Thinking about offering a shopping delivery service

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classic33

Leg End Member
???The OP is in Brixton
Thought you meant ColinJ.
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
I used to be a regular buyer of beer at a shop in Hebden Bridge. I started to notice that a private hire driver was coming in at the same time as me most evenings and buying a couple of cans of Guinness. He was ahead of me in the queue one particular evening and after he had gone I made a comment to the owner about it being a bit dodgy that the driver might be knocking back a couple of beers every night while he was driving ...

It turned out that the taxi driver was actually taking them up to an old woman who lived in a village on one of the hills surrounding the town.

I said that it was an expensive way of buying Guinness, costing more for the taxi than for the drinks themselves. Why not get him to buy them in bulk, say eight 4-packs, once a fortnight, and drop them all off in one trip?

The shopkeeper said that the old woman rarely got to see anyone, and it was the highlight of her day to chat to the driver for 10 or 15 minutes when he dropped the Guinness off ... How sad is that! :sad:

So, maybe a delivery service with a personal touch could be viable, but wouldn't you feel guilty charging a lonely OAP for it!

There are some regular guys who offer a similar service around these parts. Late at night, you get the munchies and fancy a beer or two but you've had a drink so can't drive? They will go and pick up your MacD and a few bottles from the offie for you. No idea what the fee is for this

I suspect that's the only market this venture would really work for
 

Slick

Guru
I think there are already charitable organisations that offer the elderly help with the shopping, take them to the shops or deliver to home. Don’t think a backie on a bike will be an incentive
This guy does a good job.
 

colly

Re member eR
Location
Leeds
I heard of a man around Castleford/Pontefract/Hemsworth way who, being without a job hit on the idea of a takeaway delivery service.
On the face of it you might think there would be enough takeaway places offering free deliveries. However he will get whatever you want from whatever establishment you want in the area and deliver it to your door for a fiver.
A year after he started he is so busy if I remember correctly he is now running two vehicles.
Not quite the same type of project as the OP of course but there might well be enough of a market for the OP to make a go of it.
Good luck to you.
 

Slick

Guru
I heard of a man around Castleford/Pontefract/Hemsworth way who, being without a job hit on the idea of a takeaway delivery service.
On the face of it you might think there would be enough takeaway places offering free deliveries. However he will get whatever you want from whatever establishment you want in the area and deliver it to your door for a fiver.
A year after he started he is so busy if I remember correctly he is now running two vehicles.
Not quite the same type of project as the OP of course but there might well be enough of a market for the OP to make a go of it.
Good luck to you.
You never make money going with the crowd.:thumbsup:
 

steveindenmark

Legendary Member
You also have to take into account that you will be self employed and will not be able to claim any financial assistance.

Its a minefield and I doubt you could make it pay.
 

PaulSB

Squire
To my mind there is only one question. The National Living Wage will be £7.83 from April 1st, the London Living Wage £10.20 and the UK Living Wage £8.75. The last two being based on calculation rather than being something official.

Quite simply can you earn a minimum of £7.83/hour? If not don’t do it.

I have a friend who does dog walking and day care. The walking rate is £15/30 minutes. She is so busy if your dog doesn’t fit in or misbehaves it gets expelled!!!

If your priority is to start a business which involves exercise and fresh air dog walking seems a good option.

I have another friend who entered a 1000 mile walking challenge for 2018. She then got a paper round - now storming the challenge and getting paid!!
 
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colly

Re member eR
Location
Leeds
There's another way of tackling this idea in that you could offer your service to local shops as well as or instead of to the end user.
Smaller food shop and specialty food shops struggle to make way against the big players. Adding a delivery service to there list of options might well play very well for them.
Sound them out first and see what they think.
I was going to suggest chemists shops but maybe carting a load of drugs about might be temping fate a bit too much.
Security might be the biggest headache if you did get it up and running.
To be honest I think to make a good living from the idea would be hard and where you pitch your price would be crucial.
£500 a week for someone out of work might seem like a lot of money. Someone in a decent job in London could be picking that up every day.

When I first went self employed 35 years ago I did the usual stuff of seeing the bank manager, getting advice from some kind of govt. agency about what to do, and who to see.
Get an accountant, get insurance, see a solicitor, business plan, bookeeping system, register your business, VAT etc etc. All good sound advice of course but not one of the people giving me advice had ever run a business. The accountand had of course, but that tw** ripped me off.
No one told me the most important thing of all, without which none of the rest is worth bothering with.......you need to get your customers and you need to get their money.
I already knew that but it struck me the so called experts offering advice all wanted me to spend first and earn later. OK if you have money to set up with but most people start with little or nothing.

Whatever you do l hope it works out for you. If it doesn't. .....try something else.
 
OP
OP
Eurostar

Eurostar

Guru
Location
Brixton
Apologies for abandoning this thread, all my recent Cyclechat notifications have been sent to my spam folder by gmail! I need to read all the posts and catch up.
 
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