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Organizations daily need to send correspondence, goods and cargo using couriers. Therefore, debutant entrepreneurs are thinking about how to open a courier delivery service, bypassing the existing "pitfalls". In addition, to open and develop such a company does not need huge financial investments.

Existing services do not fully satisfy the demand for goods delivery services, therefore, such a business is a sought-after direction for novice merchants.

Often the delivery of goods by mail occurs with long delays. Good money is charged for urgency. Many begin to look for such a service, and some are thinking about how to open such a business.

Creating a company for the delivery of goods: the first steps

If you are a law-abiding entrepreneur, then you must follow the order in starting a business:

• initially it is necessary to open and visit the tax authority for the official registration of the delivery company;
• then - a bank in order to open a current account of its own service.

This concludes the basic legal formalities for business. The next stage is the solution of material issues, without which it is impossible to open a delivery company:

• office;
• equipment: computer, telephone, car;
• advertising.

The ideal office is its own space. If you do not have enough money to buy, then use the lease. To open a delivery establishment, it is not necessary to look for an office in the city center.

Without technical support, a courier company will not be able to work. Computers, telephone and Internet connections, vehicles are needed. You can use your own car or rent.

But it is impossible to open or organize a profitable delivery business with one car. Several cars, mopeds, scooters or bicycles are needed. The latter will be useful during daytime traffic jams. An excellent solution is to hire couriers who have their own vehicles.

Organizations daily need to send correspondence, goods and cargo using couriers. Therefore, debutant entrepreneurs are thinking about how to open a courier delivery service, bypassing the existing "pitfalls". In addition, to open and develop such a company does not need huge financial investments.

Existing services do not fully satisfy the demand for goods delivery services, therefore, such a business is a sought-after direction for novice merchants.

Often the delivery of goods by mail occurs with long delays. Good money is charged for urgency. Many begin to look for such a service, and some are thinking about how to open such a business.

Creating a company for the delivery of goods: the first steps

If you are a law-abiding entrepreneur, then you must follow the order in starting a business:

• initially it is necessary to open and visit the tax authority for the official registration of the delivery company;
• then - a bank in order to open a current account of its own service.

This concludes the basic legal formalities for business. The next stage is the solution of material issues, without which it is impossible to open a delivery company:

• office;
• equipment: computer, telephone, car;
• advertising.

The ideal office is its own space. If you do not have enough money to buy, then use the lease.

How to start your own courier service from scratch

To open a delivery establishment, it is not necessary to look for an office in the city center.

Without technical support, a courier company will not be able to work. Computers, telephone and Internet connections, vehicles are needed. You can use your own car or rent.

But it is impossible to open or organize a profitable delivery business with one car. Several cars, mopeds, scooters or bicycles are needed. The latter will be useful during daytime traffic jams. An excellent solution is to hire couriers who have their own vehicles.

The territory served by couriers at first will be small. But if the delivery of orders takes place without the slightest delay, they will quickly find out about an open courier organization. Carefully fulfilling the requirements of the first customers will turn them into permanent ones for your business. This will help generate profits and serve as good publicity for the delivery agency.

If you want to open an international express delivery service, then it is better to buy a franchise. They will help you write a plan for the development of your business, formalize the business and make it profitable.

Advertising

Any new firm that you decide to open needs advertising. To do this, create a step-by-step advertising campaign plan for your business. Do not skimp on a colorfully designed website with detailed information about the activities of the delivery institution. Contact professionals who will create a page on the Internet that represents the company you have opened in a favorable light.

A business card can attract customers if it is made of high-quality paper, is pleasant to look at, and contains comprehensive information about the activities of this service. Seeing the scrupulousness with which business cards are made, a person will become confident that increased attention is guaranteed to his order. This will push customers to apply for the services of such a service.

It is necessary to organize the dissemination of information about the courier company in the available media. Discuss your business or the fact that you are thinking of opening it with relatives, friends, classmates. Often such conversations bring more popularity to the company than expensive advertising.

