Is it worthwhile to rent a car to do catalogue deliveries?

I run a business where catalogues/books are the main source of promotion/advertising new products. Right now I%26#039;m trying to keep my costs down, so I%26#039;m looking at the option of renting a car for a couple of days for delivering books to my customers/prospects, since I don%26#039;t use a vehicle on a regular basis.

I do use a delivery service, but I found that the costs are getting too high right now, so I%26#039;m looking for alternatives. My Canada Post expenses were getting too high as well.

Right now I can%26#039;t afford to lease or purchase another vehicle. In my family, we have one car that my husband uses to go to work for the afternoon/evenings. I also work a night shift job along with running my business during the rest of the time, so there%26#039;s very limited time.

I just want my business to succeed so that I don%26#039;t have to work nights anymore. We also have a 4 year old son, that I want to spend more time with. Personal finances are getting very tight, trying to pay them off. Please help.

Is it worthwhile to rent a car to do catalogue deliveries?

I do the same time of thing but I have leased a car for many years which I get to write-off of my taxes (Canadian).

I wouldn%26#039;t expect you to be able to do the same. I know what you mean about not have enough extra cash for things.

I would rent a car if your territory doesn%26#039;t have high parking fees. If you are downtown then just buy a cheap suitcase with wheels (Sears has some crazy cheap deals sometimes) and just take the bus and walk the routes. This is what my other team members do on my team who work downtown.

For my territory which is just north of the city I would maybe occur about $30 max in parking expenses cause there are many parking lots that I don%26#039;t have to pay for.

Back to renting a car. Yes I think it would be a great idea. If you can really plan out your territory in a way that you can get an idea how many days it would take to deliver all of those catalogues then you can get idea of how much it would cost.

At Enterprise for a small car is about $25-30 a day. If you pick it up early in the morning, do your route and then drop it back off then you will only have to pay for the one day. Use your credit card for the insurance on the rental. If your card doesn%26#039;t have that option or you don%26#039;t have a credit card then just use your car insurance (call your broker if your not sure whether you have rental insurance on your policy). If so use that to avoid the optional charges. I kknow many people in the rental car business and they have always said that the rental insurance is just an up sell for them and their sales people are trained to be pushy about it to make a higher margin sell.

If you can get away with delivering you catalogues in two days then you would only occur a max of $60. If you are working for yourself these charges would be allowed to be written off on your taxes for 2007 next year. KEEP ALL OF YOUR RECEIPTS!

Plan out your territory according to the easiest and quickest drop off drive route that you can get to help make the drop offs quicker and get more in, in one day.

Again, for any catalogue sales, having a roller case of some kind (even a super cheap suitcase on wheels) is the best way to deliver them so you don%26#039;t have to keep going back to your car to get more of them when you have run out.

It also allows you to park your car in one spot and walk the small area that your clients are in to make it quicker then trying to find a new parking spot each time.

I have been doing this for 4 years and have had a lot of experience in catalogue drop offs. They suck but it is a needed part of the job.

All you would need is a super small car. Call around for the cheapest rate in your area. I think Enterprise would be the cheapest.

Good luck!!

Is it worthwhile to rent a car to do catalogue deliveries?

I think you really have to look at your bottom line. How much is it going to cost you to rent the car and how much is your time worth when delivering these catalogues, and what kind of return you are getting for the money that you are spending. I know its all tax deductable, but if you can%26#039;t make a reasonable profit the only one your are fooling is yourself. You could probably cut down your costs by contracting out the work to somebody that%26#039;s already on the road anyway and offer them a price that suits your budget. But you have to advertise in your local paper probably to find someone. You could also look at other ways of making money on line without leaving the house without spending any money . I have currently two different ways of making money on line, but at this time I am not at liberty to disclose that information. But soon I hope. Good Luck

Is it worthwhile to rent a car to do catalogue deliveries?

I have had home businesses for many years and I would have to say no. It%26#039;s not worth it. Your callback rate is what you have to consider here, how many people actually call you back once they have a catalog? The average is about 5%. That%26#039;s a very expensive way of getting the word out there.

In any business, the follow-up is always crucial. You would be better off getting yourself a reverse directory, choosing however many streets you want to target, and mailing out your catalog with a personal cover letter. Then call those people back within a week and ask them for their order. If they are not interested, ask them to pass the catalog along to someone at work or someone they know.

If you are open to another stream of income, I would be happy to show you my business model and how it works. It%26#039;s something you can do from home and we market only one product, so there are no catalog deliveries.

I am also in Canada, Calgary actually, and I would love to tell you more and perhaps we can get rid of that part time job.