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Courier service - exactly to the customer!

The courier service is a business that has recently been rapidly developing for the delivery of correspondence or goods in the shortest possible time - "door to door" or from the customer's door to the city of destination.

Two unconditional pluses of creating a courier service ( courier company), which are able to attract start-up entrepreneurs to this business, is a low level of initial start-up investments and a fairly wide field of activity. The choice of courier services is small, and the cost of delivery remains high. In addition, many commercial structures prefer not to use the services of the Russian postal service - the most powerful delivery player - because of the slowness and unreliability.

Even despite the fact that today large multinational companies are represented in this market, small courier companies, due to their mobility, low prices and more attentive attitude to each client and small orders, are able to compete with them adequately, providing even faster delivery of important documents, small parcels and even flowers. Large courier services, as a rule, guarantee next day delivery, small courier companies, due to their flexibility, usually work within one business day.

This means that all shipped shipments will be delivered on the day of dispatch. But it is precisely the timely delivery and careful processing of parcels that is the main key to success in the courier business.

How to start a courier business?

There are several key points that should be decided at the very beginning.

First, small towns and rural areas are not very suitable for this type of business.

Secondly, decide on the specifics of the cargo you are going to work with. It is clear that the delivery of documents and the transportation of, say, medicines are somewhat different topics.

Thirdly, decide whether you need a car for courier delivery, if so, which one. It is clear that for the delivery of documents within a small settlement, it is quite possible to get by with a pedestrian courier, but the delivery of large-sized heavy parcels clearly implies that your courier company has at least one car. In addition to the actual purchase of transport, you will have to resolve the issue with the driver and payment of operating costs and parking. Although such an option is also possible here, such as concluding a long-term contract with a taxi service or hiring a courier driver with a personal car.

An important point in organizing a courier service is the presence of a dispatcher who must be available to the client around the clock. Despite the fact that the bulk of courier deliveries are carried out during normal daytime hours (from 9 am to 6 pm), delivery, at the request of the customer, can be made at any time of the day. This can be the feature that will make your courier company stand out from the competition.

Basically, start a courier business you can have one. At first, you will be able to combine the functions of a dispatcher, a courier, and a business owner in one person. But once the business is up and running, you will need help. Usually the staff of a courier company consists of a dispatcher, couriers, drivers, a secretary and an accountant. If your courier company will have a fleet of several cars, you should also think about your own mechanic who can serve your fleet. And if your courier service delivers heavy bulky items, then you definitely cannot do without movers.

As for the actual couriers, this work can be performed by people with relatively low qualifications or without it at all, the main thing is diligence and accuracy. So there is a clear savings in wages.

Naturally, all staff must be able to competently work with documentation, and drivers and couriers must be able to navigate freely in the city (a GPS navigator can greatly help in solving this problem).

Additional costs may arise when insuring the transported goods and obtaining a certificate for the transport of dangerous goods (in the event that you intend to do this).

Courier service. And who are the clients?

In general, there are no special problems with clients. Even in the days of faxes and e-mails, no one canceled paper documents. Banks, law firms, various organizations that send documents to clients and partners are all your clients. Manufacturing businesses that need express delivery, as well as other types of businesses that need fast courier delivery - and these are your customers. There are courier services that specialize only in the delivery of goods from domestic online stores or in the delivery of invoices of organizations. The main thing here is to convince them to use the services of your courier service.

Another idea that we have already talked about is lunch delivery to the office. You can offer your services for the delivery of meals to catering enterprises. True, according to the current legislation, in order to provide such a service, your couriers or drivers will need to have sanitary books, transport - a sanitary passport, and the dishes themselves - a safety certificate.

You can conclude agreements with ordinary stores that deliver goods to your home (this service, by the way, is gaining popularity in many cities today).

The advantage of the "messenger" business is that it does not require deep special knowledge and professional education. No significant equipment required. Although, like every business, the courier business requires knowledge of some subtleties.

You can organize a courier service on a territorial basis. You need to start with deliveries within a relatively small area. It may include a city, a defined urban area, or a rural area (up to 100 km in diameter). As experience is gained, the number of customers and couriers increases, the service area will expand. During the first year of operation, you should not go beyond 3 hours of driving.

