Are you looking into buying a vehicle for a small business?
You’ve probably made a smart decision. Depending on the needs of your small enterprise, buying a company vehicle can be a sound investment. If you’re spending a significant amount of money on traveling or delivery costs, for instance, getting a company car is the right move.
And as your business grows, you might even keep buying more vehicles. Before you know it, you have a small fleet! This, however, presents a new challenge: effective fleet management.
Continue reading to learn how to manage company cars.
Develop a Vehicle Usage Policy
When your company owns a fleet of cars, they aren’t going to stay idle. At any given time, most of them will be out on business missions.
As such, it’s essential to develop an effective vehicle usage policy. This should address who drives the vehicles, the permissions they need to get before driving out of the company’s yard, and how they should be used while on the road.
For instance, if you allow employees to drive company vehicles, they should be aware that they can’t use the vehicle for personal missions when out on business duty. The policy should outline the consequences for employees who violate this rule.
With an effective vehicle usage policy, you’ll minimize a lot of risks.
Insure Your Fleet
Talking of risks, your fleet presents a number of liabilities to your business.
For example, a company car can be involved in a road accident and whoever was behind the wheel found to be at fault. If they were using the car for business purposes, your company will be liable.
There’s also the risk of theft, and fire and weather damage.
There are a number of steps you can take to minimize these risks, but the most effective is purchasing adequate fleet insurance. If your company is held liable for an accident and has to compensate a third-party, your insurance provider will take care of it. The same goes for cases of theft and property damage.
Ensure Proper Storage
Where do your company cars spend their time when they’re not in use?
If you’re like most small businesses with a fleet, you probably have a yard in your business’ premises. This works, but it isn’t proper storage. The right thing to do is to build a storage facility. A solutions provider like Steel Buildings Zone can build a facility that suits your business’ fleet storage needs.
Hire a Fleet Manager
As a business owner, you probably also wear the fleet management hat. Nothing wrong with this, but we doubt it’s the best way to serve your company. Delegate this task to a professional.
An experienced fleet manager will not only manage your company’s cars but also work toward lowering the costs of keeping the fleet.
Buying a Vehicle for a Small Business Is a Good Move
Buying a vehicle for a small business is no small feat. And with alternative options like leasing, you might not be willing to splurge on a company car.
However, if your business’ needs call for one, or a fleet, it’s savvier to buy. Plus, you now know what it takes to manage company cars.
Need more business tips? Keep tabs on our blog.
