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About the business: Murcielago Limos, 1701 S.E. Manor Place, Blue Springs, 816-729-5770, www.murcielagolimos.com.
It may be difficult to pronounce, but Murcielago limousines are easy to ride in.
Both Chris Welsher and Rebecca Davis hope this trend continues as the two approach their fifth year of business. The Examiner visited with the couple about their business, which, in spite of the economy, continues to grow.
What made you both decide to start this business? We always knew we wanted to own our own business. The limousine service actually started out as a part-time deal to make some extra money, and after the first year it turned into a full-time business.
With the ongoing recession, how has that affected business? It has affected our business tremendously. The main thing that has changed is the amount of competition we have. When the economy started to get bad and people started losing their jobs, a lot of people decided that they would use the money that they had left to start a limo or party bus company. Easy money, right? The problem is that these individuals only have one or two limos or party buses and they don’t carry the correct insurance or register their business with the Department of Transportation.
In other words, they are illegal companies and they hurt our business because they charge next to nothing for their vehicles when they rent them out since they have no overhead. What people don’t realize is that if something happened, such as a bus getting in a wreck, no one in the bus would be covered for anything.
So we always tell our customers that if they are calling around for the cheapest price, that they should make sure that the companies they call have proper insurance and DOT numbers.
What have you done to improve in your business model the last four years to keep it viable? We have expanded our fleet to include sedans for airport transportation and we have added a new party bus to our fleet, which is the largest party bus in the state. It holds up to 75 passengers, has air conditioning and has the loudest stereo system of any party bus as well.
What got you both interested in this business in the first place? We got interested in the limousine business because our dream is to own a nightclub someday. But at the time we started our business, we didn’t have quite enough money to open a club so we decided that if we had a limousine/party bus company then we could make all of our party buses look very elegant, yet feel like a nightclub at the same time.
Do you have any current special deals going on? Do you plan to expand your business? We do have weekly specials running. Sunday through Friday we charge $65 per hour for our limos and $90 per hour for our small party bus and $135 per hour for our large party bus. As far as plans to expand our business, we hope to be adding an additional party bus to our fleet as well as an SUV limousine before the end of this year.
About the business: Murcielago Limos, 1701 S.E. Manor Place, Blue Springs, 816-729-5770, www.murcielagolimos.com.
It may be difficult to pronounce, but Murcielago limousines are easy to ride in.
Both Chris Welsher and Rebecca Davis hope this trend continues as the two approach their fifth year of business. The Examiner visited with the couple about their business, which, in spite of the economy, continues to grow.
What made you both decide to start this business? We always knew we wanted to own our own business. The limousine service actually started out as a part-time deal to make some extra money, and after the first year it turned into a full-time business.
With the ongoing recession, how has that affected business? It has affected our business tremendously. The main thing that has changed is the amount of competition we have. When the economy started to get bad and people started losing their jobs, a lot of people decided that they would use the money that they had left to start a limo or party bus company. Easy money, right? The problem is that these individuals only have one or two limos or party buses and they don’t carry the correct insurance or register their business with the Department of Transportation.
In other words, they are illegal companies and they hurt our business because they charge next to nothing for their vehicles when they rent them out since they have no overhead. What people don’t realize is that if something happened, such as a bus getting in a wreck, no one in the bus would be covered for anything.
So we always tell our customers that if they are calling around for the cheapest price, that they should make sure that the companies they call have proper insurance and DOT numbers.
What have you done to improve in your business model the last four years to keep it viable? We have expanded our fleet to include sedans for airport transportation and we have added a new party bus to our fleet, which is the largest party bus in the state. It holds up to 75 passengers, has air conditioning and has the loudest stereo system of any party bus as well.
What got you both interested in this business in the first place? We got interested in the limousine business because our dream is to own a nightclub someday. But at the time we started our business, we didn’t have quite enough money to open a club so we decided that if we had a limousine/party bus company then we could make all of our party buses look very elegant, yet feel like a nightclub at the same time.
Do you have any current special deals going on? Do you plan to expand your business? We do have weekly specials running. Sunday through Friday we charge $65 per hour for our limos and $90 per hour for our small party bus and $135 per hour for our large party bus. As far as plans to expand our business, we hope to be adding an additional party bus to our fleet as well as an SUV limousine before the end of this year.
