Home delivery business. Business plan for home delivery of products: necessary equipment and documents to start. Opening your own courier service

Have you heard about FedEx, DHL, UPS? If so, then, for sure, you or your friends have used their services. Would you like to open your own courier service?

If yes, then this article will be useful for you and will tell you how to do it.

Especially for preparing this article, we interviewed three experts and found out How open courier delivery service. Meet our guests:

Alexey Prygin, deputy general director MaxiPost. The company specializes in courier delivery of goods from online stores.
Sergey Nevzorov, founder of the Logistics Department service.
Zhurabek Turdiev, director of the courier service BTS Express. The company's specialization is express delivery of documents, correspondence, parcels up to 3 kg within Uzbekistan.

The article was written jointly with our experts and with their active participation. This made it possible to obtain detailed, more complete first-hand information about the opening of a courier service.

How to prepare for the opening?

As with opening any business, it is necessary to carry out preliminary analysis market. The information received should concern:

Target audience, demand on its part. Who is your potential client, what services does he need, what will he expect from you.
Information about competitors and their activities.
Current market conditions. What niches are still relatively free and other information.

This is the first. The second is the choice of niche and services provided. After studying the market, you may want to develop a courier service in some narrow specific niche. Or would you prefer to specialize in the delivery of certain packages, for example, goods from online stores or food from restaurants.

Investment size

It all depends on the chosen niche and the services you are going to provide. Alexey Prygin, Deputy General Director of MaxiPost:

“The costs (start-up and monthly) consist of the following expenses:

personnel recruiting;
purchase and branding of uniforms (if necessary);
process automation;
purchase cash registers(and their further maintenance);
purchase or rental of vehicles (if necessary);
communications (mobile, landline, Internet);
household and stationery supplies;
bank expenses (mainly collection);
fuel (if necessary);
salaries and taxes.

The main consumable part of the “courier” is these are salaries and taxes.

Competition in the market courier services now it’s off the charts and will only continue to grow and open up new business It’s worth it in this area if you have good starting investments, a “cushion” for the future and experience in this area.”

MaxiPost has the following format - delivery of goods from online stores. If you do not purchase vehicles, then relatively small investments will be required. But! You need to be prepared for subsequent financial injections in order to stay in the market and continue to grow.

But BTS Express required significant investments to launch and develop its courier service.

Zhurabek Turdiev

director of BTS Express

As can be seen from the two examples, investment volumes can differ several times. Much depends on the niche and services provided. But both of our guests agree that the company will need regular funding for its continued existence and growth.

Step-by-step instruction

As mentioned above, opening a courier service begins with determining the client’s portrait, his needs and expectations. Based on this data, you need to decide on a niche and a specific list of services that your company will provide.

After clarifying these key points, you can think about what the investments will be used for, how to further build the business, and what service geography you will have.

Staff. Hiring, training, motivation, relationships

Our guest Alexey Prygin, Deputy General Director of MaxiPost, talks about working with staff:

A staff of couriers is one of the very first steps when organizing a courier service. To create it, you need:

Recruit couriers, having previously calculated their number and workload based on the planned sales volume and sales schedule;

Train couriers by developing a training system in advance, including the ability to communicate, work with cash register equipment, comply with the rules of cash discipline, etc.;

Develop a system of motivation and control of couriers: how will you pay them - fixed or piecework? How to calculate the premium part - based on the number of purchased or delivered parcels? How will you control their work and negate the risks of unscrupulous performers, which is especially important given the fact that the courier is a financially responsible person?

The motivation system for couriers should be built based on the company’s business goals. For example, in our company, the first place is not quantity, but the quality of delivery, the percentage of redemption of delivered parcels. This means everything is tailored exclusively to this KP

Zhurabek Turdiev

BTS Express Director:

When working with personnel, the main attention and effort should be directed to couriers, because the courier:

The face of the company, and he mostly communicates with customers and package recipients.
It largely determines how and in what condition the parcel will be delivered.
A courier is a financially responsible person.

When selecting couriers, we look at the following points:

Filling out the form. Is it completely filled? If yes, then this indicates that the candidate is serious about the business and that he wants to work in our company.
Ability to communicate. Whether the person makes contact easily, is not aggressive or rude.
Age and driver's license. In our company, only young people work as couriers.

