Meet Matt Haran

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matt Haran a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Matt, thrilled to have you on the platform as I think our readers can really benefit from your insights and experiences. In particular, we’d love to hear about how you think about burnout, avoiding or overcoming burnout, etc.
I had worked my entire career in corporate communications and was feeling like I needed a change. Both of my parents had passed away in the span of a few years. Among other challenges in my life, it contributed to my wanting to take a break from corporate life and think about how I wanted to spend the rest of my working career. I retired from my corporate communications manager job at Bosch, took a couple of months off, did some traveling and decompressing. I explored the possibility of getting a “simpler” job that I thought I’d enjoy, so I started chauffeuring for a local car service and LOVED IT! I remember golfing with my brother one Sunday afternoon. As we approached the 18th tee, he told me he was dreading going home and doing some work that needed to be done. I told him I would be driving after our round and I was looking forward to it! That was the difference right there. Not long before that, I had been the one dreading going into work on Monday. So I began thinking about how I could strike out and start my own chauffeur business. I was energized and excited for the possibilities.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
As owner/chauffeur of World Class Detroit, I am privileged to be building a business based on rewarding relationships with my clients. I feel extremely lucky that I get to meet new people on a regular basis, while also building my relationships with the clients who use my service frequently. My business is growing almost exclusively through referrals by my clients to their families, friends and colleagues. I have discovered that I have a passion for service and am quite proud that my clients trust me to transport them and their loved ones safely and comfortably. World Class Detroit offers the very highest level of personalized service and most affordable rates for chauffeured car service in the Metro Detroit market.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I’ve found three qualities to be invaluable in my new profession of chauffeuring. First, I am a very curious person and truly enjoy learning about people – what interests them, what motivates them, their family life, their work life. I am genuinely interested. Second, I’ve had an epiphany that I have a service mindset. I like thinking about and executing on “next-level” service for my clients. That involves listening closely to them and being observant of their likes, dislikes, tastes, etc. Finally, my passion for what I’m doing is a real advantage to me. It’s quite evident I love what I’m doing and that comes across in my conversations and the service I provide. I think people like to interact with and patronize someone who truly loves what they do, particularly as a service provider.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
The number one obstacle I’m facing is that I’m only a one-car operation right now. Chauffeured car service is a high-cost business due to commercial insurance, fuel, maintenance/repairs. I do not yet have enough business to cover the costs of an additional car, so I have to “farm out” trips to other services when I am already booked at a given time. It’s been difficult finding services that have the same low prices or the high standards of my service, so I am actively networking to find a good partnership with another service(s) until I’m able to add a second vehicle.

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