28 replies to this topic

[Black.Ghost]

Well as it stands, I am already bored silly of my job, and don't really want to spend the rest of my days in an office working in security. I have been trying to think about something as a realistic option.

 

I'm seriously thinking about being a White Van Man. I have a bit of money I can use to buy the van outright, I enjoy driving and don't mind a bit of manual labour. I know there are a lot of people out there offering such a service and there always will be, but what do people think about this kind of thing? Is it a dying trade, or is there still a lot of demand for this kind of thing? 

 

I would run everything properly in terms of tax, and invoicing and the like. I am also really flexible in that I would pretty much do anything required, from house moves to loft clearances (selling stuff on at boot fairs afterwards etc if I am being paid to get rid of stuff). I was also thinking of advertising on loads of car forums, and I would be prepared to transport engines and other car parts around as well. I would also look to get my trailer license and a trailer, possibly creating a bit more work. 

 

My thoughts at the moment are to offer it as an evening and weekend service (and every other friday) and keep my current job. I need to guarantee a certain level of income so I was thinking to keep my current job for maybe a month or two while business builds up, and then maybe a part time job after that to keep some guaranteed income. 

 

I think offering an evening service might appeal to some customers, especially if they are out at work all day and can't be at home or a garage etc to let me gain access and the like. 

 

What are people's thoughts? What kind of prices would you expect to pay for transporting an engine 50 miles for example? Would it be unreasonable to charge a small fee, such as £5 or something, for the use of an engine hoist? I'd also look to get some ratchet straps, ramps and a trailer so I could offer a range of services really. 

 

It really appeals as I get to be my own boss, I love driving vans (I don't know why!) and it gets me out and about rather than being in the office. Also, if I have a part time job, if business is not particularly booming, it would give me the chance to study part time or something, as I do have some funding available for that as well.

 

P.S This isn't my only research, I am going to be doing a lot of googling, enquiries, working out costings (insurance quotes, fuel costs, etc)

Edited by Black.Ghost, 08 July 2014 - 06:47 PM.

[henri1972]

advertise on facebook selling pages in you're area this will help build business 

[minivanman1961]

Yes I agree, Facebook has been a superb publicity tool for my business! 

[Jordie]

Business cover on your van insurance and i think you need public liability too.....dropping an item and breaking someones property for example.

 

Look into the costs before you go out and buy a van.

[Bungle]

good idea keeping your current job and doing this as a side line till it takes off

[M J W J]

I think offering an evening service might appeal to some customers, especially if they are out at work all day and can't be at home or a garage etc to let me gain access and the like. 

 

What are people's thoughts? What kind of prices would you expect to pay for transporting an engine 50 miles for example? Would it be unreasonable to charge a small fee, such as £5 or something, for the use of an engine hoist? I'd also look to get some ratchet straps, ramps and a trailer so I could offer a range of services really.

 

If you could provide this I would definitely be in touch about shipping a few things.

 

My problem with couriers is that they do not give you a window of time for when they will turn up, just a day so you have to take a whole day off to send something and then every so often they don't turn up/ cancel and rearrange which means you have to take another day off. After the last couple of times I have been messed around by couriers I now refuse to use them.

 

Also most of the time when I get something delivered by a courier I am not in so end up having to collect it from a depot.

 

If you worked on Saturdays and Sundays I imagine you would be able to get a lot of business because this is when people are free.

 

I work standard 9-5, 5 days a week so evening and weekend collections/drop off would be ideal for me and I can't be the only one.

 

I don't use the royal mail anymore to send items. Not only have them become really expensive but myhermes who I now use have drop off points at one stop shops. One stop are open 7-11 7 days a week which means I can drop items off when it suits me.

 

£5 to send something 50 miles does not sound bad. It depends on what size it is and the weight though.

[Black.Ghost]

Thanks guys, I hadn't thought about FB.

 

Jordie, yeah I'm not buying a van tomorrow, I will check out what I need and stuff before I make any final decisions and start spending money! 

 

Bungle - yeah, I just need to make sure I have an income the whole time and I know I wont be busy from day one. As time progresses, I am hoping that business keeps me busy, or that I can have one or two other things on the side to keep me going. 

[Black.Ghost]

MJWJ - yeah that was also part of my thinking with regarding timings.

 

As for costs, there was a misunderstanding - the £5 was an example for the use of an engine hoist, but having already thought about that, it is something I would just factor in to the cost rather than separating it out.

 

What about things like the trailer and ramps? A good idea or not?

[The Matt]

What I reckon you need to do is start it up as a local service, then franchise the name/brand out.

 

Start off small and local, then spread out with minimum investment.

 

Where you'd be 'better' than other courier services is offering a palletising and engine lifting service.  I doubt there are many couriers that carry an engine crane/hoist on a van and are willing to go to a customer's house, pick their engine up, put it onto a pallet and then deliver it AND lift it off.

