Courier delivery is a service that is very popular among the population. Many companies and institutions need it. This business is great for aspiring entrepreneurs. We will talk about how to open a courier delivery service in this article.

Services

Before you draw up a business plan for a courier delivery service, you need to decide on the format of the services that it will provide to customers:

• Business letters and documents. Despite the fact that in our time Internet technologies are rapidly developing, the need to transfer paper information carriers is still relevant. Therefore, this service is very popular;
• Parcels and parcels. Of course, such a cargo can also be sent by mail, but in this case, your parcel will take too long. Therefore, it is much more convenient to use the services of a courier service, which guarantees timely delivery of the parcel to the specified address;
• Flowers. To provide such a service, it is necessary to conclude agreements with flower shops. In addition, you can cooperate with cafes or fast food companies;
• Goods. It is much more convenient for online stores to work with a courier service than to keep their own couriers on staff.

Where to begin?

If you decide to open a courier delivery service, the step-by-step instructions consist of the following items:

1. Market research. Such a project is more suitable for large settlements, but if you approach the matter responsibly, it will bring good profit in a small city;
2. We determine the specifics of the cargo;
3. Transport. If you plan to deliver documents within the city, then you can do without a car. But for the transportation of parcels you need a vehicle;
4. To work with clients and accept applications, you need to hire a dispatcher. To save money at first, you can do this work yourself. The dispatch service must work around the clock. Thanks to this, you will be able to attract more customers.

Registration

To formalize the courier business, it is enough to open an individual entrepreneur or LLC. If you work with individuals and take cash payments from them, you can register an individual entrepreneur. To work by bank transfer with legal entities, you should open an LLC.

The OKVED code for the courier service is selected under the number 64.12. It includes the transportation of parcels, packages, containers and other things.

Staff

In courier services, there are often problems with personnel. The reason for this is the limited number of orders. If there are not enough of them, this negatively affects wages. People usually do not stay long in low-paying jobs, so the staff turnover in such organizations is high.

Sometimes employees even disappear with the money they received for the delivered order. Students who want to earn extra money are often interested in how to become a courier? But they, as a rule, are irresponsible about work, and besides, they are limited in time. Therefore, many companies prefer older people when choosing employees. Unfortunately, they are not as quick as the youth and cannot deliver heavy loads.

The car park also creates additional problems. If your company has its own vehicles, you will have to spend money on maintenance and fuel. As a result, the cost of services increases.

As for the official registration for the work of couriers, then, as a rule, they work under a contract. In such companies, people usually come who are looking for temporary work and an opportunity to earn extra money.

Scheme of work

Consider the principle of the courier service using the example of food delivery. Many aspiring entrepreneurs are interested if they do not have their own cafe? Everything is very simple. Many catering establishments have their own websites, which contain photos of various dishes with descriptions. The client can choose the option that suits him and place an order, which will be delivered to him at the specified address.

You can create such a site and post dishes from different cafes or restaurants on it. When an order is received, the courier goes to the establishment, buys the ordered dishes there, packaged to take away, and delivers them to the customer's address. Most of the courier services that deliver food work according to this scheme.

Advertising

Advertising plays an important role in the development of any business. Therefore, before starting a courier delivery service from scratch, you need to carefully consider your marketing strategy. The most effective option is to distribute leaflets in crowded places, as well as near public institutions and business centers. In addition, you should go around pizzerias, cafes and supermarkets to discuss the possibilities of cooperation.

Another powerful tool that can be used to develop a courier business is your own website. A good result can give ads in the media. They can also be posted at public transport stops.

Costs and profitability

The courier delivery business is highly profitable. It does not require large financial investments, but the cost of services is quite high. If you work in a small area, you can significantly save on personnel and, accordingly, thereby increase the profitability of your enterprise.

Shipping costs are $5-$15. It includes the cost of salaries to employees, gasoline and so on. On average, one company fulfills 40-50 orders per day. The resulting profit fully covers all the costs of staff, advertising and transport. The profitability of this business reaches 90%.

If you have your own transport, in order to open your own courier delivery service, you will need only 3-5 thousand dollars for office rent, employee salaries and advertising. In order not to rent an office space, you can learn how to open a food delivery service in the city and work directly with catering establishments, fulfilling only their orders.

The courier service is a highly profitable enterprise. The most important thing is to correctly prioritize. If you manage to properly organize your business, it will bring you the first profit in just a month of work.

Before opening a delivery service, it is advisable to work as a courier for some time in order to understand all the intricacies of this business.

The profitability of such an enterprise directly depends on the client base. The main clients of courier services are online stores, cafes and other organizations that are not profitable to keep their own couriers on staff. You can open such a business almost from scratch. Find a few like-minded people and organize a small courier delivery service with them. At first, you can do all the work yourself. When the business starts to develop, you can hire people and purchase vehicles to reach a new level.

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:

1. Low barriers to market entry.
2. Increasing demand for this type of service.
3. No eligibility requirements.
4. 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 diligent 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.

