Beginning your own local courier service might be straightforward and quick, or it may be a slow, hard and frustrating process. Here are nine essential steps to make your courier business startup easy, smooth and fast.

Step 1. Locate your niche. Establish your unique "market" to insure success. If you live in an urban area with lots of existing courier service businesses, this is an essential step. Even in a small town, it will give you a "quick start" to pinpoint your new customers.

Speak with your prospects, whether they are lawyers needing same-day document delivery, or caterers needing prepared meals delivered daily at a certain time, to uncover what they want, then it to them at an affordable price. That's the secret of success for any business - giving customers what they need or want. One of the leading niches is filling the UPS/FEDEX gap by providing local businesses with same-day local delivery.

Step 2. Don't shell out money. Resist the urge to spend money when you are starting up. If you have a reliable vehicle to make pickups and deliveries, do don't spend thousands on a new delivery vehicle. Keep your office at home if possible to avoid spending unnecessary money on rent, utilities and the expense of a separate office. Think and act like a miser until you're making a decent wages from your new courier service.

Step 3. Legal structure. When you start a courier business, it is very important to pick the legal structure for the new business. Will you operate it as a sole proprietorship, as an L.L.C. or as a corporation. You'll should get this out of the way first, before you apply for a business license from your town or state and get a federal tax identification number. You'll find lots of good free information about what structure may be best for you at Nolo.com.

Step 4. Finding Clients. After you've set up your business and found a niche or two that makes sense for you, start searching for customers. You only need a few good ones, so start prospecting by calling or paying a visit to local businesses in person to learn how you can help them solve their courier requirements and find out what type of services they might need. No "high-pressure salesmanship" is required, just a helpful attitude will do just fine.

Step 5. Referrals. Once you have your "core" customers and have treated them well for a while, ask them for referrals. Tell them you're still expanding your business and could use a few more good customers like them. Offer a free delivery or a discount on a month's service in return for a referral that becomes a regular, repeat customer.

Step 6. Set your rates. Many new couriers make the mistake of not charging enough to cover all their costs, as they have haven't been in business long enough to be aware of all the little costs, like a business permit renewal fee, that can add up to big bucks over a year's time. Other examples include bookkeeping fees, social security taxes and vehicle maintenance, and many more. A good rule of thumb to remember is to add about 30-35 % to the wages you'll be paying yourself to arrive at a reasonable rate that allows you a profit and still makes your customers happy. After a few months, reevaluate and see if your rates still give you the net hourly rate you want. The current national average rate is $ 36 an hour.

Step 7. Provide exceptional service. If you give customers great service, you'll do well and soon have all the customers you can handle. For instance, if you promise two hour service, aim for 90 minutes. Your customers will love it and recommend you to others.

Step 8. Keep track of your customers and their deliveries with one of the free scheduling software programs, like checkappointments.com or clickbook.net. Another option is just one of the calendar programs offered by Google or Microsoft. For a small monthly fee, you can also use them to get paid online with Paypal. Of course, it can be used on your smartphone while out making deliveries.

Step 9. Like the software programs for scheduling, there are programs to help you do your own accounting. My favorite, which makes keeping track of your small business finances easy, even if you ca can't add or subtract, is outright.com, which is around $ 10 a month and even reminds you when taxes are due or when you overlook a deduction.

About deductions ... the largest one most couriers will enjoy is the business mileage deduction, currently 55 cents a mile. Many couriers have used this deduction to pay for upgrading their vehicle to a fuel-efficient newer model, like the Toyota Prius, and found the fuel savings were greater than their vehicle payments! An additional benefit is that when you do upgrade to a fuel sipper, you've now become a "green" courier service business, which customers love! For an example of how powerful this is, visit greendelivers.com

Follow these nine straightforward steps, and you'll be on your way to a moneymaking courier service business. To learn more, read How to Start a Courier Business, available at: http://profitsonwheels.com At this website, you can also sign up for a free mini-course about starting your own local courier service