Our month lasts probation. During this period, we pay attention to other indicators of couriers:

How does the courier keep documents? Is everything filled out on time? Are reports submitted on time?
Compliance with established schedules.
Ability to communicate with customers and parcel recipients.
Feedback from clients and employees. If a courier is rude, breaks the rules, and clients and employees complain about him, then such a person will not stay with us.

We also have a training and adaptation system. It allows a beginner to quickly get involved and successfully complete their tasks.

A separate conversation is motivation. We need purposeful people, and we promote them to more high positions, if, of course, the employee has the desire.

The main principle of building relationships with couriers, and with all company employees, is to let them know that they are valuable and that their work is important not only for the company, but also for clients and society. And the most important thing is not just to make it clear, but to prove it in practice day after day.

At the initial stage, it is better to concentrate on attracting and providing high-quality service to the Nth number of first clients. I would recommend starting with 200 clients. This approach will allow:

identify weak spots in your business and eliminate them,
understand the expectations and needs of your clients,
based on the received feedback further build your marketing strategy.

Promotion channels may be different. You need to take into account the specifics of your niche and focus on customers.

Zhurabek Turdiev, director of BTS Express, says:

In our case, SEO, sending commercial offers to organizations, and word of mouth work well. Social media we mainly use to collect feedback.

When choosing a promotion channel, you need to take into account the characteristics of your clients. Namely, to know:

Through what communication channels can you reach them?
Through what channels are potential clients already looking for information about you?

The niche and services provided by your courier service play a major role in deciding where to locate your office and warehouse.

For example, food delivery from restaurants does not require a warehouse, because... the package is delivered directly from the kitchen to the recipient. The situation is similar when delivering parcels within the city, because... Delivery is carried out within a few hours.

But in the case of intercity delivery, the presence of a warehouse is mandatory.

Zhurabek Turdiev

director of BTS Express

When choosing a location, we took into account the following criteria:

Convenient location for clients, because... Some of our clients come to the office to send a parcel. Also, some recipients pick up the package from the office. This is an economy rate with pickup from our offices. The main thing is that it is convenient for clients to approach us, that we are easy to find, and that there is parking.
Proximity to the airport, because To increase delivery speed, we send parcels to remote cities by plane.

Sufficient space for all departments (reception, warehouse, administration). This applies only to the central office in Tashkent. Offices in the regions are simpler

Documentation

The courier service can be registered as an LLC or individual entrepreneur. LLC is convenient for the following:

Investors are more willing to invest money in a business because... may act as co-founders. Banks are also more willing to issue loans.
More trust from organizations. It matters if organizations are your potential clients.

IP has the following advantages:

Easy to register.
You can pay taxes in a “simplified” manner. Tax reporting is simpler.

The choice of legal form is at the discretion of the business owner. Registering a company is one of the simplest steps when opening a courier service.

Opening checklist

Is it profitable to open

To answer this question, you need to consider the following:

Courier service as a business is a long-term business project. There is no way to quickly “make money” here. Like factories, courier services do not give returns immediately, but after some time. When starting a courier business, you need to be prepared for a marathon, not a sprint.
Much depends on the chosen niche and services provided, and the market situation.

Alexey Prygin, Deputy General Director of MaxiPost:

Services in general are rarely a high-margin business in themselves, and in an unfavorable situation (and this is the case now), the difference between the tariff and the cost tends to zero. It is very difficult to increase this gap: raising the price means losing customers, and reducing costs is very difficult.

Zhurabek Turdiev

director of BTS Express

We were able to achieve operating profit only in the fifth year of development. There is still time before full self-sufficiency. We invest the proceeds in development. Courier services are a long-term business. You need to have a fair amount of patience to set up such an enterprise.

Seasonality

As in a number of industries, there is seasonality in the courier business. It is associated with the period of commercial activity of the population before significant holidays and other events:

New Year
February 23
March 8
Black Friday, etc.

