Courier startup questions

Im recently redundant and in the absensce of a job market im trying to create a job for myself.

I was thinking of a courier service. Im currenlty researching this and this post is just part of this research.

Do you use the same courier all the time
Do you switch based on availabilty or price of a courier.
Does price come in to it for small packages.
Do you the "man and a van" type couriers.
If there is an issue whats the main issue with couriers.

Im thinking of starting by registering for tax , buy a proper van with proper signage, tracking software, gps proper insureance etc for small parcels, letters and documents. My idea is picking a route and going from a to z and back each day.

Will business deal with an idependant courier and if not after all that setup expense would i not be able to compete with the "man and a van".

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry I cannot answer all of your questions. However, I do know it is a very difficult business to make money.

I do not know the full advantages v disadvantages of tracking software etc. or indeed the cost of this but if it is very expensive I would have to think long and hard about the adv v disadv.

As for some of your questions, most companies use the same couries all of the time unless approached by a newer/cheaper company.
Price is a factor and for a new entrant you would have to aim to undercut competition based on price unless you could offer something different to offer. But price alone will not be enough as a lot of companies like to stick with the same company if they have a good reputation.
Personally, I mainly see couries bringing envelopes and small packages around on a bike.

From what I understand of the parcel type things that go in vans this work is mainly undertaken by the "big" courier companies who sometimes subcontract to smaller couries to look after certain areas etc. (perhaps these courier companies actually supply hand held devices etc.)

Best of luck.

thanks for the feedback.

Why don't you consider becoming a franchisee for an established courier company? I think Fastway operates on this model.

It’s a very hard business to make money in. Most of the medium sized courier companies seem to make money by cutting the margin that the big guys offer them as re-sellers.
I can get a medium sized box (450mm Square) to anywhere in Ireland overnight for €14. I can get the same box to the UK for around €25 and I can get it to North America for about €40 in two days. I can ship 3 tonnes of parts in from China for $350.

Why dont you go and apply for a job as a driver with a courier company? You probably won`t get the job but it will give you some idea when you visit the premises.
Also if you know any courier driver, you can ask them about the job.
I suspect it is a very low paid job as many people can do it and there is lots of competition and as previously mentioned the big guys sub contract to smaller operators.
The really big question for you is...where are you going to get the work from?
You might be better off becoming a taxi driver .....at least you know that you`ll get as much work as the next taxidriver and you will be able to deal directly with the customers.And as far as i know there are no restrictions to entry,at least in the big urban centers. And you have your redundancy money to have a nice car etc...I am sure many taxidrivers are leasing cars etc You won`t make big money...after all thats why they are presently protesting but if you are happy with driving around I think it is a much better option than being a courier driver or being a self employed courier.

I am a small garden furniture maker and used to always use the same man with a van to deliver my pieces when I had to. In the last few months i have been using movemarket.ie to deliver pieces. I am moving my works for a lot less. aybe you coudl get work from sites like that.

Palletways etc. have the pallet deliveries wrapped up ~€40 anywhere in Ireland for 250kg pallets so that market is suckered.

You should try and get some kind of franchise / contract that at least covers your overheads. Maybe line yourself up with some local hardware store or builders providers?

'trade..Ever think of selling ice creams... A mate of mine last year was made redundo'ed and he bought himself a van and did it up... he also had to go and training and all that, he is making money from it now... handy money as well...own hours...

Aonghus: Looking at a franchise is part of the research. I can see the benefits of it. The name, the network, the ready made customers, overheads.
Id feel like id be working for someone and be a bit limited maybe. Its probably the most viable option and im being a bit nieve wanting to go it alone.. I havent ruled it out though.

Purple you are correct, there is no way I could go with offering cany kind off over night or all ireland service as an idependant. I could see myself going from one city to another with one EUR4 parcel..ahh.
What I d be looking to is a route eg galway to limerick. The costs would be fixed as in the cost of doing this route. This may then scale up well as the cost stays the same.
Hit every biz on this route with a leaflet or card etc.
Initially i can see myself going this route with one letter (built into to start up costs) but i could focus on building up that route alone.
After costs i dont need to make a fortune and could offer some weekend service so I dont need to pay myself double time etc. But then no one to accept packages on a weekend .. maybe.

