If you are considering setting up your own courier service business then you will need to have some idea how much you are likely to earn running such a business. There are so many factors that will impact how much you can earn.

For instance, you will need to have some kind of vehicle to deliver all the packages and parcels. Initially, you may be using your own family saloon car until the business becomes established. This may limit the number of parcels you can deliver in a day without having to return to the depot to pick up more parcels.

As your business grows, you may need to buy a used or second hand van. Again, this will affect your outgoings as a new van is going to cost more to buy than a second hand one. You could also consider leasing a vehicle. The size of the van has a bearing upon the purchase price.

A major outlay tends to be the fuel costs. The more miles you do then the more you will spend on putting petrol or diesel in the vehicle.

You also need to take into account the cost of maintaining your vehicle. You will need to make sure that it is serviced on a regular basis, that it is MOT’d when required and that the tyres are replaced when necessary.

Don’t forget you will need to make sure the vehicle is suitably insured. As you will no doubt be aware, there are quite a lot of providers of courier cover so you may wish to shop around to obtain a competitive quotation.

So far, all we have mentioned are some of the outgoings you may have as a self employed courier driver. What about the income?

A major factor is how many parcels you can deliver in a working day and this will vary depending upon things like how many hours you are prepared to work and the sort of area you cover i.e. is it densely populated enabling you to get from one drop off to another quite quickly or are you delivering in a rural area where it takes longer to get from one customer to another. Typically, it may be possible to earn £10 to £15 per hour but from this you will need to deduct your business expenditure.