Should I buy an existing courier business or start one?
Buying a courier business gives you accounts, drivers, vehicles, dispatch routines and a track record, but you inherit its habits and handover risks. Starting lets you choose every part, but you carry the ramp-up alone. Compare what you would have to build against what you would have to take over and fix.
Courier work runs on routine: the same customers, the same routes, drivers who know both. That is what an existing company sells you, and what a new one has to earn. List what you would need to build and what you would need to take over.
What an existing company brings
You may get customer accounts that already send work, drivers who know the routes, vehicles, a dispatch routine and a record you can read. Ask who the main customers are, how they were won and whether they would stay after a sale. Ask how much of the work depends on the owner personally. Our guide on selling a courier company shows what a prepared seller can show you.
What starting lets you choose
A new business lets you pick your vehicles, software, service area and type of work from the start, with no one else’s habits to unwind. The trade is time. You win each account yourself, you hire and train each driver, and you carry quiet weeks while you build a name. Many people find that the first customers are the hardest to land.
Risks on each side
When you buy, the risks sit in handover: drivers who leave with the seller, customers who were loyal to one person, vehicles that need work, and records that are thin. When you start, the risks sit in ramp-up: too little work to pay for the vehicles and drivers you have taken on. Test each against your own savings and temperament.
Related reading
14 pages on the same subject, grouped by topic.
Buying
- Expert answerWhat should I check about the equipment when buying a print shop?
- Expert answerWhat should I check before buying an equipment rental business?
- Expert answerShould I buy an existing go-kart track or start one?
- Expert answerHow do I assess a courier firm’s dependence on one e-commerce client?
Due diligence
Selling
Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentAfter buying a business, what is the next step?
- 03Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 04Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentUnderstanding post-merger operational integration
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