A Complete Guide On How To Start An Errand Service

With all the hustle and bustle in the world we are accustomed and are witnessing a huge amount of increased demands as people are more engaged in the activities. Whenever your partner tells you to get the groceries or mend the broken sink pipe, you think, what if someone can run errands while you sit back on your sofa at home, sipping on your coffee?

All such wishes can come true through Errand services apps will help you with the same. The errand service business idea came into existence thanks to someone who figured out how to make money over people’s laziness and help them chill out on their weekends.

Now gifts are being purchased, groceries are being delivered, and people’s needs are being taken care of by professional errand runners. You can also take advantage of fulfilling their requirements by running an errands service business. But what is errand service?

Find out how to start an errands services and develop the best errand service business plan to run your startup successfully.

What Is An Errand Service App?

The classic definition of running errands is a short journey undertaken to deliver or collect something or do a task. Now an errand can be anything as small as picking up tickets for a movie to dropping an essential file to someone.

Now an app that offers errand service is just like any other on-demand app service like food delivery or task runner (another name for errand services). If you have some unimportant task to finish, anyone can do it. You assign an errand service near me and outsource your meagre task, saving more time for the important stuff. You might have used Errand runners services like TaskRabbit or Handy.

On the other hand, the errand runner from the app will have several such tasks to run in a day on their to-do list by various customers. These errand runners will set their schedule so that all the tasks are done correctly in time while minimizing their course of action to save their own time and get more errands done.

If you’re going to run an errand, chances are you won’t just hire them for a single task but might run other errands simultaneously. So, you can also hire a personal errand runner for a few hours or an entire day who will only focus on your errands.

The booming errand business has shown its presence in metropolitan zones and substantial urban communities. The overall growth has been reported at a 10% higher rate for individuals in this errand business.

Thus, it would help if you considered making the errands business ideas to get on the roll with.

Read also: Instacart Business Model

What Are The Best Errand Business Ideas To Launch?

You can either offer a general service where your company’s errand runners will do any task that your customers will hire them to do, or you can go for a particular niche with the errand running services.

For instance, you can cater to senior citizens or college students and work on a niche first by making your initial audience from educational institutes and retirement homes. As your revenue and your business grow, you can expand into wider task-running services for a larger demographic of users.

There are many lucrative errand service examples like online errand service out there. The world is yours to grab. You just need to open your eyes and get what you can to advance.

Here are some of the ideas for errands business ideas:

SEE ALSO – How to Start a Cleaning Business?

These are just the ones we came across within a 5 minute Google search. There would be several more tasks and errands for which you can offer your services with your errand-running app business.

How To Start An Errand Service? – Easy & Simple Steps for Errands Company

The business initial step is the foundation on which rest of the journey of the company can be accomplished. Therefore, through this seven crucial points get an information to start a successful errand services business:

1. Give It A Unique Name

People are attracted to unique and creative brand names. That should be your first step, to think of a name that is:

• Unique & Creative
• Gives an idea of what your business does
• A name that anyone can remember

Individuals like fresh ideas and professionalism, and giving your errand service a name should meet those criteria. However, when you examine something critical and infectious, something nobody else is utilizing or has not been recently commented on.

Consider placing your own name in it, close by your city name if conceivable. Though, before finalizing Errand services name make sure that it is trademarked already.

2. Make Sure You Go Legal

Getting your errands business enrolled will improve your presence. You could even apply for any particular tax write-offs or subsidiaries offered to a new startup. Your legal status resonates the legitimate and trusted side of your business.

Is your startup an association, sole ownership, or restricted risk organization? This is significant because whatever you pick will absolutely influence what charges you settle and your obligation.

Nonetheless, you’ll have to finish up on the authoritative document of your business. Moreover, guarantee you permit your business depending on your state’s procedure. You’ll also need to acquire a government-charge recognizable proof number for your errand service app business.

