Profitable business: how to open a courier delivery service

Investments: from 360,000 rubles

Payback: from 3 months

The demand for the delivery of ready-made healthy meals is increasing every day. People have no time to cook, but they want to eat tasty and healthy. This creates an unmet demand. The profitability of such a business as a healthy food delivery service is facilitated by a small amount of investments and competitiveness, a minimum of risks, and simple reporting to supervisory authorities.

Business concept and target audience

Marketers believe that in a city with a population of about a million people, the catering market is about 18 million rubles a year. The average potential of delivery services is 15 million rubles annually. In the case of healthy eating, due to the narrowness of the niche, this amount should be reduced to 10 million. But the target audience is growing: an increasing number of people care about their own health and longevity.

You can also order healthy food for a big family holiday.

Who might be interested in healthy food delivery:

Target audience Number of orders per week Men 22-45 years old who have no time to prepare food Three-seven Women 22-35 years old, usually single, for the same reason Two-five Organizations (staff meals) Five Family people who decided to pamper themselves with something Something new on the weekendOneParty YouthOne

The introduction of the delivery department into the structure of an ordinary restaurant is associated with a significant investment of time and money for the owner. In the course of work, unforeseen expenses inevitably appear.

Most restaurants and cafeterias do not include delivery as a customer service.

Because of this, they lose possible income from people who do not have the time or desire to visit the institution.

Existing services do not fully meet the demand for services for the delivery of goods, therefore, such a business is a popular direction among novice merchants.

Delivery of goods by mail often happens with long delays. Good money is charged for urgency. Many start looking for a similar service, and some are thinking about how to open such a business.

Starting a delivery company: first steps

If you are a law-abiding entrepreneur, you must follow the sequence when starting a business:

• initially it is necessary to open and visit the tax authority for the official registration of the delivery company;
• then - the 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, phone, car;
• advertising.

An ideal office is your own space. If you don't have enough money to buy, then use the rental. You don't have to look for an office in the city center to open a delivery office.

Without technical support, the courier company will not be able to work. Computers, telephone and internet connections, vehicles are required. You can use your own car or rent it.

But opening or organizing a profitable delivery service with one car is impossible. Several cars, mopeds, scooters or bicycles are required. The latter will be useful for daytime traffic jams. An excellent solution is to hire couriers with 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 the open courier organization. Careful fulfillment of the requirements of the first customers will turn them into permanent ones for your business. This will generate a profit and serve as a good advertisement for the delivery establishment.

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

Advertising

If you do not have any special knowledge in a particular field of entrepreneurship, this does not mean that you have no chance of starting your own business. If you have some (not necessarily impressive) amount of money that you are ready to give in favor of the development of your business, and an obsessive desire to work, as they say, for yourself, then it is worth considering 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 exorbitant funds, so such a business idea is an excellent solution for a budding 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 it with haste 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 receive income from your personal business has 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 first of all 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 advantageous for you (here you will be required to have documents from the tax service on the registration of your company and a certificate from the State Statistics Committee). In principle, from the formal point of view, this is all.

In parallel with the preparation of all documents, start looking for an office space. If your budget is very tight, then rent it. In case of success and success in this business, in the future it will be possible to purchase your own corner.

Then, when drawing up a business plan for the 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 acquire bicycles for mail delivery. Better yet, hire couriers with personal cars.

Your field of activity will most likely be limited to one city at first. Indeed, at this stage of development, it is important to get a good reputation, and if you deliver orders with delays, then no one wants to work with you. In order for the business to have a good start, it is recommended to find a couple of large clients who would carry out regular orders. Performing the orders of such customers with high quality, one can expect to receive a stable profit, which can be immediately used for advertising.

How to promote your business?

Courier service, like a business of any other direction, requires investment in advertising. Start by creating a website. This marketing tool is considered the most effective today. Do not skimp 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.

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

Advertise in the most popular newspapers in your city, don't forget about radio and television. And just share information with your friends and acquaintances. This simple method of advertising is often the most effective.