Alexey Prygin

Deputy General Director of MaxiPost

The courier business is subject to seasonality, which directly depends on the surge in sales in online stores. The hottest season for courier services is New Year. Even if you spend a whole year switching from order to order, you won’t be bored from the end of November. Our people will never stop buying gifts for this holiday, so there is always a chance to make a good turnover in one month. December is guaranteed earnings. There are also February 23, March 8, Black Fridays, Cyber Mondays, preparation for school in August and a bunch of all sorts of more or less successful seasons and sales that provide couriers with reliable income.

High-quality service, including delivery of goods, is the first rule of a successful business. Company owners are interested in ensuring that customers receive their orders quickly and safely. But not everyone runs their own courier service; more often they attract outside companies.

Courier service as a business is one of the options for starting your own business with minimal initial investment. This type of business does not require deep special knowledge, large capacity or complex legal procedures. However, there are nuances, knowing which, it will be much easier to start and succeed in this business.

Logistics trends: business relevance

To understand whether a business delivering goods is profitable, let’s consider the main latest trends in the field of logistics - the process of moving goods, documents, valuables from the seller (manufacturer, supplier) to the buyer (customer, consumer).

According to the research agency Data Insight, online trade is growing by at least 25% per year even during a crisis, at the same time, most online stores use outside courier services to save money. The result is an increase in the number of parcels that require courier services.
In 2016, the demand for delivery of goods to pick-up points and post offices increased significantly.
For example, customers prefer to pick up almost 90% of orders in the Svyaznoy online store from pick-up points. Buyers reserve goods on the website with the opportunity to pick them up within 48 hours from the most convenient store location. Third-party courier services are used to deliver such orders.
2016 was a year of growing demand for the delivery of specialized goods: large cargo, food products (including ready meals from restaurants, cafes, specialized bars).
Many large companies announce tenders for courier services.
The authorities are discussing the topic of legalizing online trade in medicines, alcohol, and jewelry. If this happens, then a surge in demand for services for the delivery of these goods is inevitable. Some of them require compliance special conditions, For example, temperature regime for medicines.

Business registration

You can work both as an individual entrepreneur and as an LLC. Taxation - simplified tax system - 6% of income or 15% income minus expenses. OKVED codes according to the current classifier: 53.20.3 Courier activities; 53.20.31 Courier delivery various types transport; 53.20.32 Delivery of food to your home (if you plan to deliver food); 53.20.39 Other courier activities. A license is not required for this type of activity.

At first, you can use your own home as an office, and your personal mobile phone as a communication device. In the future, it is advisable to hire a dispatcher (manager) who will take orders and rent office space.

Opening a courier business makes sense in major cities, since in small settlements, where everything is within walking distance and there are no constant traffic jams, it is easier for people to pick up the goods themselves or send an employee.

It is necessary to decide on the format: will it be delivery within the city or intercity courier services. Use personal transport for work or hire couriers with own funds movement: cargo (when transporting large cargo), cars, scooters, bicycles (when organizing the delivery of documents, postal correspondence, printed materials and small goods).

If you plan to deliver by public transport, you need to purchase travel tickets for couriers, this will reduce transportation costs.

Unusual formats - setting yourself apart from competitors

Courier services in large cities are not a novelty, therefore, there is competition, and to successfully enter a niche you need your own “tricks” that allow you to find, and possibly lure away customers from competitors. How to achieve this? For example, a unique unusual offer could be:

Velopochta. Fast delivery of documents by bicycle (or scooters and mopeds). Students can be hired to work during the summer. The disadvantage is seasonality, since it is not very convenient to ride a bicycle in snowfall in winter and in autumn through slush and rain. But you can make this idea an additional service for the warm season. Pros: low costs (no need to spend money on gasoline or travel documents), students are always interested in additional income, and among them there are many cycling enthusiasts.

For example, the American express mail UPS delivers packages not on conventional trucks, but on bicycles with a trailer.

Congratulatory courier service for the delivery of flowers, gifts, sweets, balloons and other holiday attributes. People don’t always have time to congratulate loved ones in person, and with proper advertising, such a service can be in good demand.

24 hour delivery. Not every courier service can boast of 24 working days. This can play into the hands of a novice entrepreneur: orders at night are valued higher and are delivered faster due to the absence of traffic jams. But here you will need to hire additional employees to work in shifts.

