If you’re a business owner with a product to sell, you might be thinking about whether it’s worth using a private courier firm to deliver your goods or not. If that’s the case, you might find this list of pros and cons of doing so to be interesting…
Pro: It’s a full-service
If you hire a private courier company to deliver your packages, you won’t have to worry bout hiring your own drivers, buying your own vans and motorcycles or heading out to the post office to deliver them yourself, which means you can save time and money by doing so.
Con: Couriers can have accidents
When you hire couriers, particularly motorcycle couriers, there is always the chance that they will have an accident. Courier accidents are extremely common as any dependable motorcycle accident attorneys will be able to tell you, and this could be a problem for you. However, if you ensure you aren’t liable for any accidents, and you have a backup plan for getting your products delivered, it may not be such a huge con for you personally.
Pro: Faster delivery times
If you use private couriers, particularly those on motorcycles, it is possible to have your goods delivered really quickly, sometimes even within minutes if they are going to an address in the same town. Private couriers are pretty efficient at what they do, so if time is of the essence they could really help to boost your business and ensure you keep your delivery promises.
Con: They can be expensive
Private couriers may be very efficient, and they may do everything for you, but their services can be expensive. So, before you go ahead and start working with a courier, it may be worth working out whether doing so will be more affordable than handling much of the delivery process in-house.
Pro: Limit our liability
If you take care of your deliveries totally in-house, then you’re totally liable should a package be late getting delivered or damaged when it arrives at its destination. However, when you use a private courier service, you shift some of the liability for these issues onto them, which means, you may not be responsible for various issues with your deliveries. This can be a good thing if you end up being sued because the courier company will need to pay for a replacement and any damages due, but it does also mean you may not be able to deal with complaints quite as effectively.
Con: It could effet your brand
If you are using couriers to deliver your packages, they become an extension of your brand, but they are a part of your brand that you have little to no control over once you’ve handed over your packages, which means, if they behave badly, it could reflect negatively on your business. So, if you do decide to use couriers, be sure to choose wisely.
As you can see, whether to use couriers for your business or not is a complex issue that you will need to give some serious thought!