If you want to start your own business by organizing a courier delivery service, then you should know the basic key rules. They will help you find out more precisely how to open a courier service without problems and competently conduct business in the future. The messenger business is not as complicated as it seems at first glance. Indeed, its organization does not require deep professional knowledge, no special education, no special equipment, or even a huge start-up capital.

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What is required to open a courier service?

Firstly, it is preferable to organize such a business in large settlements, since in small cities the demand will be low and your courier service will not bring tangible income;

Secondly, you will need at least a minimum number of employees on the staff (at least, this is a dispatcher, driver, accountant, and in the case of delivery of "heavy" - a loader);

You also need to decide what your service will deliver: agree that documents and, for example, medical equipment require completely different conditions of transportation;

If you are going to transport dangerous goods, before starting work you need to obtain a special certificate for their transportation;

And finally, you need to attract potential customers through advertising.

Required Attachments

As mentioned above, if you decide to open a courier service, you don't have to make a big investment. However, you will certainly need some funds. Which ones? Car. It will need to be purchased, unless you are going to hire people with private vehicles. By the way, in the summer you can use the services of schoolchildren - the owners of scooters and motorcyclists and it's great to save on this.

Also include advertising costs in your business plan. Media ads cost money, and a lot. But you cannot save on advertising. You do not want to be left without the attention of the best customers? Do not disregard the Internet, offer your services on social networks and in various specialized forums.

Potential Clients

So, for whom do you need to open a courier business? Who usually uses this kind of service? Let's take a closer look at all possible clients:

Local businesses have advantages over those who work throughout the country: there is a growing trend of supporting local stores and manufacturers, people trust their own people more, goods can be delivered within a region or city as quickly as possible.

Just about delivery: if you have a bakery, grocery store, farm, flower shop - you often need to deliver goods on the same day. And if a cafe - a maximum of a couple of hours. This rule also applies to stores that do not sell food: people expect to receive goods quickly, since you are in the same city with them.

City delivery can be organized in several ways. Choose the right one or combine.

Method Own couriers in the state

Our own courier service is full control over the delivery of goods and the ability to improve the company's image.

If there are few orders, then you can deliver them yourself. It is worth hiring special couriers when there are enough orders to load a person for a full time (or for half a day, combining the duties of a courier with others - packing, sorting goods, or something else).

Remember that shipping worries do not disappear after hiring couriers: you will most likely have to control the collection of orders and their on-time delivery. But in any case, it's easier to control your couriers than a contractor. Plus you will have the opportunity to improve the company's image:

• Dress couriers in branded clothing. A T-shirt, jacket or baseball cap in company colors and with a logo is enough. And now your courier already stands out from the rest and by his appearance supports the opinion of you as a serious company. A folder with documents, which the courier holds in his hands, can also be decorated in a corporate style, at least by sticking a logo.
• Teach employees how to communicate with customers correctly: notify them of their arrival by calling, observe the delivery time agreements, greet and say goodbye, politely answer customer questions. Give a briefing, give a memo with all the recommendations and the first couple of times with the courier to help and see how he holds up. / ul>

  Sometimes there are specific requirements for delivery. For example, if you sell goods for babies, it is better to warn about the arrival of a courier not by calling, but by SMS - the client's child can sleep at this time, and you can wake him up with calls. Or flower delivery - the goods are delivered not to the customer, but to the recipient. And the customer may want to remain anonymous. The courier must be aware of this condition, plus it is worthwhile to think in advance how to respond to the recipient's inquiries. Make a convenient payment. It's trivial: the client gives a large bill, but the courier has no change. Therefore, it is worth clarifying in advance how much change the customer will need. It's good if the courier can accept card payments, more and more customers prefer this method. In addition, cashless payments are safer than traveling around the city with a lot of cash in the car.

  It's even easier for you and the courier if the order can be paid on the website. may be the only payment method in your store - most customers have not been afraid of prepayment for a long time.

Periodically ask customers if they are happy with the delivery. This advice is relevant not only for your couriers, but for all delivery methods. You can conduct a survey in messengers or by phone.

An example of how a sushi delivery service polls customers after each order

The impression of the most convenient store and high-quality product can be spoiled by delivery - it was brought at the wrong time, impolite courier, dented goods or other troubles. To be 100% sure of your service, use your own couriers.