First of all, you should be puzzled by finding useful customers. These can be considered corporate (companies, organizations, etc.) and in particular - companies that need your services daily or regularly. Servicing a large company will also help you find new customers.

Advertising is very important. The best ways to market your services are through direct marketing, advertisements, company phone calls, and in-person visits. Focus first on one relatively small geographic area and look for clients there. This will allow you to quickly declare yourself, gain fame and establish the best ways for fast and reliable delivery of the order. You must offer only quality service, reliability and speed to the market. These are the factors that will attract customers.

Invest a small amount in making attractive flyers or leaflets that colorfully describe your services. Contact your local publishing company. Potential buyers can be found in the Yellow Pages of the telephone directory or by purchasing commercial mailing lists - if a courier service already exists in your city.

Send out your information, and then call the recipients or pay a personal visit. And try to communicate with decision makers - top managers and company executives.

Most often, small business owners do not have sufficient funds to purchase additional services, and therefore personal visits should be limited to large companies. For small businesses, direct mail and media advertising work best.

Place line ads in the most popular local newspapers, and don't forget the newspaper free ads. As soon as possible - post a telephone directory.

Most companies do not have a dedicated shipping department. This task, as a rule, falls on the shoulders of employees whose main duties lie in another area. Therefore, employees are forced to engage in delivery, breaking away from their main work. Not free, of course. In addition to the salary, companies are forced to pay extra to these employees from 20 to 35% of their salary. Use this factor when discussing working conditions.

Remember that the main key to the success of your courier business is the quality of service. Satisfied customers are a great source and recommendations that will ensure a reliable flow of customers. Send out a short newsletter to regular customers. This will help create a flow of orders.

Improve!

The courier business can be considered an ideal home based business. Your set of professional business tools is simple and straightforward. These are a telephone, a pager, an answering machine and a car (sometimes a motorcycle and a bicycle). Many courier services operating in large cities use bicycles in good weather. But, as a rule, a reliable car is indispensable.

It is highly desirable to use mobile communications and be sure to use paging. Installing car radios will significantly reduce your costs: they are inexpensive to maintain and may well replace cell phones.

It is extremely important to carefully develop the optimal and, most importantly, the fastest routes within the city. At the same time, it is desirable to organize notification of your couriers about the occurrence of traffic jams and congestion. This is where mobile communications help a lot.

You will have to spend a lot of time behind the wheel, which is why professional driving skills are so important. The car must be in good condition. After all, an unexpected stop can bring a lot of trouble. Then your financial losses will far exceed the cost of repairs. As a rule, limit the delivery time to a few hours.

The courier business is characterized by an extremely high rate of return - up to 90%. Payment for services depends on many factors and ranges from 5 to 50 dollars. for delivery. Give a discount to regular companies using your services daily or several days a week. After all, they are the main market for sales of courier services.

As it grows, there will be a need for independent employees working under the contract. You pay them a certain percentage of the shipping cost (up to 50%), while they are fully responsible for delivery, storage, travel expenses, etc.

In most cases, you will find that couriers work tirelessly, since their real income is in direct proportion to the speed of delivery. This will also increase your income, although the overhead will also increase. If employees use their own vehicles, ask them to purchase insurance in a persuasive and assertive manner.

As the business grows, you will acquire specialized knowledge both about general management methods and how to manage a courier business in a specific area. Continually work to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs. The higher the efficiency of work, the higher the income. As the business expands and the number of employees increases, a separate office should also be considered.

Most of your clients, especially businesses and companies, will need a loan. This will require well-organized bookkeeping. When working with loans, the following should be taken into account: if the client has not paid the bill within 30 days after the work was completed, you should call and remind yourself. If payment is not received within 60 days, cross this company off the list and continue looking for new clients.

This is the general scheme of work in the courier business. The rest depends on your diligence, imagination and local conditions. Good luck!

If you do not have any special knowledge in a particular area of ​​​​entrepreneurship, this does not mean that you do not have a chance to open your own business. If you have some (not necessarily impressive) amount of money that you are ready to give in favor of developing your business, and an obsessive desire to work, as they say, for yourself, then you should think about how to create a courier delivery service.

