If you’ve been thinking of ways to make money from your car, then you might have considered getting into courier work. For owner drivers, this has become an excellent way to use a tool that is already at your disposal in order to create a short-term or long-term career and working at your own pace. Working as a courier, you might be driving around an urban city centre, transferring documents and other goods from one building to another, or you might be contracted out to bring items from one city to another. In this article, there will be tips for different ways to create a business as either an individual driver or as a contractor wanting to contract out your services to a larger company. Courier work for owner drivers can bring with it some great benefits and this article will talk about some of the reasons why people choose to go into this type of work.
What to Expect as a Courier
Courier work for owner drivers would most likely involve delivering business related materials and special documents between companies in an urban centre or between two companies in two different cities. The way that we send information has changed dramatically since the advent of advanced technology such as the internet and faxing and, although one might think that these advances in technology have made courier work obsolete, this is not the case. This line of work has stood up against developing technologies and has actually increased since the recession with many corporations downsizing many of their departments and outsourcing transportation services to subcontractors. As a courier, you might have regular customers that need goods transported periodically, or you might get calls from people needing one-time urgent deliveries.
Why Courier Work?
There are many benefits to moving into courier work. For owner drivers, especially, there is little or no upfront investment as you already have the car waiting to be used. You can also start to get an income from your work almost immediately, even as soon as in the first couple of weeks. You can have a flexible schedule that allows you to fit jobs around your other commitments and, because the business is set up and all that needs to be done is drive the car from place to place, this is the type of work that you can subcontract out when you want to go on holiday.
Getting Clients
Getting clients really means just finding work and, once you have collected a list of clients that will require your services, a steady stream of work will develop and lead to a steady stream of income. There are a few ways that you can bring in clients; you can try the DIY route or go through a recognised organisation with a local or national database of courier work for owner drivers. The former approach would involve you making a website, networking with local businesses and creating a client base that can call on you when needed. However, the latter way is probably easier. You could simply register with a national database and find companies that are looking for couriers and respond to their postings. This is a great way to get started when you don not yet have local contacts and networks.