[Miniminx71]

If you go entirely self-employed as a one man band, you have to factor in the fact you'd still like some holiday each year (which you won't get paid for), it's just not possible to work more than a year without a break and not go mad! Plus your NI and pension contributions.

 

If you already have a full time job, you may need to speak to your employer about opting out of the Working Time Regulations. Your employer may not have a problem with you voluntarily opting out so long as they think it won't affect your day job, however, if you're a delivery van driver with a van over 3.5 tonnes, you cannot opt out of the WTR so can't work more than 48 hours a week.  I'm not 100% sure but if you were working as a delivery driver in the evening/weekends, and your working hours in total exceeded 48 per week, Her Majesty's somebody-or-other may have something to say. I'd check that out, or be aware of the weight of vehicle I guess.

[Black.Ghost]

Matt, yeah its offering something different that makes a service succeed or fail.

 

Miniminx, thanks for the info. At the start, I can't imagine I will be doing too much more than 48 hours but I will look into and get out of it from work.

 

At present I don't have anything other than a normal license, and I don't really want to go bigger than 3.5T, certainly at the start. If it's a success, I might look into that later but for now, much smaller than that. I'd consider a 3.5T, but then I can't take a trailer without the next license so again, more research I need to do.

 

Thanks for all the tips and advice guys.

[ANON]

you'll struggle to make a half decent living to say the least especially if you start it as you plan to courier wise. you're going to rely on people who only want things collecting of an evening that are going to be delivered to people who only want it delivering of an evening. your average customer wants to go online, book it, pay for it and have it collected. 

 

charging a fiver to lift an engine won't work, no one wants to pay extra just to have their item put on a van. pallet...pallet truck...tail lift...couple of minutes later and the driver is gone.

 

prices you will struggle with also, look at how cheap you can send something, 30kg package on a next day with ups/tnt is just over £10. pallet on a next day is £45. car from merseyside to plymouth £150.

 

best advice is to find a local small courier company or two and sub to them or local businesses and tout for regular but flexible work. mate of mine runs a couriers, got about 12 vans and his drivers can earn more than him and don't have the worry of touting for business and running it all. 

 

good luck though anyway.

[Black.Ghost]

Well the courier aspect would be one part of it to be honest. I'll happy do house clearances, rubbish removal, anything really. But it is something to bear in mind. And yeah, I think I realised quite quickly after posting it about the extra for things like the engine hoist etc. 
 
But that also gives me another idea - in that I could sub out for two or three days a week maybe, especially during busy periods. All more food for thought. 
 
I know I'll never get rich from it. But I hope I can make a decent living from it. I'm also thinking about doing bootfairs and stuff regularly in the summer and the like. General worker man with a van!

Edit - also I won't really be advertising myself as a traditional courier, there is no way one guy can compete with the established larger companies. I'd be looking at much more unconventional kind of things.

Edited by Black.Ghost, 08 July 2014 - 11:04 PM.

[AVV IT]

A colleague used to do this type of thing, he just about scratched a living from it, but said that the work was patchy and unpredictable. The problem being that it's relatively easy and inexpensive to set yourself up with an old box van, and a mobile phone, so there tends to be quite a lot of competition out there. Apparently there's a lot of semi retired guys doing this sort of thing, and they're often just looking to keep themselves busy and make a few quid on the side whilst they're at it. These guys are therefore almost impossible to compete with, as they're essentially doing it as a bit of a hobby/ working for beer money.

The guy I know actually made most of his cash by sitting outside auction houses in his van on sale day, and then doing lots of short local runs with items of furniture that people had bought on a whim and had no way of getting home. He usually made more money on sale day than on the rest of the days of the week put together.

Another avenue to consider is having a car transporter/trailer as well. (Assuming you've actually got a towing licence that is ). Changes to driving licences in recent years mean that less and less people are now able to move a car on a trailer. So for the sake of investing a few hundred quid on a trailer and a tow bar for your van, you could end up with a lucrative additional arm to your business.

[Tubby1987]

I'd say it was a little risky based on the fact there are loads of people resorting to this type of work at the moment. How many of them are legit makes me wonder though, as in registered as self employed, pay tax, carry a trade waste licence etc. The sad thing is some people would rather save a few quid and not question whether or not they're using a competent person. The cheapest guy gets the job, no questions asked in most cases.

You need to try figure out something you can offer that makes you different, like people have mentioned a range of transportation/services. Get a trade waste licence and use a private place to dispose of it (don't use council tips they're the most expensive) i think the council charge a tradesman around £50 to dispose of a fridge (i may be wrong but i know it's in the region) whereas a place our company use only charge £12! I'd consider your trailer licence too for transporting vehicles, not only for deliveries/pickups but you could offer a recovery service to people local to you. I currently don't have any breakdown cover and don't want any more direct debits coming out of my bank so I'm going to get a business card from a local guy with a recovery van. 

Maybe even caravan pickups/drop offs? Offer what you can, something different that makes it convenient for potential customers.

 

Good luck though, you never know unless you try