This type of activity does not require special skills or knowledge, the purchase of expensive equipment or the investment of sky-high funds, so this business idea is a great solution for a novice entrepreneur with a limited budget.

Of course, it is better to open such a business in a large settlement, where home delivery services are more in demand, but with perseverance and desire, you can achieve success in any city. Where to start? Of course, the first step is to draw up a business plan to take into account all costs and calculate the possibility of making a profit.

Organization of a courier service: where to start?

So, if the desire to earn income from your personal business is tenaciously stuck in your head, and you don’t know what to do, then this article is just for you.

Legal business requires state registration, so the first step is to go to the tax office and register your type of activity. Then you need to open a current account in the name of the organization in any bank that is beneficial for you (here you will be required to provide documents from the tax service on the registration of your enterprise and a certificate from the State Statistics Committee). In principle, from the formal side of the issue, that's all.

In parallel with the execution of all documents, proceed to the search for an office space. If your budget is very tight, then rent it. In case of success and prosperity in this matter, in the future it will be possible to purchase your own corner.

Then, when writing a business plan for a courier service, take care of the technical side of the issue. Today you can't get anywhere without modern equipment. We need telephone and computer networks, as well as transport. It is desirable that it be your own, although at first you can rent it. If the budget allows, you can create a whole fleet of several cars, as well as get bicycles to deliver mail. And it is even better to hire couriers with personal cars.

The scope of your activity at first, most likely, will be limited to one city. Indeed, at this stage of development, it is important to get a good reputation, and if you deliver orders late, then no one will want to work with you. In order for the business to have a good start, it is recommended to find a couple of large customers who would carry out regular orders. By qualitatively fulfilling the instructions of such customers, you can count on receiving a stable profit, which can immediately be used for advertising.

How to promote your business?

The courier service, like any other business, requires an investment in advertising. Start by creating a website. This marketing tool is considered the most effective today. Do not save on creating your site on the Internet, because in the future it will become the face of your organization. Order a website promotion service for a web company. Its specialists will analyze the market in which you operate and will be able to create a truly competitive resource.

Don't forget to include business card costs in your courier business plan. They should also characterize you from the best side.

A high-quality tactile and eye-catching business card with full information (clearly visible name of your company, all necessary contacts, hours of operation, any special conditions or discounts, etc.) will encourage its owner to contact your courier service again.

Place ads in the most popular newspapers in your city, do not forget about radio and television. And just share information with your friends and acquaintances. This simple form of advertising is often the most effective.

You can also distribute flyers, the presentation of which guarantees the client a discount. It may be quite small, but the opportunity to save at least a little always encourages customers to further cooperation.

Connect fantasy!

Promotions and discounts are, of course, good, but it’s even better to come up with your own “chip”, which can be a decisive factor in choosing a courier organization by a customer. After all, there are many such services today, they compete with each other in the quality and speed of delivery, the cost of their services, etc. But modern people want diversity, and this can play into the hands of a newly minted courier company.

Anything can be your "chip". For example, let female models deal with the delivery of goods, then the circle of your customers (especially males) will definitely increase.

You can hire a few guys of model appearance. Then women will turn to you for services much more often.

To make the ordering process more interesting, create an online catalog on your organization's website in which you place photos of your charming employees and employees.

Thus, leaving a request, the client gets the opportunity to choose the desired couriers provided to him. In general, connect your imagination, creativity is always welcome!

Such a "highlight" of your business will allow you to slightly inflate the cost of your services, but in most cases this will not affect the choice of the client.

Recruitment is important

It is impossible not to include labor costs in your business plan for a courier service. The issue of recruitment must be approached with all responsibility, because only serious and diligent employees will help to get good reviews about the company as a whole. If you do not have experience in the provision of courier services, then it is all the more desirable to hire professionals in this field who will help you establish the whole process and organize the correct work with clients.

Do not hire people who want to make good money and still work from 9 to 6. Such employees usually do not give their best to help grow the business. Before official employment, arrange a trial period of at least a week. This will help to understand how the future employee treats the client, whether he is able to provide the level of service you set.

Price policy

In the matter of setting prices for delivery, you cannot act “at random”, it is important to analyze the cost of such services in your city. You can qualitatively "monitor" information using the Internet, because today every serious company has its own website. But don't just rely on the information you get online. It is better to call the courier service you are interested in.

