Nowadays, women do not feel safe in the streets of Paris. In 2008, 10% to 12% of the people interrogated in Paris claimed to be worried about their security in the day-to-day life . Taxis and public transport are not an exception. Some recent events such as the murder of a young Swedish girl by a taxi driver have considerably reduced the trust of customers in taxi services.
In view of these events and as young entrepreneurs in the taxi service sector in Paris, we have decided to take into account those facts and find a solution to win back our female customers. So, we will be launching an exclusive taxi service called ‘Ladies Taxi' for women only (and children subject to an age limit for boys) in September 2011. Our taxi service will be an innovation in the Parisian private transport sector as our team of taxi drivers will be composed of women only. Our company will be registered as a taxi company, owning a fleet of 15 to 20 taxis ready to operate in the Paris area. To support our activity and guarantee an easy access to our services, a call center and a website will be available to our customers in order to book a car in advance.
Indeed, today, the frequent taxi customers are represented by women (35%), business related (30%), tourists (10% to 15%) and others (10% to 15%) . It is then crucial to win the trust of women who represent the biggest segment of taxi users. Therefore, the primary market for our company will be urban and active women from between 20 and 50 years. These women have good jobs with a medium to high level of responsibility. They enjoy going out at night and would be very interested in a transport service that would provide them security and comfort.
There are currently 16,623 taxi drivers operating in the Paris area and 12% of these are female taxi drivers. During the past decade, this figure has increased as customers are paying less attention to old cliches about women's way of driving. Moreover, according to the town council's estimation, the 200,000 taxi rides completed daily in the city do not meet the increasing demand of customers (tourists, business). Above all, Parisian women, the largest segment of taxi users, do not find the existing taxi system safe. Therefore, there is an opportunity to launch a new taxi service that will bring them peace.
[...] These women are already using taxi services and are aware of the insecurity issues in the city of Paris. They like to go out at night and want to return home safely. They would like a taxi service which is easy to reach and guarantees safety and comfort. Our company can provide them these qualities of services. Following our study, we have noticed that 7 out of 10 women will be interested in a taxi service with women drivers. Having a woman at the wheel makes them feel confident and ensures safety. [...]
[...] Informational Resources As a taxi service, we need to be sure that all our drivers have a perfect knowledge of all streets and places of Paris. This knowledge will allow them to use the shortest and most convenient way to take our clients to their destinations. Moreover, we need to keep updated on trendy places to go out and potential hot points to find clients. Finally, we need to keep an eye on the competition in order to keep our differentiation: a service exclusively for women offered by women. [...]
[...] Moreover, being a good taxi driver demands many qualities such as: patience, knowledge about the streets of Paris and finally being nice and communicative to put clients at ease. Therefore, if we face the problem of not finding good staff, we will have two solutions: Recruiting new taxi drivers from the driving school looking for a quick way to begin work. Recruiting outside Paris and testing applicants with an assignment in the streets of Paris to check their knowledge of the French capital. [...]
[...] Strategic Partnerships: We will sign some contracts of partnership to set up our business and we will have to play on the fact that our evolutionary innovation has a public interest and a feminist action in order to give security to women when they go out, especially during the night. In that matter, we will establish a partnership with women's magazines like ELLE Magazine in order to obtain some free publicity. We will also have a partnership with the brand Renault which will provide us its hybrid car Kangoo and insure the maintenance of the cabs. [...]
[...] In 2008, the Attali report recommended the deregulation of a part of the taxi business, opening up the business to competition and increasing the number of operating taxis in the Paris area. This report didn't lead to an agreement[9]. However, the number of taxis in Paris will increase to 20,000 cars before 2012. Finally, we can count the installation of the ‘carbon tax' among the political & legal factors affecting the taxi services sector. This new tax will certainly lead to an increase of taxi fees. [...]
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