Delivery of women's small items or children's goods. Girls can be distracted and they have situations when they can’t go to the store, for example, their tights are torn at work, they’ve run out of hairspray, diapers infant and many other options. You can position your service as a delivery service for the necessary little things or make it an additional service.

Delivery of auto parts , building materials or large cargo, help with moving. In this case, additional loaders and cargo transport will be needed.

Delivery of products grown in summer cottages(can be organized in the summer-autumn season) or in greenhouses: potatoes, beets, cucumbers, tomatoes and other crops.

And old as the world, and, nevertheless, working methods of setting yourself apart from competitors - offering a more loyal pricing policy, speeding up delivery times compared to competitors.

Participants in thematic forums, sharing their own experience in opening a courier delivery service, advise the aspiring entrepreneur to “get to know this kitchen from the inside.” That is, get a job for a short period of time in a successfully operating courier delivery service and learn all the nuances of the business.

Where to look for clients

A natural question arises: is it difficult to find clients for a delivery service? We answer: if you know how and where to look for them, then it’s not difficult. Of course, advertising costs need to be included in the courier service business plan, but if you are smart, they will be small.

So, here is a list of options for finding clients that work, and most importantly do not require large investments:

Such customer search channels will definitely help you find customers for the first time; in the future, you shouldn’t stop advertising. It’s better to immediately include an item in your monthly expenses: advertising. When profits begin to grow, you can think about expanding, creating a website, and placing contextual advertising.

Courier service franchises

Another option to simplify your start is to open a franchise business. Below is a brief overview of two franchise offers from Russian companies.

1)CDEC

The Novosibirsk company SDEK Logistics Solutions offers a franchise on the following terms:

Lump sum payment- 150 thousand rubles.
Royalty: paid from the 7th month of work - 10%.
Amount of investment to start: from 200 thousand rubles.
Return on investment: from 3 months.

You can fill out an application or send a questionnaire on the company’s official website.

2) Express.ru

The company's franchise offer is valid for the cities: Krasnodar, Volgograd, Kazan. The conditions are as follows:

Entrance fee: from 75 to 200 thousand rubles depending on the city;
Payback: 14-21 months.
Royalty: 8% (paid from the 4th month).

The company's head office is located in St. Petersburg. Partners are provided with comprehensive support, Consumables, training, descriptions and instructions of all business processes.

How nice it is after hard times working day return home, passing grocery stores with their endless lines at the checkout counters. Working people especially value every saved minute of their personal time. Therefore, they will be doubly pleased when they come home and receive their favorite products by courier delivery. In our country there are only a few such offers, although demand is growing from year to year, especially in large cities. If you decide to occupy this niche, first of all, create a business plan for delivering groceries to your home.

Market analysis

IN big cities Organizing a home delivery service for groceries is quite a profitable business. There are already dozens of such people working in Moscow. IN regional centers There are not too many similar offers yet, so often no one will interfere with your development. This business may be in demand in a number of cases:

The city has a developed business center, and a significant part of the population most spends time at work.
You should focus on the strong middle class (small entrepreneurs, middle managers), since wealthy people often dine in restaurants.
It is possible to offer a service for home delivery of groceries to disabled and elderly people (you can offer reduced prices as part of a social project).
The peak of sales, according to statistics, occurs in the cold season and slushy off-season.
It is possible to conclude a long-term contract with clients (say, for weekly grocery delivery).
It is worth considering the possibility of traveling to the nearest suburb for an additional payment (for example, in Moscow, lovers of country holidays regularly use the service).

A detailed business plan for home delivery of products with calculations, as well as helpful and fast service will ultimately result in a constantly growing income.

Organizational plan

Any example of a grocery delivery business plan starts with organizational issues. To get started, register. IN in this case The IP form is best suited. In the future, creating a large network with service legal entities(for example, supplying food for banquets), you can re-qualify as an LLC.

Having received permission to provide courier services, you can proceed to the next point. Keep in mind that when registering a private enterprise, the state duty is 800 rubles. If you decide to resort to the help of intermediaries, this amount will increase to 1200-1600 rubles. In this situation, it is better to save investments on business registration and do it yourself, where possible.

