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"SHORT TOURS" -
This is an unfortunate problem for many artists... while two to
three weeks away from your family may seem like eternity, it is
a very short tour in comparison of longer tours...
Obviously, all of us in the entertainer coach industry need the
long tours to pay our bills, maintain our fleet, and continue to
grow... 60-180 day tours are our life blood...
So where does that leave the artist with a 2-3 week or less
tour? Sometimes in a bad situation... Here are some pointers
on how to best deal with short tours, especially during "peak
season"...
1. First, let the coach company know you have a short tour
right from there start... and (here is what is really
important)... ask them if they have any longer tours that
they can fit your tour in between...
The key to a coach company "wanting" to do shorter runs
is to fill a gap!
2. Be prepared to pay a little more for your coach lease...
especially if your tour is very short, with high miles...
What many coach companies do not discuss with clients is that
the bottom line is how much the coach earns per mile...
Just like a performing artist or band, the coach has a break
even point... and that break even point is a dollar amount per
mile...
For example, let's say you have a band that needs to make $5,000
/ show to break even and continue touring... this $5,000 / show
pays the management, business management, booking agent, coach
expenses, etc... Well, if you did a tour for $2,500 / show,
pretty soon the band would be in serious financial trouble...
This holds true for coaches as well... The average cost to run
a coach, pay for preventative maintenance, cover normal repairs,
pay for commercial insurance, make coach payments, cover repair
shop staff and administrative staff is between $1.35 - $1.50 /
mile... just for the coach...
On average, a longer tour, with normal mileage will handle that
and then a little profit to hopefully continue to grow and add
coaches the fleet.... BUT...
Shorter tours, sometimes can't... For example, a 5 day tour,
with 800 miles to pick up and 800 miles back after pick up that
is averaging 625 miles per day during the tour days is very
tough to deal with... Here is why...
The total mileage for that 5 day run is 4,725 miles... if you
add the deadhead days (to pick up and back after drop)... you
have a total of 9 days... 4 total deadhead and 5 total tour
days...
So, 4,725 miles divided by 9 days is 525 miles per day... At
$1.35 / mile the coach SHOULD go out for about $708.75 / day...
a rather high daily rate... It is clear to see the potential
problems with "shorter tours"...
Having said that, how should you deal with it?
Honestly, sometimes, it doesn't make sense to go with a
coach... as much as I hate to say that... the numbers,
sometimes just don't add up...
We try very hard to make it work... sometimes, we can meet in
the middle, but in the example I listed above, a coach that
might normally lease for $400 / day would only bring in $.77 /
mile... about half of what it needs to make... Remember, my
analogy of the band going out for 1/2 price for a tour... You
can't do that for long and stay afloat... so the daily rate
MUST come up a bit...
OK, so should you be concerned if a coach company is willing to
cut costs so much that they will do tours for below scale?
Yes...
Why would a coach company run a coach well below operating
cost? Well, one reason, is as a favor... friends take care of
friends... and that is good to a certain extent, but
eventually, the "coach owning friend" will go out of
business... remember, a flat tire on a coach can run as high as
$1,000... a broken fan belt can be just as much or more... A
broken side mirror can be $2,000...
Another reason, would be that it is hugely beneficial for the
coach company to run a coach at that price for future
business... this is true, but often not the case...
The reason you need to be worried about most is because the
coach owner MUST run the coach that
low... Maybe payments are behind... maybe the coach really
needs to work and can't... there could be a numbers of
reasons... but the bottom line is this... a coach can only
operate so long below scale... If it sounds like a
REALLY GREAT DEAL... it is probably too good to be true...
So, if you have a "short tour".. make sure you let the coach
company know that you, too, are aware that it is a short
tour... then be flexible... have them drop your tour in
between longer tours... even if it means not getting the exact
coach you want... sometimes, you may be upgraded just because
the gap your tour falls into is in between a higher level
coaches schedule...
And lastly... MAKE SURE YOU ESTABLISH A GOOD AND
TRUSTING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE COACH COMPANY!!! I
can't stress this enough...
One last important note... As much as you don't to divulge your
true budget available for a coach... let us know what you can
afford... be honest... an honest coach company will put you in
as much coach as you can afford... and it will always save you
and the coach company a great deal of time...
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