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Shoestring
approach has some messengers pedaling to success
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by Alex J. Berkman
New York Daily News, April 20th 2009
Off the beaten path: Hugo Giron (l.) and Colin Miller's messenger
company, Snap Delivery, focuses on Brooklyn.
They weave nimbly through traffic, don’t use even a drop of gasoline
and can promise speedy delivery, so it’s no wonder bike messengers are
in high demand.
Once relegated to rushing documents around the canyons of Wall Street,
street pedalers now get paid for deliveries as diverse as cases of wine
and DVDs. And since the business essentials are mainly a reliable
bicycle, a waterproof bag and a strong dose of fearlessness, many
messengers are breaking free from the fleet and working for themselves.
“The only one that makes money is the independent,” said Hugo Giron,
co-owner and founder of Snap Delivery of Brooklyn.
Giron met business partner Colin Miller while the two worked as
messengers. Giron pitched the idea of being their own bosses soon after
they met, but the wheels didn’t start to turn right away.
Miller moved to San Francisco to work on an Internet startup, but found
a desk job was not for him. He returned to Williamsburg. That’s when
the two got serious about their own company.
Unlike Manhattan, where deliveries of paperwork still dominate, Snap
Delivery found a niche in Brooklyn delivering for a variety of
retailers, including 13 restaurants, two wine shops and a video store.
They managed to keep costs extremely low when they launched last
August, shelling out $1,500 for Web space, advertising and BlackBerrys.
They split the profits of up to $3,500 a month after covering expenses.
Costs are very low because “everything is run from the bag,” Giron said.
Cycle Hawk, a cycle delivery company in Manhattan, takes a different
approach. Operating out of an office on W. 42nd St., the 18-month-old
firm relies mostly on envelope delivery, but invested in equipment in
hopes of broadening sales, said Kevin Bolger, a Cycle Hawk partner,
nicknamed Squid.
The purchase of a trike with a lock-box allows messengers to deliver
boxes of wine. The business is “more and more going to cargo,” he said.
In fact, said Bolger, also the president of the New York Bike Messenger
Association, he thinks the cycle delivery model — largely impervious to
traffic tickets, rush-hour backups and spikes in gas prices — is “the
future of light trucking.”
But being a bike messenger comes with challenges, both physical and
financial.
Bike and bag maintenance are a must, and can cost more than $100 a
month.
Someone new to the job may earn $250 to $400 a week, Bolger said.
Experienced riders can make $500 to $1,000. A rider at a larger
delivery company paid on commission makes about 40% of the cost of
delivery. Snap Delivery pays its riders 80% of each package.
One of the biggest speed bumps riders face is physical danger. Many
don’t have health insurance and most companies don’t offer it, Bolger
said, who had his last major injury in 2005 when he crashed through a
windshield.
Like in any business, a crucial part of success is managing risk. When
it comes to being a messenger, “it’s not how dangerous it is, it’s how
dangerous you are,” Bolger said.
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