Beware bad drivers in company cars
There comes a time in every small business’ life when your accountant explains that owning a company vehicle is a good idea. There’s some sort of tax advantage to the situation, I’m led to believe.
This is why you pay accountants the big bucks.
It’s a good day when your accountant tells you how best to spend your money. Trust me, it’s much better than those days when he explains how you’re going to juggle things so you can fudge your ways through paying your bills. ‘‘Just call them and say you’ve been a good customer for a while and that you don’t have any money.’’
The day we bought our first work vehicle was satisfying. It wasn’t much – a Nissan ute – but we’d taken the first step towards being a big successful business.
Since I lived a short stumble from work, my dodgy brother-inlaw took possession. We decided from the start that the work vehicle must never be branded.
Lately I’ve been wondering if everybody who buys work vehicles isn’t as smart as us.
Some people send all and sundry out onto the mad world of peak-hour traffic to represent their company when the individual driving around with your name on the side of their car may not be the best representative for your business. He or she may in fact be a total egg.
I’m aware that I and the dodgy brother-in-law shouldn’t be representing anyone’s business – well maybe ACC – and that’s why you won’t find the old ute branded. That way when we decide to see if we can get the thing airborne on the McLeans Island hump, people mistake us for escaped convicts and not respectable members of society who sell drinks to drunks.
What amazes me is how many people are given a work vehicle without anyone having a talk about the fact that when they’re out on the road they are representing somebody’s business and they should act accordingly.
Latterly, I had the pleasure of following a car branded to the nines in the colours and slogans of one of the structural giants of the Christchurch rebuild. As someone who used to be in the game, I can only imagine how much this company pays for branding and marketing each year. And there it was – some over-aggressive alpha male driving like his mother never taught him manners. Say what you like about our reckless behaviour, at least me and the dodgy brother-in-law have good mothers and good manners.
I found myself wondering how much expensive PR one car moron can undo? Seriously, what sort of an engineering outfit hires an idiot who drives like that? Not one you’d want holding up your large building or bridge, I tell you.
It’s not just engineers. It’s small business, big business, government departments, the council – it seems everyone has clever accountants. Just make sure if you’re sending somebody out in a company vehicle, that person knows they’re representing something – and driving like an oaf should be discouraged.
Because, maybe it’s time somebody told you guys, some of you are really terrible drivers. Really appallingly terrible. That’s why you won’t see the name of our business written across our company vehicle. It’s a strategy I recommend for any business that wonders if their staff may have gotten their licences from WeetBix packets.
This way, when the dodgy brother-in-law and I decide to take an afternoon off work and head out to see what terminal velocity on our 2.7 diesel ute is (155kph), you’ll mistake us for meth heads on holiday and not a couple of guys who pay an accountant to tell them what to think.
Drive safe folks.