To work, you will need to rent office space. This is a place for an operator who will receive calls from clients, so it can be made small. Once you rent a room, think about the technology. You will definitely need equipment for your business. You need to buy at least one computer and equip it with all the necessary programs and Internet access. This set will cost approximately 30,000 rubles.

In addition, employees must be provided with constant mobile communications. They must always be available. The phone will cost 10,000 rubles, and the unlimited tariff will cost 1,500 rubles.

Staff

If you are going to start a grocery delivery business from scratch, then the cost of expenses should be reduced if possible. Therefore, at the initial stage it is supposed to focus on the minimum set. To get started, you will need only two positions: operator and courier.

The most important employee of the delivery service is the operator. He directly contacts customers and organizes the delivery service. His responsibilities also include:

Processing orders from the website.
Coordinating the work of couriers.
Elimination conflict situations with clients.

The person who comes to this position must be collected and stress-resistant, and work effectively. He must be able to easily establish contact with the buyer and win him over. The operator's salary is 15,000 rubles.

The second position is courier. You can work without couriers by organizing cooperation with a courier service. The advantage is that there will be no problems with time: no downtime during periods of lack of orders, no shortage of staff when many orders arrive at the same time. You hire exactly as many employees as you need and pay for each order separately. But there is also a drawback: it is more difficult to control the work of a counterparty than it is to control your own employees.

The duties of a courier are simple. He must accept an order from the operator and make the necessary purchases. Further, according to the date and time, his task is to deliver the goods to the buyer and receive full payment from him. Revenue must be transferred to the director daily at the end of the working day. For large orders, we recommend taking an advance payment of at least 50% from customers, since it is impossible to return the products if for some reason the customer does not buy them. Another scheme is also common: couriers buy products with their own money and keep the payment for themselves, giving the company part of the delivery cost. This allows you to save on salary (the courier does not receive a fixed income), but this scheme only works if there are a large number of couriers and a sufficient number of orders to provide them with work.

A prerequisite for hiring a courier is to have your own car. Among the personal qualities, it is worth highlighting activity and hard work. In addition, the employee must understand the cost and range of goods in various large supermarkets in the city. We are considering the option of a full-time courier whose salary is 15,000 rubles.

To prepare reports, you will need to use an online accounting service. This is necessary for timely submission of documentation. Such services will cost about 8,000 rubles per year.

Business promotion

The profitability of home delivery of products directly depends on a well-organized marketing campaign. At the initial stage, a layout of business cards and booklets for your organization is developed. An agreement is concluded with printed publications and companies that own billboards. After you decide on the number of booklets, the order is sent to the printing house. This is where payment is made upon completion of the work. The total cost of marketing and advertising, including business cards, brochures and billboards, will be 25,000 rubles. Printed products are distributed to offices and residential complexes near the office.

The most important element for work is your website on the Internet. You can't save money here. It should be easy to read, easy to use and functional (at a minimum, have Personal Area with the ability to form an order and leave wishes for ordering products by brand, characteristics and price category). His appearance must attract attention. Nothing should prevent you from making purchases.

It is important to correctly develop the clauses of the application. There shouldn't be anything superfluous in it. Include only the most necessary information. The client should not get hung up on filling out the application form. Be sure to develop mobile app for your site. This will make the task easier for many buyers, since they don’t always have a computer at hand, unlike a phone. Give your customer the opportunity to place an order with you as easily and quickly as possible. And he will become your regular customer.

The funds allocated for creating the company’s website will amount to about 100,000 rubles, the application for Android and iOS will cost another 30-40 thousand rubles. At least 100 thousand rubles are allocated for the promotion of the resource on the Internet for the first six months.

Financial plan

It is extremely difficult to calculate the price of a single service. It all depends on the scheme, and it is important to choose the most suitable option for you. You can set a fixed delivery price. In this case, it does not matter how many products the client needs to purchase - a package of milk or several bags, the price will be the same. The advantage of this option is that the counting system is convenient for both the client and the company. The downside is that the order may be too large. It will require a lot of effort to complete, the trunk will be completely full, several stores will be visited to collect the order, and the base price of the effort simply will not be worth it.

