How to become a freelance or self employed courier owner driver - now
When you are on the road for many hours at a time, like a courier, like a lorry driver you see many road signs reminding us drivers to be careful. But this takes the biscuit, a Fox’s biscuit at that!
This sign was spotted, and photographed, by Jo Abbot, who works for the RAC Foundation. It appears on a rural road between Wheatley and Waterperry in Oxfordshire.
Sarah
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It should come straight to you, right?
Sadly life is not like that, with good marketing you will get some work and you will find you still have to go out and get customers, you can sit back and wait for them to come to you BUT you will run through all your money first.
Being a self employed courier means if you don’t find the work you don’t get paid. If you own the removal company or are a self employed mover, then you don’t get paid. You need customers and you need to find them. You need to find profitable customers for your business.
So what types of courier work are more profitable?
Local delivery jobs are good for a courier looking to increase their local customer base. As they are local you can complete more of them throughout the day and therefore become profitably quickly. The downside is that there will be more wear and tear on your vehicle when you complete local delivery work so you need to factor that in to your prices when you look for this type of work.
Long distance jobs can be profitable for a courier especially if they can get a return load back to their home area. Make a point of calling courier companies in your delivery drop area so they know to contact you if they have a load going your way.
Specialist delivery jobs can also be profitable to a courier. Jobs such as delivering dangerous goods (when correctly licensed) can pay a premium as this type of courier service is rare, so do your research and see what type of specialist courier services are required.
Whatever delivery work you have locally, nationally or specialist remember to calculate your costs and expenses correctly so you do not underquote on your prices, if you fail to calculate your costs properly you will quickly eat into any reserve that you have built into your business.
Source: How to deliver and profit
Attracting customers can be done a variety of ways and a blend of marketing activity is good, it enables you to reach more potential customers.
As well as an online presence, you need an offline one too. Believe it or not there are some customers who don’t use the internet, they prefer traditional media.
In conclusion, get off your backside and look for the work you enjoy delivering or get a job.
Sarah
Thanks to Graham Hunt for flagging up the removal company and their attitude in this blog, Spain is not Greece
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Why bother with courier insurance? Really, with bother with it all – even if you are a safe driver and have never had an accident.
With end users driving down the costs of their transport services some couriers are looking at ways of cutting their overheads. Insurance is one area where they think they can make savings.
Lowering the premiums by lowering the the amount they insure.
Instead of a courier carrying £50,000 worth of goods in transit cover, many are lowering their costs by slashing it to £10,000 worth of goods in transit cover instead. As a customer it’s essential you check how much cover you have and as a courier you should be responsible and ethical and let your customers know of any downgrading in the insurances that you have.
Not declaring accidents
There will always be some that don’t declare accidents regardless of what the financial climate is like. It is thought by some, that not declaring any accidents will keep their premiums low and thus their customers happy. These things have a way of coming back and biting you when you least expect it. We recently heard of a courier owner driver being hauled into court for reckless driving, the first account of the incident the police and insurer heard were the alleged victim’s. Honesty would have paid off 10 fold in this case, instead it’s costing lawyers fee’s and increased their premiums anyway.
Not having any insurance at all.
Yes you did read right, there are some couriers finding their jobs are so infrequent and their income is so low, that insurance is a financial liability to them. Never mind that it’s illegal, there are some that are just cutting back wherever they can to save us much money as they can. This is another false economy.
As a courier you shouldn’t put yourself in a vulnerable position and drive illegally – it’s your livelihood you are losing and a criminal record you are close to gaining.
Work safe, secure and legally.
Sarah
You may read in your local papers that local transport companies are struggling and although you have a passion for driving you could feel some what reluctant to start a courier business as it’s all doom and gloom.
With the rising costs of fuel and the banks slower to lend money you could think that same day couriers are becoming a dying breed.
If working long hours deters you from working as a same day courier,it’s a good job that they are becoming a dying breed – there is no room in the industry that moves time critical goods for people who don’t understand the nature of the business and who want to work to set hours.
Same day couriers are the emergency delivery services, and as such there is a premium in the price when you use one. They are often skilled drivers and know their local area very well.
Customers understand that when they want something delivered in a rush they have some options
1.Deliver it themselves
2.Call a taxi company
3.Call a same day courier
Deliver it yourself has problems right from the get go, with insurance and corporate manslaughter implications to be taken care of. Then there are your local taxis, do they have goods in transit insurance (can you see it) or do they just insure passengers? Double check before you book. A same day courier company will have all these in place already, and will advertise the fact they have them in place. A courier that cannot produce evidence of their insurances etc should not be booked.
Are they a dying breed? The good ones are growing their businesses, increasing their market share and the bad ones are slowly declining and going bust, but no they are not a dying breed as such, evolution and the survival of the more sustainable is taking place.
Sarah
Ethics can be a hot potato, just ask all those MPs about their expenses and ethics, morals and not breaking the rules will all start coming into the conversation.
As a courier business there is no legal requirement to be ethical, it could be argued there is a moral one though. Delivering for another courier company requires that you act in a moral manner and you do not steal a customer from a courier you have subcontracted for.
Subcontracting is a trust based business aspect, if you poach customers from other couriers then sadly you will find that word spreads and you can no longer get work. Who will allow you to subcontract for the if you steal their hard won clients? Who will hand you their business on a silver salver? How will you recover your reputation?
Word of mouth recommendation works two ways, and it will work against you as well as for you. Use it correctly, be praised for doing a great job rather than condemned. Poachers in the courier world are more reviled than bankers are these days, that’s not a good position to be in.
By not carding (leaving your business card) or leafleting at collection or destination points you will avoid any potential accusations on poaching when subcontracting. You may with permission from the courier company that is issuing the work, but other wise – it’s a big no-no. What you may think is a good marketing practice in one industry may not be in another – think carefully.
So what are your thoughts? Is it good to be ethical in your courier business?
Sarah
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When I started my courier business 10 years ago the internet only gave a few options on how to become a courier. The information was both poor and costly. I joined a freight exchange, sent out leaflets and picked up the phone. I grew my business and year on year saw people thinking they could just jump in a car and become a courier, then get disappointed when they failed. There is a bit more to being a courier than driving.
It was frustrating watching people waste money whilst I was out winning business awards and it was then I decided that I was going to write The Complete Courier Guide to help those wanting a successful business and those that knew it wasn't easy money -what job is?
Our ebooks have sold well ever since and I am thrilled when I hear the success our customers are having.
If you are looking to start up as a courier, then start here.
