Open a delivery business from scratch: a courier service around the city. Business plan for a courier service How much does it cost to open a courier service

A successful own business is the dream of many, whose plans include a stable and high income. The courier delivery service is quite popular, but at the same time still a free niche. There is healthy competition in it, which allows you to offer customers something that other companies do not have.

More details about this area will be discussed in this material.

Advantages and disadvantages of activity

Starting any project, you will be a follower. Someone must have done it before you. It's important to get it right. If this person has already opened a similar case, he probably made mistakes. Your task is to extract the maximum benefit from previous experience and avoid re-entering the "rake".

Advantages

Delivery service in demand and assumes the presence of potential customers. People need your company's services. Having a wide field of clients, it is important to start interacting with them correctly, and the first profit is in your pocket.
Among the advantages of this type of activity is also worth mentioning minimum investment. To get started, all you need is an internet connection and a phone. The first steps in the courier business can be started as a partner of any store or offline platform, as well as within the territory of one city. Later, having received the first profit, you will have the opportunity to expand your project by hiring workers, concluding contracts and buying the necessary equipment.
Another benefit of this type of work is a wide range of specializations. Your future company can position itself from different angles. It can be land or air transportation, partnership with a private company or a large enterprise, delivery of press or oversized cargo, etc. It all depends on the needs of customers and the current state of affairs in the service market. The main thing is that you can take any free niche.
IN recruitment even a novice entrepreneur will not have problems. This type of activity does not imply that employees have a certain education. All that is required from subordinates is responsibility and physical strength. This will greatly simplify your work in the selection of staff and help save on salaries.
Courier service does not require a special room. You can start working even without a warehouse. The main thing is to properly organize the process of cargo delivery by planning the route and minimizing all costs.

Flaws

As a leader, you will need patience and the ability to make quick decisions. Courier delivery is always possible appearance force majeure. As long as your state has a minimum of personnel, all significant decisions are made by you. Learn to quickly look for a way out of the current situation, negotiate and give instructions correctly.
Often in such companies, full-time employees can afford not to go to work. There are also a number of problems when the courier does not physically have time to get from one part of the city to another. Then you will need to quickly resolve the issue with personnel replacement or staff replenishment.
When opening a service, there is always risks: damage to someone else's property, untimely or poor-quality delivery. Many large companies still cannot eliminate such situations 100%. However, with the strictest control over the work of couriers and other employees, you can cope with this problem, forever winning the trust of the client.

Where should you start?

You should start a business by monitoring the situation on the market for such services. So you can take an advantageous position in this niche with the least competition. Large settlements are best suited for the development of the project, however, with a competent approach, this idea can be implemented in small towns.
After analyzing the received data, you will need to determine the specifics of the goods that will be delivered by the company. Will it be the transportation of documents, medicines, etc.
The next step concerns the equipment. Answer the questions: do you need a car? If you deliver documents within a small city or several districts, then the courier can do it on foot. In the case of parcel delivery, you will need a car. You must clearly know what kind of car you need. From here follow a chain of questions about hiring a driver, paying him for his work and related expenses. You can solve these problems at the first stages by concluding a long-term contract with a taxi or a driver with a personal car.
You will need a dispatcher to receive applications. Again, in order to save money at the beginning of business development, you can combine the qualities of a leader and a dispatcher. Communication with customers should be around the clock. This form will make your service stand out from the rest.
When the business is operating at full scale, and you have a fleet of vehicles at your disposal, you should think about hiring a mechanic and loaders of overall products. With the increase in the number of clients and the increase in the volume of work, a secretary, an accountant and other drivers and couriers will also be needed.

Interesting information about this type of activity is presented in the following video:

Business development options

The development of new technologies and the expansion of trade provoked the demand for courier services. Today, this niche is incredibly popular, and it can be developed in all sorts of directions. Here you must clearly define what specialization your company will be and how large. In the process, all this can be adjusted and gradually expand the circle of your customers, as well as the services provided:

A small courier company can deliver documents, small parcels. Your potential clients are most often banks, law firms, various organizations. It is most convenient to organize such work in a small area. one city or several villages. Suitable also nearby metropolitan areas.
If you plan to work nationwide, then here the variations on the theme of the delivered cargo are significantly expanded. This can be both urgent delivery of the press, goods from an online store, and transportation of equipment.
A new level for the delivery service - international. On the Internet you can find a lot of information about successful companies of this kind. It can be either air delivery or land or water delivery. It all depends on established relationships. You can stand out from competitors due to the shortest terms or additional services that other companies cannot provide.

