[garyk]

I am probably going to be accused of being a fanboy or an employee of uber. I've noticed that a lot of people on these forums talk about hourly wage. If you're concerned about hourly wage then you are thinking like an employee not a business owner. Walk into just about any business and speak to the owner and ask him if he's concerned about how much he makes by the hour and he will say no he is concerned about quarterly and yearly profit and loss statements. Run a quarter with your business and get a profit loss statement and if you think you aren't making enough money then quit and go become an employee of someone else. That's all there is to it. People forget that uber was designed to be money in your spare time it was never designed to be a full time job. I have a day job that pays my bills and provides me with medical I come out and drive in my spare time and make extra money and even after expenses and taxes I am coming out far enough ahead that I am happy. The time I put into this is time that I would have been sitting on the couch doing nothing or just hanging out with friends anyway so I am NOT concerned about the hours that I put in. All I care about is the bottom line at the end of the quarter and at the end of the year. If you cannot think about your driving this way then you are always going to be disappointed.

 

[elelegido]

A truly magisterial post on the subject.

 

[garyk]

Magisterial... What a great word lol

 

[Instyle]

When profit or turn over is so low, hourly is usually the way to look at it especially for those that do this as a part time suppliment.

 

[garyk]

Even though you only planned on doing this part time you are still a business owner and cannot think hourly wage because it's going to cause nothing but heartache for you. Like I said run the business for a quarter check your profit loss statements and see if it's worth your time if it isn't then you need to quit.

 

[secretadmirer]

I respectfully disagreement about the ownership part. If I was the business owner, the rates would be much higher then the measly .80/90cents/mile etc.
I still wonder why anyone would drive at 30cents/mile in Detroit. That one still cracks me up. The drivers are far from being the business owner. Uber can activate anyone without cause or explanation. That's not ownership I'm sorry to say.

 

[Instyle]

A lot of people that enter Uber as a driver come from an employee background and aren't initially geared to run their own business. Though it's fair to say if you invest 12 hours and the return is $120 without deducting any expenses, this won't look good at the quarter anyway.

 

[garyk]

To the driver talking about people in Detroit willing to drive for $0.30 a mile he's right they are insane because even the federal government thinks that it cost $0.54 a mile to operate a vehicle. And to the other fellow talking about $120 return for 12 hours before expenses this is what a profit loss statement is for your going to show a very very small profit or possibly a lot and at that point you need to decide whether or not to continue with this business

 

[EcoboostMKS]

You're confusing business owner with independent contractor. You own nothing but your car and phone.

 

[sellkatsell44]

Actually if you're giving uber a cut

You're part of a franchisee, not truly a business owner

A true business owner gets to set the rates

A franchisee owner has to abide by the real owners' rates and give them a cut--in return, the real owner provides the franchisee materials to generate business (the app and the little stickers you guys love or hate) and is suppose to help you be successful while representing their brand.

 

[UTX1]

Gary, all of that is true. Big picture shows more of the story and these are standards
in any business. One thing that is difficult for many folks to break away from though
is the rate-per-hour measurement. I think it could be because somewhere in the back
of our thoughts, we all know that the only thing we have is time on earth. We can't take
any of the things with us when we go. How we spend that time and what it's worth
when we monetize our waking hours seems to take on an sense of importance.

The benefit of looking at a for-profit business activity on a QTR or annual basis does
provide a more balanced account of profitability, or lack thereof and I like to look at
it that way too. It's a matter of having some patience. The hourly, daily or weekly
measurements of income are often too sporadic and inconsistent to really see how
a venture is truly performing. I'm starting to sound like one of my economics professors
and beginning to even bore the sh*t out of myself. I'll leave it there. I like your post.

 

[toi]

at these rates business owner would be a highly ambitious term.
lets settle for either charity or non profit organization owner or something.

 

[garyk]

If the rates are too low for you you have 2 choices... Try to renegotiate or quit. Stop whining and do one Or the other. Sorry so blunt. Not saying you are whining toi but a lot of other people are.

