Open a Bicycle Courier Service
Today increasingly more companies seek supply agencies in order to deliver products to customers. Product suppliers want speed, discretion and in line with market prices, working to reach their customers directly. To begin with, the company could be open on your own or you can become a family business, so members can help to distribute envelopes or other products, thus reduces costs while the business starts to grow.
Functioning of messaging
Our investment will be directed mainly to the purchase by means of transport, these should be quality bicycles that are perfect for the continuous commuting transportation and delivery of orders. We must also have basic tools kits for general maintenance, uniforms for the staff (in the home we recommend the purchase of two or three bikes to start), and structures according to the sizes established for the cargo bike where requests will accommodate.
What we transport? This depends solely on the field that you want to go, however, among the most profitable fields are: foodstuffs, clothing and fashion accessories.
How to start?
In what follows, I will refer to the delivery service door to door of documents and packages. To start this activity, as well as other profitable business ideas, we have some new features to stay ahead of the competition. So you can think of a number of services that are included within your business, such as:
- Delivery of the Saturday and Sunday evening. The majority of bicycle messenger companies do single deliveries only until around 12:00, and on Saturday and Sunday there is no service, so you lose a potential opportunity on weekends.
- Delivery without stopping.
- For emergencies, they can provide a delivery of emergency services, which lasts between 30 minutes and 2 hours from the time when the delivery order is taken.
- Return documents.
To advertise the services, you need to open a professional specific website for this business.
The income and expenses of a bicycle courier service
Revenues for the period of setting up, are taken in reference to deliveries of envelopes and I’ll assume make 20 daily deliveries on weekdays and 10 on Saturday and Sunday which means a volume of approximately 480 deliveries per month. Therefore, at an average price of 2 euros per shipment, the cumulative monthly income would be 960 euros. A total of five employees in the same conditions, then the income of would be 4800 per month.
In the category of expenses:
For starting up:
- Costs of establishing a limited liability company.
- Purchase of envelopes and boxes of the plots.
- Buy the bicycle purchase of personnel uniforms.
- Personnel payments
To do business.
- A service charge sheet.
- Logistics costs (telephone, Internet, computer equipment and peripherals, memoranda, forms, bank fees).
- The payment of wages or part of each trip.
- Expenses for advertising, which fit both in the setting up and in the exercise of the activity.
- Taxes.
Benefits of a bicycle courier service
- For starters, you can only start a services business, and then, depending on the needs of the geographic market in your area can expand the number of services provided to beneficiaries.
- Very little expenses compared with a vehicle that has high maintenance costs.
- Without need of a venue or retail space, but only a few small plots of deposit that is done through the sender and the recipient.
- In addition to the standard messaging services you can promote other activities, sending gifts or flowers to your loved ones (home delivery).
- You can easily find employees among young people, or students, it is important that they are owners of bicycles, you can pay them a Commission for each delivery.
Difficulties that may appear: During the winter business could reduce its delivery capacity. On the other hand is extremely necessary to have in mind the importance of having quality bicycles that meet performance and the potential for this kind of activities, since in a major part, the image of your business will depend on the fulfilment of delivery.
Final recommendation: At the time in which to choose the type of items that you are going to deliver keep in mind the ability to weight and extensions that are allowed for transportation in the bicycle messenger. The search for potential customers must be a constant work which you should stay tuned. It is an important key to keep a list of orders that you are going to perform during the day and if it is possible during the week, so you can comply with all deliveries on time without delay and to the very good customers satisfaction.