I have worked in the packaging industry for 16 years and so it goes without saying I have some very good contacts in the induatry. All th medium to large distributors are spending 15-25000 in courier fees per month easily I want to tap into some of this money being spent by starting my own courier service. I have very limited personal capital approx 15-20000 I would need to start off with a stake bed or flatbed truck approx 24-27' and one enclosed truck approx 24' and then 1 standard size van and a standard size pickup truck and also lease an office with a small storage yard to park the vehicles. How do I go about getting the funding I need?

menaughty

Well mrnaughty (creepy name by the way), as bizresearcher said, you will need a business plan. That is your first order of business. And since this is a new start up, it will be difficult to get funding. So, I would strongly suggest scaling back your plan. You don't need to start so big. If you can start smaller (one truck?) your start up costs will be more realistic. Having experience in the field goes a long way with the SBA so getting a loan will be easier. However, they will require you bring in 30% of your own cash. So, again, starting smaller will make this more attainable.

If you need help with your business plan you can look at my site below. I've included the book, "You Can Write Your Own Successful Business Plan" in the start up kit.

With your background you can pull this off. But be realistic about it. Start small and build it up from there.

Sylvia
http://businessplanmentor.com
Business plan and start up resources

The first thing that you have to ask yourself and what does your company do differently in order to beat the competition? Im not just asking about what you do for your customers in order to differenciate your company, but also what is it that you do in order to compete with competitors such as lower operating expenses and eliminating wasted time and resources.

Now just think to yourself. If starting a courier service is so expensive than it must be expensive to run each month. Fuel is expensive, employees are expensive, and other daily expenses.

Maybe you could focus on being a small courier company and eventually move up into being a bigger one. You could use smaller used vehicles at first and be located in a smaller location paying less rent. You can also consider this option. For very small packages you can use bicycles for short trips and use small vehicles for longer trips. And if your really interested in being different you can invest in a few hybrid trucks or cars. Being a green company is very benficial these days and alot of companies like to do business with companies that are freindly to the environment.

The point is that if you can get the costs down you already beat your competitors and if you can provide a service or/and better image you can gain faster volume offsetting your costs. Of course you cant use bicycles in the winter but that can be used as a marketing technique along with the hybrid cars or trucks to show that you are a responsible company to the environment.

You can either use all or a few of these ideas but it's just to show that you can be creative and create a great small company.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at contactbizenez@bizenez.com
or use my contact form at www.bizenez.com