Personnel of the courier service

When thinking about designing a courier service, be sure to consider the topic of hiring employees. In order to open and properly organize a successful business for the delivery of bottled drinking water, sushi, alcohol, barbecue, set meals and other food products, you should hire a director, couriers, a dispatcher, an accountant, and technical staff.

Be especially careful when hiring employees. It is on their interaction with customers that the reputation and income of the company depends. You need to develop instructions for customers and create a complaint book on your website.

Couriers must possess such qualities as punctuality, sociability, tact, diligence. Their duty is to deliver the goods safely and within the time specified by the customer.

Many people think that being a courier is not prestigious and this is a big disadvantage for your business. Therefore, the company needs to make employees understand the value of their work. To prevent cases of missing money, it is best to conclude official employment contracts with the courier.

It is necessary to establish a clear interaction between the employees of the organization, especially between the dispatcher and the courier. The dispatcher receives and registers orders, informs the peddlers about them, and is in touch with both parties simultaneously.

There will always be a need for a messenger

Despite the ubiquity of electronic document management, no organization will be able to do without paper copies at all. Financial, legal and other firms need to constantly send correspondence to their partners. Industrial enterprises may also need urgent delivery of some goods. This is a huge plus for your courier delivery business from scratch.

You can be contacted if you have a well-organized delivery service.

There are delivery companies that only serve online stores. If you open a delivery business, then it can bring good profits. In any city there are companies involved in trading through online stores. Small firms do not have the ability to independently deliver their goods to customers. It is more profitable for them to contact the courier organization.

An interesting direction is serving restaurants, pizzerias, shops that do not have the conditions for organizing their own network for delivering goods to customers at home. Such a business is very profitable, as the demand for these services does not weaken. If the business is related to the transportation of products, it is necessary for couriers to obtain health books.

Separately, it is worth highlighting the delivery of flowers and gifts. The development of the courier business is up to you.

Use your imagination!

If you decide to open a business, then you should remember that nice bonuses and discounts play a big role. Your company must be different from those of competitors. It is necessary to come up with a “zest” for the service that will attract customers. Today, the business of delivering food and other goods has a large number of different companies that advertise the speed of transportation of goods, low prices, and quality service. But that's long overdue. Customers want novelty.

"Chip" can be absolutely anything. Business can be affected by couriers-girls with a model appearance. With such a “twist”, the number of male clients will greatly increase. If athletic, attractive young men appear among the messengers, it will become clear why the female contingent will opt for your business.

The business idea for the delivery of small and large goods in a box is a great idea to attract customers.

Make a catalog on the website of the service, where photos of your charming employees and lovely employees will be presented. In this case, when applying, the client can indicate a specific courier who will fulfill his order.

A non-standard offer of your business will be the ability to use a courier for a set period of time. Such a "rent" is beneficial for large customers who need a constant delivery of various goods. In this case, only the amount of time required to transport orders is paid, and the courier is always nearby.

The introduction of the night shift is a great idea. Such services, working around the clock, are rare. Therefore, the possibility of delivery at night will attract more customers.

Try to open a delivery service with a variety of "features", thanks to which any customer will always want to contact you.

Ideas for business -> Finance, consulting services, education

Courier service - right to the customer!

The courier service is a rapidly developing business in recent years 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, the services of the Russian Post - the most powerful delivery player - many commercial structures prefer not to use 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).

Delivery 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.

Where to begin

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 the delivery of lunches 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 health books, transport - a health 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).

02/2012
Sergei Pankratov. How to start your own business.

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More ideas? See section

How to open a delivery service: 5 popular delivery options, tips for attracting investments, cost and profitability of this type of business.

Costs of organizing a business: from 400,000 rubles.
Payback period of delivery service: 10-12 months.

Delivery business is gaining momentum every day, as it does not require such large investments as the production of goods or the opening of a catering establishment.

Of the pluses, one can also name the fact that it is not so complicated in organization and design.

The delivery company can provide transportation services, both for oversized cargo, parcels, letters, and conclude an agreement with a company (more than one), and deliver goods of its production.

