand your concerns reference the Train weights and larger tow vehicles........
But to be honest the weight saving between a 2600 GVW trailer and a 2000GVW trailer is only 40Kgs, most of that being down to lighter duty suspension
units, lighter duty coupling and jockey wheel.
So in terms of tow car choice the GVW of the trailer doesnt really make that much difference.
In reality if you want to tow a rangerover you would want a grunty / heavy car to tow it, if you want to tow a kit car then a ford focus would do it,
irrespective of the GVW of the trailer within reason.
ATB
Locoboy
|
|
|
%20(WinCE).JPG)
