man with van business

KALO

Hi Folks, Ive been out of work for sometime now and ive been considering starting up a Man With a van business based in dublin.
just looking for advise from anyone that knows the business.
i come from a courier/sameday delivery background but always worked for a company with van supplied this venture would see me purchasing my own vehicle and been a sole trader i guess.

any help would be much appreciated.

best regards

kalo

jt_dublin

Hi Kalo,

I recently needed some items moved and used the AnyVan website. It was great, a few companies tendered for the job and the service was top class.

If you are thinking of setting up, then it might be a good way to get the work coming in.

This is the website.

www.anyvan.ie

Good luck with it all.

JT.

KALO

thanks JT i will take a look at it thankyou for your time.

sandin

Think of it as a taxi service - except its for goods rather than people.

Then approach it is a business manner and pitch your service to companies - wholesalers, distributors, furniture stores etc etc

Build up your client list over time (every business takes time to grow) and as you build it up, use list of clients as references.

Like anything, some clients will use you once a week, some once a year.

Have a business card, but also have a sticker that can be placed on a dispatch board or similar.

chillywilly

I believe the boardsie Cormie has this type of business, he may offer you some pointers.

KALO

great stuff chilywilly. how do i contact cormie? cheers/

KALO

just messaged cormie, hope he can put me in the right direction pardon the pun.

cormie

Kalo, I just replied with a 1,900+ word email to you Hope you find it somewhat informative!

gnmr1

Hi KALO
Just wondering how you are getting along with the man and van business. I've been thinking of doing something similar in the midlands for a while now but I keep putting it off because of the fear of failure. Would you recommend it.

Thanks
gnmr1

Axwell

Pm them if you want to know and let the zombie thread be..

Kristopherus

But he's got only 1 post...........

Axwell

True..but the OP has very few posts and posts about 2-3 times at most a month. It would be quicker to get enough posts and PM him than sit hoping for a response from them in a 6 month old thread. Cormie is a regular poster and is more likely to respond and worth contacting as hes in that line of business.

cormie

Somebody call me?

gnmr1, I'll paste the email I sent to Kalo originally to give you an idea. I've removed some parts which I don't want posted here but maybe it will give you an idea.

