Depending on the market you are in, driving can be a great source of income. It may be everything you read or hear about how much drivers make. In other markets drivers complain about the lack of fares, low income and dismal conditions. It's all a matter of geography.
The sad thing is, not everyone driving for Uber or Lyft understands that we operate in a bubble. A group of encapsulated people who seemingly live to drive. And further, the perception within those bubbles of our lives are limited to the market to which we are assigned. In Kansas we can drive all over the state but that doesn't make it worth the effort to drive 2 or more hours to the next city. In some markets the city is your border.
We recently had a driver from our market move (permanently) to Las Vegas. Oh what a difference. Not only does the landscape change, the amount of money to be had driving for Uber is much improved. And while someone native to Vegas may think they aren't making as much as they used to, the driver from Kansas is finding himself in a boom town.
All of the discussions about money: How much are you making? Here's what I made last night, last week. . . all of it often degrades to one side insulting the other, most likely from lack of understanding. It's easy to be in your bubble and not realize that there is a significant difference from one market to the next. So people become flippant, "just quit," or "do something else if this isn't for you." It's so easy to spout those words to others when you are doing well.
The truth is that it is still a very small portion of the population who even know that rideshare exists, and even less have ever tried Uber or Lyft. Out of that very small fraction an ever growing number of drivers are vying for a slice of the pie which equals less riders for everyone.
Sometimes driving is for the extras like a daughter's wedding or special trip. Other a times it's a stop gap measure, to keep you from having to make the choice between food and electricity. And then there are those few drivers who actually do make money. And that's largely due to geography. The other is due to better use of resources. One you can do nothing about (geography) the other you can affect.
There have been plenty of reports that show not every driver is making ends meet. Most barely make above minimum wage. And while Uber would have you believe that pretty much everyone driving for Uber has a "regular" job or is "retired" that is simply not true. In the time I've been driving I have met plenty of people who are relying on Uber for their primary source of income. I started out just driving for extras but a change in my circumstances caused me to drive more for primary income.
If you are driving because you really need the money, and you find yourself in one of the many lesser markets, you'll need to work smart. One of the smartest things I've heard was related to me by one of the founders of Uzurv.
Harold Frans started driving for Uber and knew he needed to build his business because Uber wasn't going to do it for him. He began picking up passengers at the airport and gave every one of them his phone number and offered to pick them up later, where ever they were. In this way he started a network of regular passengers. From there he got so busy he couldn't handle the special requests so he enlisted the help of other trusted drivers who would pick up these passengers (all of them via Uber - no rules were broken).
The networking grew so well that Harold, along with Matt Donlan came up with the idea of Uzurv. This way drivers weren't put in the position of fielding calls for rides they couldn't take - they could have a network for passengers to select who and when they needed a ride.
The genius of this was that Harold built his own network. He told EVERY passenger about his services. He provided the best in customer service so passengers would WANT to have Harold as their driver. I suspect this is how the best drivers do it in most areas - the boom towns are few and far between. The networking, that is what it takes to be successful when you're stuck with bad geography. It's the customer service that makes people want YOU and the app that let's them request you specifically.
Some drivers aren't going to agree with the Uzurv app. Some will throw up obstacles (I don't have time to network) and and excuses (I don't want to tell passengers, they might not want to hear about it) but the bottom line is, if you want to really make money, you have to provide a service so good that no one would want to have any other driver. And then you need a way to be the one they pick every time.
Driving for any rideshare service isn't as easy as the advertisements would make you believe. It takes work and a commitment to customer service. No matter where you drive, you can work smarter. If you find you need help (and don't want to have the degrading comments often found on social media) ask fellow drivers, search for a local meet up group to network with, or contact me for mentoring. Work together within your market to develop strategies that will help build your rider base and make each of you more successful.
Excellent as always!
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