Car Theft Prevention: Tracking Devices for Rental Companies - Essay Sample

Introduction

One of the most infuriating things that can happen to a car owner -and it's one of the most common forms of crime is car theft. There are a great of established and startups car rental companies in town. Some of these companies don't know about the technology to track their vehicles and make sure they don't get stolen ten, and other companies may not be willing to spend on the technology. We will be adding discreet tracking devices to rental companies' fleet for a competitively priced advantage.

On the industry side, we are lucky to have a close relationship with some of the experienced personnel in town. Most distinguishable is Peter, who has been working in the car tracking business for over the years. He advanced his business to imports of vehicles spare parts

Barriers to Entry

We have an initial advantage of being the first to use the advanced GPS tracking device in our area. The more efficiency we provide with our discreet tracking devices, the harder it will be for the new entrants to establish a successful business; furthermore, we will be enjoying the advantage of being the first to introduce the advanced technology in the area.

In the future, we will be able to advance our technology and expanding to other areas, thus blocking any opportunities for others to acquire any position in the market.

Company History

Untoward, this company started as a side project about three years ago while we were in our final year in college, the company started in my hostel with my roommate, Ben. Initially, this company idea was to deal with electronics, but after months of research, we decided to settle for the car tracking devices. Since there was rampant car theft in our neighborhood, and with no time, it had escalated to car rental companies, and we saw an opportunity there.

We spent months trying to get all the legal documents, and we have been up running for at least two years. In the first two months, we didn't manage to get any clients because they were not sure about the new technology. From then on, people are embracing new technology. On August 14th, 2019, our business received a significant boost when one car, which we had added the tracking device was recovered.

Current Alternatives

The geographical extent that we cover, there is a relatively high number of companies that deal with a car tracking system, and all of them use the superannuated form of car tracking devices which is incompetent and highly risky to the rented cars.

Second-hand cars may come with their previously installed car tracking systems, thereby making it difficult to convince the clients to install a new one.

Competition

Installing GPS vehicle tracking devices increases the worth of the business; moreover, it contributes to the driver competition. The majority of reputed companies utilize the use of a tracking system to attain a positive outcome. With trackers, you can particularity know the idle time of each customer renting the car and, thus, lower your fleet expenses.

Forecast

Our inquisition put in two cents that we can average of 10 car rental companies a week installing ten cars daily, with each car costing $150. The expected income is $432,000 a year and 600,000 in the 2nd year.

Key Assumptions

We are expecting to be able to process ten cars in two different car rental companies daily. Our necessary charges will be $150 per car; we are assuming that with time more cars will be bought by the car rental companies; therefore, there will be flow in the market. We expect the first four months to be sluggish, starting at three cars a day for the first month followed by 5, 7, and 10 cars daily, at this point we will be operating at capacity.

In our first year, we are projecting $432,000 and then 600,000 in revenue with a 20% profit margin. The purchase of the tracking devices will be our top expense. The starting year payroll will be minimal as we will be doing the manual work by ourselves.

Sources of Funds

We have the startup cost covered already; we contributed $1000 each from our savings and other sources of income; we also looked for private funding from our relatives.

Use of Funds

The main expense will be purchasing advanced GPS tracking devices. We paid $1600 for 20 tracking devices, the city permits and licenses took $500, and since our job is mobile, the rest of the funds will be for transport purposes.

Financing Needed

We are solely financing our business with $1000 investments from each co-founder and assistance from our relatives. The profit gained will be equally shared amongst us; the finances will majorly be in use to purchase the car tracking devices.

Intellectual Property

Our focus is on building our unique brand. Our company's logo is now a registered trademark.

Key Customers

General Motors, a local car rental company, which also deals with selling new and used cars, has been thriving in their business for years now; the focus is on obtaining a contract with them. As their business grows, it will directly have a positive impact on ours

Key Metrics

The main focus is on maximizing the available resources. Our primary focus right now is the funds generated daily and the expenses. Our costs are relatively consistent with the significant exception of labor. In the future, we want to have more employees to increase reliability and efficiency, which will upscale our business.

Key Planned Hires

We are looking to hire at least five skilled personnel to help in the installations of the devices within the first year. In the coming years, we are planning to advance and rent a bigger space and hire a sales and a management team, to improve our sales and profits.

Location and Facilities

Our company currently rents a 10,000-square-feet space. The site is within the central business district, which saves us time and cost of transportation since the majority of the clients are in the location around the area. We hope to expand in the future to offer more efficient services.

