If You Started a Delivery Business, What Would Be Your Jam?

No doubt Americans appreciate a good delivery service. We love the whole idea of delivery in general. And because we love it so much, there are lots of companies making a ton of money doing it. So just for giggles, here’s a question: if you were to start a delivery company, what would be your jam?

Below are descriptions of some of the most popular types of delivery services in America. All of them are big money makers. Undoubtedly, there are others this author has not even thought of. Service providers are willing to deliver just about anything to our front doors.

1. Packages

If there is one type of delivery that really defines the service as a whole, it would have to be package delivery. This is a crowded space to get into. For starters, you have the big boys: the USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL. et al. And then there’s Amazon. The world’s largest retailer rarely relies on third-party delivery services anymore. It runs its own delivery vehicles from warehouses all over the country.

The only way you could make a go of it in the package delivery business would be to provide some sort of service no one else offers. Good luck with that. It seems like the big boys have all the bases covered.

2. Business Documents

In America’s biggest cities, couriers make money by transporting business documents all around town. It is big business in cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The beauty of this particular jam is that you don’t have to run a big time operation to make money. Plenty of smaller operators have made a good living working as couriers over the years.

3. Restaurant Food

Food delivery has been an American staple for decades. In the early days, Chinese and pizza were the only types of restaurant food you could get delivered to your home. Not only that, but restaurants also employed their own delivery drivers. Things are a lot different these days.

There are entire companies that do nothing but pick up food orders from local restaurants and deliver them to customer homes. Hungry consumers can get everything from Italian to Asian and Greek to Mexican delivered in less than an hour.

Restaurant food delivery is also a pretty crowded space. But it is not so crowded as to preclude new operators. There is still enough room for more competition.

4. Cannabis/Marijuana

If you are looking to get in on the ground floor of an emerging industry, consider offering medical cannabis and/or recreational marijuana delivery in states where it is legal. As the legalized marijuana movement has spread across the country, the cannabis industry has exploded.

Beehive Farmacy is a Utah medical cannabis pharmacy with locations in Brigham City and Salt Lake City. They say that, even in a largely rural state like theirs, home delivery is a hit with customers. The demand is there if you are willing to take a few risks.

5. Groceries

Rounding out our list is grocery home delivery. Like restaurant food delivery, companies that offer grocery delivery actually go pick up customer orders from the store and make deliveries direct to front doors. The only caveat with this particular business model is that it takes time to shop.

Home delivery is all the rage. It is not likely going away at any point in the near future. So if you are an enterprising individual looking to start your own business, this is an industry you might want to look into. There is money to be made if you are willing to work.