Skill testing question: Do you have your own car? If you answered yes then you are already on your way to that extra income job you were trying to come up with prior to retirement. If you also have a computer and a cell phone you already have everything you need to start your own private courier service.
Don’t even fret about the big guys like FedEx or UPS already servicing your community as you’ll be doing things a bit differently than them. You will be concentrating on smaller, short trip services within your town or city. What makes your courier service attractive compared to the major players in the package delivery game is that you’ll be able to respond quicker and more effectively as you won’t be making hundreds of pickups and deliveries a day through a dispatcher. Also, your overhead will be far less which leaves more of the profit for you.
Let’s look at some of the possible uses of your courier service. Lawyers need legal documents delivered, signed and returned quickly. A small independently-owned flower shop may not have a delivery person and for certain occasions they’ll need someone to pick up and deliver flowers and plants quickly. Maybe even as an extra delivery person at peak times of the year. Don’t forget the local drugstore where a delivery person could transport medications or prescriptions to customers who are not able to pick these items up themselves.
Other business professionals who could use a courier service include accountants, bookkeepers, banks, caterers, medical professionals and contractors to name a few. There are a lot of ways a private courier service can be used and the pay is not too bad, either. Depending on where you live, you could do rather well considering the national average is $36.00 per hour.
Here’s how you get the word out about your new courier service. Advertise in a number of places including local newspapers and through flyer distribution. Target market your business by hand-delivering flyers to professional offices. The most important part to keep in mind about starting your own courier service is that since you are the boss, you get to decide how many hours a day or week you plan to dedicate to this venture.
You may find it to become more of a full-time than part-time job and depending on your goals that could be a good thing. You may also find yourself ‘contracted’ to a handful of specific clients who want to keep you as their exclusive courier delivery person based on your job performance or rate or whatever it is about you they like. When that happens, you may be able to build your business just around those clients rather than hustling each day to pick up an extra delivery.
Regardless of what direction your private courier service goes, you can rest assured that you will be providing a valuable service that has a great deal of demand. To learn more on how to start a courier service visit ProfitsOnWheels.com.