Transportation is the key player driving the success of any economy. There’s always someone or something that needs to be moved from one place to another. And of course, there’s someone who shall be paying for transportation.
Many businesses rely on transportation and logistics to help them with their shipping needs. In fact, a logistics business not only cater to the shipping and transportation needs but also handle warehousing, if needed.
Since logistics deal with such a wide variety of tasks, it is easier said than done- setting up a business in the industry. However, with the right approach, the task could be simplified, and this article shall shed some light on the same.
Figure Out Your Financial Needs
Like any other business, logistics and transportation also need to plan their finances. After all, building a fleet, managing fuel costs, paying for the employees’ salary, and several other tasks need money. So, essentially before taking up any orders, it is vital to figure out your finances. Take into consideration things like the number of trucks you’ll need, the salaries for the drivers, installing a refuelling station, storage and warehousing, maintenance of your fleet, and also the infrastructure facility costs. All of these things would cost you differently, therefore, you’ll need to account for them separately.
That being said, you can find a very good estimate of each of these things from online resources. For example, this link https://www.ablesales.com.au/portable-truck-ute-fuel-tanks/bunded/ shall give you an idea about how much a portable fuel tank would cost you. Particularly, if you wish to be setting up a refuelling station at your premises or get into fuel distribution business, these tanks are quite essential for you. Likewise, depending on your needs and the niche you wish to specialize in, the cost of setting up your business would vary. And you would need to account for as little as getting the tyre repair costs into your financial planning.
You’ll Also Need Proper Licenses
To safeguard your business from legal troubles, it is necessary to fulfil the legal obligations. Generally, you’ll need a business license that entitles you to operate as a transportation service provider. Besides, you’d also need to conform with the provincial or regional laws and seek permits when entering into or driving out of the region. Similarly, depending on the special needs such as when transporting combustible items or food items, you may also need permits from the relevant authorities.
Proper licensing for your business will not only protect your business from legal troubles but also establish it as a better brand for your customers. Usually, customers pay a lot of attention to the legal conformity of transporters before they hire them. After all, they are to handover their products to the transporters. And if somehow the transport vehicle is caught without proper legal permits, they may either lose their products or may suffer due to lost time because of the delayed delivery. In short, it is in the best interest of your company to keep all your permits up to date and never miss any renewal.
Choose An Accessible Location
For a transportation and logistics company, the location where they operate from influences their overall activity. In other words, a location too far away from the target customers would limit customers’ reach to your business, along with increasing your cost of operation. Simply, your fleet would need to make trips too far away from the warehouse which would only add up to the cost of fuel and maintenance.
It is in the best interest of your business to be situated at a location where it can be easily accessed by your customers. Moreover, it could also save you unnecessary trips for refuelling, pickup and delivery, and simply ease the overall task of logistics management for your business. A location near shipping hubs or around the industrial setups could make for a better choice.
Get Your Business Insured
Most importantly, logistics business is a costly one, and if there’s something to happen the cost of coping up with the tragedy could be too burdening. For example, if your truck meets an accident during the transit and the goods in it also suffer, your brand’s finances also will have a share the burden. On one side, there’ll be liabilities for the other parties involved in the accident, along with the repairing costs for your truck. And on the other hand, there can be demands from your customer to repay them the value of their goods. At this note, it is always better to get your business insured.
Getting insurance for your business can not only help secure the finances for your business but would also present a better image for your brand before your customers. A lot of time, customers do ask their logistics partners if the goods will be insured or not, during the transit. If you already have such services on offer, you’re more likely to have happy customers.
Know Your Competition
Lastly, you would need to realize the competition that you have in the market. Of course, you might not be the only service provider in the industry. However, depending on the type of service or the niche you choose to operate in, the level of competition can vary. For instance, if you offer transportation services for special goods, such as large and wide loads, you may have very little competition. But at the same time, you may also have a limited market that you can cater to.
It is always better to keep track of your competition in the market. It could help you place your business at a better price so as to assist easy revenue generation. After all, your business must thrive in order to grow and expand. And for this reason, a minimum competition is necessary to be faced head-on.
On this note, setting up a logistics business could be easily managed if you can optimize your brand according to the competition and the availability of the market. If you could manage to optimize these two, the rest can always be handled easily.
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