The logistics and delivery business is huge and will keep growing annually thanks to the continuous explosion of eCommerce in Nigeria. Nowadays, you can buy anything online – from clothes to home appliances, agricultural produce, office supplies, and even cooked food.

With the Nigerian market famous for being a consumer economy, people would always spend on kinds of stuff and would need dispatch riders to get them from stores or shops to their home or office locations. In effect, there are lots of money to be made in this business. 

The level of difficulty involved in building a bike delivery business depends on the type of logistics business you intend to run. None is that easy though as it’s still a business. But when dealing in an industry worth over N300 billion, true entrepreneurs find a way around the hurdles and get started in this business.  

This article focuses on how to start a bike delivery business and the steps help you make money from bike deliveries.

Steps to start a bike delivery business in Nigeria

1. Get a business plan

As with any business worth doing, the first step is always to draw up your business plan. A business plan helps you identify your business goals and objectives, key areas to focus on, a clear roadmap to success, and how much you can make if it becomes successful.

The few things to consider before creating a business plan for your bike delivery business are:

1. Business mission/vision statement 
2. Legal plan 
3. Marketing and business growth strategies 
4. Competitive advantage (what will make you stand out) 
5. SWOT analysis 
6. Business location and how it affects your business 
7. Employees or labour cost 
8. Revenue projection into at least 3 years

Your business plan doesn’t have to be bulky. Keep it simple and direct to the point. It will serve as your business blueprint now and in the future.

2. Raise capital for your business

Every business needs funding to get start running. If you decide to start with a single motorcycle, raising between N500,000 to N600,000 would be more than enough to start your business. From that amount, N200,000 to N350,000 can get you a brand new 200cc bike. You can then invest the rest in office space, marketing, legal, and administrative costs.  

However, you can start with a tokunbo or leased bike which would significantly reduce your startup cost.

3. Get the necessary logistics business permits

Before your bikes can hit the road, they need to be inspected by Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) and approved by the State Ministry of transportation. To do this, you write a letter to the State Ministry of transportation and bring your bike(s) for physical inspection at the VIO office. Upon completion of the inspection, you would get your permits. 

After that, register your vehicles with any vehicle registration center near you. Logistics permit covers only inland logistics business activities. For an international logistics business, you would need to apply for a courier permit.

4. Register your business with the CAC

This step may come before or after getting your logistics permit depending on which you process first. The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is the regulatory body responsible for registering new businesses in Nigeria; therefore, you cannot legally run your logistics business without registering with the CAC.

Usually, this attracts certain fees as listed by the CAC and might take a while. So the earlier you begin your business registration process, the better. Here’s how to register your business with the CAC.

1. Check for availability of the Business Name (click here). Read more about name reservation and Reserve a new Name.
2. Complete pre-registration form – CAC-BNo1 and upload relevant registration documents online using Company Registration Portal.
3. Pay filing fee. Check the Fees for our Services here.
4. Now registration is end-to-end on the COMPANY REGISTRATION PORTAL (CRP) with electronic Certificate of Registration and Certified Extract of registration information
5. Note: Individual/Proprietors can register business names without the services of the legal practitioner, chartered Accountant or Chartered Secretary.

5. Other necessary equipment

Office Space

Except you’re starting from your garage or turning your home into a start-up office, you would need to rent an office space. This is where you would receive and organize delivery orders, handle customers’ inquiries, and handle all paperwork involved in running your bike delivery business. 

Starting with a home office is advisable to save early costs until your revenues can cover the cost of renting an office space.

Office Phone

You would need a mobile phone to communicate with both your customers and dispatch riders. Android phones are the best to use as a start-up. Your dispatch riders can download and use Google maps for easy navigation during deliveries. Asides from that, you can leverage instant messaging tools like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger to save airtime costs.

Work Computer

The primary need for a computer is for keeping records of your bike delivery business. These records include, delivery orders and tracking sheets, customer contact records, payments records, payroll, expenses records, and others. At the early stage of your business, you might need to handle all these records alone. As your business grows, an accountant, receptionist, or office assistant can perform these tasks.

Dispatch riders

Without dispatch riders, no bike-based logistics business can work. In short, this is probably the only reason you succeed or fail on the long run. You must put in special effort in terms of screening and background checks when hiring dispatch riders. Some things to look out for are: 

1. The dispatch rider must know the nooks and crannies of your location and be able to use Google Maps. This is non-negotiable. 
2. He must possess good customer relationship skills. That is being able to show empathy and good manners and handle annoying customers professionally. 
3. He must be trustworthy since dispatch riders are handling goods for delivery and cash for remittance. 
4. He must have good knowledge of riding a bike and do so safely.

Delivery Box

A delivery box is a big box placed on the dispatch bike for holding goods for delivery while the rider is in transit. You should consider investing a good amount of money on a high quality box that is weather resistant and durable.

Branding

Your brand stands you out from competitors in the marketplace. A graphics designer can create logo designs and other branding materials. It’s important that your bikes, dispatch riders, and delivery boxes are properly branded. 

After you have successfully acquired these things, all that is left is adopting a clear marketing strategy and leveraging both offline and online marketing channels to push your business promotions.

Conclusion

The bike delivery business is no doubt lucrative. With a good business plan and strong marketing strategy, anyone can make it big in the Nigerian logistics market.

As an individual bike rider, you can also partner with Kwik as a Kwikster to earn as much as N250,000 monthly. Sign up here to become a Kwikster and get started.