How to open your own courier service from scratch. Opening your own courier service

Let's Order.rf is an online service for ordering and delivering ready-made dishes from restaurants and cafes that do not have their own delivery service.

The main goal of the project is to provide high-quality and fast service for ordering food from restaurants and cafes anywhere in the city.

The company Let's Order.rf provides exclusively intermediary services between catering establishments and clients. That is, launching a project does not imply the creation of production.

The high pace of life, as well as an irregular schedule, forces the average city resident to reduce the time spent on eating. This is the main reason for the rapid growth in demand for food delivery services. Moreover, an hour of working time often costs much more than lunch or dinner delivery services.

Currently, food delivery is the fastest growing segment of the restaurant business. According to statistics from the current Delivery Club service, as well as data from the analytical agency RBC.Research:

• 150 thousand orders for home delivery are placed daily by Russians;
• 76.6% of Russians have used the home delivery service at least once;
• 59% of Russians order food at home via the Internet;
• $1.5 billion is the volume of the Russian ready-to-eat food delivery market.

Based on these data, we can conclude that the demand market for ready-made food delivery is growing at a rapid pace. This leads to the emergence of demand, which remains unsatisfied in both the quantity and quality of services provided. The current situation creates objective external prerequisites for creating a business such as a delivery service.

Internal prerequisites for the implementation of the project are a low level of investment in the project, absence of commercial risks, simplicity of organizing and doing business.

Since the delivery service works with many establishments in the city, the client has the opportunity to order dishes from several restaurants at the same time.

The main advantages of starting a business using the “Let’s Order” company model are:

• Uniqueness. Such unified services exist only in large cities with high levels of demand;
• Low competition. The service has dozens of cuisines and thousands of dishes to suit every taste;
• Absence of market and financial risks. Even in a crisis situation, people do not refuse ready-made food;
• Ease of doing business. All business processes are debugged and registered.

Investments in the project - 354,900 thousand rubles.

The payback period of the project is 4 months.

Profit after tax starting from the 4th month of work is 130,312 rubles.

2. Description of the business, product or service

3. Description of the sales market

The target audience

Since the company provides a huge selection of dishes from various restaurants and cafes in the city, the audience of the project is very wide.

The target audience can be represented in the form of several categories:

Men of working age from 23 to 45 years. They order lunch and dinner because they don’t have enough time to cook their own food. Order frequency - from 3 to 7 times a week.

Women of working age from 23 to 35 years. Mostly unmarried. They order lunch and dinner, since they prefer to devote most of their time to work and meeting with friends. Order frequency - from 2 to 5 times a week.

Companies ordering corporate lunch. Order frequency - 5 times a week.

Families with/without children who want to treat themselves to something new this weekend. Order frequency - from 1 to 3 times a week.

Schoolchildren and students having a party. Order frequency - 1 time per week.

The share of the total number of orders that falls on each consumer category is displayed in chart form.

According to the results of marketing research, the total volume of the public catering market in city N with a population of 1 million people is 17.4 million rubles. for 2015. The revenue potential of a delivery service in city N ranges from 12 million rubles. up to 20 million rubles in year.

It is worth noting that the revenue potential depends on the dynamics of demand for the services of restaurants and cafes, as well as on changes in the city’s population and per capita income.

The advantage of running this type of business is the lack of seasonality in sales.

Competitor analysis

Competitors for the company "DaivoZakam.rf" are similar delivery services operating in the catering industry. In many cities, such a business is not developed at all, and there are no competitors. But even in the conditions of current competition, the company “DavaiZakam.rf” is distinguished by unique offers that allow it to quickly occupy a leading position in the market:

• three detailed systems of cooperation with restaurants and cafes;
• convenient website with delivery cost calculations and personal account;
• bonus program for working with clients;
• possibility of cashless payment;
• mobile application for Android and iOS;
• specially developed CRM;
• excellent level of service.

In addition, the market capacity of this type of service is so large that it suggests the presence of demand even with existing competitors.

The service has dozens of cuisines and thousands of dishes to suit every taste. This is a unique service, because... The food suppliers are restaurants and cafes in the city, of which there are many times more than individual delivery services.

SWOT analysis

4. Sales and marketing

When entering the market, Let's Order.rf uses the strategy of an innovator. The company has a first mover advantage and strives to maintain a leading competitive position as it develops. The main objective of the strategy is to provide quality services and pay close attention to quality control. It is strategically important for the company to have the resources to quickly expand as its sales market grows. For this purpose, reserve funds are created.

