4 Unlikely Places to Develop a Strong Delivery Service

The hustle and bustle of the city is a healthy environment for those who make a living from delivery work. The business districts and urban congestion gives impetus to the movement of packages, letters, perishables, small goods, and all kinds of small cargo.But there are less likely places that are also bountiful for this kind of work.

The City Outskirts

Setting up a delivery service in the outskirts of a city may seem like a mistake, at first. Most of the jobs would appear to involve making deliveries back and forth from the distant urban centres, and the cost of fuel and time would not appear to be easily offset by the amount of work. You do not need to resort to long haul shifting of packages and parcels, however. There is actually ample work focused around the outskirts themselves. The urban areas of many cities have grown as the high cost of living in the centre has pushed people out to the fringes. While these urban areas are not as dense or full of facilities as the centres of cities – in fact, space and simplicity are their appeal – they do still have the usual delivery needs. The fact that many of these fringe areas are not well attended by larger companies means the work there is ripe for the picking.

Villages and Towns

Countryside towns, villages, and rural areas usually have their own small delivery service. Much of the demand is met by large public or private postal companies, but the connectivity of these secluded spaces, both virtual and physical, and the lack of competition means there is more potential for the market to be cornered than in the past. With lower expenses in these areas, it can be more profitable to plant the seeds of a business rather than in the busy, yet highly competitive – and not to mention expensive – urban centres.

'Transient' Hubs

A delivery service goes where the people go. If you work independently, you will find more jobs where there are more people – naturally! Hence, so many companies focus on the populated cities. But there are also other urban hubs that are not so permanent. Festivals, student accommodation centres, mines, and camping areas are all examples of sudden blooms of population that need delivery work to serve their needs.

Exhibitions and Hotels

Managing these sudden seasonal growths means having a sharp logistical eye. You cannot rely on them to produce a regular, consistent flow of work, as, by its nature, it will dwindle. They can also be hard to predict. But there are some temporary bursts of human 'busyness' that can be relied on. Areas that are dense with exhibition centres, hotels, and other such venues will have transient populations and will definitely have need of a reliable delivery service.

The key is to look outside your normal sphere of work when you're seeking out new markets – often they are right under your nose.

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world's largest neutral trading hub for same day delivery service in the express freight exchange industry.