* Calculations use average data for Russia

Starting investments:

Revenue:

Net profit:

Payback period:

Courier service is a business without serious investments and requirements, so anyone can start it. The advantages of this area: high demand for services, a wide range of customers and profitability up to 90%.

Delivery service is a business that will suit both an experienced and aspiring entrepreneur. In Russia, the industry began to develop actively since the 90s and today is one of the promising areas in the service sector. The idea is attractive because it does not require large investments and at the same time guarantees a fairly high profit. You can start with a minimum set of resources and gradually develop your business. Moreover, with the growth of online commerce, delivery services are more relevant than ever. That is why starting a courier service is a great solution for an entrepreneur.

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But this business, like any other, has its own nuances and pitfalls. Before throwing all your energy and money into opening a business, you need to study the main aspects of this type of activity.

Analysis of the field of activity

Relevance. According to the research agency Data Insight, online commerce is growing at least 25% annually, even despite the crisis. At the same time, most online stores attract delivery services from outside in order to save money. Result: the number of orders is increasing, and with them the demand for courier services. So now the business is relevant and will feel good as long as online commerce develops, because more than 90% of all orders for delivery services are delivered by online stores.

Advantages and disadvantages. An assessment of the pros and cons of a business allows you to make a decision about starting your own business and foresee what difficulties you need to be prepared for.

Advantages and disadvantages of courier service

Competition. The attractiveness of the business naturally led to the fact that many people came to the courier services market. Today, a wide range of courier services is presented on the Russian market. The share of international leading companies is about 30%. New businesses cannot compete with them. Therefore, firms operating within the same city or region will represent real competition for you. The conditions for doing business are not easy: price dumping, market glut and the struggle for customers, especially for large orders.

To stay afloat, courier services are pursuing an active business development strategy, offering customers more opportunities and services. Therefore, even at the start, you need to decide on the strategy of your delivery service and pay attention to the following parameters:

Business area.

cargo specifics.

Delivery method.

This is the initial data with which you will start working. They characterize your organization and determine its place in the market.

Delivery service

Types of services. The courier service provides the population with prompt delivery of letters, documents, small and bulky cargo for a fee. Depending on the scale of activity, the courier service can deliver between countries, between cities and regions, within the same city. Another important criterion is the specifics of the cargo. Conventionally, the work of courier services is divided into the delivery of correspondence and cargo. In practice, most players specialize in both directions.

The types of services provided by the courier service may be different. The most demanded delivery of goods from online stores. Most often this is a small-sized cargo.

What options do courier services offer their customers:

pre order;

urgent order (within a day);

courier rental;

shipment insurance;

order at night - delivery of goods from 22:00 to 7:00;

lifting cargo to the floor.

Business area. At the initial stage of work, it is better to focus on work within the same city. Get a good reputation, gain experience - and then gradually develop. For a good start, you will need to find 2-3 large clients with whom you will cooperate on an ongoing basis. Qualitatively fulfilling these orders, you can count on a stable profit and invest it in further development.

Cargo specifics. Immediately decide what kind of cargo you will work with. Because the organization of all activities depends on it. A comparison table will help you make a decision, which shows the characteristics of different types of cargo.

Comparison of areas of work of the courier service

	Correspondence	Small cargoes	Small cargoes
	Not required	Required	Required
Car park	Not required	Required	Required
Loading and unloading equipment	Not required	Not required	Required
Material liability		Low/high
Security and alarm costs	Minimum	Minimum	Depends on the size and workload of the warehouse

An ideal option for a beginner in this business: delivery of correspondence and small cargo around the city. It will be much cheaper and easier. The specifics of the delivery of oversized cargo has its own difficulties, which will not only “eat up” part of your budget, but also require certain experience, skills and responsibility. In the future, of course, it makes sense to add cargo delivery to the services and expand the geography of activities.

Method and type of delivery. Also, choose in advance what type of delivery you want to deal with. Limit the scope of the target audience and develop a profitable offer for your potential customers.

The cargo service industry offers many options: online shopping products, delivery of flowers, gifts or food, important documents, etc. You can combine several directions.

To decide, study the demand in your city. What is missing in the courier services market? What niche is free? What can be improved in this area? What problems do your future clients face? When you answer all these questions, you can choose a promising direction.

Every day, many companies and people use the services of courier services. Your potential clients are:

online stores;

cafes and restaurants;

flower shops.

Today, almost all online stores cooperate with courier services and use their outsourcing services. Moreover, many prefer to conclude contracts with local small firms.

Ready-made ideas for your business

Another large segment is cafes and restaurants. Almost all catering establishments provide a delivery service to their customers. And this is also done by a third-party courier service.

Separately, it is worth mentioning about flower shops. Many of them trade through social networks and offer delivery services. But it is not profitable for them to keep their courier on staff, so they resort to outsourcing.

