How to Make a Career Change With a Courier Franchise

Making a career change can seem like a daunting and challenging thing to do. But as part of a franchise, you can avoid many of the bigger challenges of starting your own business, all while enjoying the many benefits to running your own delivery business. Here’s how you can make it happen.

The courier and delivery industries are large and profitable, meaning that if you’re looking for more job satisfaction, more independence and more profit, this could be the perfect sector for you.

It’s almost self-evident that this sector has boomed over the last few months. With 42% of Brits admitting they had done more online shopping since the start of the pandemic, the market value of the courier sector is set to grow by an astonishing 92% to £21 billion by 2024. If you want a part of this multi-billion-pound sector, now is the perfect time to get started. 

In the long-term, the steady rise in e-commerce sales, increasing sophistication of delivery services, and the growth of delivery subscription services should outweigh the damage done to the sector by a slowing economy.
- Francesco Salau, Mintel

Why make a career change with a courier franchise?

When it comes to making the right decisions on your career, there’s never a wrong time to assess whether your current situation is the right one over the long term. When it comes to being a franchisee, there are a number of considerable advantages that might make franchising the ideal choice for you:

• Be your own boss: You won’t be working long hours for someone else. As a franchisee, you’ll be your own boss, and will be able to work to the schedules and procedures that you think best.
• Customer base: Because you’ll already have a pre-existing customer base, brand identity and reputation, you won’t need to invest heavily just to get a customer base for yourself.
• Training and support: One of the biggest advantages to running your own courier business is the amount of training and support you’ll be able to make use of. Whereas many other independent and local businesses will have to rely on themselves to overcome challenges, you can count on the support of your franchisor and accompanying network. 
• Trust: Many of the biggest courier businesses are franchises, and while there are many smaller businesses trying to earn a share of this competitive market, being part of a bigger franchise means you’ll be a trusted partner for many businesses.

How to make a career change with a courier franchise

Once you’re ready to make your dream career change a reality, you’ll need to make sure you do a number of key things.

1. Market research

Market research goes far beyond just understanding what kinds of businesses are already operating in the industry. You’ll need to carry out some extensive research on some of the following topics:

• What are the biggest trends changing the way the industry works?
• What advantages do many of the existing franchises have? What are their weaknesses? What could you do differently?
• How will you highlight your strengths? 
• What kind of price point do you want to operate at? 

There are a few different areas that you will want to research, and make sure that you research the answers to many of your own questions. But, by the time you’ve carried out your market research, answered your own questions, and figured out what kind of space in the market there is for you, you will have a good idea of which kind of business you will want to run.

2. Approach your franchise

Once you’ve got a good idea of which franchises are a better fit, you’ll then need to pick the franchise that suits you the most. As you come to narrow down your shortlist, there are a few things you’ll want to consider: 

• What working practices does the franchise have? 
• Do you agree with the ethos of the company?
• How involved in the day-to-day management of the franchise will you need to be? How much help will you get recruiting the right people to help you run the business?
• Can you afford the initial and ongoing franchise costs?

These questions will help you narrow down the list of potential franchises, so that by the time you have the answers to these questions, you should have an idea where your talents and ambitions will be best served.

3. Go the extra mile

Starting a new business is never completely easy, and although franchising is a safer and profitable way to run a business, even franchising comes with some risks. But, with the right attitude, skillset and ambition, you can make your business a success.

You can also rest easy in the knowledge that only one percent of closing franchises cited commercial failure as a reason for closure [British Franchise Association]. If you’re prepared to go the extra mile, your franchise will be there to back you up at every stage of the process. 

Make an exciting and profitable career change with a courier franchise today

This industry is booming, and for the many people looking to make a career change, the courier industry is proving to be an attractive option. If you’ve decided that this is an industry you want to work in, and that franchising is the right business model for you, you could well have all the skills to succeed in the franchising world. 

But, if your passion is more for vehicles than for delivery per se, you may be more interested in learning how to become a car repair specialist. Or perhaps consider becoming an automobile franchise by discovering some of the top automobile franchises in the UK. But, if none of these take your fancy at all, you may be better off consulting the UK franchise directory for a full range of opportunities.