Drive U Home

Background

At first, the inspiration for this project came to me over a weekend. Everyone knows that in Melbourne, the weekend means getting together with friends or family : )

I also made an appointment to have dinner with my friends. During dinner, we drank liquor, and discussed with each other very much congenially. I even forgot my car was in the parking lot outside. Difficulties came at the end of the dinner, ‘How do I get my car home?’

At that instance, I thought about how the ride-sharing market seem to be ignoring those consumers who already have a car. Some friends and I decided to tap into this market and provide convenience for those who need a “chauffeur” for various reasons.

Start-up idea

My start-up idea is an app to provide a designated driver service called ‘Chauffeur’. There will be three parties involved in the App, which is software platform, the driver and the customer.

This service will be provided to customers who are drunk or for any other reason are not in a position to drive their car to the intended destination.

The customer uses the App to order a designated driver.

The driver will drive the consumer’s vehicle to their destination.

This app will only act as a software platform to connect the driver to the customer. Drivers are certified by software that verifies their id information, and as an independent contractor rather than an employee of this start-up. The biggest difference from regular ride-sharing services is that the car is provided by the customer rather than the driver or application.

What are the key features?

The main features will be similar to most software that offers ride-sharing services. There will be two versions of the software, Driver version and customer version. 

In driver version, nearby consumers in need of service will be displayed and their passenger information as well as destination can be seen. You can choose the best match for you. Of course, you can also preset, such as the direction you want to go or the distance to drive, and the system will match you with the right customer. 

In customer version, you need to set up your itinerary, origin and destination. The system matches you with the driver, and of course you can see the driver’s information and make a decision about whether or not to accept the driver to drive your vehicle.

Scoring system has also been added to the application to give your passenger or driver a score and evaluation at the end of each trip. It is an intuitive way to see if this passenger/driver is good fit for you.

About us

Chauffeur was founded by several university students. Some of us studies business and some of us studies media, that means we have an understanding of the market and digital media. We are all ambitious and confident in this project.

Now, we are in contact with a professional mobile application development team and working with them to build the App.

Key Benefits

We have filled some of the gaps in the market

1. Existing ride-sharing service cannot meet the needs of customers with cars, but we are targeting the customer who have vehicle. 

2. This app provides jobs opportunity for people who do not own cars.

This start-up idea is that it is a novel and innovative idea in the Australian ride-sharing industry, it limits competition to a great extent

Risks

The first risk of this start-up idea is how to get financing. Because it is a novel idea, is innovation. Compared to emulating other companies, it carries a higher risk, due to the reason that it is untested in the market. Investors will have more aspects to worry about.

The second risk is Chauffeurs need to compete in the ride-sharing market in Australia, but the competition is already “fierce”. We will face to more difficult as a start-up. This high risk is capable of blurring the strategic vision of this start-up and the ability to seize market opportunities.

How could we deal with these difficulties?

We researched the market to avoid these risks. In interview, a large proportion of people with vehicle said they would use the App.

We will seize on the weaknesses of other mobile application to compete with other ride-sharing services, like security. Chauffeur will focus on the screening of drivers; strict audits will be conducted to ensure the safety of both drivers and customers. If the driver deviates from the GPS in tour vehicle, you will be alerted, and an automatic warning will be sent to the platform. We will keep an “eye” on your journey.

We Need You!

We hope you will continue to pay attention to our Application and help make “Chauffeurs” more professional.

You can also tag us on Twitter #CheuffeurMel, to evaluate or start-up.

If you have any investment intention, you are also welcomed to join us!

Reference list:

1. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictures-of-money/17123254699/in/photolist-s68a4i-snzBqK-s5ZdWJ-s61m4j-bt4mNt-s61ncG-s4fksR-aYWk56-aFAQEv-aFAaK6-brd1K2-8HWvej-a2YSa6-snzAJp-dK2osL-dK2oa7-aFATbM-skhAfL-aFDjPB-s688Fi-smQwn4-s684tk-s685Wv-s61ku3-rqLAHi-snzzza-bZvUDS-97gKwe-24kJXLf-677q9C-b6MUJK-aFB2Ba-snuFa5-5nj3tT-bn4oq2-SgH7Ej-az2SCh-biaQuZ-aFAPtx-snxbdk-SwL7t4-QxcaH-7acLp9-djNX5-5noirC-cMnty-5rzm-2gXbvF-aFDgrH-fTr2eB/> “Money ” by Picture of money is licensed under CC BY 2.0
2. IBISWorld 2020, Ridesharing Services in Australia – Market Research Report, IBISWorld, viewed August 4, 2021, <https://www.ibisworld.com/au/industry/ridesharing-services/5540/ >.