Go with mechanics advice of reading this forum as much as you can. Have your employees read it too. The information you can gain here simply from reading is worth a million bucks. As far as your questions, here is my 2 cents.
1. I would always try to utilize a contract with larger customers. The worst they can do is refuse to sign them. The thing is even if you do have a contract... Would you spend the money for an attorney for breach of contract?
2 . Should you sell outright? What do you think that guy is going to do? He's going to be breaking it down. So should you. Unless your business is so busy you don't have time to break it down and your margins when just flipping it to someone else is where you need to be. I would think you would need tonnage in order to make decent margins without breaking it down. And if it was me, if I had tonnage on a regular basis, I would hire additional staff.
3. The only way I would agree to rent a box truck is only if you plan out all of your customers on a regular schedule pick up. A non CDL (under 26,000 lb gross vehicle weight) box truck rents for about $75 per day. Even if you just did 2 days a week picking up customers that would be $600 a month on rental. Not That bad if you consider you don't have to bother with insurance, maintenance, towing, tires , etc. But it limits how many pick ups you can do per week. How about deliveries? If you choose to rent you need to utilize your time effectively and fill up that truck every time you get it. Transportation can make or break you in this business. It's all about density! The more you get in that truck with the least amount of miles equals less money spent.
2. Should you sell to a guy outright? Why do y
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