 

[Lando74]

I am probably going to be accused of being a fanboy or an employee of uber. I've noticed that a lot of people on these forums talk about hourly wage. If you're concerned about hourly wage then you are thinking like an employee not a business owner. Walk into just about any business and speak to the owner and ask him if he's concerned about how much he makes by the hour and he will say no he is concerned about quarterly and yearly profit and loss statements. Run a quarter with your business and get a profit loss statement and if you think you aren't making enough money then quit and go become an employee of someone else. That's all there is to it. People forget that uber was designed to be money in your spare time it was never designed to be a full time job. I have a day job that pays my bills and provides me with medical I come out and drive in my spare time and make extra money and even after expenses and taxes I am coming out far enough ahead that I am happy. The time I put into this is time that I would have been sitting on the couch doing nothing or just hanging out with friends anyway so I am NOT concerned about the hours that I put in. All I care about is the bottom line at the end of the quarter and at the end of the year. If you cannot think about your driving this way then you are always going to be disappointed.

Actually I used to have a restaurant. And I certainly looked at sales and cost of labor by the hour, day, week and month.

Uber is particularly the kind of business that requires hourly sales (fares) per hour as a metric to measure productivity and efficiency. I also make sure I get every possible mile out of each gallon, and every dead mile is matched by one or more billable miles.

A business owner should be obsessed over these details, not indifferent. While there is a case to be made for the law of averages, if you don't have clear metrics to measure success you can't push yourself to do better.

 

[UTX1]

uber, uber blah, blah.....I think toi has a cool avitar.
Very futuristic !

 

[Fuzzyelvis]

I am probably going to be accused of being a fanboy or an employee of uber. I've noticed that a lot of people on these forums talk about hourly wage. If you're concerned about hourly wage then you are thinking like an employee not a business owner. Walk into just about any business and speak to the owner and ask him if he's concerned about how much he makes by the hour and he will say no he is concerned about quarterly and yearly profit and loss statements. Run a quarter with your business and get a profit loss statement and if you think you aren't making enough money then quit and go become an employee of someone else. That's all there is to it. People forget that uber was designed to be money in your spare time it was never designed to be a full time job. I have a day job that pays my bills and provides me with medical I come out and drive in my spare time and make extra money and even after expenses and taxes I am coming out far enough ahead that I am happy. The time I put into this is time that I would have been sitting on the couch doing nothing or just hanging out with friends anyway so I am NOT concerned about the hours that I put in. All I care about is the bottom line at the end of the quarter and at the end of the year. If you cannot think about your driving this way then you are always going to be disappointed.

If hours are immaterial why point out to us that you do this in your "spare time"? It shouldn't matter if you are doing this 1 hour or 100 hours a week by your logic.

If my goal is to have $1000 a week profit I'd rather "run a business" that I only have to put in 40 hours a week to do that than one I have to put in 120. But I guess that's just me.

 

[secretadmirer]

Just another newbie op trying to tell us stuff we already know. I like toi's comment about driving for charity. To the OP: just how can you negotiate rates with uber? hahaha that's good for a chuckle

 

[Instyle]

Uber uses predatory tactics towards people needing money such as the post after Walmart job cuts coupled with wild accusations of "good money" and healthy incentives to get you onboard.

During the honeymoon period it's usually an ok return so most people make life changing decisions by steering time away from other commitments to increase the revenue from Uber, then as time goes on the hours are constantly increasing to maintain the same level or dwindling return ultimately creating a situation that is difficult to leave. Existing ties with past commitments are usually severed when investing more time with Uber.

With online time increasing for most, just to get a return that covers the short term expenses. It's near impossible to jump ship as gaining monetary savings while driving Uber is rather fictitious as the maintenance and other expenses start to catch up. With the small amount of time remaining after rest and other daily responsibilities it leaves little time and resources to successfully pursue another avenue.

A simple cycle that Uber count on to keep you driving for them, a viscous rut thats hard to break free of.

(Little tired so I'll admit I could have worded it better but hopefully you get the idea)

 

[joeactuary]

I find it amusing that we always bring up Detroit when talking about low uber rates. Averaging 2 minutes a mile, Detroit is actually 90 cents a mile. Yes, still awfull but that's only 9 cents less than Atlanta for example. Orlando is 87 cents a mile. So next time, we should bring up Orlando as the postercity for low rates! Wondering what city has the lowest rate at two minutes a mile?

 

[garyk]

You say that their tactics are predatory but they just pray on most people's greed. Targeting the greedy is not a predatory tactic it is smart business for most businesses and you need to look at this from your own best interest not their best interest. If someone appeals to your greed you need to think long and hard about what it is you're doing because read as a motivation will almost always leave one person with the short end of the stick. If you burn bridges to drive and come short on other commitments then this is your own fault because you could have done the research