Current Marketing

Cooperation with catering establishments

Sales plan

The sales plan is focused on the number of orders per day. The average check is 1000 rubles. The delivery price varies from 150 to 300 rubles depending on the distance of the client. A one-time order from two restaurants is accompanied by an addition of 150 rubles. to the delivery amount. On average, delivery costs 225 rubles per client. The following is a sales plan for the first 5 months of the organization’s operation with a minimum staff of employees, which includes two couriers.

When forming a sales plan, it is assumed that the maximum number of orders per day for one courier is 15.

5. Production plan

Starting a business organizing ready-made food delivery services consists of several sequential steps.

Registration

The first thing you have to do when starting your business is registering an individual entrepreneur or LLC. The majority of Let's Order.rf franchisees operate as individual entrepreneurs. The chosen taxation system is simplified tax system 6% (income).

Website creation

The website of the company "Let's Order.rf" includes the ability to create a personal account for each client, place an online order, participate in a bonus program, as well as calculate the cost of delivery depending on the client's location. Website setup is included in the company's franchise package. Content is uploaded to the site as contracts are concluded with restaurants and cafes.

Searching for clients from restaurants and cafes

At this stage, you, as a business owner, have a lot of hard work ahead of you. The volume of demand that you can satisfy depends on how many establishments in the city become your partners. First of all, it is necessary to collect a database of all cafes and restaurants in the city in which the online service is being created. Then arrange a personal meeting with the managers of the establishments to describe all the benefits of your cooperation and conclude an agreement. You can begin the next stage when at least 10 establishments in the city have become your partners.

Office rental

A room with an area of ​​10 - 15 sq.m. is suitable. in any part of the city. You will need to place a table, chair, and computer in the room.

Recruitment

At the initial stage, the staff will require 4 couriers and 2 dispatchers. 2 couriers and 1 dispatcher work simultaneously per shift. The courier is hired with his own car.

Starting a business

This step is extremely important for checking the sequence of actions for servicing the client. The manager must monitor whether the team is working smoothly and at what stage delays in order fulfillment occur. Here, strict adherence to job descriptions is monitored.

Service delivery process

6. Organizational structure

At the launch stage, you can get by with a minimum number of personnel:

1. Manager;
2. Dispatcher - 2 people;
3. Courier - 4 people.

The manager's responsibilities include:

• Conclusion of contracts;
• Working with the website - laying out menus, monitoring and ensuring smooth operation of the website, processing feedback through monitoring customer reviews, website promotion;
• Managing finances, issuing wages;
• Forming a development strategy, searching for business expansion opportunities, searching for new partners.

Salary - 40,000 rubles.

The responsibilities of the dispatcher include:

• Processing orders from the website and communicating with clients;
• Coordinating the work of couriers;
• Transferring the order to the restaurant/cafe manager;
• Elimination of conflict situations with clients.

The dispatcher works alone on a shift. Work schedule: two working days / two days off. Salary - 15,000 rubles. KPI for the dispatcher - revenue 35,000 rubles/shift. Upon achievement, the bonus is 2,000 rubles. at the end of the month.

Many people have a dream to exchange their stable job “for an uncle” and finally start working for themselves. But competition in most areas today has reached critical mass, and therefore jumping straight into a business with serious investments is quite risky, so it’s best to start with those ideas that do not require significant investments . One of the best options would be. With the development of information technology, in particular, with the widespread spread of the Internet, an increasing number of people prefer not to waste their time on shopping, ordering everything they need through the World Wide Web. In this article you will learn about how to open what type of similar activity is most in demand among our population.

Idea number 1: food delivery

If your starting capital is not as large as you would like, then it is quite possible to start by supplying food from supermarkets. To do this you will need:

• Your own website, which will provide information about food products (name of product, direct manufacturer, shelf life, composition, fat content and other necessary data). If ordering the creation of your own website is not affordable for you at the current time, then you can limit yourself to creating a group on one of the social networks. Clients can go to the resource and leave requests directly on it, which, accordingly, should be instantly processed and executed as soon as possible.
• It is highly desirable to have at least one consultant who will be constantly in touch and accept applications for further transfer of detailed information about it to the delivery employee.
• Courier. At first, you can hire one employee (the best option is a driver with his own vehicle, taking on the functions of a courier), then the staff can actually be expanded as the number of regular customers increases.

