Bob s Top 10 Little-Known Benefits to Starting a Courier Service Today 10. Recession What!? How can a recession be a good thing when you are trying to start a new business? Economic downturns signal great opportunities for an independent courier service. When the economy slows down, businesses lay off workers. The employees left behind are often scrambling to fill in for their laid-off comrades. Thus, many companies can t afford to send employees out of the office to make deliveries or pick up mail. Businesses tend to outsource as much work as possible to independent contractors and freelancers in order to keep labor costs as low as possible. When times are tight, businesses need workers at the office contributing to the bottom line. Their time is too valuable to waste fighting traffic and congestion. Recessions increase businesses need for a courier. 9. Job Security Some may think that starting a home-based business is just too big a risk to take. But is it really? I have owned my courier service for over 20 years. In those two decades I have seen most of my friends in corporate jobs repeatedly laid off, downsized, outsourced, or bought out. Most change jobs every year or two from the stress, anxiety, and insecurity
of not knowing when they will work again, nor how long until they are fired again. With so much cheap labor overseas, working for a corporation seems to be the much riskier proposition these days. I have many friends who are self employed. Like me, they have run successful businesses for many years. What s our secret? We work from home, we work alone, and we work for ourselves. If we do have help it is in the form of subcontractors and freelancers, not employees. We take advantage of the tax laws that allow us to deduct many expenses from our taxable income. For example, a portion of our mortgage is a business expense for having a home office. We have practically zero overhead! Especially with the incredible advantage of the standard mileage allowance, almost everything that comes in goes to the bottom line! I can think of no better job security than working for myself. Who is going to take better care of me than myself? As an independent courier, you re the boss and you call the shots. Your success is literally in your own hands. So what s more secure, working and building someone else s business, or working and building your own business? 8. Congestion, construction delays, and urban sprawl More good news for the independent courier: The more unpleasant and risky it is to get out on the road, the more likely a business is to use a courier. Employees are hired to work and contribute to the bottom line, not to waste time fighting traffic. Anything that makes driving slower, more dangerous (exposing companies to financial risk from lawsuits), or more of a hassle is great news for us.
7. Just lost your job? Good for you! me. It may be the best thing that has ever happened to you it sure was for Plug in recession and business startup in your Google search and you will come up with article after article about how business startups are on the rise. Most of these businesses are started by people who have lost their jobs during the recession or see the writing on the wall and know it s just a matter of time before they are let go. What is the most common reason these entrepreneurs cite for starting a business now? The responses usually sound the same: I had always wanted to start a business but it seemed too risky and scary, most business start ups fail after all. Sure my job wasn t perfect but it paid well and had good benefits and I liked the people, so I just stayed with it, but once I lost my job and the job market being so weak I decided it s now or never on finally taking the leap and starting my own business. Why do people not start businesses and pursue the lifestyle, freedom and creativity they have always dreamed of? Its fear. The hardest thing to do is let go of the known, the familiar, the safe and make the leap into an unknown future. The unknown is always scary until it becomes the known, and then you kick yourself for being so scared of it in the first place. We tend to exaggerate our fear of the unknown until it becomes a huge terrifying monster, never realizing that it s our subconscious fears and beliefs that create and feed this monster, not reality. Our mission at CourierPros.com is to shine a light on the unknown and guide you through this strange new territory. Starting a business is actually incredibly simple and easy. Starting a home-based courier service is even easier, as you probably already possess all the skills and equipment needed to get started. What you don t possess is the knowledge of how to do it. That is where
we come in. We re willing to share the knowledge and experience that will help you get started on the road to success. 6. Increasing price of gasoline We love high gas prices. High gasoline prices fuel demand for courier services. When the price of fuel is high, it costs employers more to send employees out to make deliveries, making a courier service a much more attractive and cost-effective option. A courier can make deliveries much cheaper than an employer. By delivering for multiple clients at the same time, you are spreading the cost of driving a mile to each of those clients. An employee doing a delivery is only delivering for their own company. Economies of scale are on the courier s side. Rising gas prices increase the need for someone to create efficiency in the system. 5. GPS technology: A Courier s Best Friend Can t tell north from south or highways from alleys? These high-tech devices can get you easily to even the most obscure stops. And while they are not necessary to get your business up and running, it is sure nice to have when you get to the point where you can afford one. For those unfamiliar GPS (global positioning system) uses satellites to track the location of your vehicle and contain detailed roadmaps to help you navigate while driving. The days of the paper map are gone forever. GPS makes it foolproof to navigate for deliveries. Most new GPS units will announce streets by name and give you turn-by-turn directions so you don t even have to take your eyes off the road. Being poor at reading maps or finding locations is no longer an issue. The GPS will talk you all the way to the front door. One great feature is multiple location routing, which allows you to input multiple delivery locations. The GPS will compute the most efficient route for you.
