Wanting to be a self employed courier. Some questions

Owain_Moneysaver

How many local businesses are there that currently post stuff to customers within 20 miles?

If you don't mind lifting things you might do better offering a man-and-van service. As well as small moves and rubbish tip runs (for which you'd need a waste handling licence and cost in the waste disposal fees at the tip) you might also find local furniture shops give you regular business. My local bed shop uses a local carrier to deliver beds (cash paid to the delivery man by the end customer).

patrickb_2

fishybusiness wrote: »

Courier market is oversubscribed with drivers working stupidly long hours for the likes of Amazon.

Ebay deliveries are a large market, but not within a 20 mile radius, and Hermes have cornered a large percentage of that one. I know an ex Hermes driver, really prompt deliveries, helpful and informative of Hermes practices. Pay is diabolical - hence ex Hermes.#

Argos are offering same day delivery, with a time slot, which I have used recently. Amazing service.

Plus the ebay/ Argos Click Collect service.

3 questions pertinent to your idea...

1) Why would people use you?

2) Could you compete on price?

3) Where would your clients come from to enable you to grow your business to a 5 day a week job?

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Some good things to consider.

1) Primarily people would use me as i'd be local to the area i'm serving. I'd post an advertisement in the local paper. People might like this idea possibly?

2) I'd use the Royal Mail site to get the rates for the trips, ie one postcode to another. When I've used this in the past it's been fairly reasonable on fuel and realistic.

3) Almost the same answer to question 1. Like a lot of local business's i'd put an advert in the local paper every week continuously. I'd hope this would provide a small amount of work. The rest i'd assumed would come from word of mouth.

motorguy

patrickb wrote: »

1) Primarily people would use me as i'd be local to the area i'm serving. I'd post an advertisement in the local paper. People might like this idea possibly?

I'd have thought this was so last century. Facebook, twitter, maybe a simple one pager website with decent rankings, call in with businesses, leave a card, word of mouth, etc.

patrickb wrote: »

2) I'd use the Royal Mail site to get the rates for the trips, ie one postcode to another. When I've used this in the past it's been fairly reasonable on fuel and realistic.

Presumably you're talking about Royal Mail Courier Services? Are they the market leader in your area? Why would someone come to you and not go to them? Whats your USP? What are other indy couriers charging? Are there any others? If not why not?

patrickb wrote: »

3) Almost the same answer to question 1. Like a lot of local business's i'd put an advert in the local paper every week continuously. I'd hope this would provide a small amount of work. The rest i'd assumed would come from word of mouth.

Is that really where businesses look these days for couriers?? If someone exec needs a parcel across town quickly are they really going to nip out to their local news agents and pick up a local paper and take it back and scour though it?

fishybusiness

1) Primarily people would use me as i'd be local to the area i'm serving. I'd post an advertisement in the local paper. People might like this idea possibly?

2) I'd use the Royal Mail site to get the rates for the trips, ie one postcode to another. When I've used this in the past it's been fairly reasonable on fuel and realistic.

3) Almost the same answer to question 1. Like a lot of local business's i'd put an advert in the local paper every week continuously. I'd hope this would provide a small amount of work. The rest i'd assumed would come from word of mouth.

1) What would people ask you to deliver locally?

2) Using a competitors prices as a guide is asking for trouble. You should be working out your own costs, margins required to earn a living plus any cash you need to put by for future expenses. Likelihood is you won't be competitive.

3) Local paper advertising is expensive for what it is, readership is much lower than ever it was. You would be much better using local Facebook groups and a website for starters.

I'd abandon the idea before you have spent a bean. Move on, the man with a van idea mentioned earlier has so much more potential. Get yourself a MWB or LWB van, offer to move things for a fixed price.

As you go, work out the market, and move yourself to the more lucrative jobs/ clients, who knows like auction houses, small removals, manure delivery - not joking, those with veg gardens and allotments really struggle to get hold of manure. Take a big load in a rented field, deliver it out - where there is muck there is brass :-)

SailorSam

fishybusiness wrote: »

1) manure delivery - not joking, those with veg gardens and allotments really struggle to get hold of manure. Take a big load in a rented field, deliver it out - where there is muck there is brass :-)

I've never had anyone knocking on my door asking me if i wanted to buy any horse muck. But i have had a-man-in-a-van selling compost. And i've seen people giving away horse muck on Freecyle. So combine the two and you have a business there.

motorguy

fishybusiness wrote: »

I'd abandon the idea before you have spent a bean.

+1

Totally agree.

fishybusiness wrote: »

Move on, the man with a van idea mentioned earlier has so much more potential. Get yourself a MWB or LWB van, offer to move things for a fixed price.

It has "more" potential, but its by no means a dead cert either. There was a forum thread about this on pistonheads business - cant find it - but the consensus there was "man with a van" was a tough nut to crack, margins were low and hours were long...

Mojisola

patrickb wrote: »

The aim of the business would be to offer a same day delivery service within the 20 mile radius of where I live delivering small parcels and packages.

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

How many local businesses are there that currently post stuff to customers within 20 miles?

Your idea fails at the first point - there's not likely to be much business in the first place.

The firms that are around where you live are likely to send out parcels further afield as well as locally. Why would they employ one firm for local deliveries and another for distant ones?

SailorSam

Just had another thought along the same theme. The guy who use to fix my Cab bought himself a second hand pickup/breakdown truck. Of course he already had a lot of contacts 'cos of already doing repairs, but he used it as an add-on for more work.

Owain_Moneysaver

SailorSam wrote: »

I've never had anyone knocking on my door asking me if i wanted to buy any horse muck. But i have had a-man-in-a-van selling compost. And i've seen people giving away horse muck on Freecyle. So combine the two and you have a business there.

I'm not sure how long the man-and-van business would survive if the van was also used for manure.

I certainly wouldn't have wanted my new bed delivered by them.

motorguy

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

I'm not sure how long the man-and-van business would survive if the van was also used for manure.

I certainly wouldn't have wanted my new bed delivered by them.

Yes, as a business idea, its full of !!!!!.