Important points

• Decide right away how the system of settlement with the client will take place. The easiest way is to pay the client with the courier after delivery, but it is much better to add a cashless payment system.
• Since the sale of alcohol at night is prohibited, you can make good money by supplying it (alcohol) after 22:00.
• For such a startup, you need to formalize your activities by registering as an individual entrepreneur; it is also worth knowing that the driver should always have invoices and waybills with him.
• Advertising in this service sector plays a decisive role, so do not skimp on promotion, investing in it to the maximum. You can place advertisements on the Internet, organize the distribution of flyers with information about your service near shopping centers and in crowded places.

How much money will it take to start a business?

Since there is no need to rent premises for this type of activity, the initial investment will range from 3,000 to 5,000 US dollars. The payback period for a startup is approximately 6 months, income varies greatly depending on the city and the advertising support of your store.

If you have a little more money to start a business, you can start delivering ready-made meals or sushi.

This service is in great demand among many office workers and other busy people. For an idea to generate income, it is necessary:

• Availability of premises with food preparation equipment that meets all sanitary and other hygienic standards.
• In addition to the courier and consultant, you will need a good cook, because at least half of the success depends on the quality of his work.
• Registration of activities (which in the case of cooking will require more paperwork and cash).
• Advertising. The second half of success depends on this factor.

The payback period for such a project is from a year to a year and a half; more investments will be required than with a business delivering food and alcohol at night and will cost from $10,000 and more.

Idea number 2: water delivery

The quality of water that runs through the pipelines of modern megacities leaves much to be desired, so a huge number of people use purified (or extracted from wells) water for drinking and cooking. In this regard, a business related to the supply of water is actually a win-win option. This idea is perfect for those who do not have sufficient experience in the field of entrepreneurship and do not have a substantial amount of funds to invest at the initial stage. So, if you decide to try yourself in this industry, you will need:

• High-quality equipment for disinfecting and purifying water from contaminants, harmful particles and components. You can avoid additional costs for equipment by taking water from a source or well, first passing it to a laboratory and making sure that it is completely suitable for consumption and does not contain potentially dangerous elements.
• A business related to the supply of water requires a warehouse of at least 20–30 square meters in size and containers for bottling water.
• Transport used to deliver water to the client. This can be either a purchased car (minibus, the most economical option is a GAZelle) or a rented one, based on your financial capabilities. Some businessmen hire a driver with his own car, who can take on the duties of a courier.
• Permits received from the Ministry of Health and SES.
• Cash machine.
• Dispatcher-consultant who takes orders by phone.
• Advertising support.

Important points

If you are afraid of difficulties at the stage of obtaining documents allowing you to conduct such activities, you can buy a franchise from a company engaged in water delivery.

The amount of starting capital required varies depending on whether you buy or lease a car and many other factors. In the first case, you need to have at hand an amount of 100,000 rubles, in the second - up to 500,000 rubles.

Idea number 3: flower delivery

Flowering plant delivery services are in great demand in large cities and metropolitan areas. This idea has a huge number of advantages: firstly, in our country there are incredibly many holidays on which it is customary to give luxurious bouquets of flowers (September 1, March 8, May 9, February 14, weddings, birthdays and others). And secondly, this business does not require the purchase of expensive equipment, SES permits and other nuances, the costs of which are often quite significant.

What does a startup need?

• Creativity. Without it, plant delivery is unlikely to be successful, so when starting such a business, you need to immediately decide whether you have a passion for this field of activity. If floristry is your hobby, then you can easily turn it into a fairly profitable activity even with minimal financial investment.
• To begin with, it is realistic to agree on cooperation with a flower shop if they do not have their own delivery service.
• Then you will need to make your own website offering courier services related to plants, placing on it high-quality photographs of all the items offered by the store. The cost of creating a decent website starts at $200. Create appropriate groups on various social networks, where it is best to attract potential customers with discounts, promotions and sweepstakes (for example, every fifth bouquet of flowers is free).
• Find on the Internet all the wedding agencies that operate in your city and offer them cooperation on mutually beneficial terms.
• To deliver flowers, of course, you need to hire a driver (the best option is with your own car). At first, you can even use your home as an office, accepting orders and allocating some space for storing flowers. An undeniable advantage is that the only equipment you need is a computer and a mobile phone.
• Before you begin directly selling flowers, you must register yourself as an individual entrepreneur and obtain documents giving you the right to conduct commercial activities.

