OPERATING A COURIER SERVICE

Courier services are one of those businesses that have been available in the capital city for years. Rushing urgent documents and packages around is a major service there. Infact , a multi-million pound business just in one city alone.

However, out in the provincial areas of the country it's not that easy to find a courier service. They do exist, but they are quite rare and when they do exist, quite busy.

Hence, potential to start in most areas. Even some of our largest cities require more courier services, and there are certainly plenty of towns. Of course, in country areas there won't be a lot of demand, but it's still a service that could be added on to something else.

A courier service is effectively a taxi service for important documents and packages. But the interesting thing is that it's far less regulated than taxis. You don't need any sort of licence or consent.

SETTING UP AS A COURIER

You can operate as a one-man (or woman) courier service. That is, taking all the enquiries and doing all the jobs yourself. However, the best way is to just do the selling of the service and appoint agents to do the running about. This is the way to make it a really profitable service and it means it can be a full time income for part time work!

In most cases, the business can be operated from home. This is an advantage, not a disadvantage, because you can offer a more efficient service. If you can offer a 24 hour service then this will be a big selling point, but it's not necessary if you don't want to be on 24 hour call.

You will certainly need a home telephone. If you run the business yourself, a mobile telephone would be helpful. If possible, have a control centre, perhaps in a spare bedroom, where you can answer and make calls. Apart from this, your main requirement is a notepad. Perhaps have some special dispatch forms made up and photocopies giving details of each job.

Vehicles - As you might expect, the ideal sort of vehicle to operate a courier service is a motorcycle. These are cheaper to run and faster, especially in heavy traffic. If a motorcycle is not available, then you can use a car – the smaller and more economical the better. But watch the running costs as these can be much higher than you might think - not just the cost of petrol.

Some courier services confined to towns or cities etc. could use a moped or even a push bike. Ideal, because it makes your service cheaper than anyone else's and gets through crowded streets!

All in all, it's not worth buying a special vehicle when you first start the service. Unless, of course, you don't currently have anything!

If using your own vehicle, check that your insurance policy covers your new use of the vehicle - it may well not and may need changing.

If you are going to use agents then this is simplicity itself, because it will be up to the agents to provide and pay for the transport, so you don't have to cover this yourself. Many agents would be pleased to work on quite modest per mile fees as this helps towards the running costs of their private vehicles.

Advertise in local newspapers and perhaps Job Centres, for agents to operate your service. You'll probably need two or three to start with so that you can operate the service all day.

Try to find someone reliable. It's ideal for pensioners or even housewives. Plus students at certain times of the year or after school. If you live near a college of some kind this could be ideal.

Pay your couriers by mileage. You can find out the going rate from a local courier service (ring some to find out).
Provincial prices will be a little less. The usual charges are so much per mile with a minimum for each call out. Wages are not high, but worthwhile.

You will also need a controller. This is ideally you, or ideal for a housewife. If not however, you can appoint someone who lives nearby to receive bookings and dispatch riders. Pay a small hourly rate. It is best however if you can do it yourself as this cuts into your profits.

GETTING BUSINESS

To have a profitably courier service, you shouldn't just sit at home waiting for people to call you out like a taxi, getting a few odd jobs. This almost certainly won't make any money at all.

What you need is regular contracts for courier work. That is, customers who regularly have things to send to other places in the same region. Perhaps several a day, or at least several a week.

We're thinking here of estate agents sending printing, or solicitors with important documents, or academic users. Even urgent machines or car parts. The post is too slow and you can't fax everything.

You might want to advertise the service in newspapers etc, but this is slow and will take a long time to get established.

The best thing is to think up all the types of users in your area and give them a ring (or you could write them a letter).Explain the service and ask if they are interested. Many won't be, but some are sure to be. You only need a handful of regular customers to have a good small business.

When you get an interested customer, sign a user contract with them. This is to have you on call during your working hours. On top of this, charge them a mileage charge for every mile your operator travels from your base, to customers, to drop off point and back again.


Obviously this price will be higher than the rate you pay your drivers, hence your profit. It is best to charge a high rate, even one that seems ridiculously high, because you must give a good quality service. Firms will pay for a good service.

Keep on signing up customers until you have as many as necessary for a suitable income. This could bring several dozen or several hundred jobs per week depending on what you want.
OPERATING THE SERVICE

Setting up and selling the service is really the difficult part. Operating it is easier. All you do is get calls from the customer. Be sure to write down what is to be moved, from where and to where. Get an authorization number from the customer (a number which you can quote on your bill to show that the trip was properly authorized.

Then get on to your driver by phone or mobile phone, and send him/her out to do the job. When the job is completed, the driver should report back to you with a mileage and confirmation that the job has been done.

It's a good idea to telephone your customer and tell them that the job has been completed - a personal touch.

Each week, calculate the mileage due to each company and send them an invoice. You could make it a condition that payment is made within seven days, though some might expect thirty days credit.
Pay your drivers on a weekly basis, or a monthly basis if they will accept it. One problem is that you might have to pay your drivers before you get paid.

Sometimes you might get customers who aren't registered with you just wanting a 'one off' job. If this is the case, charge them about double your normal rate to make up for the fact that they are not regular users.

Efficiency is the thing at all times. It has to be quicker than using the post and more convenient than the customer doing the job themselves. This done, you can get very high fees.