Companies like Uber and Deliveroo are completely dominating the courier business space. They’ve experienced huge growth in the past few years and hungry entrepreneurs all around the world are trying to come up with new ways to get into the courier business. If you’re one of them, the following are some essential tips to follow to start a small – but ever successful – business in the transport industry.
Telematics
Telematics is a system that enables the sending, receiving, and storing of telemetry data. This includes speed, fuel consumption, GPS location, idling time, hard braking, vehicle faults, and safety data. Especially useful if you have a team of drivers, a telematics system will allow you to maximize the resources that you do have.
Create a Business Plan
With any new business, a plan needs to be put in place to outline operations and projected plans for growth. It’s always a good idea to create an official document so that you can easily apply for funding from the government or from private investors.
Vehicle – Rent or Buy?
You’ll have to decide whether to purchase or hire vehicles. Both options come with a set of pros and cons so sit down and decide which option fits in with your business plan best. See what your competitors are doing too and figure out whether hiring or buying is working for them.
Secure Office Space
Just because your business is all about couriers doesn’t mean that you won’t need a head office to operate from – look at Uber Eats as an example because despite using outsourced drivers that specialize in delivery, they still require space for customer service agents to work from. Also, having a key area to have things like official post sent to is a must. You’ll need to also have a back office where all data from your telematics system will be stored and analyzed. After all, there’s no point collecting all this data if you’re not going to use the findings to your full advantage.
Materials and Equipment
Do you live in a country that experiences harsh winters? If so, make sure to purchase things out of season and ahead of time to save on money. Things like deicer and winterized tires for your vehicles are essentials and you should look into buying these in summertime as opposed to winter. Also, ensure that you include all purchases like these as a business expense as opposed to a personal one as you might be able to make some tax savings by doing so.
Marketing
Every courier company needs marketing – how else do users, business partners and drivers find out about your business? This means that you are either going to have to bite the bullet and hire an external firm to do your marketing, ensuring they specialize in digital marketing for transport and logistic companies, or you take a course and discover tips and tricks to figure out how to do it yourself. As always, it’s best to leave a specialized job like this to the professionals if your budget allows you to invest in marketing.