Almost all large companies need couriers to deliver various documents. In addition, there is such a service as "courier rental" - i.e. an employee can not only deliver documents, but also perform additional assignments. For example, stand in line at the tax office and hand over / pick up documents. Thanks to this service, the client saves time, and you get additional profit.

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So the range of potential customers of the delivery service includes an unlimited number of individuals and legal entities. Courier services are in demand in all areas of activity.

After you decide what we will deliver and who will be our client. Now we need to figure out how to deliver it. The method of delivery depends on the specifics of the order, and on the territory, and on your strategy. Let's consider in more detail.

Possible delivery methods

Pedestrian courier. If you work within a small town, you can get by with a pedestrian courier. The method is reminiscent of the classic image of the postman. You can also use bicycles, mopeds, scooters. It is clear that only correspondence and small parcels will be delivered in this way. This may not be a very profitable solution.

Courier with car. First, the volume of initial investments will increase. You will need to purchase a car or hire a courier with a personal vehicle (and this is paid extra). Secondly, fuel costs will increase. But on the other hand, you will get a faster delivery method, more orders and the ability to deliver large and heavy packages. In addition, you can use unusual delivery formats. This will allow you to stand out and form a competitive advantage.

bike mail. Fast delivery of documents on small vehicles (bicycles, scooters, mopeds). It is cheap, environmentally friendly, and in the case of traffic jams, even faster. Also, for example, argues the American express mail UPS, which delivers parcels on bicycles with a trailer. Students can be hired. One downside is seasonality. It is not very comfortable to ride a bike in rain or snow. But this method of delivery can be made an additional service in the warm season.

Congratulatory courier service delivers flowers, balloons, gifts and other holiday paraphernalia. The services of such an organization are used by people who cannot personally congratulate their loved ones. The courier service does it for them. With proper advertising, the service will be in demand. In this case, the bright design of the courier car will be an excellent marketing ploy, so that it is immediately clear: “this car is carrying a holiday.”

Round the clock delivery. Not every courier service provides such a service. Therefore, you can occupy a free niche and start with less competition. Delivery at night has many advantages: the tariff for such orders is higher, and they are delivered faster (because there is less traffic and traffic jams). The downside is that you will have to hire additional employees for shift work.

Delivery of auto parts, building materials, assistance with moving. There are very few companies that would provide such services, but there is demand. The car broke down on the road, it is necessary to transport things or building materials for construction or repair. In all these cases, you will need the service of your courier service. But then you have to buy trucks and hire movers.

As you can see, the delivery service is a very variable business. You can combine characteristics in different ways: type of cargo, target audience, delivery method - and look for the “formula” that will be successful for you.

Business registration

From theory we pass to practical actions. The first serious step to start is the registration of a business.

The courier service can work both in the status of an individual entrepreneur and an LLC. Most often, small firms prefer to work as an individual entrepreneur - there is less paperwork with him. To register, you must write an application in the prescribed form and attach to it a receipt for payment of the state duty, which is 800 rubles. The following should be indicated as types of activities according to OKVED: 64.12 - Courier activities. You can immediately enable additional codes:

52.61.2 - Retail sales through teleshops and computer networks (electronic commerce, including the Internet)

63.40 - Organization of cargo transportation

64.11.11 - Activities for the reception, processing, transportation and delivery (delivery) of postal items

74.82 - Packaging

74.84 - Provision of other services

So, you submit the documents necessary for registering an individual entrepreneur, and after the period specified in the notification, you collect an extract from the USRIP from the tax. On the same day, it is recommended to write an application for the transition to the selected tax regime. You can choose STS 6% of income or STS 15% income minus expenses.

Premises and office

The courier service belongs to the category of business where the location and office do not play an important role. In this case, you will need a mini-office to receive corporate clients and conclude contracts with them. You can also place a small warehouse there.

An office for a courier service does not have to be located in the city center. For the client, it is more important how quickly you can deliver the package and how much it will cost. Therefore, the ideal space for an office is 20 sq.m. with internet and telephone, away from the city center. In the office, it is enough to equip one workplace for a manager who will look for clients, communicate with us, distribute tasks between couriers, control deadlines and payment for orders. The set of equipment in the office is minimal: a computer, an MFP, a telephone, a document rack.

When looking for a suitable office, pay attention to various business centers where you can find a premise already furnished and equipped with all communications. The cost of renting such an office will cost you about 10-15 thousand rubles per month. It all depends on the city and the territorial location of the building itself. Also, do not forget to buy stationery for your office: paper, pens, paper clips, tape, etc.

Equipment

The main production equipment in this case is a car. Well, of course, if you have not decided to open a bike mail. The choice of transport on which orders will be delivered should be approached with special attention.

How to choose a car for a courier

Characteristics. To begin with, let's define the main characteristics that an ideal car for a courier service should have:

low fuel consumption;

low cost of maintenance and repair;

small dimensions of the car: compactness and mobility makes it easy to park and move around the city faster.

