Postal Letter

Starting delivery service, how should I charge?

Here's the situation, I'm a college student looking to start a delivery service on scooter to supplement my income. I live in a smaller city where there is no competition. The main services I intend to provide are pickup and delivery from restaurants that don't offer it, along with the delivery of documents and small package and offering to return video rentals and books for people that don't want to miss due dates but don't have time to drop the items off themselves. Can anyone give me any advice, not only on how I should charge, but in general?

Public Comments

1. Your 8-hr day, your medical ins, car insurance, wear and tear on your vehicle, tires, fuel and maintenance (your allowance, other than insurance, should include replacement cost of your vehicle). you must account for licenses, permits, etc. All of your costs, including your own salary, must be divided by projected mileage per week to be adjusted as you go along.with business growth. when you have a viable cost of business mile, you have your break-even point toward making a profit. So initially, be realistic with your costs, but leave allowamces for the unexpected, such as fender benders that may spoil your customers' products as well as your equipment. Hope this helps. If you can or have a relationship with a bank, it could be helpful once you've established the bizz and wish to expand. Good Luck.
2. sounds great - we would use this service! You would need to charge so much a mile - check with an accountant to see the going rate and it wouldn't be as much with a scooter and then $5 for the errand? I would assume you would get tips along with this. It would depend on how far you had to go to get the delivery or pick up done.