> Well, where to start. I've been doing this for about 6 years now,
> started off with the website and branding before even driving a van,
> wanting to build up a good image as I know the white van man has a bad
> portrayal in society so I wanted a clean website with a clean look and
> went from there. I've managed to build up probably the highest rated and
> most popular "man with a van" business on the internet in Ireland and
> although my Google rankings aren't as high as they should be at present
> (I've recently redesigned the site and Google are making some changes
> with their mapping system too), I've still managed to keep business
> coming in, a lot of which is from recommendations on boards. I've never
> posted any fake reviews or recommendations and it's all genuinely built
> over the years.
>
> I take the image of my business very seriously and will never let a
> customer down in terms of reliability, years ago I wasn't able to move a
> grand piano for one customer because I didn't have the correct knowledge
> at the time and didn't want to take on the risk (it was worth about
> 40K!) and another time a customer gave the wrong information about
> another piano move which resulted in me not bringing the required amount
> of helpers and being able to move it down the 8 or so flights of steps
> he said himself and another guy lifted it up. It was actually 3 other
> guys from a removal company and he didn't help them, as he wasn't any
> help to us either. His English wasn't the best and he didn't communicate
> the requirements properly. These are the worst cases of customer service
> in the history of the business. I've never failed to show up for a
> customer and usually show up with a 30 minute time frame dependent on
> traffic other than rarely when some jobs can take way longer than
> expected. I've also replied to every email I've received and pretty much
> every missed call and voicemail I've been left too.
>
> Now this all requires a LOT of dedication and as you can see, I'm
> sending this pretty early, I've been awake since about 06:00 this
> morning even though my first job isn't until 10:30. There's a lot of
> late nights and early mornings and I must say, it has definitely
> negatively affected my stress and levels of sleep which isn't good.
>
> The thing with me though is I've never actively sought out work. I
> dropped a few business cards into local places at the start but this
> didn't yield anything really and that's about it. All my business has
> come through the internet and word of mouth from previous customers.
> I've never rang up the like of furniture shops or power city or anything
> like that offering a regular service or undercutting their current
> drivers. I've been happy with the flow of work as it's only myself I
> need to support, no kids or anything and I spend enough time working as
> it is so the thoughts of taking on much more is a bit daunting. I
> believe as a business, it could be run much more profitable (at this
> stage considering the reputation I've built), but I'm not in a position
> to do it just yet.
>
> I don't really know what the scene is like in terms of getting regular
> work with furniture shops and that, it might be saturated. If you look
> on gumtree.ie, adverts.ie or anything like that you'll find loads of
> "man with a van" ads, offering to do jobs for silly money that probably
> won't even pay minimum wage after fuel and everything. Also I saw
> www.anyvan.ie recommended in your thread too. I've had a gander on these
> sites and again, the prices being offered for some jobs almost have a
> sense of desperation about them. The prices are pretty cut throat throughout
> the whole country, which is great for the customer, but I don't think any
> legitimate business could survive on some of the prices being bid and because
> the volume of lads with vans signing up to it, you don't really see it from an
> individuals perspective and there's no real quality check or legitimacy
> check when it comes to insurance cover etc. There's A LOT of guys out there
> offering this kind of work, especially since the collapse of the
> construction industry where loads of people have vans they would have
> been using for carrying tools etc. I'd say 99% - no joke - of the
> classifieds you see advertised aren't operating with valid insurance,
> even some guys with websites like my own I know aren't legit and there's
> a lot of shoddy service out there too, I get quite a few calls from
> customers in desperation after being let down by "some guy on gumtree".
>
> So to be honest, I don't know how you'd get on, you could probably make
> a few quid here and there, but unless you're prepared to really really
> work at it, it could be difficult to bring the money in. At the same
> time, you could get a few tenders of regular work and you might even be
> busier than me, by busier I mean driving more Half my work is at the
> computer, half in the van, I see the DPD, Fastway and other courier guys
> driving by all day with 80 or so drops to do in the locality but these
> guys start at say 07:00 and finish at 17:00/18:00 and that's their day
> over, no emails to go over, no weekend work, once they close that van
> door they can relax. That's not the case with me and it's far from it. I
> do a lot of things to promote and perfect the business.
>
> I also haven't taken a holiday since 2006 and that's what I mean by
> hands on, there's no weekend and no time off, I can't just get up and
> leave the business without damaging its reputation. I've been taking
> Sunday's off though as this is the only day people don't expect you to
> answer the phone so I've been taking advantage of that. A holiday to me
> is being able to turn my phone off without worries for a few days and I
> definitely can't do that. I get phone calls at all times, emails too and
> if I don't sort them out quickly, they just build up and I can get
> overloaded. Then there's also the work, offering a 24/7 service, I
> started out mainly transporting bands after gigs, I mightn't get to bed
> until 03:00, then other jobs might start first thing in the morning. I
> don't do much of any of the band stuff anymore and charge extra for this
> and early mornings (anything before 10:30 as it's through rush hour
> traffic) so most of my jobs are between 10:00 and 21:00 say, but that's
> still a long day and if things take longer than expected, you mightn't
> get home until late again.
>
> In summary, I'm making a living off it and I'm sure there's plenty
> others doing so too, but I'd say it would
> be pretty difficult starting off as there's just so many guys doing the
> same thing but you could get a nice contract and be fine. I would say
> though it would be difficult enough to compete with the likes of myself
> as there's a good few guys now with similar websites and doing the
> Google adwords I don't know how reliable they are or what their
> situation is, but the service I offer in terms of quality would be
> pretty hard to beat so it's not like there's areas uncovered, you can
> get your cheap and risky guys or the more reliable. Which way you go is
> your choice but there's probably competition in both but at the same
> time, mayyybe just enough to get by.
>
> I guess the length of this email gives you an indication to the time I
> put into things, I think I've been writing this for about 45/60 minutes
> and I'd tend to give everyone including customers a similar level of
> attention.
>
> By the way, the work can be quite tough too. It's not like working a
> taxi or courier job, the heaviest item a courier will accept I think it
> 30kg and that would be rare itself, most are small packages and you're
> in and out of the van drop after drop just going to the door. In the
> removal side of things you can have flights of stairs with no lift to
> the 5th floor, carrying 40 boxes of books weighing 30kg each or have a
> sofa or wardrobe wedging your head between the wall on a tight
> bannisters. Not to mention pianos Another thing is myself and my main
> helper are probably the fittest and healthiest team in the business. You
> won't find any breakfast rolls, coffee cups or coke bottles in the van,
> just fruit and veg. I play basketball about 5 nights a week totalling
> about 8 hours of intense cardio, do yoga, pilates and go to the gym too,
> if you're injured in this work you'll be hard pressed. I've pulled my
> back and neck numerous times, and badly, with it taking 5 minutes or so
> to get yourself out of bed in the right position. This is why I've
> started taking up yoga and pilates, all the years lifting things with
> only certain muscle groups has thrown the body off balance a bit so I
> need to build up the rest as I'm strong in some groups but quite weak in
> others. My main helper is extremely fit and strong too, many customers
> have referred to him as a machine and the two of us together can get a
> job done with full intensity for the full duration where other guys
> might need to take a break after a few trips up a few flights of stairs.
> Your clothes will tear, you'll get bruises and scrapes and could be
> manky 2 hours after putting on a fresh set of clothes.
>
> So that's pretty much it summed up. So what about yourself, what way do
> you think you'll approach it and how do you see yourself in terms of
> suitability for it? Best of luck whatever you decide on anyway and if
> you've any more questions, fire away!

Now that was aimed at Kalon who's based in Dublin, so it might be a completely different story in the midlands.

gnmr1

Thanks Cormie really appreciate that. Looks like you've worked really hard on this. I know there won't be the same volume of work down here as in Dublin but there is less competition too. As well as the delivery/removal service I would offer an errand service to isolated and elderly people as I think there will be a demand for this kind of thing with the price of fuel and an ageing population. I've started a thread on this in the business and entrepreneurship section.

cormie

Have followed the thread and will keep an eye on it. Best of luck starting something anyway

wmpdd3

Brilliant post Cormie, great outlook for anyone starting any business with 1 or 2 people. Esp the post about taking hols, I can see how you couldn't relax, it would be so easy to lose what you've worked for though as time goes on you will have to look at succession planning.

cormie

Thanks wmpdd3, I'm looking into that now at the moment alright so will hopefully have some weight taken off my shoulders soon enough

highlandseoghan

Brilliant post by Cormie and although he is talking about a removal / man and van business, a lot of what he talks about is very useful to anyone looking at starting there own business. The long hours, you cant be sick, no holidays, the dedication that goes into the success of a successful business.

lucky john

highlandseoghan wrote: »

Brilliant post by Cormie and although he is talking about a removal / man and van business, a lot of what he talks about is very useful to anyone looking at starting there own business. The long hours, you cant be sick, no holidays, the dedication that goes into the success of a successful business.

I totally agree. Excellent post.

It would be a pity to have it buried here. Its not often that someone takes the time to give such a comprehensive and interesting piece of advice. I thing it would be worth copying it in to the business story sticky. There are plenty that could do with having their eyes opened a bit before they jump into business.