When the novice businessmen look at Uber and Lyft, they see the epitome of a business model. And why not? Building a multi-million dollar taxi-hailing business without owning a single car is indeed a genius concept.
However, both these businesses had their fair share of issues during their odyssey to make it big into the transportation landscape. This created a pathway for aspirants to note down the dos and don’ts before developing their Uber-like mobile app.
Make your Way to the Top, However, at a Slow Pace
First, a black luxury car, followed by Sedan, then micro and mini and ultimately, ride-sharing services. Uber knew that the business model is a hard-to-digest one for demography at the bottom of the economy.
In addition, the targeted market, in the beginning, was the developed market of the U.S., where demand for limo and other luxury cars are on the peak. Leveraging this gap to the business benefit, Uber was launched with the model, wherein, drivers with luxury vehicles subscribed and offered ride services.
The lesson here is to learn the sentiments of the demography to know who you are catering to. For example, in developing countries, it is a wise decision to target the middle-class populace first by developing a taxi app with micro and mini cars, while in underdeveloped regions, it is recommended to build an app with carpooling options.
Once demography becomes loyal to your business, you can start adding advanced features to target other masses.
Weigh the Satisfaction Level of Riders and Drivers Equally
While Uber maintained a rider-centric approach by developing an app with long-waiting windows initially, Lyft maintained a driver-centric approach by offering tipping options in the final cost. The move indeed caused a stir among the drivers of Uber and many of them even ditched Uber for Lyft.
Also Read: Making a Taxi Book App? Follow These Guidelines Before Making One
However, we can use it as a takeaway for developing your taxi-hailing business. When are developing your app, maintain an equilibrium between the driver’s app and the rider’s app.
If you offer riders the convenience to show up a couple of minutes late without having to pay for the extra time, add features that can help drivers get riders on board easily (ex. Heat map). That being said, it is imperative to bring in uniqueness to both the driver’s service app and the riders app to survive in the competitive landscape.
Marketing Will Die Gradually, Quality Service Won’t
Not to demotivate in your venture, but numerous Uber-for-X businesses have failed, some of them albeit terribly. The root cause of these failures, when examined at a granular level, is found to be an excessive reliance on marketing activities.
Once discounts and deals will lose their sheen, no marketing efforts will serve as an anchor to your ride-hailing business but quality service. While you know you will excellently implement your business, it is the technicalities that you should be worried about.
A rider getting late to reach the office during peak traffic hours doesn’t deserve to wait to restart the app. A taxi booking app has to be simple yet intuitive; feature-rich yet seamless. This calls for an experienced taxi booking app Development Company, who can address your personalized demands.
Scale Horizontally, Grow Vertically
Uber and Lyft have always been a trial and error game. Both these services introduced new features if they resonated well with drivers and riders, these features were further explored in-depth, if not, they were discarded to make space for only the necessary ones.
It may be alluring to have multiple features for your taxi-hailing mobile app; however, it is smarter, to begin with only the most viable ones. Using these basic features, capture your niche market, and then add advanced features and target the other class. This way you can grow your base and expand vertically.
Foster your Leap from your Extant Resources
Remember when Uber introduced motorbike rides and it also launched UberEats? Well, the connection between these two may not seem apparent but there is one.
The drivers of motorbikes can be leveraged to cater to the demand from the UberEats and likewise. However, that can be done in the latter part of the expansion stage, when your niche business is booming.
Besides motorbikes, cars can also help foster your leap by adding car rentals and outstation services to your business model to optimize your resources.
The Sum and the Substance
In a nutshell, an Uber clone or a Lyft clone mobile app has to be perceived from the angles of both – riders and drivers. Though innovation is the key to scale the consolidation heights, quality service and simple technicalities can help you strengthen your footprints in the landscape.
Also, think through your supply chain; whether you want to have an aggregated one or an integrated one. An integrated supply chain holds more reliability than the former, as contract drivers are in for long-term service.
Once you are aware of these dimensions, you are ready to develop your very own Uber-like mobile app.