Required documents and permits

It is necessary to issue documents only after your idea has been successfully tested. This gives a kind of guarantee that subsequent development costs will not go to waste, but will become an impetus for business improvement.

The form of the enterprise required to open a courier service is an LLC - a limited liability company. To properly draw up contracts, it does not hurt to get the services of a lawyer who will help in further documentation issues. Additionally, you should take into account the insurance of transported goods, especially if you work with hazardous substances.

Required personnel

The state is your backbone in doing business in the near future. Despite the fact that the specifics of the work does not require special education from many, you should focus on such qualities as responsibility and diligence. Otherwise, it threatens to disrupt the delivery time and affect the company's reputation.

A business in a small town will require a small number of staff. They are based on a dispatcher, a courier driver and an accountant.

Without initial capital, the duties of each of the positions can be performed by the head. Since the earnings will be initially small, you can do all the calculations yourself. In the future, you will need to resort to the services of specialists and acquire assistants.

As for the payment of wages, then, as a rule, it is paid from the output - the amount of goods delivered. With an increase in the client base and orders, it will be possible to switch to daily or monthly wages.

How to find clients

Customers are the backbone of any business. The main task is to sell them the services of your company. You need to look for the first customers yourself. Offer courier services to shops, restaurants or other city institutions. Surely banks, lawyers or flower shops need such partners to help them promote the product and generate additional income.

You can build your business on the basis of an already existing one, taking the role of an intermediary between the supplier and the direct buyer of a product or service.

A very relevant direction in the field of courier service has become lunch delivery. If there is none in your city yet, then feel free to classify offices and branches of various companies as potential clients. The main thing is to provide your employees with sanitary passports, and the dishes themselves - with safety certificates.

Don't forget to advertise your company: make contacts, put ads in the newspaper, distribute leaflets and call potential partners. In the future, you will be able to deliver goods to shops, supermarkets or deliver their products to customers' homes.

Business costs and profitability calculation

The profitability of the delivery service business is one of the highest. This is due to minimal investment and high cost of services. Additional savings on personnel, which is convenient when working in a small area, will further increase the profitability of just started business.

The normal amount of income is up to 90%. The standard conditions for such a profit are the average cost of delivery of 5-15 dollars. The price includes the costs of maintaining the staff, the weight of the cargo, its value, gasoline, delivery speed and much more. The average number of orders per day ranges from 40 to 50. This will allow you to fully recoup all expenses for travel, staff and advertising.

The amount of investment ranges from 3 to 5 thousand dollars, provided that you have your own transport. However, when working in a small town, you can start with the delivery of small-sized cargo, which the courier can carry on foot.

An organized courier service is a source of high income. It all depends on how you prioritize. Small calculations and a step-by-step description of creating a business will help you create a successful project that will bring dividends after the first month of work. The main thing is to give the client the opportunity to choose and offer something new in the market for services of this kind. Then, even in the face of competition, exchange rate fluctuations and other enemies of big business, you will be able to fully realize your idea.

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Courier service - exactly to the customer!

The courier service is a business that has recently been rapidly developing 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, many commercial structures prefer not to use the services of the Russian postal service - the most powerful delivery player - because of the slowness and unreliability.

Even despite the fact that today large transnational companies are represented in this market, small courier companies, due to their mobility, low prices and a 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 working 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).

Courier 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. 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 lunch delivery 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 sanitary books, transport - a sanitary 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).

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

Courier Service Business: What You Need

The best option for opening such a 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, a courier / driver, an accountant. In some cases, you may need a loader if your business will deliver large loads.

Before, how to start a courier delivery service, decide what kind of transportation your company will be engaged in. Delivering documents or medical equipment requires completely different transportation conditions. It should be noted that for the transportation of certain goods, special certificates and permits may be required.

Investing in a courier business

We have already said above that opening a courier service does not require a huge initial capital. However, you will still have to spend some certain amount. If you have opened a company in a big city, then in any case you will need a car. There is an optimal option: hire a person with a car to work as a courier. In this case, you will have to pay him gasoline.

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

Clientele

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

Every city has cafes, restaurants and other catering establishments. So, many catering establishments are starting to deliver their food to the house. You can become an intermediary in this case. In this case, all parties will benefit.
Online shopping is the next option. There are a huge number of them now. Such stores are hesitant 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 around 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 agencies.

Profitability

Initially, you need to determine how profitable this business is. According to statistics, many courier services pay off pretty quickly. Most often, the profit reaches 90 percent. In big cities, the price for the 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. You can develop a special system of discounts for regular customers.