According to another payment option for grocery delivery services, the price may be a certain percentage of the order amount. For example, when purchasing a product for 1000 rubles, the client pays 10% of the total cost, that is, plus 100 rubles. But this scheme also has a minus. To earn money, the order amount must be about 3-4 thousand rubles. The 100 rubles mentioned above will simply be spent on paying the courier and gasoline.

We recommend using a mixed scheme with a minimum order amount (say, 2 thousand rubles for regions) and an additional payment for the order by amount, number of items or for bulky products (for example, bags of sugar) or oversized goods (usually non-food items). You will find the best option as you work.

If the client is outside the city, then discuss in advance the issue of payment for gasoline by the buyer. You can even install a special meter, similar to a taxi, on the car, showing the client how much was spent on gasoline. Be sure to include express delivery in your list of services. According to it, the client will be able to receive his order as quickly as possible. This service, of course, will be available for a fee.

If 2 couriers fulfill 10 orders per day with an average bill of 300 rubles per order, the revenue per day will be 6 thousand rubles. It will be about 150 thousand rubles per month (take into account fluctuations in the number of orders in different days). Subtract from it the costs of employee salaries (45 thousand), rent of premises (8 thousand), payment for gasoline and cellular communications (25 thousand), advertising (15 thousand), taxes and contributions to funds (10 thousand). Net profit at first will be about 40 thousand rubles. It is planned to increase it by increasing the base of regular customers and providing work for additional couriers. So, 5 couriers with a constant workload will increase the profitability of your enterprise to 80-90 thousand rubles per month.

Payback is planned to be achieved within the first year.

bonus program

Who doesn't like surprises?! Obviously, everyone enjoys receiving unexpected gifts and attention. The profitability of your business will certainly increase if you periodically pamper your customers with various promotions and bonuses. For example, on a client’s birthday, you can give a sweet gift for free. He will definitely appreciate such a gesture. Or you can offer him to purchase from you at a 30-40% discount from the regular price. No one will refuse such generosity.

You can introduce other pleasant little things to loyal customers of your company. Give the customer a bonus for every tenth order. The gift can be anything, for example, a small culinary magazine or book. The sign of attention itself is important. Holding various competitions will also benefit you. Give sweet gifts to the winners. Attract newbies who have just registered on your site with small bonuses. If you do all these things, your customers will be happy and your business will prosper.

Eventually

This business is perfect for entrepreneurs taking their first steps. The cost of delivering groceries to your home is clearly low. Taking into account the fact that competition in most regions is still insufficient, it is quite possible to create your own successful business. To get profitability faster, you can use one of the offers of large franchises, of which there are many in Russia.

Before starting a courier service business, you first need to familiarize yourself with the key rules of this field. Such rules will help the entrepreneur in future business. In fact, open a courier service not as difficult as it might seem. This area does not require special skills or higher education. And most importantly, to open a courier service, you do not need a large start-up capital.

Courier service business: what is needed

Most the best option to open similar business– is to open a courier service in big cities. This is obvious, since in small settlements there will simply be no demand for this business.

For complete courier service automation You will need, at a minimum, a dispatcher, courier/driver, and accountant. In some cases, you may need a loader if your business will be involved in the delivery of large cargo.

Before, how to open a courier delivery service, decide what kind of transportation your company will deal with. Delivery of documents or medical equipment is absolutely required different conditions transportation. It is worth noting that for the transportation of some goods, special certificates and permits may be required.

Investments in a courier service business

We have already said above that opening a courier service does not require huge initial capital. However, you will still have to spend a certain amount. If you have opened a company in big city, then you will need a car anyway. Eat best option: Hire a person with a car to work as a courier. In this case, you will have to pay him for gasoline.

Don't forget about investing in advertising. In this case, the price will depend directly on you. Advertising can be placed in city newspapers and on television. Also, it would be great to place an advertisement on the city portal. Use social networks to promote.

Clientele

Who uses the services of a courier service? We will try to consider this issue in detail from all sides.

Every city has cafes, restaurants and other establishments Catering. So, many catering establishments are starting to deliver their food to your home. You can become a mediator in this case. In this case, all parties will benefit.
The next option will be online stores. them now great amount. Such stores do not dare to open a courier service because it is not profitable for them, because they sell their goods throughout the country. You can offer online stores a low price and fast delivery within the city.
A huge number of large companies are always in need of a courier service business. Large companies always need to send documentation to various points and government services.

