Growth & Jobs | ‘More than a hustle’

Tabra-Kay Lindsay, sales relations specialist at JN Bank Small Business Loans, is encouraging transport operators to treat their trade as a profession that can build generational wealth.

Lindsay was the main presenter during the financial planning session of the JAA Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS) Workshop at the JAA’s offices at 5 Central Avenue in Swallowfield, St Andrew, on August 31.

“As part of the process to start developing generational wealth, we encourage persons to become formalised by getting licensed with the Transport Authority and the other relevant bodies,” she advised. “I also urge you to see the industry as more than a ‘hustle’. Too often, individuals within the industry treat the business as a ‘hustle’ to just pay bills and living for today, instead of thinking long term.”

Lindsay said that like any other business, operators should be thinking about how they can develop their trade to make a profit, so it can thrive on its own with minimum dependent on loans to meet the basic operational costs for the business. This will allow for greater focus to properly maintain loans of greater values to adequately support the expansion of their taxi fleets and not solely for operations.

“Being in any form of business is about growth, and you want to expand to a point where if you want to retire tomorrow, you can pass on the taxi or the fleet of taxis to your children, which is a start for generational wealth,” she advised.

“Service providers of this industry need to focus on the importance of proper money management and using the funds generated from the business, through fixed saving options and investments, to allow for increased creditability, added income, larger spending power, and financial growth of the business,” she added.

The sales relations specialist added that transport operators should also create business plans as a projection of what the business can potentially earn and what they hope to achieve for the business in the short and long term. It also adds to the plans for preparation of harsher economic periods, such as recessions and the recently experienced pandemic. “A business plan will help you determine if the business is feasible, and assist you in becoming more flexible to pivot, if and when necessary,” she affirmed.

Warren Wilson, head of sales at Jamaica Automobile Association (JAA), also urged transport operators to be flexible in their business planning to ensure viability and sustainability of their operations.

The sales professional pointed out that the transport sector is similar to the financial sector, as it is plagued by several risks, noting that operating costs in the sector are affected by the price of fuel, crime, insurance, road conditions and various other factors on a daily basis. As a result, transport operators need to continuously assess their business model to ensure they remain viable, Wilson advised, and create a business plan to keep track of the viability of their operations.

“If you fail to plan, plan to fail. The business plan doesn’t have to be leather-bound with fancy photos because at the end of the day, a sales plan today may not be tomorrow’s sales plan, but the idea is that you have a framework that says, ‘This is where I want to go and these are the steps that I want to take,’” he advised.

“You will plan, and you will set out your business plan because it is a living and breathing document that must change. You can plan, but things change all the time,” he added.

Wilson also encouraged transport operators to move away from thinking that they are making money because of the lump sums of cash that they handle daily.

“The bottomline of a business is to churn a profit. Although you may be handling large volumes of cash daily and you think you are making money, if your cost of doing business is greater or equal to the money you are making, you are not in a business, you are in an operation,” he said.

“Therefore, develop a way to ensure that you know if the venture is profitable. You can do this by just separating your gas money from the money you made for the day, and also the amount you are putting aside for parts and servicing the vehicle. Also, you should consider a fleet management services, such as JAA Advance, to be able to monitor fuel expenses, which can be among, if not your biggest spend each month,” he explained.

Reflecting on the presentations, Steve Esson, a transport operator, described the workshop as very positive.

“There is a view that many of us in the sector are not serious about the profession. While this is true for some members, I am pleased that organisations are trying to change this view and get more members to take the industry seriously and protect their investment. Therefore, the workshop was positive, and I learnt some things from it,” he said.

The workshop was mounted by TODSS in partnership with the JAA. It was part of the organisation’s thrust to educate members about road safety, financial planning and standards that should obtain within the sector, and was attended by a small group of transport operators from Kingston and St Catherine. It formed part of TODSS Health Wealth and Safety Expo series, which has been mounted in several parishes across the island.