Possible problems

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

Often problems arise with the human factor. There may be traffic jams or the driver will simply be late to the appointed place. Suppose the dispatcher of your courier service is rude to the client and it is you who will have to deal with all the conflict that has arisen. That is, you need to carefully select employees in your company. It would also not hurt to learn the basics of logistics in order to deliver the necessary parcels on time.
Competition is unavoidable in this business. Each such company has its own unusual approach to each client. In this case, you do not need to take existing ideas. They will be useless. You must come up with something new that may be of interest to a potential client. In this business, 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 reach the automation of the courier service. This will help you stay afloat for a long time. A lot of work needs to be done at the initial stage (when choosing staff, searching for regular customers). When all the work comes to automation, you can start coming up with new "chips" for all clients.

Opening a courier delivery service attracts entrepreneurs because it does not require large investments and experience in this field. However, this type of business, like any other, has its pitfalls and nuances. In the business plan, we will highlight the main aspects of this type of activity.

Objective of the project: making a profit by providing courier services to businesses and the public.

The attractiveness of a courier services business is determined by the following factors:

Low barriers to market entry.
Increasing demand for this type of service.
No eligibility requirements.
Wide opportunities for business development and scaling.

The amount of initial investment is 149,000 rubles.

The break-even point is reached on the 4th month of operation.

The payback period is 7 months.

The average monthly profit of the 1st year of the project implementation is 43,726 rubles.

2. Description of the business, product or service

3. Description of the market

Every day, many organizations and people resort to the services of courier services. Before opening a delivery service, it is necessary to determine which market segment will have to be served. Potential customers of the courier service are:

online stores with delivery of goods;
flower shops;
cafes and restaurants;
publishing houses;
bookstores.

In the age of technology, online shopping is becoming more and more popular. However, not every organization offering a delivery service has its own staff of couriers. Most online stores resort to outsourcing, and they conclude contracts not with market giants, but with local small firms.

Flower shops are another large segment. Many of them are posted on social networks and offer delivery services. Not having their own courier on staff, they will gladly become your regular customers.

To date, there is not a single more or less large city that does not have a large number of pizzerias, cafes, restaurants, pancakes and other various catering establishments. Most likely, the owners of such establishments will not refuse to have additional profit from the delivery of their dishes to customers at home. Therefore, the courier service can provide their delivery services.

Almost all large organizations need couriers to deliver various packages of documents to some government services. An example would be the tax office. The courier from the delivery service will be able not only to take the necessary documents, but also to stand in line with everyone else. Thanks to such services, customers will be able to save their time, and you, as a business owner, will get additional profit.

4. Sales and Marketing

5. Production plan

The main goal of the project is to open a courier service and maximize its profits.

Overview of the real estate market for the selection of the optimal premises.

Requirements for the premises of the beauty elephant:

Location: can be either the city center or a residential area;
Room area 10-15 m2;
Parking is desirable.

Registration of a legal entity.

Activities can be carried out by both an individual - an individual entrepreneur, and a legal entity - an LLC.

Opening a current account.

6. Organizational structure

Staffing schedule:

manager - 1,
couriers - 2-4,

The total number of employees is 3-5 people.

As a rule, the owner of the business acts as the manager in such a small company. The salary is set at 30,000 rubles. The salary of couriers is piecework and amounts to 30% of completed orders. In the first 2 months, it will be enough to hire 2 couriers, however, with an increase in customers, the staff will need to be expanded.

Responsible staffing needs to be taken into account. After all, only serious and executive employees will help to get good reviews about the company as a whole. If you do not have experience in the provision of courier services, then it is all the more desirable to hire professionals in this field who will help you establish the whole process and organize the correct work with clients.

Before official employment, arrange a trial period of at least a week. This will help to understand how the future employee treats the client, whether he is able to provide the level of service you set.

Basic recruitment requirements:

Having your own car;
Competent Russian written and oral speech;
Responsibility;
sociability;
Activity;
Reliability.

fixed costs	Salary	The number of employees	Sum	Average salary per month per employee
Supervisor	20 000	1	20 000	32 822
Courier	9 500	4	38 000	25 528
Insurance premiums			17 400
Total payroll			75 400

7. Financial plan

8. Risk factors

Before you enter this business, you should know what dangers may lie in wait on the path to success. When opening a courier service, it is important to remember the following difficulties.

The start of any business is impossible without a detailed analysis, market research and preparation of an indicative development plan, the so-called business plan.

