Author Topic: I want to say goodbye to my cubicle!  (Read 2993 times)

Rekon

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I want to say goodbye to my cubicle!
« on: August 18, 2014, 09:25:20 PM »
Does it make sense to buy a car for UberX and drive it when i'm not working 9-5 in corporate america.  Use the part time money to reinvest into more vehicles/drivers and eventually quit my job? My goal is to work for myself.  I currently make 56k and I believe I could make this starting my own business.

Thoughts??

cbender49

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Re: I want to say goodbye to my cubicle!
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2014, 04:09:41 PM »
Does it make sense to buy a car for UberX and drive it when i'm not working 9-5 in corporate america.  Use the part time money to reinvest into more vehicles/drivers and eventually quit my job? My goal is to work for myself.  I currently make 56k and I believe I could make this starting my own business.

Thoughts??

Is this a typical structure with UberX - to have drivers invest in signing up other drivers under them? If not, I'm assuming as far as UberX goes you would have a tough time getting people to work for you and not work directly for UberX where they wouldn't be shelling out part of their income to you. If you're thinking of starting a competitor business to Uber, this is a much bigger beast.

studentdoc2

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Re: I want to say goodbye to my cubicle!
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2014, 06:09:31 PM »
My partner works for UberX while finishing up his grad school degree. While I estimate that the true take-home pay of UberX is only 40% of the quote fare (considering the 20% commission for Uber plus your self-employment tax, federal/state tax, and vehicle maintenance/wear&tear/gas/etc.), it's a decent gig (esp. as a side gig) -- IF you already have a car. I would think that the upfront cost of buying a vehicle that meets Uber's standards (I don't think they even consider allowing anything older than a 2006 to drive for them), registration, etc. would end up being a huge investment. Plus, I'm not actually sure what you mean by "reinvest into more vehicles/drivers". You work for Uber as an independent contractor -- you don't sign up other drivers or multiple vehicles.

The long and short of it is, if you have a decent car and some hours to spare, sure, drive for UberX but be sure to take all of the taxes and wear and tear into account. But don't go out and buy a car just to drive for Uber.

Retired To Win

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Re: I want to say goodbye to my cubicle!
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2014, 08:11:09 PM »
... I believe I could make this starting my own business.   Thoughts??

A business should not be started that casually.  If you are serious about this as a business, please do some due diligence such as developing a business plan and projecting at least one year of cash flows.

And... would you be happy working that particular business?

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!