How many times have you ordered something to be delivered right to your doorstep? Whether food, groceries, laundry, or even medicines, everyone loves the convenience that comes with delivery services. To put this into a better scope, would you believe that the US delivery service is worth a hefty $113 billion?
The thing is, there is so much more room in this business. For instance, the food delivery business alone is projected to hit $200 billion by 2025, and it's understandable if you want a piece of that pie. The best thing about it is that starting a delivery service is relatively easy.
Now that you're all charged up about this wonderful business idea that you can potentially start very soon, the question is, how do you start? Where do you start? How do you get customers to deliver to?
Worry not because this guide will take you through the secrets of starting a successful delivery service. Let's check out this step by step guide!
1. Start with a Solid Business Plan
Any successful business starts with a solid business plan.
You need to map out every specific detail of your business, and even though a delivery business is relatively easy to start, there are some intricate details you must address. Start with your business's startup and ongoing expenses, consider your target market, consider how much you'll charge customers, and yes, what to name your business.
When it comes to startup costs, you first have to think about transportation. How do you have a car, a motorbike, or would you like to start with bicycle services in your area? This would be the best time to get a license if you need to, and if you have been wondering, "How do I speak to someone at the DVLA?"
Next comes the insurance policies you'll need, like commercial auto insurance, and package insurance, if necessary.
If something happens to customer packages, you'll be able to reimburse them if you have insurance. Ongoing costs include fuel, marketing costs, a cell phone, and equipment costs. You can use your personal vehicle until the business grows enough to purchase commercial business vehicles, and you can leverage social media for marketing.
2. Find Your Niche
This has everything to do with the target market. You need to consider what delivery niche you want to get into, especially if you live in a metropolitan area where the delivery business is already thriving and the competition is high. You can deliver food, documents for lawyers, fruits and groceries, school supplies, medical supplies, clothing, and accessories.
Find supplies for these items and offer to make deliveries for them at a reasonable price. The secret of starting a delivery business and making it a success is giving customers exactly what they want.
3. For Your Legal Entity
If you want to start a delivery service, you need to think about the legal entity of your business.
Having a Limited Liability Company, for instance, prevents you from being personally liable in the instance your business is sued. There are several business structures to choose from apart from LLC, like sole proprietorship, DBA, general partnership, among others.
4. Register for Taxes
Once you start to build a business, it's vital to register for taxes so you can stay compliant with the law. You must register for both federal and state taxes before you start running your delivery business. You'll first have to register for an EIN through the IRS website.
Beyond this, it's essential to open a business bank account to avoid mixing business and personal expenses. Also, get the right permits and licenses in your jurisdiction and get the right vehicle registration if you need to cross state lines for deliveries.
5. Pre Launch and Price Your Business
Now that you have everything you need, you should think about pricing your business.
You first need to consider what you'll be delivering and who your suppliers are. Partner up with your local drug stores, grocery stores, cake shops, restaurants, gift shops, among others. Once you know what you'll be delivering, it'll be easier to come up with a reasonable price.
Setting a price may be more challenging because you'll want to meet the market needs, so it's better to set a base rate and a minimum charge.
The base rate essential provides you with a standard you can use and set a bar with other services. You can also build package pricing offers for customers that order several packages at once.
6. Hit the Promotion Phase
Starting a delivery business involves marketing and promoting it through advertising. Now, there are many forms of advertising, and what you do will highly depend on your budget. Online adverts are simply the best, especially if you can promote your business on social media.
Ask friends and family to share the information with their colleagues and spread the word for you. You can also list your business on the classified and local publications, and leave flyers with customers and suppliers.
Beyond that, you can make unique and captivating business cards and hand them out to people you meet, and a vehicle wrap advertising your business can also work wonders.
7. Slowly Build Your Business
As you can see, starting a delivery business is relatively easy. However, it's a lot better to start small and see how things span out as you gain more suppliers and customers.
Find out what deliveries can really grow your business and concentrate on that. Later one, you can get an additional vehicle, and start another line or another route.
Beyond all that, you need to be quite flexible for this kind of business model to work. Be flexible with your business hours, with your rates, delivery program, and schedule. Try to personalize your services to meet customer expectations and try to fulfill the needs that larger delivery services don't.
Starting a Delivery Service: All the Secrets of Success
There you have it! This is everything you need to know about starting a delivery service.
Every business requires some effort initially, but this kind of business model has very minimal requirements. Once you follow these steps, you'll be well on your way to a successful delivery business.
Now that you know how to start your delivery business, running it will be another journey entirely. If you’d like to know some secrets about running a successful business, despite the hurdles you come across, please check out our blog section. We guarantee that the information you find here will be valuable and it will help your business deliver!
