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Starting a courier business isn’t easy and you’ll typically need all the help you can get. That’s why many start-ups turn to online services that connect businesses on a B2B basis, as those forums can be a fertile ground for finding self-employed courier jobs. The Start-Up Challenges As someone entering the transport and logistics business, you’re almost certain to encounter some common challenges. If so, don’t worry, few people avoid them altogether! A few of the classic challenges might include: • Finding those all-important initial customers and loads • Being a ‘newbie’ and as such, having relatively few contacts in the business • Being hurt, financially, by ‘dead mileage’. This is when you’ve dropped off a load but haven’t secured a return load and so have had to run back to base empty. This means not being able to charge anyone for the fuel you’re burning or the wear and tear on your vehicle. Key to overcoming some of those challenges is ‘networking’. That means being able to cooperate with an extended circle of businesses that need to get their item or items from ‘A’ to ‘B’. Surprisingly, perhaps, this isn’t just a company that might have their own goods to move. It could also be someone in the transport industry who has committed to transport a load but who is, for one reason or another, unable to meet their commitment. They could be needing assistance – and fast! If you’re a start-up in the transport industry who is looking for self-employed courier jobs, then networking sites like Courier Exchange may prove to be a critical success factor in your early days. Learning From Your Peers One of the characteristics of a successful start-up in the courier industry is the ability to recognise that help is required. Yes, many of us like to think we can take on the world ourselves, but in practice that’s a very dangerous strategy. That’s one of the major advantages of the courier networking sites. They’ll allow a new company to not only attend to the practical imperatives, such as converting dead mileage into revenue, but also to learn from the shared experiences of other courier drivers working self-employed courier jobs. Of course, Courier Exchange isn’t the only forum that needs to be exploited as part of a learning exercise. Exhibitions, conferences, training courses, seminars – they all have an important role to play in networking and learning from others. Even so, the online courier work forums can be hugely beneficial to new companies just as a way of looking at the experiences and approaches of others. Avoid Leaning by Catastrophe Whatever common wisdom might say to the contrary, the fastest way into receivership is to practice ‘learning by your mistakes’ to the exclusion of other approaches. For example, starting to make crisis phone calls to find a back-load once you’ve unloaded is going to be, typically, unsuccessful. Equally, phoning around companies at random trying to find work is also likely to lead to disappointment. As a new start-up it’s important to get going and generate a consistent revenue stream from day-1. Vehicles sitting around in your garage unoccupied or running along the motorways empty are only going to be a drain your funds and demoralise you. So, don’t wait until your bank manger starts asking pointed questions. Instead, find yourself a source of online self-employed courier jobs, such as Courier Exchange. Be prepared to comprise, if necessary, on your rates in order to secure business – at least until you have a track record behind you. It’ll be a lot less painful than simply hoping your phone calls and business cards, in themselves, will be enough to get you started. Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world's largest neutral trading hub for same day self employed courier jobs in the express freight exchange industry. Over 4,000 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading jobs and capacity in a safe 'wholesale' environment.
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