In addition to the pros, there are a number of nuances that you need to understand before thinking about how to open a delivery service.

To begin with, it is worth deciding which goods and to whom will be supplied.

For example, you can initially deliver orders to your home in one locality.

This is a good option for a beginner to start because it does not require a large number of vehicles.

And if the business flourishes, it will be possible to expand the scope of activities to the desired scale.

How to open a delivery service and what are the requirements?

As already mentioned, this branch of business is not as difficult to organize as most others.

There are minimum requirements, having dealt with which, you can open a business for the delivery of flowers, parcels, valuable cargo and other items.

Choosing a location for a delivery service office

Interesting fact:
The story of the most iconic envoy of the era of early antiquity, Phillipides, who brought the message of the Battle of Marathon to Athens, has survived to this day. He ran a distance of almost 40 km and died of exhaustion after doing his duty. His feat became a prerequisite for the founding of the marathon race.

As with any full-fledged enterprise, the first step is to rent an office space.

Where it will be located, in a large building in the city center or in a residential area, is not so important.

There are courier services without an office.

But, as practice shows, this is only at the "embryo" stage.

Indeed, with the expansion of such a business, it will become necessary to conclude contracts with reputable firms.

The absence of an office can negatively affect this partnership, and in general will cause a lot of inconvenience.

Choice of transport for the delivery service

The next, but no less important point will be transportation.

Without transport, there is nothing to do in the courier business - this is a fact.

But the presence of a vehicle with considerable dimensions will increase the number of parcels delivered.

When choosing, it is worth starting from the estimated volume of orders and the available budget.

Staff and customer interaction

An important part of organizing the idea of ​​​​opening a delivery service is finding the right staff.

It is necessary to hire couriers who will deliver parcels, and staff to work in the office.

To improve communication, you can open a hotline or a website where you can always track at what stage the order (package) is.

It is equally important to set up communication between the office and couriers, as customers who are waiting for a package will first call the office and ask what the status of the order is and how long to wait for it.

How to register a delivery service?

You can register an enterprise as a private enterprise (PE) or with limited liability (), but with registration at the tax office it will turn out a little more difficult.

Since recently, courier activities cannot be subject to a single imputed income tax; delivery business is taxed on a general basis.

But this should not affect net income, subject to successful activity.

Registration with local authorities, and obtaining all the necessary approvals, will cost about 15,000 rubles.

To open a courier service, you do not need a lot of documents, only information about the founders, the physical address of the company and its property (enterprise fund).

How does the delivery business depend on the city in which it is located?

When organizing a courier service in a big city, there is no need to provide diverse services, you can simply choose a specific area and deliver only a certain type of goods.

You can implement the following delivery service options:

• cooperation with online stores;
• cooperation with restaurants or (most often, such establishments have their own couriers);
• delivery of correspondence;
• water delivery business, colors;

If the point is sparsely populated, the delivery business within the city will not bring as much profit as we would like.

Therefore, it makes sense to engage in transportation between cities, as this will greatly expand the range of activities.

It is most profitable to cooperate with furniture manufacturing factories, transport it to the place of sale, and possibly even to the home of the buyer.

You can also do the delivery of things during the move.

For such large-scale cargo transportation, appropriate transport is needed, and not just one.

But for starters, you can try smaller deliveries.

How to choose transport to the courier service?

Transport for opening a delivery business is suitable for anyone, from a scooter to a truck, it all depends on the type of transportation.

You will not often meet a driver with your truck, therefore, with large-sized deliveries between settlements, you will have to buy a car.

The financial calculations section includes not only the cost of acquiring a vehicle, but also the costs of its maintenance, as well as the consumption of gasoline.

Gasoline consumption depends on such factors:

• vehicle condition (serviceability, mileage);
• type of vehicle (truck, passenger);
• driving style of the driver (fast, slow);
• weather;
• road condition.

Approximate calculation of gasoline consumption of trucks and cars

Obviously, the consumption of gasoline depends on the model of the car and on its engine.

