Hello, my dears!
Well, I hope you're ready for another post filled with tips and tricks about doing work as a courier, because that is exactly what this is! Our themed month rolls on to a third week and, fortunately, the reception to the previous two has been incredibly positive, which makes me think this one is likely to go over well, too.
What is the theme this week, you ask? Well, after talking about the importance of networking to get clients, and of listening to and learning from your peers, this week I thought I'd talk about an important factor to bear in mind once you've actually started doing work as a courier, and gotten your first few jobs: the possibility of learning 'the hard way' - from failure, or catastrophe - and why you should avoid it as much as possible!
Plan For Every Eventuality
Common sense – and our parents – tell us failure is the best way to learn, and this is most definitely true in certain situations. Sometimes, though, you have no margin for error, as learning from trial and error could have direct – and very negative – consequences for you.
Taking on work as a courier on a self-employed basis is one of these times. Any self-employed work requires you to keep a keen eye on your overhead budget, so there is no room for experimenting. You need to start planning for a rainy day as soon as you open your business, to negate the risk of finding yourself in a difficult situation before you're even established as a self-employed courier.
The best way to ensure nothing like this occurs is to try and find work well ahead of time. If you start calling around willy-nilly looking for a job, you're going to look desperate, and that will very likely work against you. Companies would much rather give jobs to someone who comes across as reliable and confident, rather than nervous and desperate; so make sure that's the image you're putting across.
As for actually finding work as a courier, courier networking platforms are an excellent way to find jobs and companies looking for drivers to help them out in a time of need, and making some great contacts in the process! (Networking, remember?) So the key is to remain calm and collected, but always think ahead.
That does it for this week – come back next week for the last instalment of this monthly series of tips and tricks for self-employed couriers. I don’t know about you, but I'm enjoying them!
Until then, ta-ra!
- Gertie
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