Usually telephone consultants are very talkative and will tell you about some conditions, promotions or other points that you can use in your activities. And in general, such calls are the best way to find out how the courier service works.

The provision of services for the delivery of documents and goods within the same city usually requires insignificant expenses, therefore, the cost of such delivery should also be small. But do not underestimate your prices too much in order to fully recoup your expenses. To do this, carefully consider all possible exit options and the distances that will need to be overcome. A well-designed pricing policy can recoup all costs in almost three to four months.

Your business abroad?

The homeland of the business we are considering is France, so let's use its example to see how to open a courier delivery service and make good money abroad while in Russia.

If you follow French laws, then the delivery service staff must consist exclusively of French citizens. Therefore, to begin with, find a native Frenchman for the position of director, preferably a friend. You, respectively, as the founder of this organization will need to obtain a visa.

The so-called "merchant card" is long-term and is issued to the founders of legal entities with French registration for a period of 1 to 5 years. Obtaining such a visa entitles its holder to many rights, which will be more than enough to bring your business idea to life. The courier service can now be led by you personally.

What other formalities must be observed in France?

French legislators have clearly determined the entire procedure for the establishment and operation of enterprises with foreign capital.
Therefore, in order to find out how to open a courier delivery service for a citizen of the Russian Federation in this country, you need to carefully familiarize yourself with the norms of local legislation. In general, it all comes down to a few basic questions:

• to begin with, it is necessary to submit all the registration documents of the founder to the commercial court of the city you have chosen for carrying out activities;
• after considering the above papers, the commercial court decides on the registration of the enterprise in the unified commercial register;
• after that, you can apply for a “merchant card”;
• obtaining a residence permit for a period of 1 year; if you become the head of your courier service, then it is automatically extended for the duration of your leadership.

Summing up

After reading this article, you have a general knowledge of how to open a courier delivery service and how to start working in the domestic or foreign market for these services. In general, the most painstaking activities require the recruitment, organization of work processes and their improvement, as well as the policy to attract customers.

Your individuality and creative approach to work is also important - only interesting and exclusive projects reach the desired heights.

Remember to take all these points into account when you write your courier service business plan.

Starting a business from scratch is never easy. It is necessary to carefully consider every nuance in relation to the planned business. It takes 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, institutions. Such a business is one of the inexpensive ones for a starting 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 be safely called in demand, relevant. Many post offices deliver the goods, however, many customers are not satisfied with the delivery time, which can be 3 days or more. Along with this, urgent applications issued by mail 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 the delivery service depends on the quality of the services provided and the acceptability of prices.

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Identification of competition

Some 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 cars in their arsenal. Such services are popular, they have established themselves in the market for goods and services, and have a good reputation among partners and the general population.

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. In the case when you are determined to compete with a similar company, you need to come up with some feature for your courier service that will serve as an advantage over a competing company. It can be around the clock work or affordability. It could be both. Find a good idea how to distinguish your company from the rest, 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, it should be a regional center, a large city with a large number 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 will use your services, it is extremely rare, ordering will be small. Accordingly, the business will not be profitable. Possible option. In a small town there are entertainment centers, cafes, restaurants. In this case, you can’t do without the help of a courier; people often order restaurant food at home. But 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 are engaged in the delivery of paper documents, others deliver bulky goods not only within the city, but throughout the country. Some courier services are engaged in international transportation. Some companies deliver precious items. Decide on the areas where you will transport the goods - either within the city, or the region, or across the country. It directly depends on what kind of car a company should have, a car or a truck; one, two or three cars. To deliver documents around 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 consider 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 the salaries of employees. Don't think that one courier will be enough. There must be at least 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, which is very convenient.

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The role of personnel in the work of the company

So, let's take a closer look at the work of personnel in the company. For a successful business organization, the company must have a director, an accountant, a secretary-dispatcher, couriers, technical staff. employees if you rented a room. The director's responsibility is to supervise all the affairs of the company. The secretary-dispatcher accepts applications, registers them, transfers them to couriers, informs the client about the location of the cargo and the time of delivery. Couriers carry out the instructions of the secretary, they must deliver the goods to their destination on time, safe and sound. The accountant is responsible for the work of employees, if necessary, makes comments to them, is responsible for the profits of the company. When an entrepreneur does not have the opportunity to organize such a staff, you can get by with a director, a dispatcher and couriers.

