This week I had afternoon coffee with a CEO at the Woodside Bakery Cafe. Woodside, with a population 5,352, is home to several Silicon Valley executives, some of whom host fund-raising dinners for U.S. presidential candidates. After, when I returned to my car, I found this card stuck in the driver's side window.
Curious, I held onto the card, and called the number the next day. I spoke to the owner, Crhis Turner.
The Offering
How many of us can really justify having a full-time chauffeur living in the guest bedroom - even if you live in Woodside? In this economy, it turns out, very few.
Also, who enjoys stepping into one of those dime-a-dozen black Lincoln Towncars airport cars - or, worse, riding in a gaudy stretch Hummer or Escalade, its interior glowing with color-shifting mood lighting? Certainly, not those who are accustomed to better.
Those who have achieved success and now drive that sleek Mercedes Benz AMG S65 or Maserati Quattroporte, have an option: driver-only for hire. The residents of Silicon Valley’s tony communities can travel to the opera in the comfort of their own sedan, confident that some 20-year old valet will not be taking it for a joy ride (a la Ferris Bueller’s Day Off).
It’s a nice offering: licensed and bonded chauffeurs who live in your area, arrive early to familiar themselves with your vehicle, get you where you want to go and back, and ensure that no one of thing touches your $200,000 worth of European-crafted sheet metal while you’re off enjoying the good life.
And, speaking of the good life, you get to enjoy it with the peace of mind. You don’t have to hail a cab, leave your vehicle unattended in some public parking lot overnight - and you have zero chance of getting a DUI.
But best of all, I liked the first line of the copy:
Gratuities are most easily handled with 15% on the bill.
No wondering what’s appropriate, no embarrassment getting it wrong. And because it’s likely only you (and perhaps another) traveling home, no worries that “For parties of 6 or more, 20% gratuity is automatically added to the bill.”
Business is good. It’s been around for 20 years, has over a dozen drivers, and need only advertise every 2-3 years to clients who move out of state or die.
What about those evenings when you haven’t made chauffeur arrangements, and find yourself unfit to get behind the wheel? This company can’t help - but there are outfits that can. Make the call, wait in the lounge (or under the table), and a driver will soon arrive on a fold-up scooter. He’ll put you in your vehicle, put the fold-up scooter in its trunk, and drive you home where he’ll be met by another driver who will pick him and his scooter up.
Expensive? You don’t want to know. But for those who can afford to drive the world’s finest automobiles, a few hundred dollars shouldn't be a problem.
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