Profitability

Initially, you need to determine how profitable this business is. According to statistics, many courier services pay for themselves quite quickly. Most often, the profit reaches 90 percent. In large cities, the price for delivery of one unit of goods is 5-50 dollars. The price directly depends on the weight of the cargo and how important it is. Can be developed special system discounts for regular customers.

Possible problems

In any business, sooner or later, problems may arise. Of course, it is best to prevent problems, but sometimes they are inevitable. Then you need to learn to cope with them.

Problems often arise with human factor. There may be traffic jams or the driver will simply be late to the appointed place. Let’s say the dispatcher of your courier service was rude to the client, and it is you who will have to sort out the entire conflict that has arisen. That is, you need to very carefully select employees for your company. It would also not hurt to learn the basics of logistics in order to deliver the necessary packages on time.
Competition in this business cannot be avoided. Each such company has its own unusual approach to each client. In this case, there is no need to take existing ideas. They will be useless. You have to come up with something new that might interest potential client. In this matter, it is very important to find the ideal approach to each client.

Opening a courier service is only half the battle. It is very important to achieve automation of the courier service. This will help you stay afloat for a long time. A lot of work needs to be put in at the initial stage (when choosing staff, finding regular customers). When all the work reaches automation, you can start coming up with new “tricks” for all clients.

Starting any business is impossible without detailed analysis, market research and drawing up an indicative development plan, the so-called business plan.

One of the most rapidly growing areas is the courier delivery service, the services of which consist in the fast and high-quality movement of goods or customer documents from one point to another destination.

Main advantages and disadvantages of business

Of course, like any other type entrepreneurial activity, which is quite developed, popular and, accordingly, profitable, organizing courier delivery has many more advantages than disadvantages.

The main beneficial and advantageous indicators in relation to the owner and organizer of this type of activity include:

Enough high level profitability and profitability. In this case, it should be noted that concentration and universalization in the person of one delivery operator allows significant savings on costs that are aimed at moving cargo. For both individuals and legal entities, it is much more profitable to contact a specialized company in order to obtain cargo transportation services than to do it yourself, especially when it comes to small volumes. That's why it's so popular in Lately various similar ones, which, in turn, caused a spiral of growth in the number of operators.
To organize a small-scale service provision Relatively small capital investment required. At the first stages of its development, an enterprise can use rented warehouse space, as well as cars or other vehicles necessary for carrying out business activities.
No special requirements for ordinary personnel(this thesis does not apply to the administrative group of employees and specialists). When recruiting personnel, it is enough to conduct a short introductory briefing or internal training in the basics of logistics, internal procedures and methods. In this regard, one should make a simple conclusion that the cost part related to the wages of ordinary employees will be at an acceptable level for the business owner, if we talk about the average statistical indicators of this cost item among similar enterprises and institutions.

The disadvantages include the following facts from the experience of developing and already established companies:

If you have your own vehicle fleet, there are large costs for its maintenance, such as current and major repairs, licensing, insurance, mandatory government payments and fees, etc.
Enough a large number of small operations that require perseverance from staff and a large share of responsibility, since we are talking about handling someone else's property, often very expensive.

In order to determine all the advantages and disadvantages of this type of business, you should clearly understand the level of investment in its development, the territorial level of coverage of the service area and other important factors.

You can watch the conference on the topic of opening such an enterprise in the video:

Required permits

In accordance with current legislation, business entities who want to provide services related to the delivery of goods, are required to obtain a license for freight forwarding and transportation activities. This permit is issued in case of mandatory compliance with technical and environmental standards and requirements.

If the requirements are met, the license is issued for a period of 5 years. Particular attention should be paid to the possible transportation of dangerous goods, which is regulated on the basis of separate rules and regulations.

It is worth noting that activities related to the transportation of goods across the territory of one city or region are not subject to licensing if third-party or even public transport is used.