Important points

Flower delivery is a seasonal business, that is, the largest sales will be on holidays, so you can diversify the assortment of your own store with seeds, bulbs, and home flowers. You can offer your customers beautiful wicker baskets with compositions of flowers and fruits, which have recently become very popular.

Idea number four: delivery of alcohol at night

This area of ​​business arose quite recently, after the ban on the sale of alcohol at night throughout the country. Currently, only nightclubs, cafes, restaurants and some other establishments have the right to sell alcohol after 23:00. Therefore, the easiest way to start making money by delivering alcohol at night is to become an intermediary between the bar and the client.

Many online stores use this trick: let’s say, in the midst of the fun you run out of alcohol, then you buy a souvenir or lighter from them at one in the morning and receive a bottle of strong drink as a gift. There is actually no need to make any investments in the business of delivering alcohol at night. It is enough to create a group on a social network; there are many clients for such services, so income depends on the size of the city.

Have you heard about FedEx, DHL, UPS? If so, then, for sure, you or your friends have used their services. Would you like to open your own courier service?

If yes, then this article will be useful for you and will tell you how to do it.

Especially for preparing this article, we interviewed three experts and found out How open courier delivery service. Meet our guests:

• Alexey Prygin, Deputy General Director of MaxiPost. The company specializes in courier delivery of goods from online stores.
• Sergey Nevzorov, founder of the Logistics Department service.
• Zhurabek Turdiev, director of the courier service BTS Express. The company's specialization is express delivery of documents, correspondence, parcels up to 3 kg within Uzbekistan.

The article was written jointly with our experts and with their active participation. This made it possible to obtain detailed, more complete first-hand information about the opening of a courier service.

How to prepare for the opening?

As with opening any business, it is necessary to conduct a preliminary market analysis. The information received should concern:

• Target audience, demand on its part. Who is your potential client, what services does he need, what will he expect from you.
• Information about competitors and their activities.
• Current market conditions. What niches are still relatively free and other information.

This is the first. The second is the choice of niche and services provided. After studying the market, you may want to develop a courier service in some narrow specific niche. Or would you prefer to specialize in the delivery of certain packages, for example, goods from online stores or food from restaurants.

Investment size

It all depends on the chosen niche and the services you are going to provide. Alexey Prygin, Deputy General Director of MaxiPost:

“The costs (starting and monthly) consist of the following expenses:

• personnel recruiting;
• purchase and branding of uniforms (if necessary);
• process automation;
• purchase of cash registers (and their further maintenance);
• purchase or rental of vehicles (if necessary);
• communications (mobile, landline, Internet);
• household and stationery supplies;
• bank expenses (mainly collection);
• fuel (if necessary);
• salaries and taxes.

The main consumable part of the “courier” is these are salaries and taxes.

The competition in the courier services market is now off the charts and will only increase in the future. Opening a new business in this area is worth it if you have good starting investments, a cushion for the future and experience in this area.”

MaxiPost has the following format - delivery of goods from online stores. If you do not purchase vehicles, then relatively small investments will be required. But! You need to be prepared for subsequent financial injections in order to stay in the market and continue to grow.

But BTS Express required significant investments to launch and develop its courier service.

Zhurabek Turdiev

director of BTS Express

As can be seen from the two examples, investment volumes can differ several times. Much depends on the niche and services provided. But both of our guests agree that the company will need regular funding for its continued existence and growth.

Step-by-step instruction

As mentioned above, opening a courier service begins with determining the client’s portrait, his needs and expectations. Based on this data, you need to decide on a niche and a specific list of services that your company will provide.

After clarifying these key points, you can think about what the investments will be used for, how to further build the business, and what service geography you will have.

Staff. Hiring, training, motivation, relationships

Our guest Alexey Prygin, Deputy General Director of MaxiPost, talks about working with staff:

A staff of couriers is one of the very first steps when organizing a courier service. To create it, you need:

Recruit couriers, having previously calculated their number and workload based on the planned sales volume and sales schedule;

Train couriers by developing a training system in advance, including the ability to communicate, work with cash registers, follow the rules of cash discipline, etc.;

Develop a system of motivation and control of couriers: how will you pay them - fixed or piecework? How to calculate the premium part - based on the number of purchased or delivered parcels? How will you control their work and negate the risks of unscrupulous performers, which is especially important given the fact that the courier is a financially responsible person?