The working hours of the company 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 can work the night shift, which can start from 00:00 until 07:00. Depending on the ideas, you can implement the option of urgent delivery, which can be useful in emergency cases. Carefully consider whether you can 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 with customers in a friendly manner, to conduct a conversation competently, to be attentive when filling out an application, to take into account the wishes and needs of customers in the delivery process. The ability of the courier to deliver the parcel quickly and on time, without damaging it, is the most important thing in the job. Try to hire decent, neat, polite, executive 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.

Opening a courier delivery service attracts entrepreneurs because it does not require large investments and experience in this field. However, this type of business, like any other, has its pitfalls and nuances. In the business plan, we will highlight the main aspects of this type of activity.

Objective of the project: making a profit by providing courier services to businesses and the public.

The attractiveness of a courier services business is determined by the following factors:

1. Low barriers to market entry.
2. Increasing demand for this type of service.
3. No eligibility requirements.
4. Wide opportunities for business development and scaling.

The amount of initial investment is 149,000 rubles.

The break-even point is reached on the 4th month of operation.

The payback period is 7 months.

The average monthly profit of the 1st year of the project implementation is 43,726 rubles.

2. Description of the business, product or service

3. Description of the market

Every day, many organizations and people resort to the services of courier services. Before opening a delivery service, it is necessary to determine which market segment will have to be served. Potential customers of the courier service are:

• online stores with delivery of goods;
• flower shops;
• cafes and restaurants;
• publishing houses;
• bookstores.

In the age of technology, online shopping is becoming more and more popular. However, not every organization offering a delivery service has its own staff of couriers. Most online stores resort to outsourcing, and they conclude contracts not with market giants, but with local small firms.

Flower shops are another large segment. Many of them are posted on social networks and offer delivery services. Not having their own courier on staff, they will gladly become your regular customers.

To date, there is not a single more or less large city that does not have a large number of pizzerias, cafes, restaurants, pancakes and other various catering establishments. Most likely, the owners of such establishments will not refuse to have additional profit from the delivery of their dishes to customers at home. Therefore, the courier service can provide their delivery services.

Almost all large organizations need couriers to deliver various packages of documents to some government services. An example would be the tax office. The courier from the delivery service will be able not only to take the necessary documents, but also to stand in line with everyone else. Thanks to such services, customers will be able to save their time, and you, as a business owner, will get additional profit.

4. Sales and Marketing

5. Production plan

The main goal of the project is to open a courier service and maximize its profits.

Overview of the real estate market for the selection of the optimal premises.

Requirements for the premises of the beauty elephant:

• Location: can be either the city center or a residential area;
• Room area 10-15 m2;
• Parking is desirable.

• Registration of a legal entity.

Activities can be carried out by both an individual - an individual entrepreneur, and a legal entity - an LLC.

• Opening a current account.

6. Organizational structure

Staffing schedule:

• manager - 1,
• couriers - 2-4,

The total number of employees is 3-5 people.

As a rule, the owner of the business acts as the manager in such a small company. The salary is set at 30,000 rubles. The salary of couriers is piecework and amounts to 30% of completed orders. In the first 2 months, it will be enough to hire 2 couriers, however, with an increase in customers, the staff will need to be expanded.

Responsible recruitment needs to be done. After all, only serious and diligent employees will help to get good reviews about the company as a whole. If you do not have experience in the provision of courier services, then it is all the more desirable to hire professionals in this field who will help you establish the whole process and organize the correct work with clients.

Before official employment, arrange a trial period of at least a week. This will help to understand how the future employee treats the client, whether he is able to provide the level of service you set.

Basic recruitment requirements:

• Having your own car;
• Competent Russian written and oral speech;
• A responsibility;
• sociability;
• Activity;
• Reliability.

7. Financial plan

8. Risk factors

Before you enter this business, you should know what dangers may lie in wait on the path to success. When opening a courier service, it is important to remember the following difficulties.