It is entirely possible to start your own small courier business from home. All you will need are a few essentials including a computer, laptop, or smartphone. You will also have other things to consider if you are planning on performing the deliveries yourself, as well as carrying out office duties.
#1 Choose Somewhere to Base Yourself
You will need somewhere in your home to work. This should be an area where you are going to have minimal distractions and where your work will not be disturbed when you are away from your desk.
You should also make sure that you have plenty of space around you, as feeling cramped while you work is not a good idea. This might mean requisitioning the spare room or having a garden office built if you have no space in the house.
#2 Source a Suitable Vehicle to Use
You are going to have to invest in a suitable vehicle to carry out your deliveries in. It should be large enough that you will be able to secure the majority of the delivery orders that are offered to you, while not being so large that you cannot keep it at your property or park it along a street. For instance, a VW Transporter T6.1 would be a perfect size.
This is because it not only offers rear door access into its interior, but also a large side sliding door, as well as ample internal space for packages and parcels awaiting distribution.
#3 Finding Work
Of course, there are many different methods of finding work in this industry. You can get in contact with local businesses to see if they would like the service of an ad-hoc courier, or put up notices on local community and notice boards. There is also the opportunity to use websites with load boards to source delivery work within your local area, as well as embrace the old-school methods of leaflet dropping in your local area or submitting magazine or newspaper articles announcing your fledgling business to the world.
You can also take advantage of any local radio stations that you have in your area to be interviewed on. These radio stations are not only listened to by the general public, but are also listened to in workplaces, so your message will reach a large range of potential customers.
To Wrap It All Up
If you have the drive and a halfway decent budget, you can start your very own small-time courier business from home. If it is all new to you, you can get to grips with it slowly, but it is better if you have had some experience working in a larger delivery firm.
That way, you will already be aware of the pitfalls ahead of you and have prior knowledge of what works well and what most certainly doesn’t. This can take a lot of the trial and error out of your first few years of trading, which will mean that you have that vital head start that so many fledging businesses never achieve.