How to improve your small courier business

Although most communication is digital, people will always need to send physical objects to one another. This means that courier companies will be in business for a long, long time. 

If you run a courier company and are looking for ways of improving your business, read on for a few pieces of advice. We’ll look at a variety of methods to enhance a courier business, including:

•  Invest in a new delivery method
• Conduct market research
• Create a website
• Use Countingup for financial management

For courier services, your method of transport is everything. It affects how many packages you can carry, how fast you can go, and how far you can deliver. For instance, a bike courier will have a much more limited operation than a courier with a van.

If you’re looking to improve your courier business, your work vehicle is one of the first things you should look at. An upgrade might mean different things to different couriers, so think about your needs before buying anything. 

For example, one courier might look at upgrading from a bike to a car because of the increased space and mileage. Another might trade their car for a bike because they work in a city, and a bike can get around faster and easier. 

It may be that you’re unable to afford a means of transport at the moment, but you’re still interested in expanding the reach of your courier business. A good solution is to apply for a loan — equipment purchases like buying a new vehicle are one of the key reasons that businesses need finance.

It’s wise to do some market research before starting a business, but consistently conducting market research as well can really help improve how your company runs. 

Market research means analysing the needs and preferences of the people you’re trying to sell your product to. It might also include researching the environment in which you sell, which means looking at things like your competitors and the popularity of your industry. If you perform some thorough market research, you can uncover valuable data that can help you improve your marketing and customer service. 

For instance, effective market research for a courier might mean finding out which of your services is most popular or where most of your deliveries get sent to. Specifically, a small courier business will benefit from learning about their larger competitors, like Yodel, Hermes, and the Royal Mail. 

Market research can also help identify other markets entirely. Your company will likely already have a target market — the group of customers your marketing and products are primarily aimed at. 

As you conduct market research, you may discover other groups of people interested in your services, or discover a need among your current target market for a specific kind of product. If you’re struggling to stand out in your current market, these sorts of changes may help your business grow.

For instance, your courier business might specialise in transporting small packages. By performing market research, you might notice a need for a large parcel courier in your area, and there is no other business currently performing that service. 

By purchasing the appropriate equipment — like a van or trailer — you can start delivering large packages and attracting an entirely new market of customers to your business.

A key part of improving any business is to improve its marketing tactics. Improved marketing means more customers, which means more income. A great way to upgrade your courier company’s marketing is to create a business website. 

A website is essential because of the vast amounts of time your potential customers spend online. If you don’t have an online presence (i.e. a website and social media profiles), you’ll not be able to take advantage of this market.

A website also provides a hub to store all of your contact information, like social media links, phone numbers, and email addresses. This means that customers can quickly get in touch with you after finding your website.

Building a website does require some technical skills, so you might consider hiring a professional to help create the perfect website. There are also a lot of easy-to-use website builders out there that you can try if you’re unable to afford the services of a professional web developer.

Having a website can greatly benefit your business, but it’s not much use if no one can find it. This is why SEO is so handy. SEO stands for search engine optimisation: the term refers to the process of improving your website so that it ranks higher on search engine results pages. 

Common SEO tips include:

• Making your website easy to navigate.
• Making it load quickly.
• Using relevant keywords in your content.

Because of the complexity of search engine technology, thousands of things can affect your SEO, so make sure you look into a few SEO tips while building your website. If everything goes well, you’ll rank highly on people’s internet searches, which should drive more visitors to your site. More visitors means more sales, which in turn means more profits.

Financial management can be stressful and time-consuming when you’re self-employed. This is especially true for businesses like a courier service, where you need to divide your time between completing jobs for customers and running your company.

If you’re struggling with your bookkeeping, and want a way to make financial admin easier, consider downloading the Countingup app.

Trusted by over 40,000 business owners, Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place. With features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also instantly share your bookkeeping with your accountant without worrying about duplication errors, data lags, or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward! 

Find out more here.