The first 90 days of a new taxi business: a week-by-week plan

The operator licence has arrived. Now the work changes from forms to running a firm, and the first 90 days decide whether it lasts. This plan is for the owner of a new taxi or private hire firm: what to set up in weeks 1 and 2, how to find customers in weeks 3 to 6, what to fix in weeks 7 to 12, and the few weekly numbers that tell you whether it's working. It starts after the licence. Our guide to starting a taxi company in the UK covers everything before it.

What does a new taxi business plan for the first 90 days look like?

A new taxi business plan for the first 90 days has three stages, each with a clear finish line. Don't move on until the finish line is met, because a gap in week one costs more in week ten.

Write the plan on one sheet and pin it by the phone. Tick it off every Friday.

What must be in place in weeks 1 and 2?

Five things must be in place before the first job: a booking record, checked staff, the right insurance, a phone that gets answered, and the employer paperwork if anyone is on your payroll.

A booking record. Section 56 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 says an operator must record the particulars of every booking before the journey starts, in the form the council sets. The Department for Transport's Statutory Standards list what councils should require: the passenger's name, the time of the request, the pickup and destination, the driver's name and licence number, the vehicle registration, and who took and dispatched the booking. They suggest keeping booking records for at least 6 months. In London, TfL requires 12 months. Your council's conditions may ask for more, so read them before the first job. Operator record keeping has the full list.

Checked staff. The Standards say operators should keep a register of everyone who takes bookings or dispatches cars, with a basic DBS check for each, and a policy on employing ex-offenders in those roles. A basic DBS check costs £20 from 5 October 2026. That includes you, a family member on the phones and any part-time help.

The right insurance. The cars need cover for private hire use, and taxi business insurance explains the types. If you employ anyone, GOV.UK says you need employers' liability insurance as soon as you become an employer, covering at least £5 million, and you can be fined £2,500 for every day you aren't properly insured. There's an exception if your only employees are close family.

A phone that gets answered. A local number you own, diverts for busy and unanswered calls, and a named person for each hour you're open. Our guide to choosing a phone number and phone system covers the set-up.

Employer paperwork. If you're paying anyone through payroll:

• Register as an employer with HMRC before the first payday. GOV.UK says you can't register more than 2 months before you start paying people.
• Check their right to work before they start. Without the correct checks, the penalty is up to £60,000 for each illegal worker.
• Your workplace pension duties begin on the day your first member of staff starts work, the Pensions Regulator says.
• Pay at least the National Living Wage, £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over from 1 April 2026.

The data protection fee. A taxi firm holds names, numbers and addresses, so pay the data protection fee to the ICO unless you're exempt. The ICO lists tier 1, for micro organisations with turnover up to £632,000 or no more than 10 staff, at £52, with £5 off by direct debit.

Pick your booking system in week one too, because the records start with the first job. Dispatch AI is booking and dispatch software for taxi and private hire firms. It answers your phone, WhatsApp, texts and emails, books the jobs at your prices and sends them to your drivers on your own app. The phone agent and booking are live within 24 hours of getting your zones, prices and driver list, and often within two hours. Apple and Google usually approve the driver app within one to two weeks.

How many drivers does a new taxi firm need in weeks 1 and 2?

Enough to cover the hours you've promised, with one spare. Work it out from your hours, not from a feeling.

Example: you open 7am to midnight, seven days a week. That's 17 hours × 7 days = 119 hours a week. If each driver works 50 hours a week, you need 119 ÷ 50 = 2.4 drivers, so three, before anyone takes a day off or goes sick. Change the inputs to your own.

Check the licences before the first shift. GOV.UK says the driver licence, the vehicle licence and the operator licence all need to be issued by the same authority. A driver licensed by the next council along can't work your jobs, however good they are. Our guide to finding your first drivers covers where to look, and commission or weekly rent covers how to pay them.

Where do the first customers come from in weeks 3 to 6?

The first customers come from Google, from the local venues you visit and from passengers who pass your number on. In weeks 3 to 6, work on three things at once:

1. Your Google Business Profile, verified and complete, with your local number and your service areas.
2. Twenty visits to hotels, pubs, venues and local businesses, with a card and a direct number.
3. One business account. A local firm with staff who need cars, a care home or a hotel. One account with regular weekly work steadies your first months.

Ask every passenger for a review, the same way each time, and never reward one. Record the source of each booking, starting with the very first job. Getting your first taxi bookings goes into each source in detail, and how to get corporate taxi clients covers the first account.

What do you fix in weeks 7 to 12?

Fix the one gap your numbers show is costing you most. By week 7 you have six weeks of records, which is enough to see a pattern.

Don't add drivers while they're sitting idle, and don't spend on adverts while calls ring out. When the phones take over your day, read when to hire a taxi controller. When drivers miss jobs, read what to do when a driver doesn't turn up.

Which weekly numbers should a new taxi firm check?

Check six weekly numbers every Monday, from your phone provider's call log and your booking records:

• Missed calls, by hour of the day.
• Bookings, in total and by source.
• Jobs turned away, because no car was free.
• Jobs per driver hour, to see whether drivers are busy or waiting.
• Cancellations and no-shows, by passengers and by drivers.
• Money in and money out, so you know your cash before the bills arrive.

Write them on one sheet, week by week, so you can see the trend. A single bad week means little. Three in a row means something has changed. Taxi business KPIs explains how to work each one out.

Which deadlines can catch a new taxi business in the first 90 days?

Four deadlines catch new firms early:

1. VAT. GOV.UK says you must register when your taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or you expect it to in the next 30 days, and you have 30 days to apply. Check the running total monthly.
2. Driver and vehicle documents. Licences, insurance and MOTs run out on their own dates. Put every expiry date in one diary from week one. Driver document reminders covers how.
3. DBS for new staff. The Standards ask for a new basic check whenever someone joins the register. Don't let a new controller start before it's done.
4. Your licence conditions. Councils set their own rules on telling them about changes, such as a new address. Read yours again at week 12.

None of this is hard. It's just easy to forget when the phone is finally ringing.