The motivation system for couriers should be built based on the company’s business goals. For example, in our company, the first place is not quantity, but the quality of delivery, the percentage of redemption of delivered parcels. This means everything is tailored exclusively to this KP

Zhurabek Turdiev

BTS Express Director:

When working with personnel, the main attention and effort should be directed to couriers, because the courier:

• The face of the company, and he mostly communicates with customers and package recipients.
• It largely determines how and in what condition the parcel will be delivered.
• A courier is a financially responsible person.

When selecting couriers, we look at the following points:

• Filling out the form. Is it completely filled? If yes, then this indicates that the candidate is serious about the business and that he wants to work in our company.
• Ability to communicate. Whether the person makes contact easily, is not aggressive or rude.
• Age and driver's license. In our company, only young people work as couriers.

Our trial period lasts for a month. During this period, we pay attention to other indicators of couriers:

1. How does the courier keep documents? Is everything filled out on time? Are reports submitted on time?
2. Compliance with established schedules.
3. Ability to communicate with customers and parcel recipients.
4. Feedback from clients and employees. If a courier is rude, breaks the rules, and clients and employees complain about him, then such a person will not stay with us.

We also have a training and adaptation system. It allows a beginner to quickly get involved and successfully complete their tasks.

A separate conversation is motivation. We need purposeful people, and we promote them to higher positions, if, of course, the employee has the desire.

The main principle of building relationships with couriers, and with all company employees, is to let them know that they are valuable and that their work is important not only for the company, but also for clients and society. And the most important thing is not just to make it clear, but to prove it in practice day after day.

At the initial stage, it is better to concentrate on attracting and providing high-quality service to the Nth number of first clients. I would recommend starting with 200 clients. This approach will allow:

1. identify weaknesses in your business and eliminate them,
2. understand the expectations and needs of your clients,
3. based on the feedback received, further build your marketing strategy.

Promotion channels may be different. You need to take into account the specifics of your niche and focus on customers.

Says Zhurabek Turdiev, director of BTS Express:

In our case, SEO, sending commercial offers to organizations, and word of mouth work well. We mainly use social networks to collect feedback.

When choosing a promotion channel, you need to take into account the characteristics of your clients. Namely, to know:

• Through what communication channels can you reach them?
• Through what channels are potential clients already looking for information about you?

The niche and services provided by your courier service play a major role in deciding where to locate your office and warehouse.

For example, food delivery from restaurants does not require a warehouse, because... the package is delivered directly from the kitchen to the recipient. The situation is similar when delivering parcels within the city, because... Delivery is carried out within a few hours.

But in the case of intercity delivery, the presence of a warehouse is mandatory.

Zhurabek Turdiev

director of BTS Express

When choosing a location, we took into account the following criteria:

• Convenient location for clients, because... Some of our clients come to the office to send a parcel. Also, some recipients pick up the package from the office. This is an economy rate with pickup from our offices. The main thing is that it is convenient for clients to approach us, that we are easy to find, and that there is parking.
• Proximity to the airport, because To increase delivery speed, we send parcels to remote cities by plane.

Sufficient space for all departments (reception, warehouse, administration). This applies only to the central office in Tashkent. Offices in the regions are simpler

Documentation

The courier service can be registered as an LLC or individual entrepreneur. LLC is convenient for the following:

• Investors are more willing to invest money in a business because... may act as co-founders. Banks are also more willing to issue loans.
• More trust from organizations. It matters if organizations are your potential clients.

IP has the following advantages:

• Easy to register.
• You can pay taxes in a “simplified” manner. Tax reporting is simpler.

The choice of organizational and legal form is at the discretion of the business owner. Registering a company is one of the simplest steps when opening a courier service.

Opening checklist

Is it profitable to open

To answer this question, you need to consider the following:

• Courier service as a business is a long-term business project. There is no way to quickly “make money” here. Like factories, courier services do not give returns immediately, but after some time. When starting a courier business, you need to be prepared for a marathon, not a sprint.
• Much depends on the chosen niche and services provided, and the market situation.

Alexey Prygin, Deputy General Director of MaxiPost:

Services in general are rarely a high-margin business in themselves, and in an unfavorable situation (and this is the case now), the difference between the tariff and the cost tends to zero. It is very difficult to increase this gap: raising the price means losing customers, and reducing costs is very difficult.

