A closer look at the price board and the traffic shows that this is not only a very profitable business but a relatively stress free business.
As you can see in the photo, each car and driver needs to pay $2.00 and passengers on the car also pays $1.00.
Look at that line up! I was there on Sunday but I walked by that place 4-5 times and there was always a huge line up to get on.
When I was on the ferry, there were 48 people (36 adults, 12 children) on the same boat including passengers in the cars. Additionally, there were 3 bicycles and 3 cars and the total trip time was 7 minutes and 23 seconds.
Total Revenue (Calculated Per Trip)
|
Item |
Unit Cost | Price |
| 3 cars | $2.00 | $6.00 |
| 36 adults | $1.00 | $36.00 |
| 12 children | $0.50 | $6.00 |
| 3 bicycles (all adults) | $1.25 | $3.75 |
| Total | - | $51.75 |
The service had 3 of these carriers (boats) that went back and forth so there was always someone docking and leaving, fully utilizing this. For simplicity and conservative estimation, the time used per trip was 10 minutes.
Total Revenue (Calculated in Time)
|
Time |
Explanation of Calculation | Revenue |
| Per 10 minutes | 3 carriers x $50.00 (round off $51.75) | $150 |
| Per hour | 6 x “per 10 minutes) | $900 |
| Per day | 15 x “per hour” | $13,500 |
| Per week | 7 x “per day”. I will divide this by 3 to account for Sunday being a peak day | $31,500 |
| Per Year | 52 x “per week” | $1,638,000 |
Wow!
The number might actually be conservative since I divided the traffic by 3 to account for peak and non-peak days. The people who work there also told me that at times there are many more passengers than the one I counted for this calculation.
Business ideas are everywhere and often very simple. The owner of this service has found one of the easiest businesses to manage since this service involves much less people and equipment than typical ventures. I wonder if the owner reports all the revenue and profit accurately since everything is done in cash.
I will report more interesting business ideas as I encounter them. If there is a particular one you want me to cover, do not hesitate to email me about it at david [at] moneyning [dot.] com so I can check it out!
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I wonder what are the operational costs of running a ferry. Cost of ferry, labor to run and maintain, fuel, insurance.
Adam: Actually the cost isn’t that bad, considering that you can rent a boat 10 times the size for a couple hours at $2000.
As for labor, there are 2 people running each boat. The person who operates the boat and another person who collects the money.
I bought my shovel today to start digging my river. I hope people do not get upset when I bisect the highway for my ferry service.
J: Much needed laugh on a major stock market down day!
Good luck with your digging! I don’t think your neighbors will mind your new service but remember that you need to fill the hole with water too before it becomes a river!
Entrepreneurialism is alive and well!
Brad: Definitely is! Some of these businesses are pretty simple and amazing!
I had that idea myself with the ferry, I even have a company set up, I have the autorization of the authorities, but no way you get that financed some where. So if you or some one could help me with that, we do that business together.
It’s no joke. If you want details on my company and project, you can contact me back.
Message for LISA
Hi Lisa thank you for your email. You forgot to put your email I can’t contact you without, sender Email was MoneyNing.
Maybe you contact me back.
Greets from Belgium