In the 1980s boom years a courier company called all the shots. If a client wanted a parcel delivering the couriers would dictate when it arrived. These days, however, it's a customer led business. People expect good service and don't want to wait in all day for it. If you can't deliver when they want they'll go elsewhere.
Opportunities for smaller firms that can offer a personal local service are therefore available. And although there are a lot of van couriers, this is something motorbike or cycle couriers are perfect for.
The courier industry is easy to get into. In effect all you need is an office, a telephone and a set of wheels - two or four. As a result there are a lot of new businesses starting up each year. But, inevitably, there is a lot more to making a success of it. Even a smallish motorbike or cycle company requires considerable effort and knowledge.
Phillip Stone of the Despatch Association, a courier trade organisation, estimates that only 30% of courier startups make it to years two and three. Narrow profit margins and tight cashflow are realities of the trade but attention to detail and a great service will make your reputation.
Cycle couriers can, by definition, only exist in an urban setting. Most cyclists cover around a two mile radius - otherwise the same day service and ability to deal with urgent jobs is lost. As courier firms operate in cities, jobs tend to be office related - lighter packages, urgent documents and so on.
Motorbike couriers are faster and can go further but, similarly, they would be more likely to do town or city based work. For long distance journeys it makes economic sense to do more than one job at once, for which a van is obviously better suited.
Prompt and courteous riders are a must as cycle couriers have had something of a reputation for unreliability in the past.
Unless you had unlimited money for a fleet of motor or push bikes, you would normally have people working with you on a self-employed basis. That would have their own bikes and equipment and would be responsible for storing and maintaining the bike themselves.
A business can therefore be run from a home office on this basis, with a computer and mobile phones rather than a radio. Also jobs tend to be with offices that you don’t have to deal with late into the night.
Although couriers are starting up all the time this is a fluid industry. Firms merge and change so if you find a niche within your area it is possible to work alongside them. No firm turns a job down but in a busy city there should be enough for all.
Cycle couriers are also a greener option with so many city centres plagued by traffic gridlock and plans for no-car zones to develop.