3. Don’t Start Without Insurance

Insurance can absolutely ensure you in any unlikely circumstance that you or your company faces, whether natural or man-made while starting an errand business. The insurance can be vital for commercial purposes. Besides, there are likewise different insurances you can choose from, and it is best advised to check in with your insurance agency to realize what is required.

4. Promote Your Business

There are numerous approaches to promoting your errands business to a potential audience. You can go the old-fashioned way with posters, flyers, and other paper-based promotional content placed strategically in places like cleaning workplaces, occasions, and putting into distributions around supermarkets, food stores, wine shops, etc.

The best way to promote a digital app-based errand service business is (obviously!) digitally. The internet can be the best way to promote your errand running business, especially on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

5. Gather The Necessary Supplies

Errand services is one such business does not require alot of resources. Most of you are probably familiar with a lot of supplies. Then, its time to plan your Errand business.

You will need a reliable car service to get you to and from also you can offer any other service to your customers and whenever the errands take you too. As per the contact details, you should always have a laptop to check emails and a phone to gear upto the phone calls.

After this, you should consider purchasing business cards as a great way to get your name for getting your prospective customers’ names. To stay organized, consider purchasing business cards. It would be best if you kept some way to keep track of all the appointments and customers.

6. Choose Necessary Services

You must make a list of services that you are willing to offer. Meanwhile, you should also put some things in mind that you have necessary experts while offering them the errand services. Your business could offer many errand services like bank and car errands, dog walking, dry cleaning, grocery shopping and many more.

7. Set The Pricing

The errand runners are getting paid as per work hours and not based on the task. Mainly, the pay for errand services depends on the type of work this gig worker is allotted. Suppose you can charge per mile if your work involves travelling; then you can work outside the regular business hours or on holiday.

You can also consider offering package deals to get the customers to experiment and discover the best things for you. It would help if you experimented a bit more to find out what works best for you.

Errand Service Business Model

Launching and running the errands business is not complicated if you can understand multiple aspects of the business.

Being a business owner prior to starting the errand services your mind should be clear about the errand service business plan and its execution. Hence, through this Errand service business model canvas you can find out the business perspective in an easier manner:

Steps To Build An App For Errand Services

When you are developing an errand service app, there are a couple of things that you should keep in mind to ensure you have a successful service in a highly-competitive market. An errand-running service app will help people who are looking for help: Here’s a general outline of the process to build an app for errand service:

1. Define Your Objectives

Identify the specific service you wish to offer through this application and then determine the target audience. Research the preferences of your target market and the geographical area you will serve.

2. Plan Errand Services Functionality Features

Now that you are clear on the potential of your idea, you can decide on the essential features and functionalities of an delivery and errand services business application. Identify the unique selling points of your app and understand how you can differentiate your app from others.

3. Design Wireframes

You can design a rough sketch or create a wireframe that determines the navigational flow of your app. This way, you will have a better understanding of how different application screens will be connected.

4. Choose a Development Method

You can design a rough sketch or create a wireframe that determines the navigational flow of your app. This way, you will have a better understanding of how different application screens will be connected.

5. Develop Your App

After finalizing the design and development method, the developers can begin the app development process. It is mandatory to develop an app that is user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing, easy to work with, and quick to respond to.

6. Test Your App

After developing the app, it is crucial to test the application in real-life scenarios. If you have developed a robust and seamless app, you are ready to deploy it on an app store.

7. Deploy and Publish

When the app is developed and tested, you can deploy it to relevant app stores like Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or both. Make sure to submit necessary app information like descriptions, screenshots, and promotional materials.

8. Market Your App

You need to promote your app to make sure that the right audience downloads your application. Develop ways to get more users to engage and monitor their responses closely to get an idea about the app’s success ratio.

9. Upgrade

Address your users’ concerns and make regular updates to enhance the user experience and functionality of your app. To stay up-to-date, make sure to continuously monitor your app’s performance, user feedback, and analytics.

How Does An Errand Service App Work?

The working of an Errand Service App is simple.

