When we think of haulage firms or shipping companies, we imagine them based in gigantic facilities with huge car parks and dozens of vehicles turning and parking up; but the truth is that this is just one way in which to run a delivery firm – and that you can set one up just as easily from home, earning yourself a good wage with a single vehicle. In time you may wish to expand, but here’s how you’ll get up and running with a delivery firm run from your own home.
1. Business Set-Up
If you’re keen to set up a business, rather than simply working on bit-part jobs in a “gig work” capacity, then you’ll need to do a little paperwork to begin with. Think of a business name and get it registered in order to become a legal entity. Make sure you print some business cards, and perhaps even some flyers to hand out around town.
Consider setting up social media pages, and perhaps even the bare bones of a website with your rates. Finally, make sure you have commercial insurance for your vehicle or vehicles.
2. Finding Jobs
You won’t have to stride around town with leaflets if you don’t want to – it’s just as easy to find your first delivery jobs online. You can advertise your vehicle and search for truck loads here: https://www.shiply.com/us/truck-loads. Hundreds of delivery jobs are posted on these truck job websites each day, which means that all you’ll have to do to secure one is put in a competitive bid.
Sometimes, these jobs will lead to longer-term relationships whereby you sign a contract to perform a certain number of deliveries for a company each month. This is how you’ll start guaranteeing income to your new delivery company.
3. Expansion
As soon as you build up enough jobs that you’re constantly on the road delivering, you’ll realize it’s time to expand. There are plenty of drivers out there who might be interested in joining your firm. Finding them is as simple as putting out a job post and seeing what comes back to you. You might also look to join forces with another small haulage business, which is a relatively common phenomenon in the industry. From here, expanding your fleet is simply a case of being reliable and getting jobs done on time – leaving customers impressed and coming back for more.
Final Thoughts: Next Steps
It’s at around this stage that you may wish to relocate your home-based delivery business to an office with a large place for parking trucks; but you may have more modest ambitions to eventually sit back from the driving and manage other drivers. This is a role that many business owners tend to assume, dealing with the logistics of each journey while sending out their fleet to perform the jobs that you have secured for them. If this is your endgame, it’s something you can achieve within a relatively short space of time, with good management skills.
There you have it: top 3 ideas towards building a delivery company from the comfort of your home.