So the main requirement for a courier car is efficiency and mobility. This way you save money and time.

Models. Based on these characteristics, we will give examples of popular cars that are most often used for delivery services.

If you give preference to the domestic auto industry, then the suitable options are:

• OKA (VAZ 1111).

If you choose among foreign cars, then this:

German cars (Skoda Fabia, Volkswagen Golf, Opel Corsa,);

Korean (Kia Picanto, Hyundai i20, Daewoo Matiz, Hyundai Getz).

French (Citroen C1, Peugeot 107);

Japanese (Toyota Yaris, Toyota Vitz, Nissan Cube, Nissan March, Honda Fit);

Italian (Fiat Panda).

All of these cars have a small engine capacity - this allows you to save on fuel consumption. The average cost of a car for a courier is 400 thousand rubles. You can save money by renting a used car. But keep in mind that in this case you risk buying a car that will often break down. And delays in the work of the courier service can lead to serious consequences.

Scheme of the courier service

Before proceeding to the selection of personnel, you need to draw up a detailed scheme of the courier service and prescribe the functions of each employee. The general scheme of work looks like this:

An order is received from a customer.

The manager accepts the order, negotiates the amount of payment with the client, records all the necessary data (name, contact phone number, order parameters). Next, the manager passes the task to the courier.

The courier, according to the received task, goes to point A to pick up the correspondence/parcel and payment. Then he takes him to point B, where the receiving party signs the acceptance certificate, thereby confirming the fact of receipt.

The courier calls the manager, and he, in turn, notifies the customer about the receipt of the parcel or envelope by the addressee.

At the end of the working day, the courier delivers the signed documents and proceeds to the manager.

This scheme is not generally accepted and the only correct one. You can customize it to suit your business concept.

Courier service staff

An entrepreneur can open a courier business on his own. It is quite possible to combine the functions of a dispatcher, courier and director. At the initial stage, when there will be few orders, you can handle it alone. This will help save on salaries for employees. But then you still need help. By the way, replacing the entire staff of the courier service is a very useful experience. You will feel the business “from the inside”, understand the process of work, learn the nuances and then be able to better navigate the business.

The staff of the courier service usually includes a dispatcher (manager), courier drivers, foot couriers and an accountant. If you plan to deliver bulky goods, you will have to hire movers. Students can be hired as walking couriers: they are usually paid from 300 rubles a day - the costs are small, but their work relieves the volume of orders well.

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The main requirement for courier drivers is that they must be able to navigate freely in the city. But you can not rely only on the ability of drivers. Be sure to equip courier vehicles with navigators. For a small company, two couriers will be enough. Their salary usually consists of a fixed salary and a percentage of the amount of completed orders. If you want to save money, you can find employees with a private car. But then you have to pay them more.

Try to find employees with similar experience. In the early stages, their experience will help you, especially if you are new to this business.

You can assign the functions of an accountant to yourself. There is nothing difficult in the IP documentation to understand and maintain accounting on your own. There would be a desire and time. Because your main function in this business is management. You must monitor the work of all staff, coordinate their actions, solve problems that arise, look for new customers and promote your business.

Advertising courier service

It's time to ask the question "where to look for customers"? Let's try to figure out where you can meet your potential customers and how to attract their attention.

Participation in tenders. On the Rostender website you will find many offers to conclude a contract for the provision of courier services. Contract amounts vary from a few thousand to millions of rubles. It all depends on the capabilities of your courier service. Please select the region where you plan to work, check the terms and conditions of current offers, make sure you meet the stated requirements and apply. At the end of the tender, the results will be posted on the site and you may receive this order.

Electronic reference books. If your activity is limited to the territory of one region or city, then you can use electronic directories. Find the phone numbers and e-mail of those companies that are your target audience. Call or send an electronic proposal for cooperation. Try to come up with a commercial proposal that reflects the individual needs of a particular business.

Announcement Sites. Place ads about your services on various resources such as Avito. There you can also study the demand for courier services and respond to the application.

Intermediary sites. You can use third-party portals - for example, You Do. This platform is an intermediary between those who are looking for certain services (including courier services) and those who provide them. Register on the portal as an executor-courier.

Printable advertisement. Use brochures, business cards, flyers. Make flyers describing your services and a great offer. Arrange to place them on stands near cash desks in stores, in organizations, on bulletin boards.

As you can see, there are many channels for promoting courier services. At first, use all available advertising methods. Plan marketing expenses right away to get orders from the first month of work.

financial question

When an aspiring entrepreneur seriously thinks about starting a business, he is interested in two main questions: how much should he spend and how much can he earn? Let's figure it out. The table shows the main items of initial expenses. Based on this, in order to open a courier service from scratch, you will need at least 260 thousand rubles.

Initial investment to open a courier service

In addition to the initial investment, plan monthly expenses. The table shows an approximate calculation of fixed costs. In the first months when you will be self-employed, there will be no such payroll costs. However, when drawing up a business plan for a courier service, be sure to include this article.

