School Holidays & Vacation

Third week of school holidays… or is it the fourth? And somehow still no actual time off. I spent one night in Carinthia and relaxed there. The rest of the time I was working on the taxi business — whether driving, doing marketing, or building up Instagram etc. I can't seem to switch off. As of today I'm leaving the country for 5 days. Hopefully I can wind down a little. No work phone with me. Car keys are with my new employees. Yes — I hired my first two employees yesterday. And yes, they're men. They're both people I trust and they have their taxi licence. It'll probably take a while until a FLINTA* person gets their taxi licence and applies to me. Please spread the word!!

I couldn't have managed the employment process without my payroll accountant. Employer number, municipal tax number? Or bank account? No idea whatsoever. A grammar school diploma and university degrees that never once mentioned these words. Both of them can only earn marginally on top of their other income, since they already have other employment. For me as an employer (wow) that's also better, since no social security contributions apply apart from accident insurance (around €14/month). After emails, phone calls and research, I managed to register them properly — so the job is worth it for them and the taxi car isn't sitting around too much. The costs I already have stay the same anyway (except charging electricity), and now it's being used more to generate more income. I hope the two of them bring in more revenue than they cost the company — I'm confident they will. It definitely helps me relax a little and step back from having to do all the driving myself. At an annual turnover of €20,000 I'll receive a subsidy for the electric car from the WKO. That's basically my goal now. Currently, from driving myself, I'm at around €2,000 in revenue — April to July!!

I've had some registrations on the website, some Instagram follows… but in 3 months only 4–5 bookings via the website or booking number. An FM4 radio interview was also published and didn't bring many more registrations or bookings. I had flyers placed at Lady Fitness centres and in FLINTA* bars in Vienna. Everything just takes time. Patience. Thankfully I can work with other apps in the meantime to cover costs. And bookkeeping isn't cheap either, lol.

I filmed a Reel with a former student and a FLINTAXI follower. It was a great project and I'm really grateful that the former student has so much equipment and skill and is sharing it with me.

Now I still want to film a video at the airport with him, a video of someone else booking for a FLINTA* person and paying online via bank transfer (QR code) / PayPal link, and a video where an influencer does a sketch and then books FLINTAXI (she already makes comedy content on social media). I'd also love it if my passengers spontaneously posted Stories tagging @flintaxi so that everything spreads more and more and looks more established. I'd probably need to ask for it more actively myself, but I always feel unsure about coming across as pushy…

I'm still mega proud of myself for putting all this energy in and continuously getting positive feedback about the company. I can't manage tons of bookings on my own — but pre-booked rides, or simply contacting FLINTAXI first whenever you need a taxi, won't cost you any more, but would help FLINTAXI cover costs and maybe even sponsor new drivers or grow through word of mouth. I want every person who knows FLINTAXI to pass it on to FLINTA* people in their lives. Three months in… it'll get there. Now July / August — lots of driving and lots of Reels on Instagram for people to share. I need to film my funny sketch ideas. I just sometimes wonder: who's going to show their face for FLINTAXI?

Enjoy the rest of the summer everyone.