Zhurabek Turdiev

director of BTS Express

We were able to achieve operating profit only in the fifth year of development. There is still time before full self-sufficiency. We invest the proceeds in development. Courier services are a long-term business. You need to have a fair amount of patience to set up such an enterprise.

Seasonality

As in a number of industries, there is seasonality in the courier business. It is associated with the period of commercial activity of the population before significant holidays and other events:

• New Year
• February 23
• March 8
• Black Friday, etc.

Alexey Prygin

Deputy General Director of MaxiPost

The courier business is subject to seasonality, which directly depends on the surge in sales in online stores. The busiest season for courier services is New Year. Even if you spend a whole year switching from order to order, you won’t be bored from the end of November. Our people will never stop buying gifts for this holiday, so there is always a chance to make a good turnover in one month. December is guaranteed earnings. There are also February 23, March 8, Black Fridays, Cyber ​​Mondays, preparation for school in August and a bunch of all sorts of more or less successful seasons and sales that provide couriers with reliable income.

A successful own business is the dream of many whose plans include a stable and high income. The courier delivery service is quite popular, but at the same time it is still a free niche. There is healthy competition in it, which allows you to offer customers something that other companies do not have.

This area will be discussed in more detail in this material.

Advantages and disadvantages of activity

When starting any project, you will be a follower. Someone must have done this before you. It is important to treat this correctly. If this person has already opened a similar business, he probably made mistakes. Your task is to make the most of your previous experience and avoid falling into the same rake again.

Advantages

• Delivery service in demand and assumes the presence of potential clients. People need your company's services. Having a wide field of clients, it is important to start interacting with them correctly, and the first profit is in your pocket.
• The advantages of this type of activity also include minimum investment. To get started, all you need is to have the Internet and a phone at hand. You can start your first steps in the courier business as a partner of a store or offline platform, as well as within the territory of one city. Later, having received your first profit, you will have the opportunity to expand your project by hiring workers, concluding contracts and purchasing the necessary equipment.
• Another advantage of this type of activity is wide range of specializations. Your future company can position itself from different angles. This could be land or air transportation, partnership with a private company or a large enterprise, delivery of press or large cargo, etc. It all depends on the needs of clients and the current state of affairs in the service market. The main thing is that you can occupy any available niche.
• IN personnel selection even a novice entrepreneur will not have problems. This type of activity does not require workers to have a specific education. All that is required from subordinates is responsibility and physical strength. This will greatly simplify your work in recruiting staff and help you save on wages.
• Courier service does not require a special room. You can start work even without a warehouse. The main thing is to properly organize the process of cargo delivery, planning the route and keeping all costs to a minimum.

Flaws

• As a leader, you will need patience and the ability to make quick decisions. Courier delivery is always possible appearance force majeure. While your staff will have a minimum of personnel, all significant decisions will be made by you. Learn to quickly find a way out of the current situation, negotiate and give instructions correctly.
• Often, in such companies, full-time employees can afford not to come to work. There are also a number of problems when the courier does not physically have time to get from one part of the city to another. Then you will need to quickly resolve the issue with replacement of personnel or staff replenishment.
• When opening a service there is always risks: damage to someone else's property, late or poor quality delivery. Many large companies still cannot eliminate such situations 100%. However, with strict control over the work of couriers and other employees, you can cope with this problem, forever winning the trust of the client.

Where should I start?

1. You should start a business by monitoring the situation on the market for such services. This way you can take an advantageous position in this niche with the least competition. Large populated areas are best suited for project development, but with the right approach, this idea can be implemented in small towns.
2. After analyzing the data received, you will need to decide on the specifics of the goods that will be delivered by the company. Will it be the transportation of documents, medications, etc.
3. The next step concerns the equipment. Answer the questions: do you need a car? If you deliver documents within a small city or several districts, the courier can do this on foot. In the case of parcel delivery, you will need a car. You must clearly know what kind of car you need. This leads to a chain of questions about hiring a driver, paying him for his work and related expenses. These problems can be solved in the early stages by concluding a long-term contract with a taxi or a driver with a personal car.
4. A dispatcher will be needed to receive applications. Again, in order to save money at the beginning of business development, you can combine the qualities of a manager and a dispatcher. Communication with clients should be around the clock. This form will make your service stand out from the rest.
5. When the business is operating at full scale and you have a fleet of vehicles at your disposal, you should think about hiring a mechanic and loaders of large items. As the number of clients grows and the volume of work increases, a secretary, accountant and other drivers and couriers will also be needed.