But, based on the table, you can roughly calculate the difference in the payment of gasoline for cars and.

Required personnel for the delivery service

It is most advantageous to hire employees (couriers) who have their own transport.

As mentioned above, it can be either a car or a truck, or a scooter or a motorcycle, since a large salon is not needed for small orders.

For example, deliveries such as flowers or sports nutrition can generally be carried out using public transport.

For this kind of assignment, it is best to hire students, as they will do an excellent job with the task and they can be arranged on a part-time basis or pick up a free schedule.

If we are talking about large-sized orders, ranging from bottles of drinking water to refrigerators, you will need at least a minibus.

Since it will be necessary to deliver water to several recipients at once, and it is more profitable to deliver equipment, at least to several customers in one trip.

In addition to couriers, you will need an accountant, a call center operator who will answer incoming calls and provide the necessary information (the secretary will be able to cope with this task).

How to attract investments to open a delivery service?

Nowadays, finding someone who will invest in starting a business is not so difficult.

There are many sites (exchanges) for searching for investors, which they themselves visit in order to find a promising project for their investments.

Naturally, no one wants to invest in an unprofitable enterprise.

Therefore, you need to present your business plan as best as possible.

It is worth pointing out all the nuances and moments of the proposed project, identifying the benefits to the investor himself, calculating the approximate payback period and receiving the first income.

Describe in detail the services that the company will provide.

Also, the amount of investment should be clearly indicated, and a report should be provided on what and how much it will take.

The knowledge and experience of the founder (founder) of the company in this area plays a significant role.

How much does it cost to open a delivery business?

Regardless of what kind of transportation to do (small or large), the cost of office and advertising will be almost the same in any case.

It is worth adding the creation of a website to additional services, it will take from 10,000 rubles.

Regular investment

The remaining expenses will be spent on the purchase of cars (if there is a need for freight transport), wages for employees, gasoline costs, etc.

In the video below, experienced entrepreneurs talk about the features of running a delivery business:

Profitability of opening a delivery business

Before you open a delivery business, you need to understand that the competition in this area is very high.

After all, in addition to delivery services, there are many private couriers.

Nevertheless, despite the competition, the profitability of such an enterprise is about 25%, depending on the type of activity.

The company should bring income in three months.

If there is no profit during this period, this means that the company is operating at a loss.

The payback period will take about 10-12 months, subject to success.

As in any commercial activity, you should not start with something big, such enterprises often go bust.

You can build a shipping empire by starting small flower delivery business, and every year to expand the scope of work.

This will speed up the payback period, reduce risks, and profits will begin to come as soon as possible.

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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 making an application, to take into account the desires 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.

* Calculations use average data for Russia

Starting investments:

Revenue:

Net profit:

Payback period:

Courier service is a business without serious investments and requirements, so anyone can start it. The advantages of this area: high demand for services, a wide range of customers and profitability up to 90%.

Delivery service is a business that will suit both an experienced and aspiring entrepreneur. In Russia, the industry began to develop actively since the 90s and today is one of the promising areas in the service sector. The idea is attractive because it does not require large investments and at the same time guarantees a fairly high profit. You can start with a minimum set of resources and gradually develop your business. Moreover, with the growth of online commerce, delivery services are more relevant than ever. That is why starting a courier service is a great solution for an entrepreneur.

But this business, like any other, has its own nuances and pitfalls. Before throwing all your energy and money into opening a business, you need to study the main aspects of this type of activity.

Analysis of the field of activity

Relevance. According to the research agency Data Insight, online commerce is growing at least 25% annually, even despite the crisis. At the same time, most online stores attract delivery services from outside in order to save money. Result: the number of orders is increasing, and with them the demand for courier services. So now the business is relevant and will feel good as long as online commerce develops, because more than 90% of all orders for delivery services are delivered by online stores.

Advantages and disadvantages. An assessment of the pros and cons of a business allows you to make a decision about starting your own business and foresee what difficulties you need to be prepared for.

