Start Courier Company Australia

Have you ever looked at starting a courier company? It is many peoples dream to work for themselves, and many people love driving ! so it seams like a perfect situation to combine the two. However there are many things to consider. Ever considered starting a courier service specialising in envelopes, small packages or large shipments? Thought of  combining all package types and sizes to maximise profit potential. Listed below are only a few tips - Start by producing a REALLY GOOD BUSINESS PLAN! Then have a look at the below tips: The least expensive way to get started in the courier industry is to subcontract your services to an established courier company, meaning that you supply the transportation and yourself to pickup and deliver parcels. But this option also leaves you with the lowest profit potential and ability to grow the business. A better option is to start your own courier service outright, and hire other owner/operators on a revenue-sharing basis to make deliveries, while you concentrate on marketing, managing and building the business. One way to help expand your marketing is to build a courier based website. Go for a catchy name perhaps even specific to your area or region in Australia.

Decide how many vehicles that would be dependable to use for a courier service.

Look at your market

Survey your potential customers

Think of a great courier name that is catchy

Courier Insurance
Check with your insurance company to see if there are any additional fees you will be assessed since you will be using your vehicle for business purposes.

Decide how much you are going to charge your clients. Most courier services only charge the mileage, to and from the home site.

Advertise Your Courier Business
Advertise your business in the local newspapers, on local radio stations, or more effectively by attaching a magnetic sign to the side of each of your business vehicles with the name of the company and contact numbers.

Australian Couriers
What exactly does an Australian courier do? They pickup and deliver all types of products and merchandise and sometimes, people and pets to and from various places such as businesses, airports, hospitals and even peoples homes. These services are in great demand, because there is always someone that needs a package delivered to a nearby airport, or some other location ASAP, and this is where a Australian courier is needed.

There are many courier services in Australia. Be very careful about starting in a region where it already has too many courier service suppliers. After the Australian insulation scheme there were thousands of left over vans that hit the market. Many Australians who had vans were out of work and started small courier routes and runs.

You must decide what type of packages, parcels or pallets you will pick up and deliver, and how many kilometres you will travel. If you live in the country it will be harder due to the distance involved between, hospitals, airports, and businesses, and if you live in the city you will have to deal with traffic and lots of stop and go driving, so both have their advantages and disadvantages. Have a look into some of the franchise options available they may be expensive however will offer you more support to get you started.

If you will be carrying pallets you will need to ensure either a tailgate lifter with a pallet jack - Or target cusotmers with forklifts or loading docks.

Determine Your Courier Service Area
The easiest way to determine your driving area, is to get a NRMA map, find your location and then make a circle with a compass with your town or location as the area in the center where the compass point is. From this point move the compass outward as far as the miles is your willing to drive to a location, make your circle with the compass, you now have your area of service for your new courier business.

What Courier Items will you pickup and deliver
Next you must carefully sit down and decide what type of items you will be carrying. Will you do hazardous material? if so you should really study up and do a dangerous goods course, medications, explosives, liquids? If so, you may need a special license and certification, you may need to be bonded or approved by your local or state authorities or public works departments. If I was you I would start out small only hauling safe items. Make sure you have a photo ID card made, clearly showing your image and the name of your Courier service, along with your name and other info. In this day and age it's important for folks to feel safe when dealing with a business especially a newly established one.

Courier Stickers and Courier Signs
If possible have a nice magnetic sign / sticker made for your vehicle, also great for tax purposes ! your sign will clearly shows your name and service and area displaying the name, telephone number and town, this is a cheap item, but it will help you build your customers and it will also add credence and make your service seem more official or real.

Vehicle Insurance for Couriers
Check with your vehicle insurance company, to see if they charge additional fees since you will now be using you vehicle a lot more for business needs instead of personal use, it's better to be safe now than sorry later.

See a good accountant ! Talk to your mates and family about the idea !

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