Interesting information about this type of activity is presented in the following video:

Business development options

The development of new technologies and the expansion of trade have provoked the demand for courier services. Today this niche is incredibly popular, and it can be developed in all sorts of directions. Here you must clearly decide what specialization your company will be and how large it will be. In the process, all this can be adjusted and gradually expand the circle of your clients, as well as the services provided:

• A small courier company can deliver documentation and small parcels. Your potential clients are most often banks, law firms, and various types of organizations. It is most convenient to organize such work in a small area. one city or several villages. Nearby ones are also suitable areas of a large metropolis.
• If you plan to work nationwide, then here the variations on the theme of the delivered cargo expand significantly. This can be either urgent delivery of newspapers, online store goods, or transportation of equipment.
• A new level for delivery service – international. You can find a lot of information about successful companies of this kind on the Internet. This can be either air delivery, land or water delivery. It all depends on the connections you have. You can stand out from your competitors through the shortest turnaround time or additional services that other companies cannot provide.

Required documents and permits

You only need to complete the paperwork after your idea has been successfully tested. This provides a kind of guarantee that subsequent development costs will not go in vain, but will become an impetus for improving the business.

The form of enterprise required to open a courier service is LLC - limited liability company. In order to correctly draw up contracts, it would not hurt to acquire the services of a lawyer who will help with further documentation issues. Additionally, you should consider insurance for transported goods, especially if you work with hazardous substances.

Required Personnel

The staff is your support in doing business in the near future. Despite the fact that the specifics of the job do not require special education from many people, you should focus on such qualities as responsibility and diligence. Otherwise, this threatens to delay delivery times and affect the company’s reputation.

For a business in a small town you will need a small number of staff. They are based on a dispatcher, a courier driver and an accountant.

Without start-up capital, the responsibilities of each position can be performed by a manager. Since the earnings will initially be small, you can do all the calculations yourself. In the future, you will need to resort to the services of specialists and acquire assistants.

As for the payment of wages, as a rule, they are paid based on output - the amount of goods delivered. With an increase in the client base and orders, it will be possible to switch to daily or monthly payment.

How to find clients

Customers are the basis of any business. The main task is to sell them your company’s services. You need to look for your first clients yourself. Offer courier services to shops, restaurants or other city institutions. Surely banks, lawyers or flower shops need similar partners to help them promote the product and earn additional income.

You can build your business on the basis of an existing one, taking the role of an intermediary between the supplier and the direct buyer of a product or service.

A very current trend in the field of courier service has become lunch delivery. If your city doesn’t have one yet, then feel free to count the offices and branches of various companies as potential clients. The main thing is to provide your workers with sanitary passports, and the dishes themselves with safety certificates.

Don’t forget to advertise your company: make contacts, advertise in the newspaper, distribute leaflets and call potential partners. In the future, you will be able to deliver goods to shops, supermarkets or deliver their products to customers’ homes.

Business costs and profitability calculations

The profitability of the delivery service business is one of the highest. This is due to minimal investment and high cost of services. Additional savings on personnel, which is convenient when working in a small area, will further increase the profitability of a newly started business.

The normal income level is up to 90%. The standard conditions for such profit are an average delivery cost of 5-15 dollars. The price includes the cost of maintaining staff, the weight of the cargo, its value, gasoline, delivery speed and much more. The average number of orders per day ranges from 40 to 50. This will allow you to fully recoup all expenses for travel, staffing and advertising.

The investment amount ranges from 3 to 5 thousand dollars, provided that you have your own transport. However, when working in a small town, you can start by delivering small-sized cargo that the courier can carry on foot.

An organized courier service is a source of high income. It all depends on how you prioritize. Small calculations and a step-by-step description of creating a business will help you create a successful project that will pay dividends after the first month of work. The main thing is to give the client the opportunity to choose and offer something new on the market for services of this kind. Then, even in the face of competition, price fluctuations and other enemies of big business, you will be able to fully realize your idea.

Starting a business from scratch is always difficult. It is necessary to carefully consider every nuance regarding the planned business. This requires a lot of effort, but the result will certainly please you. In this topic we will describe a productive business idea.