Advantages and disadvantages of courier service

Competition. The attractiveness of the business naturally led to the fact that many people came to the courier services market. Today, a wide range of courier services is presented on the Russian market. The share of international leading companies is about 30%. New businesses cannot compete with them. Therefore, firms operating within the same city or region will represent real competition for you. The conditions for doing business are not easy: price dumping, market glut and the struggle for customers, especially for large orders.

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To stay afloat, courier services are pursuing an active business development strategy, offering customers more opportunities and services. Therefore, even at the start, you need to decide on the strategy of your delivery service and pay attention to the following parameters:

Business area.

cargo specifics.

Delivery method.

This is the initial data with which you will start working. They characterize your organization and determine its place in the market.

Delivery service

Types of services. The courier service provides the population with prompt delivery of letters, documents, small and bulky cargo for a fee. Depending on the scale of activity, the courier service can deliver between countries, between cities and regions, within the same city. Another important criterion is the specifics of the cargo. Conventionally, the work of courier services is divided into the delivery of correspondence and cargo. In practice, most players specialize in both directions.

The types of services provided by the courier service may be different. The most demanded delivery of goods from online stores. Most often this is a small-sized cargo.

What options do courier services offer their customers:

pre order;

urgent order (within a day);

courier rental;

shipment insurance;

order at night - delivery of goods from 22:00 to 7:00;

lifting cargo to the floor.

Business area. At the initial stage of work, it is better to focus on work within the same city. Get a good reputation, gain experience - and then gradually develop. For a good start, you will need to find 2-3 large clients with whom you will cooperate on an ongoing basis. Qualitatively fulfilling these orders, you can count on a stable profit and invest it in further development.

Cargo specifics. Immediately decide what kind of cargo you will work with. Because the organization of all activities depends on it. A comparison table will help you make a decision, which shows the characteristics of different types of cargo.

Comparison of areas of work of the courier service

	Correspondence	Small cargoes	Small cargoes
	Not required	Required	Required
Car park	Not required	Required	Required
Loading and unloading equipment	Not required	Not required	Required
Material liability		Low/high
Security and alarm costs	Minimum	Minimum	Depends on the size and workload of the warehouse

An ideal option for a beginner in this business: delivery of correspondence and small cargo around the city. It will be much cheaper and easier. The specifics of the delivery of oversized cargo has its own difficulties, which will not only “eat up” part of your budget, but also require certain experience, skills and responsibility. In the future, of course, it makes sense to add cargo delivery to the services and expand the geography of activities.

Method and type of delivery. Also, choose in advance what type of delivery you want to deal with. Limit the scope of the target audience and develop a profitable offer for your potential customers.

The cargo service industry offers many options: online shopping products, delivery of flowers, gifts or food, important documents, etc. You can combine several directions.

To decide, study the demand in your city. What is missing in the courier services market? What niche is free? What can be improved in this area? What problems do your future clients face? When you answer all these questions, you can choose a promising direction.

Every day, many companies and people use the services of courier services. Your potential clients are:

online stores;

cafes and restaurants;

flower shops.

Today, almost all online stores cooperate with courier services and use their outsourcing services. Moreover, many prefer to conclude contracts with local small firms.

Ready-made ideas for your business

Another large segment is cafes and restaurants. Almost all catering establishments provide a delivery service to their customers. And this is also done by a third-party courier service.

Separately, it is worth mentioning about flower shops. Many of them trade through social networks and offer delivery services. But it is not profitable for them to keep their courier on staff, so they resort to outsourcing.

Almost all large companies need couriers to deliver various documents. In addition, there is such a service as "courier rental" - i.e. an employee can not only deliver documents, but also perform additional assignments. For example, stand in line at the tax office and hand over / pick up documents. Thanks to this service, the client saves time, and you get additional profit.

Ready-made ideas for your business

So the range of potential customers of the delivery service includes an unlimited number of individuals and legal entities. Courier services are in demand in all areas of activity.