Fixed costs of courier service

Now that you've got your costs figured out, let's move on to the fun part of planning: calculating your expected profit. To do this, you need to know how much courier services will cost and the number of orders. The cost of delivery depends on many factors (city, cargo specifics, route complexity, additional options, delivery time, etc.). Therefore, it is difficult to give any exact figures. On average, one order for the delivery of correspondence will cost 80-100 rubles in the city; delivery of small cargoes is approximately 250 rubles, and a contract concluded with one legal entity. face will bring already 20-30 thousand rubles.

Having a stable flow of orders, a courier service can earn 100-250 thousand rubles a month. Of this amount, you will be left with 50-150 thousand rubles of net profit. The profitability of the business reaches 90%.

Thus, the approximate indicators of business profitability will be as follows:

Revenue - 250 thousand rubles per month

Net profit - 150 thousand rubles per month

Profitability - up to 90%

Payback period - 4-5 months.

Risk factors

When compiling your business plan, be sure to pay attention to the risk component. Think about the risks you may face when providing courier services and how you can avoid losses. Any risk is a loss of profit. Therefore, precautionary measures should be taken to avoid problems.

What you need to pay attention to the owner of the courier service:

High competition. Earlier, we talked about the fact that there are many participants in the courier services market that a novice entrepreneur may encounter. You can solve the problem of competition even at the level of choosing a strategy, if you correctly identify your target audience, form an interesting and profitable offer for it. When you become a full-fledged participant in the market, you can attract customers by providing additional services at competitive prices, by competently advertising your services.

Dependence on weather and transport conditions. The quality of the courier service does not always depend on internal factors. Bad weather or traffic jams in the city can prevent the courier from delivering the order on time. It is almost impossible to solve this problem, as well as to insure against it. In addition, in such conditions, there is a possibility of damage to the vehicle. For example, sudden ice can lead to an accident. All this will bring you unforeseen expenses. The use of various programs to identify traffic jams and competent logistics solutions will help reduce the risk.

Personnel problem. The courier delivery business is characterized by high turnover. The salary is small, there is often no career growth, the work, albeit simple, but dreary. It is not uncommon to accept students who consider the work of a courier as temporary. Therefore, be prepared for the fact that you will often have to look for employees, and these are also certain costs. If you are interested in your company's employees working for a long time and with dedication, set a decent salary, provide good working conditions, use various methods of motivation. Or be prepared to be constantly on the lookout.

* Calculations use average data for Russia

Starting investments:

Revenue:

Net profit:

Payback period:

Courier service is a business without serious investments and requirements, so anyone can start it. The advantages of this area: high demand for services, a wide range of customers and profitability up to 90%.

Delivery service is a business that will suit both an experienced and aspiring entrepreneur. In Russia, the industry began to develop actively since the 90s and today is one of the promising areas in the service sector. The idea is attractive because it does not require large investments and at the same time guarantees a fairly high profit. You can start with a minimum set of resources and gradually develop your business. Moreover, with the growth of online commerce, delivery services are more relevant than ever. That is why starting a courier service is a great solution for an entrepreneur.

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But this business, like any other, has its own nuances and pitfalls. Before throwing all your energy and money into opening a business, you need to study the main aspects of this type of activity.

Analysis of the field of activity

Relevance. According to the research agency Data Insight, online commerce is growing at least 25% annually, even despite the crisis. At the same time, most online stores attract delivery services from outside in order to save money. Result: the number of orders is increasing, and with them the demand for courier services. So now the business is relevant and will feel good as long as online commerce develops, because more than 90% of all orders for delivery services are delivered by online stores.

Advantages and disadvantages. An assessment of the pros and cons of a business allows you to make a decision about starting your own business and foresee what difficulties you need to be prepared for.

Advantages and disadvantages of courier service

Competition. The attractiveness of the business naturally led to the fact that many people came to the courier services market. Today, a wide range of courier services is presented on the Russian market. The share of international leading companies is about 30%. New businesses cannot compete with them. Therefore, firms operating within the same city or region will represent real competition for you. The conditions for doing business are not easy: price dumping, market glut and the struggle for customers, especially for large orders.

To stay afloat, courier services are pursuing an active business development strategy, offering customers more opportunities and services. Therefore, even at the start, you need to decide on the strategy of your delivery service and pay attention to the following parameters:

Business area.

cargo specifics.

Delivery method.

This is the initial data with which you will start working. They characterize your organization and determine its place in the market.

Delivery service

Types of services. The courier service provides the population with prompt delivery of letters, documents, small and bulky cargo for a fee. Depending on the scale of activity, the courier service can deliver between countries, between cities and regions, within the same city. Another important criterion is the specifics of the cargo. Conventionally, the work of courier services is divided into the delivery of correspondence and cargo. In practice, most players specialize in both directions.

The types of services provided by the courier service may be different. The most demanded delivery of goods from online stores. Most often this is a small-sized cargo.

