Get to know Sandton Taxi Cabs

Our Values

Sandton Taxi Cabs was formed in 2009 in time for the 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa. The soccer showcase provided the much need impetus to grow the company which started off as a 'one-man' business with one car to do all the trips and then moved onto to partner with a few individuals who were already operating in the transport industry in Johannesburg. 4 years later a new ownership structure was birthed which saw the company being upgraded from a partnership to being registered as a Pty Ltd Company by 2 passionate entrepreneurial black women who acted as both shareholders and directors of the new entity. 2015 marked a significant milestone for Sandton Taxi Cabs as it made its first million in revenue! 

Thereafter the road was tougher mainly due to the emergence of San Francisco born mobile App-based cab company, Uber, into the South African market. Their rates were too low for Sandton Taxi Cabs to match and so naturally the market for Sandton Taxi Cabs started to shrink as even loyal customers made the switch and apologized as they did so saying the cost was lower and the convenience of booking a cab through an App was irresistible! An internal investigation was conducted to understand why Uber could be so cheap yet we were operating in the same market. 

The overall conclusion was that, notwithstanding Uber's low overheads ( no call centre, no rent, no huge telephone bill, no employees driving cabs, no trade union obligations, etc.), Uber's rates were still unsustainable to run a profitable business depsite the cost savings from cutting down overheads. Our Operations Director predicted in a radio interview with Radio 702 that Uber will eventually increase their prices to reasonable levels but needed to undercut local competition in order to penetrate the market. Once their market base was solid and customer loyalty strong, the base rates and per kilometre prices started to creep up reaching a climax in December 2018 when a whooping 7% increase was applied to Uber rates despite a R2.00 decrease in petrol the same month. 

These developments worked to the advantage of Sandton Taxi Cabs as old and new customers started to come back as they perceived value in having a cab company that is backed by a fully-fledged Customer Care Centre which can give immediate assistance to customers with pressing queries without being confined to only email and in-App correspondence only. In addition, customers cherished the fixed prices we charge irrespective of traffic conditions ( no rate per minute) or demand (no surge pricing even if demand is very high) and the high calibre of drivers employed by Sandton Taxi Cabs. By the end of 2018, Sandton Taxi Cabs had surpassed the R2m revenue threshold a sure telltale sign that the year 2019 was indeed the year of 360 degree growth with highly optimistic forecasts already having been made that the company will hit the R5m revenue target within the next 12 months!

Our Team

• Excellence-
  “we strive to get it right first time & leave a mark in the hearts of our clients.”
  
• Safety & Security-
  “to ensure peace of mind for our clients and our drivers.”
  
• Professionalism-
  “we execute our duties in a professional manner & take accountability for our acts.”
  
• Integrity-
  “as a company founded on Christian principles, we conduct our business above board, all the time- in any ethical dilemma we always ask the question; 'what would Jesus do'"
  
• Respect-
  “we prioritise punctuality, patience & honest communication.”
  
• Empowerment-
  “we groom our drivers to grow from being employees into business partners.”

Our Business Model

Sandton Taxi Cabs operates on a hybrid model of company owned vehicles plus owner-driven vehicles some of whom are former employees of the company but have now been empowered to become business owners in their own right resulting them more than trebling their monthly income! Empowerment is one of our core values and we target that anyone who had driven a company vehicle for 5 years will own it thereafter and then ceases to be an employee and becomes an owner driver. The company will then assist them to upgrade their vehicle where necessary but gives them 100% independence in running their newly found enterprise. This model has resulted in higher staff motivation, enhanced productivity, better customer service, greater cost efficiencies, fewer breakdowns and lower vehicle running costs, all resulting in company growth and better reputation for the company. 

Value Proposition

Our loyal customers stick with us because they value the personalized attention they receive from us and the fact that they are guaranteed peace of mind. 

Look at Dr. Stephens who needs to go to the airport at 4am on Monday morning- he visits Sandton Taxi Cabs website, clicks on the OR Tambo Airport Transfers page, enters his booking details (date, time, address) & clicks on submit. An hour later he receives an email booking confirmation with a Reservation Number and a link to pay the quoted price. He clicks on the link, enter his card details and bam his payment is done. He then receives a receipt/invoice for the payment done together with the details of the driver that will pick him up in the morning (driver's name, number & car details). Dr. Stephens goes to bed early that Sunday night and he's got peace in his heart because he knows Sandton Taxi Cabs won't let him down!

Our message to current & prospective customers is simple: "you worry about where you are going and what you going to do or say when you get there but let us worry about how you get there at a fraction of the cost. We also know that life happens and so when you change your mind about your booking we won't crucify you for it- we'll just reschedule or cancel it as per your desire and it won't cost you a cent if you've told us more than 24hrs in advance. And what's more, we'll never cancel on you simply because you're held up in the house or in the office. Actually, we'll wait for upto 30mins for free- you can cancel on us but we won't cancel on you- never! And if you're a business we understand that you needs are unique and so we bend over for you in terms of pricing that meets your budget, accurate invoicing, compliance paperwork in place (CIPC, SARS, BBBEE, Labour, Insurance, Traffic & Licensing) as well as regular reporting to ensure you're kept abreast on how your staff are being transported."