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First steps to get started

Any activity that is aimed at making a profit is recognized as entrepreneurial; accordingly, it must go through all the stages and stages of state registration provided for by the norms of the current legislation:

After it was or, the main activity of which is the delivery of goods and other material assets, you should take care of branding your business, the so-called bringing it to the masses. Even if at this stage the founder does not have the necessary assets (real estate, transport, personnel, automated accounting and control systems have not been established), it is necessary to start with advertising, albeit with suspensive conditions, for example: “SOON! Opening of a new courier delivery service.” It should be taken into account that a bright and resounding name will immediately be imprinted in the minds of potential consumers of these services, and the time during which the owner will be engaged in processing transactions for the purchase and sale or rental of real estate and vehicles will only play into his hands.
At the next stage, of course, you should decide on the location of the warehouse where loading and unloading operations will be carried out. This premises should have the most favorable geographical location within the city, be close to the main transport interchanges and hubs, with public transport stops located nearby. As such, there are no special requirements for the room, but it should be noted that it must be heated, dry, and electrified. Deratization work must be carried out, since the presence of rodents in a warehouse is not the best bonus for a new entrepreneur in disputes with injured clients. Office rooms For administrative personnel, it is desirable to locate it in close proximity to the place where the main activity is carried out.
Renting or purchasing vehicles. Should be paid Special attention at this stage, since the high-quality and timely provision of services to consumers depends on it. In many ways, the selection of transport also depends on the owner’s plans for developing his business. If the delivery service only provides for movement within city limits, then having huge trucks in the fleet is not at all advisable, and delivery of large cargo on scooters to cities in the neighboring region is unrealistic.

Required Personnel

Personnel selection is the most critical stage in the development of a high-quality, reliable and popular delivery service. The administrative personnel who act as support or serve the main administrative processes must include:

Director or directorate.
Chief accountant or accounting department, cashier.
Responsible for the condition of the vehicle fleet (for example, chief mechanic).
Safety engineer, since the work involves equipment and basic or working capital(cars, racks and loads on them, etc.).
Head of warehouse.

The main working personnel must have knowledge in the field of logistics. To do this, you should either select employees with relevant work experience, which in itself is optimal, or organize small courses for them to obtain the appropriate qualifications.

Customer acquisition and marketing campaigns

None of the modern enterprises or organizations will fully and quickly develop without a proper advertising campaign and high-quality positioning of themselves in the market of services of a certain segment.

In addition to visual advertising of the opening of a new service also various marketing “traps” should be used. These include bonuses and privileges for the first certain number of clients and consumers, the introduction of a discount card system or the organization of a so-called client club.

It is important to remember that the majority of both potential and existing customers will be attracted to financial benefits - discounts or gifts.

A plastic discount card with the logo and slogan of the courier company will always be in front of consumers, and the system of discounts and accumulative terms of the affiliate program can significantly increase the number of customers.

Business development options. Summary of Costs and Profitability

Of course, the development and direction of the functioning of a business, its volume and sphere of influence largely depend on the initial capital allocated by the owner at the formation stage. In the case of a courier service, several types of organization of its activities are possible, depending on the territorial coverage, these are:

City service, which operates within one city and is the most economical in terms of cost.
Service carrying out its activities throughout the state. In this case, the initial costs of organizing it are several times different from its urban counterpart.
International format. Here the enterprise covers not only individual countries, but also continents. It is not difficult to conclude that the costs of the organization are incommensurable with previous analogues, and the development of any service to the international level indicates the colossal work of top management and financial investments.

Of course, in history there are many examples of the development of enterprises from small unitary to international and transcontinental concerns, all this depends on the approach to doing business, compliance international schemes and development standards, and, importantly, the desires of the owner.

The issue of costs when establishing a delivery service is also very relative and largely depends on the capabilities of the owner, the level of expected compliance with world leaders and many other factors.

Based on the existing experience of registering and founding such startups, we can conclude that the minimum amount, which includes only the costs of purchasing the necessary fixed assets, office equipment, furniture, equipment, can begin from 100,000-150,000 rubles. Payback on average can take up to several months, which depends on the right advertising campaign, geographical location, loyalty to first customers and the quality of services provided to them.

It is also necessary to take into account the fact that due to the expansion of business and an increase in the total volume of services provided, the expenditure part also increases, and it is in this case that it is very important not to lose the balance and ratio of expenditure and income, skillfully using the potential of professional administrative personnel.