What options do courier services offer their customers:

pre order;

urgent order (within a day);

courier rental;

shipment insurance;

order at night - delivery of goods from 22:00 to 7:00;

lifting cargo to the floor.

Business area. At the initial stage of work, it is better to focus on work within the same city. Get a good reputation, gain experience - and then gradually develop. For a good start, you will need to find 2-3 large clients with whom you will cooperate on an ongoing basis. Qualitatively fulfilling these orders, you can count on a stable profit and invest it in further development.

Cargo specifics. Immediately decide what kind of cargo you will work with. Because the organization of all activities depends on it. A comparison table will help you make a decision, which shows the characteristics of different types of cargo.

Comparison of areas of work of the courier service

	Correspondence	Small cargoes	Small cargoes
	Not required	Required	Required
Car park	Not required	Required	Required
Loading and unloading equipment	Not required	Not required	Required
Material liability		Low/high
Security and alarm costs	Minimum	Minimum	Depends on the size and workload of the warehouse

An ideal option for a beginner in this business: delivery of correspondence and small cargo around the city. It will be much cheaper and easier. The specifics of the delivery of oversized cargo has its own difficulties, which will not only “eat up” part of your budget, but also require certain experience, skills and responsibility. In the future, of course, it makes sense to add cargo delivery to the services and expand the geography of activities.

Method and type of delivery. Also, choose in advance what type of delivery you want to deal with. Limit the scope of the target audience and develop a profitable offer for your potential customers.

The cargo service industry offers many options: online shopping products, delivery of flowers, gifts or food, important documents, etc. You can combine several directions.

To decide, study the demand in your city. What is missing in the courier services market? What niche is free? What can be improved in this area? What problems do your future clients face? When you answer all these questions, you can choose a promising direction.

Every day, many companies and people use the services of courier services. Your potential clients are:

online stores;

cafes and restaurants;

flower shops.

Today, almost all online stores cooperate with courier services and use their outsourcing services. Moreover, many prefer to conclude contracts with local small firms.

Ready-made ideas for your business

Another large segment is cafes and restaurants. Almost all catering establishments provide a delivery service to their customers. And this is also done by a third-party courier service.

Separately, it is worth mentioning about flower shops. Many of them trade through social networks and offer delivery services. But it is not profitable for them to keep their courier on staff, so they resort to outsourcing.

Almost all large companies need couriers to deliver various documents. In addition, there is such a service as "courier rental" - i.e. an employee can not only deliver documents, but also perform additional assignments. For example, stand in line at the tax office and hand over / pick up documents. Thanks to this service, the client saves time, and you get additional profit.

Ready-made ideas for your business

So the range of potential customers of the delivery service includes an unlimited number of individuals and legal entities. Courier services are in demand in all areas of activity.

After you decide what we will deliver and who will be our client. Now we need to figure out how to deliver it. The method of delivery depends on the specifics of the order, and on the territory, and on your strategy. Let's consider in more detail.

Possible delivery methods

Pedestrian courier. If you work within a small town, you can get by with a pedestrian courier. The method is reminiscent of the classic image of the postman. You can also use bicycles, mopeds, scooters. It is clear that only correspondence and small parcels will be delivered in this way. This may not be a very profitable solution.

Courier with car. First, the volume of initial investments will increase. You will need to purchase a car or hire a courier with a personal vehicle (and this is paid extra). Secondly, fuel costs will increase. But on the other hand, you will get a faster delivery method, more orders and the ability to deliver large and heavy packages. In addition, you can use unusual delivery formats. This will allow you to stand out and form a competitive advantage.

bike mail. Fast delivery of documents on small vehicles (bicycles, scooters, mopeds). It is cheap, environmentally friendly, and in the case of traffic jams, even faster. Also, for example, argues the American express mail UPS, which delivers parcels on bicycles with a trailer. Students can be hired. One downside is seasonality. It is not very comfortable to ride a bike in rain or snow. But this method of delivery can be made an additional service in the warm season.

Congratulatory courier service delivers flowers, balloons, gifts and other holiday paraphernalia. The services of such an organization are used by people who cannot personally congratulate their loved ones. The courier service does it for them. With proper advertising, the service will be in demand. In this case, the bright design of the courier car will be an excellent marketing ploy, so that it is immediately clear: “this car is carrying a holiday.”

Round the clock delivery. Not every courier service provides such a service. Therefore, you can occupy a free niche and start with less competition. Delivery at night has many advantages: the tariff for such orders is higher, and they are delivered faster (because there is less traffic and traffic jams). The downside is that you will have to hire additional employees for shift work.

Delivery of auto parts, building materials, assistance with moving. There are very few companies that would provide such services, but there is demand. The car broke down on the road, it is necessary to transport things or building materials for construction or repair. In all these cases, you will need the service of your courier service. But then you have to buy trucks and hire movers.