The courier service is undoubtedly popular among the population. Delivery of goods is necessary for many firms, enterprises, and institutions. Such a business is one of the inexpensive ones for starting a career and would be quite suitable for a novice entrepreneur. If you are interested in how to open a courier delivery service, our topic is for you.

It is known that today the choice of courier services is limited, so this type of service can safely be called in demand and relevant. Many post offices deliver goods, but many customers are not satisfied with the delivery time, which can be 3 days or more. In addition, urgent applications submitted by post are very expensive.

If you are seriously thinking about how to open a delivery service, it's time to start a business! It is no secret that there is competition among many companies, including courier companies. The success of a delivery service depends on the quality of services provided and reasonable prices.

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Identification of competition

Some goods delivery companies have a wide field of activity. Their branches can be located throughout the country in cities and towns. These companies deliver products in a matter of hours, since they have a large number of employees and vehicles in their arsenal. Such services are popular, they have proven themselves in the market for goods and services, and have a good reputation among partners and the population in general.

One of the main business strategies is to identify such a competitor in your region. What is the need? The success of your future company directly depends on this. If a large, reliable courier service is already open in your city, has a good reputation and a good name, people will continue to use its services. If you are determined to compete with such a company, you need to come up with some feature for your courier service that will serve as an advantage over a competing company. This could be 24/7 or affordable. It could be both. Find a good idea on how to distinguish your company from others, how to interest a potential client.

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First of all, you should decide on the place where the company will be located. Ideally, this should be a regional center, a large city with a lot of people. In rural districts, such a business may not work. The reasons are obvious: a small number of companies, organizations, or even the absence of them. If anyone uses your services, it will be extremely rare; the order will be small. Accordingly, the business will not bring profit. Possible option. The small town has entertainment centers, cafes, and restaurants. In this case, you cannot do without the help of a courier; people often order restaurant food to their home. But it’s still better in a big city.

The next thing to do when planning is to decide what types of cargo you intend to work with. Some companies deliver paper documentation, others deliver large cargo within not only the city, but throughout the country. Some courier services provide international transport. Some companies deliver precious items. Decide on the areas where you will transport the goods - either within the city, or region, or throughout the country. This directly determines what kind of car the company should have, a passenger car or a truck; one, two or three cars. To deliver documents within the city, the courier can also use public transport. You can also walk if the distance is short.

If you have already purchased a car, you should decide on hiring a driver. And not only the driver. In general, you need to decide on the size and scale of your company, the number of staff, their workload, and employee salaries. Don't think that one courier will be enough. At a minimum, there should be 2 people, since one worker will not be able to cope with orders. You can hire a taxi driver with a personal car and one employee without a car. Thus, the company will have 2 couriers and 1 car, this is very convenient.

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The role of personnel in the company's work

So, let’s take a closer look at the work of personnel in the company. To successfully organize a business, a company must have a director, an accountant, a secretary-dispatcher, couriers, and technical staff. employees if you rented premises. The duties of the director include control of all affairs of the company. The secretary-dispatcher accepts requests, registers them, transfers them to couriers, and informs the client about the location of the cargo and delivery time. Couriers carry out the instructions of the secretary; they must deliver the cargo to its destination on time, safe and sound. The accountant is responsible for the work of employees, makes comments to them if necessary, and is responsible for the company’s profit. When an entrepreneur does not have the opportunity to organize such a staff, you can get by with a director, dispatcher and couriers.

The company's opening hours are set at your discretion. The optimal time for delivery of goods is from 8 am to 5 pm. At the moment there are few services where couriers work at night. Working around the clock is a good business idea. Employees may work night shifts, which may start from zero o'clock until 7 am. Depending on your plans, you can implement an urgent delivery option, which can be useful in emergency situations. Consider carefully whether you will be able to hire employees who will work at night.

An important role in the reputation of a courier company is played by the quality of service and timely delivery of goods. What does quality of service mean? This is the ability of employees to communicate warmly with customers, conduct a conversation competently, be attentive when filling out an application, and take into account the wishes and needs of customers during the delivery process. The courier’s ability to deliver the package quickly and on time without damaging it is the most important thing in the job. Try to hire decent, neat, polite, efficient people. The dispatcher must be a person with good communication skills and correct diction. Encourage employees to understand each other and get along well with each other.