Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019 scheduled and charter bus service market in the U.S. exceeded $6.6B in revenue. While market contractions with travel restrictions and closures contracted the market for 2021 and 2022, as more states and communities open up, markets are expected to stabilize, with pre-pandemic growth rates expected in the short term.
As restrictions are lifted nation-wide re-establishing market norms for bus service, are you looking for new opportunities to grow your revenue in to 2023? Whether you are bussing children back and forth to school, or you are transporting wedding parties to party venues, your business is in demand. However, you might want to expand your bus business even more rapidly than that. Start by looking in all the oddest places for clients.
Go to the Forums
Forums are online groups where people and business owners come together and chat online about a common interest. You can find forums for most any group, category or industry. Check out forums related to customer interests related to your clients. Sounds like a lot, but here’s an example. Say you are offering bus services for adults-only activities, such as casino runs or party busses. You would want to go to the forums where people talk about going to casinos or riding on party busses. Sometimes a simple search will connect you to forums. Other times you have to think outside of the box. When you get into a forum introduce yourself and be honest about your role in the bussing industry. You’ll get ample opportunity to advertise your services, as well as a chance to talk in first person with customers of your services.
Networking is Necessary
This is where networking plays a major role in your success. The more people you know, in and out of the industry, the more opportunities you have to find new clients. By connecting with these people as regularly as possible you remind them of who you are and what you do. This causes your network to expand like a spiderweb, bringing in exponentially more job opportunities.
Become a Conference Room Fixture
It’s time for you to start learning more about your client base. You need to register for conventions and lectures that are important to your clientele’s industries. For example, if you are handling bussing for school teams of all ages in your region, go to public transportation conventions to learn how the larger sized bussing companies are keeping up with growth.
You can learn a tremendous amount about how to give your clients what they what once you know what will benefit them most in the bus industry. Plus, you’ll pick up terminology and trade talk that will give you a way to connect with your clients. Best of all, if you go prepared with your business cards and sales pitch you’ll likely come away with a few new leads for your own business.