Some units will also allow you to track and record your mileage information, making it simple to take advantage of those great mileage deductions come tax time. Armed with a GPS unit, you ll be able to navigate your area quickly and efficiently, saving you time AND money. 4. The Internet The Internet may be your greatest tool to help potential customers find you. There are many ways you can harness the power of the Internet. Having a website to educate people about your business, using powerful pay-per-click advertising systems like Google Adwords, and taking advantage of social networking sites like Facebook are three powerful ways of finding and retaining clients. And the best news is that you don t have to be Internet or computer savvy to tap into these valuable resources. If you place an ad in your local phone book, they will list you on the online version of their yellow page listings. For a small fee, they will even create a basic website for you. I cannot stress how important the Internet is. I have been advertising in the phone book for years (and still do), but it rarely results in new clients. So why do I continue to advertise with them? It s because almost all of my new clients in the last five years have found me on the internet through the phone books online listings. This is the easiest way to get online fast with no computer knowledge. Social networking sites can be invaluable because you can announce to your network of friends that you have started a new courier service, provide basic information about your business, and let your friends reach out to their network of friends and quickly provide referrals to you. Best of all, it costs nothing! You can even start a Facebook page for your business. As a small business owner, the future is looking brighter and brighter as the Internet provides powerful and exciting ways to find new clients.
3. Tax benefits According to the IRS, as of January 1, 2009, the standard mileage rate for the business use of a vehicle will be $0.55 per mile. Look for the mileage allowance to be increased as gasoline prices are on the rise. The mileage allowance is a little known perk for those in the transportation business. Let s do the math. If I drive 60,000 miles in a year, that comes to a $33,000 deduction for that tax year. Thus, if I earn $70,000 in a year, I subtract $33,000 before I pay even one cent of taxes. In other words, I am taxed as though I earned $37,000. What do you think it costs to operate a small, reliable, and fuel efficient vehicle. Do you think it comes anywhere close to $33,000 per year? Are the light bulbs turning on yet? The mileage deduction allows couriers to save thousands of dollars in taxes each and every year. 2. Low startup costs Low startup costs are the key to successfully getting your new business up and running. You won t have to spend much, because you likely already own the three essential items needed to start a courier service: A Vehicle Cell Phone Computer You can start and run it all from home on a shoestring budget. No need to pay business rent or have expensive overhead. Plus, the government lets you write off part of your rent or mortgage and part of your utility bills as a business expense.
There are few businesses where you already own all the equipment you need to get started. This is a huge advantage, especially if you don t have a lot of capital to invest in a new venture. Most people can start a courier service for less than $100, and start today. 1. CourierPros.com There s no excuse to put it off any longer! Use our experience and knowledge to guide you down the road to success with your own home-based courier service. We are committed to helping you every step of the way with our courier business startup kit. Our kit is designed for those who want to get up and running quickly but who don t want to lay out a lot of cash. In short, we will teach you how to get your business started as inexpensively and as quickly as possible. We call this bootstrapping, and it s one key to success. It s how we got started and how you will too. The kit contains DVD lessons that will take you step by step as you bootstrap your way from successful startup to thriving company. The kit contains sample forms to help you easily manage the day-to-day running of your business. From business contracts to invoices, delivery logs to market research surveys, we provide actual documents that you can use in your business. As a bonus, each kit also contains our innovative RoutePro DVD, which shows you how you can maximize your profit by maximizing your time and efficiency. It can be tough to do it alone. Mistakes are costly and time-consuming. But we can shine a light on the road ahead of you. Let us show you how we succeed, and how you can too. We ll show you the road to success. But only you can take the first step. Buy Our Kit Today, visit www.courierpros.com/buy-now!