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

Main advantages and disadvantages of business

Of course, like any other type of entrepreneurial activity that is quite developed, popular and, accordingly, profitable, the organization of 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:

Sufficiently high level of profitability and profitability. In this case, it should be noted that the concentration and universalization in the face of one delivery operator can significantly save on costs that are aimed at moving cargo. It is much more profitable for both individuals and legal entities to contact a specialized company in order to receive cargo transportation services than to do it on their own, especially when it comes to small volumes. That is why various similar ones are so popular lately, which, in turn, caused a round 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, the enterprise can use both rented warehouse premises and cars or other vehicles necessary for business activities.
No special requirements for ordinary personnel(this thesis does not apply to the administrative group of employees and specialists). When recruiting, it is enough to conduct a small introductory briefing or internal training in the basics of logistics, internal procedures and methods. In this connection, a simple conclusion should be made 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 indicators of this cost item among similar enterprises and institutions.

The disadvantages include the following facts from the experience of developing and already on the “big rails” companies:

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

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

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

Required permits

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

The license, in accordance with the requirements put forward, is issued for a period of 5 years. Particular attention should be paid to the possible transport of dangerous goods, which is regulated on the basis of separate rules and regulations.

It should be noted that activities related to the transportation of goods through the territory of one city or region are not subject to licensing, if third-party or even public transport is used.

If you have not yet registered an organization, then the easiest this can be done using online services that will help you generate all the necessary documents for free: If you already have an organization and you are thinking about how to facilitate and automate accounting and reporting, then the following online services come to the rescue, which will completely replace an accountant at your plant and save a lot of money and time. All reporting is generated automatically, signed with an electronic signature and sent automatically online. It is ideal for an individual entrepreneur or LLC on the simplified tax system, UTII, PSN, TS, OSNO.
Everything happens in a few clicks, without queues and stress. Try it and you will be surprised how easy it got!

First steps to get started

Any activity that is aimed at making a profit is recognized as entrepreneurial, respectively, 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 take-out 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 sonorous name will instantly stick in the head of potential consumers of these services, and the time during which the owner will be engaged in processing transactions for the sale or lease 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 room should have the most advantageous geographical location within the city, be close to the main transport interchanges and junctions, with public transport stops nearby. As such, there are no special requirements for the premises, however, it should be noted that it must be heated, dry, electrified. Deratization work must be carried out, since the presence of rodents in a warehouse is not the best bonus for a novice entrepreneur in disputes with affected customers. Office premises for administrative staff should preferably be located in close proximity to the place where the main activity is carried out.
Rent or purchase of vehicles. Particular attention should be paid to this stage, since the quality and timely provision of services to consumers depends on it. In many ways, the choice of transport depends on the owner's plans for the development of his business. If the delivery service provides only for movement within the city, then the presence of huge trucks in the fleet is not at all advisable, and the delivery of bulky goods to the cities of the neighboring region on scooters is unrealistic.

Required personnel

Recruitment is the most important stage in the development of a high-quality, reliable and popular delivery service. The composition of the administrative staff, which acts as an auxiliary or serving the main administrative processes, must necessarily include:

director or directorate.
Chief accountant or accounting department, cashier.
Responsible for the condition of the fleet (for example, chief mechanic).
Safety engineer, since the work is associated with equipment and fixed or working capital hazardous to the life and health of personnel (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, 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 itself in the market of services of a certain segment.

In addition to visual advertising of the opening of a new service, various marketing "traps" should be used. These include bonuses and privileges for the first certain number of customers and consumers, the introduction of a system of discount cards or the organization of a so-called customer club.

At the same time, it is important to remember that the majority of both potential and existing customers will be attracted by financial advantages - 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 will be able to significantly increase the number of customers.

Business development options. Summary of costs and profitability

Of course, the development and direction of the functioning of the business, its volume and sphere of influence largely depend on the initial capital that the owner allocates at the stage of formation. 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 the same city and is the most economical in terms of cost.
Service carrying out its activities throughout the state. In this case, the initial costs for its organization are many times different from the city counterpart.
International Format. Here, the company covers not only individual countries, but also continents. It is easy to conclude that the costs of organization are incommensurable with previous analogues, and the development of any service to the level of an international one testifies to the colossal work of top management and financial injections.

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 with international development schemes and standards, and, importantly, the desire 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 acquiring the necessary fixed assets, office equipment, furniture, equipment, can start from 100,000-150,000 rubles. Payback on average can take up to several months, which depends on the right advertising campaign, geographic location, loyalty to the first customers and the quality of the services provided to them.

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