After you decide what we will deliver and who will be our client. Now we need to figure out how to deliver it. The method of delivery depends on the specifics of the order, and on the territory, and on your strategy. Let's consider in more detail.

Possible delivery methods

Pedestrian courier. If you work within a small town, you can get by with a pedestrian courier. The method is reminiscent of the classic image of the postman. You can also use bicycles, mopeds, scooters. It is clear that only correspondence and small parcels will be delivered in this way. This may not be a very profitable solution.

Courier with car. First, the volume of initial investments will increase. You will need to purchase a car or hire a courier with a personal vehicle (and this is paid extra). Secondly, fuel costs will increase. But on the other hand, you will get a faster delivery method, more orders and the ability to deliver large and heavy packages. In addition, you can use unusual delivery formats. This will allow you to stand out and form a competitive advantage.

bike mail. Fast delivery of documents on small vehicles (bicycles, scooters, mopeds). It is cheap, environmentally friendly, and in the case of traffic jams, even faster. Also, for example, argues the American express mail UPS, which delivers parcels on bicycles with a trailer. Students can be hired. One downside is seasonality. It is not very comfortable to ride a bike in rain or snow. But this method of delivery can be made an additional service in the warm season.

Congratulatory courier service delivers flowers, balloons, gifts and other holiday paraphernalia. The services of such an organization are used by people who cannot personally congratulate their loved ones. The courier service does it for them. With proper advertising, the service will be in demand. In this case, the bright design of the courier car will be an excellent marketing ploy, so that it is immediately clear: “this car is carrying a holiday.”

Round the clock delivery. Not every courier service provides such a service. Therefore, you can occupy a free niche and start with less competition. Delivery at night has many advantages: the tariff for such orders is higher, and they are delivered faster (because there is less traffic and traffic jams). The downside is that you will have to hire additional employees for shift work.

Delivery of auto parts, building materials, assistance with moving. There are very few companies that would provide such services, but there is demand. The car broke down on the road, it is necessary to transport things or building materials for construction or repair. In all these cases, you will need the service of your courier service. But then you have to buy trucks and hire movers.

As you can see, the delivery service is a very variable business. You can combine characteristics in different ways: type of cargo, target audience, delivery method - and look for the “formula” that will be successful for you.

Business registration

From theory we pass to practical actions. The first serious step to start is the registration of a business.

The courier service can work both in the status of an individual entrepreneur and an LLC. Most often, small firms prefer to work as an individual entrepreneur - there is less paperwork with him. To register, you must write an application in the prescribed form and attach to it a receipt for payment of the state duty, which is 800 rubles. The following should be indicated as types of activities according to OKVED: 64.12 - Courier activities. You can immediately enable additional codes:

52.61.2 - Retail sales through teleshops and computer networks (electronic commerce, including the Internet)

63.40 - Organization of cargo transportation

64.11.11 - Activities for the reception, processing, transportation and delivery (delivery) of postal items

74.82 - Packaging

74.84 - Provision of other services

So, you submit the documents necessary for registering an individual entrepreneur, and after the period specified in the notification, you collect an extract from the USRIP from the tax. On the same day, it is recommended to write an application for the transition to the selected tax regime. You can choose STS 6% of income or STS 15% income minus expenses.

Premises and office

The courier service belongs to the category of business where the location and office do not play an important role. In this case, you will need a mini-office to receive corporate clients and conclude contracts with them. You can also place a small warehouse there.

An office for a courier service does not have to be located in the city center. For the client, it is more important how quickly you can deliver the package and how much it will cost. Therefore, the ideal space for an office is 20 sq.m. with internet and telephone, away from the city center. In the office, it is enough to equip one workplace for a manager who will look for clients, communicate with us, distribute tasks between couriers, control the timing and payment of orders. The set of equipment in the office is minimal: a computer, an MFP, a telephone, a document rack.

When looking for a suitable office, pay attention to various business centers where you can find a premise already furnished and equipped with all communications. The cost of renting such an office will cost you about 10-15 thousand rubles per month. It all depends on the city and the territorial location of the building itself. Also, do not forget to buy stationery for your office: paper, pens, paper clips, tape, etc.