As you can see, the delivery service is a very variable business. You can combine characteristics in different ways: type of cargo, target audience, delivery method - and look for the “formula” that will be successful for you.

Business registration

From theory we pass to practical actions. The first serious step to start is the registration of a business.

The courier service can work both in the status of an individual entrepreneur and an LLC. Most often, small firms prefer to work as an individual entrepreneur - there is less paperwork with him. To register, you must write an application in the prescribed form and attach to it a receipt for payment of the state duty, which is 800 rubles. The following should be indicated as types of activities according to OKVED: 64.12 - Courier activities. You can immediately enable additional codes:

52.61.2 - Retail sales through teleshops and computer networks (electronic commerce, including the Internet)

63.40 - Organization of cargo transportation

64.11.11 - Activities for the reception, processing, transportation and delivery (delivery) of postal items

74.82 - Packaging

74.84 - Provision of other services

So, you submit the documents necessary for registering an individual entrepreneur, and after the period specified in the notification, you collect an extract from the USRIP from the tax. On the same day, it is recommended to write an application for the transition to the selected tax regime. You can choose STS 6% of income or STS 15% income minus expenses.

Premises and office

The courier service belongs to the category of business where the location and office do not play an important role. In this case, you will need a mini-office to receive corporate clients and conclude contracts with them. You can also place a small warehouse there.

An office for a courier service does not have to be located in the city center. For the client, it is more important how quickly you can deliver the package and how much it will cost. Therefore, the ideal space for an office is 20 sq.m. with internet and telephone, away from the city center. In the office, it is enough to equip one workplace for a manager who will look for clients, communicate with us, distribute tasks between couriers, control deadlines and payment for orders. The set of equipment in the office is minimal: a computer, an MFP, a telephone, a document rack.

When looking for a suitable office, pay attention to various business centers where you can find a premise already furnished and equipped with all communications. The cost of renting such an office will cost you about 10-15 thousand rubles per month. It all depends on the city and the territorial location of the building itself. Also, do not forget to buy stationery for your office: paper, pens, paper clips, tape, etc.

Equipment

The main production equipment in this case is a car. Well, of course, if you have not decided to open a bike mail. The choice of transport on which orders will be delivered should be approached with special attention.

How to choose a car for a courier

Characteristics. To begin with, let's define the main characteristics that an ideal car for a courier service should have:

low fuel consumption;

low cost of maintenance and repair;

small dimensions of the car: compactness and mobility makes it easy to park and move around the city faster.

So the main requirement for a courier car is efficiency and mobility. This way you save money and time.

Models. Based on these characteristics, we will give examples of popular cars that are most often used for delivery services.

If you give preference to the domestic auto industry, then the suitable options are:

• OKA (VAZ 1111).

If you choose among foreign cars, then this:

German cars (Skoda Fabia, Volkswagen Golf, Opel Corsa,);

Korean (Kia Picanto, Hyundai i20, Daewoo Matiz, Hyundai Getz).

French (Citroen C1, Peugeot 107);

Japanese (Toyota Yaris, Toyota Vitz, Nissan Cube, Nissan March, Honda Fit);

Italian (Fiat Panda).

All of these cars have a small engine capacity - this allows you to save on fuel consumption. The average cost of a car for a courier is 400 thousand rubles. You can save money by renting a used car. But keep in mind that in this case you risk buying a car that will often break down. And delays in the work of the courier service can lead to serious consequences.

Scheme of the courier service

Before proceeding to the selection of personnel, you need to draw up a detailed scheme of the courier service and prescribe the functions of each employee. The general scheme of work looks like this:

An order is received from a customer.

The manager accepts the order, negotiates the amount of payment with the client, records all the necessary data (name, contact phone number, order parameters). Next, the manager passes the task to the courier.

The courier, according to the received task, goes to point A to pick up the correspondence/parcel and payment. Then he takes him to point B, where the receiving party signs the acceptance certificate, thereby confirming the fact of receipt.

The courier calls the manager, and he, in turn, notifies the customer about the receipt of the parcel or envelope by the addressee.

At the end of the working day, the courier delivers the signed documents and proceeds to the manager.

This scheme is not generally accepted and the only correct one. You can customize it to suit your business concept.

Courier service staff

An entrepreneur can open a courier business on his own. It is quite possible to combine the functions of a dispatcher, courier and director. At the initial stage, when there will be few orders, you can handle it alone. This will help save on salaries for employees. But then you still need help. By the way, replacing the entire staff of the courier service is a very useful experience. You will feel the business “from the inside”, understand the process of work, learn the nuances and then be able to better navigate the business.

The staff of the courier service usually includes a dispatcher (manager), courier drivers, foot couriers and an accountant. If you plan to deliver bulky goods, you will have to hire movers. Students can be hired as walking couriers: they are usually paid from 300 rubles a day - the costs are small, but their work relieves the volume of orders well.

