NO EASY. FORTUNES IN MOTOR HIRE WORK.
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THE IDEA of becoming proprietors, or part proprietors, of motor vehicles of one kind or another, and .making a livelihood therefrom, naturally appeals strongly to a considerable number of demobilised officers and men.
Various organizations have been formed with a view to -co-operative' work on these lines, and it is clear enough that, when the individual's capital is quite small, a well-organized group is much more likely to build up a profitable business than one man working alone with inadequate financial support. Thus, the principle of these co-operative organizaa
i tions s to be commended.
At the same time, we feel it our duty to warn demobilised Service men of the risks they run if they enter into any combination of this kind without full knowledge or expert advice as to the reliability of the figures upon which the estimated profits are based. Our advice is always at the disposal of our readers in regard to such matters.
We are, of course, anxious to see the employment of motor vehicles as a means of livelihood extended, 016 but we are equally anxious that the development shall be sound commercially ; that progress shall not be jeopardized by failures, and that Service men shall not be induced to waste their gratuities or small savings. In some cases the promoters of these cooperative organizations appear to take mueh too rosy a view of -their prospects, and, in a few instances at least, it is to be feared that the object is solely the profit of the promoter, and not the benefit of the co-operator.
Any proposal which offers a lucrative appointment, coupled with an exaggerated interest on his capital, to–the small investor, must be subjected to the strictest scrutiny. If such results are possible to the co-operative concern, they must be equally, if not more, possible to a limited company of the ordinary type possessing substantial resources. If the exofficer, by investing a few hundred pounds, cam be secure of good permanent employment and interest annually at the rate of something approaching 100 per cent., then it stands to reason that big capitalists would, before now, have been readily interested in
similar proposals, with the difference that the companies formed by them would offer te the ex:Officer employment only, the profits going to the capitalist.
'The operation of motor vehicles as a means of livelihood requires considerable knowledge and experience. Good profits have recently been made out of small hiring businesses, but it remains to he seen: whether these profits will be maintained when cars have been delivered to the large number of wouldbe purchasers now upon the waiting lists. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that proposals to run motor vehicles over journeys of considerable length, charging fares only equivalent to those paid for the seats in a third-class railway carriage, must-be based upon figures which have not been substantiated by, let us say, large companies operating motor cabs, hire cars, or light vans let out under contract. Putting the third-class railway fare at about three halfpence a Mile, the receipts of a, car carrying four pa,ssengers would be no more than 'sixpence a rnile2 supposing it to run fully loaded, both on the out and home journey. We know that London cub companies cannot show a, profit at eightpence a mile, though
they have the advantage that practically the 'whole of their work is done within a small radius, and maintenance and repairs can, therefore, be very economically organized at one central point.
Estimates oftoperating cost sometimes, ignore altogether the question of depreciation, in the 'value of the vehicles Frequently they under-estimate the cost of fuel and of tyres, and a number of incidental' expenses' inevitable in practice, but riot immediately apparent to the--outsider.
It is practically certain that what cannot be done at a profit by a motor cab, certainly cannot be clone by a heavier car of the landaulet type, travelling at higher speeds, and costing more in the first instance. A proposition of the sort is not commercially sound, unless it clearly provides for a regular salary to be paid to the driver or organizer for his work, as well as for the payment of interest on the capital that he,may invest. Should any of our readers have under consideration proposals of this sort we should be pleased, if,they would care to forward us the full particulars laid before them, to advise them as to the prospects of successful results.