Equipment

The main production equipment in this case is a car. Well, of course, if you have not decided to open a bike mail. The choice of transport on which orders will be delivered should be approached with special attention.

How to choose a car for a courier

Specifications. To begin with, let's define the main characteristics that an ideal car for a courier service should have:

low fuel consumption;

low cost of maintenance and repair;

small dimensions of the car: compactness and mobility makes it easy to park and move around the city faster.

So the main requirement for a courier car is efficiency and mobility. This way you save money and time.

Models. Based on these characteristics, we will give examples of popular cars that are most often used for delivery services.

If you give preference to the domestic auto industry, then the suitable options are:

• OKA (VAZ 1111).

If you choose among foreign cars, then this:

German cars (Skoda Fabia, Volkswagen Golf, Opel Corsa,);

Korean (Kia Picanto, Hyundai i20, Daewoo Matiz, Hyundai Getz).

French (Citroen C1, Peugeot 107);

Japanese (Toyota Yaris, Toyota Vitz, Nissan Cube, Nissan March, Honda Fit);

Italian (Fiat Panda).

All of these cars have a small engine capacity - this allows you to save on fuel consumption. The average cost of a car for a courier is 400 thousand rubles. You can save money by renting a used car. But keep in mind that in this case you risk buying a car that will often break down. And delays in the work of the courier service can lead to serious consequences.

Scheme of the courier service

Before proceeding to the selection of personnel, you need to draw up a detailed scheme of the courier service and prescribe the functions of each employee. The general scheme of work looks like this:

An order is received from a customer.

The manager accepts the order, negotiates the amount of payment with the client, records all the necessary data (name, contact phone number, order parameters). Next, the manager passes the task to the courier.

The courier, according to the received task, goes to point A to pick up the correspondence/parcel and payment. Then he takes him to point B, where the receiving party signs the acceptance certificate, thereby confirming the fact of receipt.

The courier calls the manager, and he, in turn, notifies the customer about the receipt of the parcel or envelope by the addressee.

At the end of the working day, the courier delivers the signed documents and proceeds to the manager.

This scheme is not generally accepted and the only correct one. You can customize it to suit your business concept.

Courier service staff

An entrepreneur can open a courier business on his own. It is quite possible to combine the functions of a dispatcher, courier and director. At the initial stage, when there will be few orders, you can handle it alone. This will help save on salaries for employees. But then you still need help. By the way, replacing the entire staff of the courier service is a very useful experience. You will feel the business “from the inside”, understand the process of work, learn the nuances and then be able to better navigate the business.

The staff of the courier service usually includes a dispatcher (manager), courier drivers, foot couriers and an accountant. If you plan to deliver bulky goods, you will have to hire movers. Students can be hired as walking couriers: they are usually paid from 300 rubles a day - the costs are small, but their work relieves the volume of orders well.

Ready-made ideas for your business

The main requirement for courier drivers is that they must be able to navigate freely in the city. But you can not rely only on the ability of drivers. Be sure to equip courier vehicles with navigators. For a small company, two couriers will be enough. Their salary usually consists of a fixed salary and a percentage of the amount of completed orders. If you want to save money, you can find employees with a private car. But then you have to pay them more.

Try to find employees with similar experience. In the early stages, their experience will help you, especially if you are new to this business.

You can assign the functions of an accountant to yourself. There is nothing difficult in the IP documentation to understand and maintain accounting on your own. There would be a desire and time. Because your main function in this business is management. You must monitor the work of all staff, coordinate their actions, solve problems that arise, look for new customers and promote your business.

Advertising courier service

It's time to ask the question "where to look for customers"? Let's try to figure out where you can meet your potential customers and how to attract their attention.