Ready-made ideas for your business

The main requirement for courier drivers is that they must be able to navigate freely in the city. But you can not rely only on the ability of drivers. Be sure to equip courier vehicles with navigators. For a small company, two couriers will be enough. Their salary usually consists of a fixed salary and a percentage of the amount of completed orders. If you want to save money, you can find employees with a private car. But then you have to pay them more.

Try to find employees with similar experience. In the early stages, their experience will help you, especially if you are new to this business.

You can assign the functions of an accountant to yourself. There is nothing difficult in the IP documentation to understand and maintain accounting on your own. There would be a desire and time. Because your main function in this business is management. You must monitor the work of all staff, coordinate their actions, solve problems that arise, look for new customers and promote your business.

Advertising courier service

It's time to ask the question "where to look for customers"? Let's try to figure out where you can meet your potential customers and how to attract their attention.

Participation in tenders. On the Rostender website you will find many offers to conclude a contract for the provision of courier services. Contract amounts vary from a few thousand to millions of rubles. It all depends on the capabilities of your courier service. Please select the region where you plan to work, check the terms and conditions of current offers, make sure you meet the stated requirements and apply. At the end of the tender, the results will be posted on the site and you may receive this order.

Electronic reference books. If your activity is limited to the territory of one region or city, then you can use electronic directories. Find the phone numbers and e-mail of those companies that are your target audience. Call or send an electronic proposal for cooperation. Try to come up with a commercial proposal that reflects the individual needs of a particular business.

Announcement Sites. Place ads about your services on various resources such as Avito. There you can also study the demand for courier services and respond to the application.

Intermediary sites. You can use third-party portals - for example, You Do. This platform is an intermediary between those who are looking for certain services (including courier services) and those who provide them. Register on the portal as an executor-courier.

Printable advertisement. Use brochures, business cards, flyers. Make flyers describing your services and a great offer. Arrange to place them on stands near cash desks in stores, in organizations, on bulletin boards.

As you can see, there are many channels for promoting courier services. At first, use all available advertising methods. Plan marketing expenses right away to get orders from the first month of work.

financial question

When an aspiring entrepreneur seriously thinks about starting a business, he is interested in two main questions: how much should he spend and how much can he earn? Let's figure it out. The table shows the main items of initial expenses. Based on this, in order to open a courier service from scratch, you will need at least 260 thousand rubles.

Initial investment to open a courier service

In addition to the initial investment, plan monthly expenses. The table shows an approximate calculation of fixed costs. In the first months when you will be self-employed, there will be no such payroll costs. However, when drawing up a business plan for a courier service, be sure to include this article.

Fixed costs of courier service

Now that you've got your costs figured out, let's move on to the fun part of planning: calculating your expected profit. To do this, you need to know how much courier services will cost and the number of orders. The cost of delivery depends on many factors (city, cargo specifics, route complexity, additional options, delivery time, etc.). Therefore, it is difficult to give any exact figures. On average, one order for the delivery of correspondence will cost 80-100 rubles in the city; delivery of small cargoes is approximately 250 rubles, and a contract concluded with one legal entity. face will bring already 20-30 thousand rubles.

Having a stable flow of orders, a courier service can earn 100-250 thousand rubles a month. Of this amount, you will be left with 50-150 thousand rubles of net profit. The profitability of the business reaches 90%.

Thus, the approximate indicators of business profitability will be as follows:

Revenue - 250 thousand rubles per month

Net profit - 150 thousand rubles per month

Profitability - up to 90%

Payback period - 4-5 months.

Risk factors

When compiling your business plan, be sure to pay attention to the risk component. Think about the risks you may face when providing courier services and how you can avoid losses. Any risk is a loss of profit. Therefore, precautionary measures should be taken to avoid problems.

What you need to pay attention to the owner of the courier service:

High competition. Earlier, we talked about the fact that there are many participants in the courier services market that a novice entrepreneur may encounter. You can solve the problem of competition even at the level of choosing a strategy, if you correctly identify your target audience, form an interesting and profitable offer for it. When you become a full-fledged participant in the market, you can attract customers by providing additional services at competitive prices, by competently advertising your services.

Dependence on weather and transport conditions. The quality of the courier service does not always depend on internal factors. Bad weather or traffic jams in the city can prevent the courier from delivering the order on time. It is almost impossible to solve this problem, as well as to insure against it. In addition, in such conditions, there is a possibility of damage to the vehicle. For example, sudden ice can lead to an accident. All this will bring you unforeseen expenses. The use of various programs to identify traffic jams and competent logistics solutions will help reduce the risk.

Personnel problem. The courier delivery business is characterized by high turnover. The salary is small, there is often no career growth, the work, albeit simple, but dreary. It is not uncommon to accept students who consider the work of a courier as temporary. Therefore, be prepared for the fact that you will often have to look for employees, and these are also certain costs. If you are interested in your company's employees working for a long time and with dedication, set a decent salary, provide good working conditions, use various methods of motivation. Or be prepared to be constantly on the lookout.

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.