8 Tips To Keep Your Startup Delivery Business Successful!
Every Startup delivery business wants a successful business and efficient delivery processes. Where you set your sights and what you focus on is what will make all the difference in being successful and profitable.
It’s never too late to set new goals or refocus on key areas that will help your business improve. The growing pains of running a business can be painful, but the process and results are inspiring and worth reaching for!
Remember, successful growth in business is about endurance and not a sprint!
Here are 8 areas to focus on that will help your business be more successful and profitable as you grow.
1. Strengthen Business Relationships
Your business relationships are everything! Do not take them for granted. They are often your strongest referrals and lifelines in growing. No one can build a successful startup delivery business on their own and it is essential that you know who your people are and that you take care of them. Be sure to take time to:
- Personally Connect
- Gather Testimonials
- Show Appreciation
- Discover their needs or concerns for the upcoming year so you can network and be of service
2. Focus on Customer Service
Customers will not repeat business with a company after a bad service experience. Consequently, it takes several positive customer experiences to make up for just one negative one. Making it a practice to make improvements to your customer service will yield positive results to your business. ‘
In order to make improvements, you have to know your customer service process. Here are areas in customer service where simple improvements can make a big difference quickly:
- Make necessary changes to improve quicker response time
- Invest in staff or customer service training
- Revamp policies to reflect improved procedures
- Improve your online purchasing experience
3. Offer Home Delivery
There’s no getting around it- home delivery is and will continue to be a growing area of demand. If you aren’t offering it- your buyers will go somewhere else. Also, if you aren’t offering it- you’re losing out on sales and improved customer satisfaction. How many customers are not purchasing from you because they don’t have the means of getting it home?
“Beyond price and product, customers want convenience in their shopping and delivery experience.“
Aptean:The 7Cs of Home Delivery – The True Value of Convenience
The demand for home delivery has risen since Covid. Millennials are now some of the top purchasers in the market place and expect convenience. How many sales are you missing out on by not being able to service deliveries to some of the top purchasers in the marketplace?
Whether you broker the service to someone else or do the deliveries yourself- there is not only room for increased sales, but increased customer satisfaction.
4. Improve Safety
As always, safety first! No one likes to be hit with workman’s comp claims due to unsafe delivery processes. For a startup delivery business, replacing or repairing big equipment is costly and time consuming. Having the right equipment for the job is critical for safety. Be sure to do an overhaul of equipment at the end of every year and make sure it hasn’t caused any safety constraints. Be prepared to invest in equipment that will provide extra safety to your process, your drivers, employees and especially your customers.
One example of improving safety is not only the right equipment for the job, but the right size of equipment for the job. Delivery brokers are investing in trailers that provide extra safety for delivery. Haulit trailers were built with safety as a top priority. Employees enjoy a safe and stress free load, transport, and unload process that doesn’t require physical labor.
5. Lower Operating Costs
Keeping business expenses in check is critical for business owners. One major area where it’s easy to fall short is keeping track of all expenses and seeing where to trim. Successful business owners get better and better at tracking operating costs like office space, utilities, staff, supplies & advertising. Smart startup delivery business owners also factor in the details of vehicle and equipment expenses. They re-evaluate the operating cost per equipment and stay on the lookout for equipment that can run at a lower operating cost.
Startup Delivery Business Economics
For example, Gregg has a delivery business brokering shingles for a roofing contractor. His semi truck and trailer cost him $60.00/hour to run after insurance, gas, and CDL driver wage. Gregg charges $85.00 per delivery, profiting him $25.00 every delivery. Because of the economics, he purchased a Haulit trailer for his heavier but smaller orders with a much lower operating cost of about $45.00/hour. He still charges $85.00 per delivery and profits $40.00 every delivery he makes.
Having the right size of trailer for the job lowers operating costs and puts more profit in your pockets.
6. Keep Your Employees Happy
Retaining quality employees is one of the most important thing you can do with your business. Get to know their goals and ambitions. Work together where you can use their skill sets and minds to help improve areas of the business. Make them part of the process as much as possible to help them feel valued. Successful startup delivery business owners take time to get to know employees on a personal level. A few ways to help your employees feel happy and valued in the workplace are:
- Recognition. Find ways to reward and praise for the success of the business.
- Celebrate. Find ways to celebrate wins, birthdays, and important holidays.
- Listen. Provide a safe space for opinion and voices to be heard as well as opportunity to problem solve and seek solutions together.
- Set goals. Know the personal goals of your employees as well as the goals of the business.
7. Keep Startup Delivery Business Balance!
Know your why. Be clear about why you are in business, doing what you do, and what are you doing it for. Define what is most important to you. Don’t sacrifice your mental, physical, family and friend relationships in pursuit of business goals. At the end of the day, things don’t love you back, people do. Business goals will always be preceded by the next one, leaving you in search of constant fulfillment. Above all, none of it can be enjoyed without good mental, physical, and emotional health.
Take self care seriously and find ways to create a positive work-life balance that works for your goals and needs. Recreational time outdoors, taking time with family and friends, exercise and good sleep will help you maintain better health and happiness. Your business can’t flourish if you aren’t flourishing. Take care of yourself so all areas of your life, including your business, can prosper over the long haul.
8. Go for it!
Here’s the deal. Success is never handed to you. The only thing anyone can do is to go for it and make necessary changes that bring about improved results along the way.
Working towards a successful delivery business might look like investing in new tools, new equipment, changing processes or hiring new help. Whatever it is, just go for it. Keep going and growing. Analyze successes, repeat them and expound on them. Make changes that pivot you towards new results. Enjoy the freedom, capability, and possibility of being able to make every new year the best year ever!