Management Team

Our business is collaboration between two good friends; we have not focused on any job titles yet. As we grow, we will try and recruit new members to the company without losing the initial mission and vision of the company

Market

Our essential market is the Car rental companies in town who knows the importance of adding discreet tracking devices to prevent theft. A small percentage of the companies have already added the tracking device to their fleet, and the rest, which is the majority, either does not know, or they are not willing to invest in the technology which will keep their cars safe.

Market Growth

According to the latest Car rental market analysis 2019-2023 report, the growth expectation is healthy CAGR by 2023. The report includes insightful analysis done by car rental industry expertise, which comprises valuable historical and forecast information on car rental market segment by type, mode of booking, application, vehicle type, and region.

Marketing Plan

We have high success so far by doing by ourselves. In the future, we are planning on having a marketing team. High -visibility signage is key to gaining local attention, and we made an excellent decision to invest there to establish a premium position. We have quite a good number of followers on our social media platforms i.e., Instagram and Twitter. We also do advertisements through posters and banners, and it has proven to be efficient. Also, we give out our business cards to clients who have experienced our services.

Our customers can either pay us directly or banking services.

Our Advantages

Our tracking devices have stepped up to a more advanced level. Theft prevention is the main reason why we came up with this idea, and the feature sends alerts and notifications whenever a suspicious behavior occurs and allows quick reaction to this behavior.

Other advantages include; cost-saving, discount on insurance, the safety of drivers, better service for customers, employee management, improved administration, etc. Our prices are friendly compared to other competitors; that is, we stand out.

Our Solution

Adding discreet tracking devices to rental companies' fleet for a competitively priced advantage

Ownership and Structure

Our company is registered as a limited-liability corporation. Our two founders are co-owners with equal shares. No outside investors are involved at this point, though there might be an opportunity for that as the business grows.

Partners and Resource

Because we don't manufacture our own devices, which will be more expensive, we have a legal agreement with car tracking solutions making company. They specialize in the making of advanced Car tracking devices.

Pricing

Our core business is installing the car tracking devices to rental companies' fleet for $150 per car inclusive of the service provided. Also, we offer a discount of 10% if the fleet is more than ten cars.

Problem

Cars can easily be stolen from rental companies. Only a handful of companies are utilizing the technology to track their vehicles and make sure they don't get taken. Other companies either don't know about the technique or don't want to invest a lot of money into it yet.

Problem Worth Solving

Car theft has been on the rise over the past years in our area, and the most affected individuals are the car rental companies. Through our advanced car tracking devices, car theft will decrease significantly. Thus, their businesses will thrive.

The available technology in the market is not as advanced as our innovative technology.

Regulatory Requirements

The nature of our technology will not have any adverse effects on the environment. After getting all the necessary permits and licenses, we came up with a system to manage the renewals of the licenses and other ongoing requirements.

Risk and Mitigation

Since our business is a new idea, our most significant initial threat is low adoption: prospective customers may not immediately understand the benefits of our offering. We need to succeed in educating the market on the benefits of car tracking devices.

Another is overshadowing another risk, larger company flourishing in the U.S metropolitan markets, and a successful player, it is essential that we take advantage of our first-mover advantage to make a reliable name for ourselves.

The lack of skilled personnel in the area is also a significant challenge; this will affect the productivity of the company. We will be training interested individuals on how to handle the entire car tracking system.

Sales Plan

We have a set-up that we accept cash or mobile payments, and we also accept payment by Visa, MasterCard, and Apple pay. The majority of the customers prefer cash, so it secure and reliable.

SWOT Analysis

Our strength is because of our unique advanced innovative technology in our town, skilled personnel, a suitable location, and the availability of the market. Weaknesses include a lack of experience in installing advanced tracking devices, shortage of labor, and inadequate knowledge of the new technology.

We have great opportunities in the future; the great potential we have will enable our business to expand to other areas. There is an excellent opportunity in the corporate world as a car dealership and rental franchises discover the benefit of outsourcing their fleet to us. Threats include competition from a more established enterprise and a lack of a ready market for our services

Market Size and Segments

Our main focus is on the car rental companies only. According to our research there are approximately 3000 cars in the rental business that are not equipped with the tracking devices and every year each company adds approximately 200 cars to their fleet.

Why Us?

Our team is a flexible and result- oriented individuals who are ready to assist and be assisted, also we are passionate about new technology, innovation and learning new skills. In addition we are able to easily relat...