Brendan this is my big issue. If im on standy ring me up and ill be there, doesnt work because im back to the galway to dublin with one package, i wouldnt have the scale or network to make that viable. Then i was thinking couldnt i just do runs over a certain amount but that would be just refusing alot customers and giving off a bad impression. Thats why im looking at building up a route. Leaving A by x time Arrivng in B by y time (same day) and anywhere in between.

Vacuum Box, Sunrock I Didnt think about taxis or icecream. I'll put them on my list of things to check out if i get passed the courier. Definitely worth thinking about, thanks.

Helpful, I must check out the 3rd party/ outscourced delivery sites etc. This could be a good place to start , thanks.

I suppose what i could do is, instead off sitting at home doing nothing with a car in the driveway, I could have a van in the driveway which will give me the ability to do some work that might come my way. I would be absolutely professional about it , tracking sw, gps, etc, just give a good quality service when it comes and see what happens from there.



Bottom line.. I have to do something!

This is great feedback lads & lassies... exactly what i wanted/needed, Thanks

Vacuum Box said:

'trade..Ever think of selling ice creams... A mate of mine last year was made redundo'ed and he bought himself a van and did it up... he also had to go and training and all that, he is making money from it now... handy money as well...own hours...

Click to expand...

Ironically I was just looking at a tender earlier today to do with ice cream vans - there is one up for someone to sell ice creams atthe phoenix park during summer - the van / stand has to fit in with a traditional look though.

Re couriers most companies I know use the same ones over and usually try to charge a flat rate to customers as it evens out (obviously depends what kind of trade you are in!).

The biggest issue with couriers from my experience is:

- getting things delivered to remote address i.e. where you are looking for a house up a back road. I have seen cases where couriers claimed they called and no one was there but you have the customers saying they did not - often times its simply that the couriers got lost or could not find the place
- Getting proper signatures. Have seen things come back to companies signed by mickey mouse
- tracking - easy access for the company to update customers as to where their packages are

I would imagine it would be hard to make money in the industry as a one man band. The idea of becoming a driver might be a better starting place.

Very competitive market. Fastway & Nightline seem to have the budget end covered IMO.

You're thinking about maybe a specialist courier service, based on a fixed route? Not sure where you live but you could promote say a twice daily round trip - this maybe works better if you don't live in Dublin.

E.g. Cavan, Kells, Navan, Dunshaughlin, Dublin - and back - twice a day.

Customer will have a same day delivery option which might be useful - but it would work at both ends. There are better routes obviously with better business/population centres maybe but you never know. A few companies do this type of thing but tends to be Cork or Belfast runs mainly I think.

AFAIK, CIE's Fastrack doesn't exist anymore either so might be a bit of an opportunity there.

Don't all SDS couriers work as franchises. Why not Apply to them? You own the Van etc but they provide you with the work on your given route and they pay you per delivery weight (Golden Pages are a yearly bonus for them mega bucks). A Brother of a freind has been doing it for a few years and he seems to think theres a very good wage in it once you get the better routes..you move up the routes as people leave etc.
The only issue he has is he has to have a nominated standby driver to take over his route it has to be serviced no matter what. The drivers are often looking for Standbys and have a list if they are ill or taking a holiday so this could be another option.

Cavaet thats exaclty what im going for a set route

The block.. thanks for that info on SDS

Hi Docking, I'm also considering starting up a Dublin based courier company, Ive been working as a courier for the best part of 7 years and now I'm working managing transport for a warehouse so I could see things from the other side.

To get a footing on the market will be tough with all these big companies under cutting the smaller guys.
Just recently I've heard Pony Express, Hurricane and First Direct have all merged with the intention of dominating the market, they'll provide a c/van for €10(Of which a contractor gets about €5.50) once picked up and delivered on the same side of the city and €15(€9) for a transit.

So as you can see its a pretty difficult to make money considering I estimate my break even to be around €2500, (wages,diesel,van,tax,insurance,admin,phone) thats without website sites with customer tracking and any other non essentials.

If picking an a-z route remember that most of these routes are already heavily serviced eg. Dublin to Galway has plenty of carriers, Rocket Transport, Iggy Madden, TNT, DHL, DPD etc.

As for Fastway I heard to start the franchise you need to give €20,000 for your run, use of logo's and ready made customer base, but I dont know if its a yearly fee.

Hope this helps any questions just ask, and best of luck with your venture.