Business Plan

There are many things I do not understand, but this electric scooter business plan just doesn’t make any sense to me.

From what I’ve read, you can rent a scooter (using your smartphone of course) by downloading an app. A scooter can be located (online) and paid for ($1 fee, the 15¢ per minute of use).

Under the rules, riders can operate the dockless vehicles only between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. They aren’t allowed to drive the vehicles on sidewalks, only in the street or in bike lanes. The vehicles cannot exceed 15 mph.

Dockless scooters and bicycles have cropped up in cities across the country as an alternative to popular ride-hailing services for people looking to travel short distances.

OK, I like the idea of reducing use of carbon-fueled vehicles, but is this just the latest ‘hip’ trend? Didn’t we try this with the Segway?

What happens when the battery runs out? From my understanding, these scooters have a GPS so employees can locate them (or track them). I suppose someone with a truck has to drive around town and pick these scooters up, take them back to an operational center to repair and recharge?

If a scooter isn’t anywhere near where you are or where you want to go, what are your options? Will the scooter come to you? Or will you just have to hoof it?

What is the insurance risk for any Jim or Jane Doe hopping aboard one of these moving platforms and zipping down the road into traffic? Does a helmet come with the scooter? What about elbow pads and knee pads? Is there a test to see if the rider/driver/scooter operator is capable to maintain an electric scooter? Should they have a license?

I was never very good pushing a scooter. I also was not good at roller-skating or ice-skating, pogo sticks or skateboards. I guess I don’t have good balance? I could handle a surfboard but if I fell, I just splashed in the water.

So as an investor, what is the business plan? Provide alternative transportation for office workers going to lunch or a business meeting without calling Uber or taking public transportation? Is it a hip cheap trend for a student to ride and then leave it on the side of the road? What happens when it rains? Or snows?

I’ve seen a few of these electric scooters in the neighborhood. I’ve also seen joggers, bikers, skateboarders and even an unicyclist. There have been horses and even an antique fire truck, but these scooters don’t seem as popular around here. Still the 4-wheelers fill the pavements.

I myself ride a two-wheeler. I’ve ridden everyday for the past six decades. With some luck I’ll ride again tomorrow. It is not electric so I have to work at making it move. There is a mirror, a helmet, and lights. I ride in the day between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. I ride on side streets and pull to the side for traffic. Plus I get to sit down instead of standing up the whole journey.

There are electric bikes but I wonder why ride a bike if you don’t want a workout?

Those boardwalk bikes that can be rented during the summer seem pretty similar. I’ve never rented one so I thought you just paid $$$ and rode down the boardwalk on a slow clunky single gear w/no brakes until you got tired of the novelty and rode it back to the shop. I doubt many were tested on the beach because two-wheelers don’t work well in the sand. How many were lost in the ocean? Salt air is tough on bikes. These shops also rent beach umbrellas and inflatable rafts. Perhaps their business plan is to make a profit off the cheesy t-shirts for the summer months then live off of beans until the weather warms up again?

As the population grows older, perhaps this is the ‘electric scooter’ of the future?