• The customer posts the work that s/he requires an errand runner for.
• The app shows available errand runners alongside their hourly rates and experience level.
• The errand runner chosen will receive the request and can accept or decline the errand request as per their availability.
• The Errand runner completes the task that he is hired for and receives online payment for the work done.
• The app cuts a commission rate on the transaction and gives it to the app owner, you.
• All the errand runners in your database should be completely skilled and hired only after a thorough background check.

How Can You Earn Money Through An Errand Service?

As the founder of an errand service app startup, you can earn in multiple ways from this business model. There are numerous income sources that you can use. Nonetheless, if your platform like errand service offers some incentive to the clients, you can benefit from the accompanying sources:

1. Commission Rates

The most generally perceived way to deal with getting benefits from such help is to take the commission from the deal. It may very well be a rate from the installment or a fixed charge from each settled negotiation.
For instance, your errand service app takes 12-15% of the total cost got by the errand runners for their complete services.

2. Membership Fees

You may utilize a freemium model by giving some fundamental features to the clients for free and afterward empowering clients to overhaul services for more advanced features and services.

3. Ad Promotion

A few businesses of a similar niche give their coordinating services for free to both the stakeholders. You can offer ad space on your app for companies with the have the same customer demographic as yours. You can charge for advertisements on a monthly plan.

4. Business Partnership

You can get a partner commission from buys by having a business relationship with specific brands like Ikea, Amazon, or eBay. You will give a ‘one-stop-shop’ to clients, saving their time and expanding fulfillment from using your platform.

See More: How to Make a Technology Startups Business Plan

Cost To Build Errand Services/Errand Runner App

The cost to build an app for errand services can vary significantly based on several factors like complexity of features, platform selection (Android, iOS, or both), responsiveness of the design, development approach (hybrid or native), geographic location of the app development team, and additional services.

On average, the cost of developing an errand service app can range from $32,000 to $65,000. However, you can further bifurcate it as:

• MVP Application: $10,000 – $12,000
• Website/Software: $20,000 – $30,000
• Fully Functional Web and Mobile App: $40,000 – $60,000

It is crucial to note that the actual cost will depend on the specific requirements.

The Future Of Errand Service Apps

The world around us keeps on changing, and to catch up with its pace, we need to change too. As long as there will be people around, their needs will never diminish. And, in metropolitan cities, people are always busy.

So, the need for an errand service app will only keep growing for years. Believe me, when I say this, the journey has just begun.

It is safe to assume that your “what is errand?” question has been answered thoroughly. We have gone through the A-Z list of errand services. The business model of the errand business is catching on big time.

To put the icing on the cake, it is always better to go down the road with a pinch of digitization attached to your customers’ stellar experience. So, what are your thoughts on this? Don’t hesitate to touch base with us and connect with us now.

FAQs

1. How do I become a personal errand runner?

There are specific qualifications that you need to take careof for becoming an errand runner, including a valid driver’s license and a high school diploma to become an errand runner.

2. How much do people get paid to run errands?

The professional errand services runner can get paid an average of $15 to $50 per hour. If you are in a major city, then you can charge even more.

3. How does an errand service work?

Errand services have many types and areas like shopping, making appointments, pick-up and drop-in, reservation, and many more. If you can offer plenty of services in the errand service, it can be profitable.

4. Can I make money running errands for elderly?

Running errand services for seniors can be a perfect idea to make a hefty amount of money, as they need something frequently as senior citizens. Such people are homebound and need help completing errands that are mostly done weekly, such as grocery shopping, picking up dry cleaned clothes, stopping at the bank, etc.

Author

Mayur Panchal

Mayur Panchal is the CTO of aPurple. He is a thought leader in web and mobile technologies. Through his excellence and a keen interest in the latest technologies, he has successfully led many app developments and web development-related projects. He believes his immense knowledge on this stuff should be sent out to the outer world through articles and blogs so he writes a weekly article on this clone app-providing company.