Participation in tenders. On the Rostender website you will find many offers to conclude a contract for the provision of courier services. Contract amounts vary from a few thousand to millions of rubles. It all depends on the capabilities of your courier service. To see the right options, please select the region you plan to work in, check the terms of current offers, make sure you meet the stated requirements and apply. At the end of the tender, the results will be posted on the site and you may receive this order.

Electronic reference books. If your activity is limited to the territory of one region or city, then you can use electronic directories. Find the phone numbers and e-mail of those companies that are your target audience. Call or send an electronic proposal for cooperation. Try to come up with a commercial proposal that reflects the individual needs of a particular business.

Announcement Sites. Place ads about your services on various resources such as Avito. There you can also study the demand for courier services and respond to the application.

Intermediary sites. You can use third-party portals - for example, You Do. This platform is an intermediary between those who are looking for certain services (including courier services) and those who provide them. Register on the portal as an executor-courier.

Printable advertisement. Use brochures, business cards, flyers. Make flyers describing your services and a great offer. Arrange to place them on stands near cash desks in stores, in organizations, on bulletin boards.

As you can see, there are many channels for promoting courier services. At first, use all available advertising methods. Plan marketing expenses right away to get orders from the first month of work.

financial question

When an aspiring entrepreneur seriously thinks about starting a business, he is interested in two main questions: how much should he spend and how much can he earn? Let's figure it out. The table shows the main items of initial expenses. Based on this, in order to open a courier service from scratch, you will need at least 260 thousand rubles.

Initial investment to open a courier service

In addition to the initial investment, plan monthly expenses. The table shows an approximate calculation of fixed costs. In the first months when you will be self-employed, there will be no such payroll costs. However, when drawing up a business plan for a courier service, be sure to include this article.

Fixed costs of courier service

Now that you've got your costs figured out, let's move on to the fun part of planning: calculating your expected profit. To do this, you need to know how much courier services will cost and the number of orders. The cost of delivery depends on many factors (city, cargo specifics, route complexity, additional options, delivery time, etc.). Therefore, it is difficult to give any exact figures. On average, one order for the delivery of correspondence will cost 80-100 rubles in the city; delivery of small cargoes is approximately 250 rubles, and a contract concluded with one legal entity. face will bring already 20-30 thousand rubles.

Having a stable flow of orders, a courier service can earn 100-250 thousand rubles a month. Of this amount, you will be left with 50-150 thousand rubles of net profit. The profitability of the business reaches 90%.

Thus, the approximate indicators of business profitability will be as follows:

Revenue - 250 thousand rubles per month

Net profit - 150 thousand rubles per month

Profitability - up to 90%

Payback period - 4-5 months.

Risk factors

When compiling your business plan, be sure to pay attention to the risk component. Think about the risks you may face when providing courier services and how you can avoid losses. Any risk is a loss of profit. Therefore, precautionary measures should be taken to avoid problems.

What you need to pay attention to the owner of the courier service:

High competition. Earlier, we talked about the fact that there are many participants in the courier services market that a novice entrepreneur may encounter. You can solve the problem of competition even at the level of choosing a strategy, if you correctly identify your target audience, form an interesting and profitable offer for it. When you become a full-fledged participant in the market, you can attract customers by providing additional services at competitive prices, by competently advertising your services.

Dependence on weather and transport conditions. The quality of the courier service does not always depend on internal factors. Bad weather or traffic jams in the city can prevent the courier from delivering the order on time. It is almost impossible to solve this problem, as well as to insure against it. In addition, in such conditions, there is a possibility of damage to the vehicle. For example, sudden ice can lead to an accident. All this will bring you unforeseen expenses. The use of various programs to identify traffic jams and competent logistics solutions will help reduce the risk.

Personnel problem. The courier delivery business is characterized by high turnover. The salary is small, there is often no career growth, the work, albeit simple, but dreary. It is not uncommon to accept students who consider the work of a courier as temporary. Therefore, be prepared for the fact that you will often have to look for employees, and these are also certain costs. If you are interested in your company's employees working for a long time and with dedication, set a decent salary, provide good working conditions, use various methods of motivation. Or be prepared to be constantly on the lookout.