Running a Packers and Movers Business: Quotes, Crews, Cash

• 01Quotes come from a phone call or a ten-minute visit with nothing written down. Stairs, lift access, parking distance and bulky items turn up on the day, and the extra crew time comes out of the owner's pocket.
• 02Crews and trucks are assigned by whoever is free that morning. A truck runs half empty on a short local job while a long job waits for a second vehicle, and nobody knows what a crew-day or a vehicle-day costs.
• 03Damage and loss complaints are settled one at a time, with the loudest customer getting the most. There is no count of claims per hundred jobs, no cost per claim and no link back to the crew or the packing method.
• 04Moves bunch into school holidays and month ends. Casual labour and hired vehicles are arranged at the last minute at high rates, then sit idle in the weeks after.
• 05The advance is taken loosely and the balance is promised on delivery. The truck is unloaded, the customer says tomorrow, and corporate relocation bills wait on a reimbursement cycle that the cash plan never counted.

• Quote against actual cost

  For each job, quote less crew, vehicle, fuel, tolls and material. Divide what is left by the quote.

• Crew-days and vehicle-days per job type

  Person-days and truck-days logged against each job, divided by the number of jobs of that size.

• Claims per hundred jobs

  Jobs with a damage or loss complaint, divided by jobs done, times 100. Add the amount settled per claim.

• Balance collected on delivery

  Jobs where the balance was paid on delivery day, divided by jobs delivered. List the rest by days outstanding.

The 1BHK with an extra floor looks like a small job, but it leaves the least. The office shift leaves the most per rupee quoted. Sorting jobs this way shows which enquiries need a firmer survey.

• 01Quoting from a phone description, so the quote against actual cost drifts on every job with stairs or a long carry.
• 02Assigning trucks by who is free, which pushes up vehicle-days per job type without anyone noticing.
• 03Settling each damage claim on its own, with no count of claims per hundred jobs to show which crew or packing method is behind them.

• 01A survey form with photos and fixed questions: floor, lift, parking distance, bulky items, dismantling and packing scope.
• 02A quote sheet built from crew-days, vehicle-days, packing material, fuel and tolls, with the margin shown as its own line.
• 03A daily crew and vehicle roster that matches job size to truck size and shows free days.
• 04A packing material issue and return count per job.
• 05A claim register with job, crew, cause and cost, read monthly.
• 06A peak-season roster with a casual labour pool and vehicle hire planned ahead.
• 07An advance and balance schedule, with a rule that the balance is collected before the last box is unloaded.
• 08A weekly owner review of margin per job against the quote.

1. Take your last ten moves and write down the quote, the crew-days and vehicle-days really used, material, fuel and tolls. Sort them by what was left over.
2. Hypothetical example: a 2BHK move is quoted at ₹20,000 on the plan of four people for one day at ₹900 each (₹3,600), truck and fuel ₹5,000 and material ₹2,000. That leaves ₹9,400. With no lift the job runs into a second day: crew ₹7,200, truck ₹10,000 and material ₹2,000 make ₹19,200, and only ₹800 is left.
3. From today, ask three questions on every enquiry: which floor, is there a lift, how far can the truck park. Write the answers on the quote.
4. List every job from the last month where the balance was paid late and note how many days after delivery it arrived.

1. First call: you describe the business and the numbers you already track.
2. Your first sheet: the one described under What you get, built from your own books.
3. The rhythm: a regular review of quote against actual cost, crew-days and vehicle-days per job type, claims per hundred jobs, balance collected on delivery.
4. What you hold at the end: a written sheet and a named owner for each number.

• Financial Health Audit

  A management-level review of margin by product, the cash cycle, receivables and costs, ending in indicators you track monthly. Not a statutory audit.

• Business Audit

  Financial Health Audit is part of Business Audit. See the full service if the problem is wider than one piece.

• Our revenue is growing, but our profit is not

  Sales are up but the money left over is not. Find where margin leaks in pricing, discounts, rework and overheads, and what to check this week.

• Cash is always tight, even when sales look good

  Full order book but an empty account? See how collections, stock, credit terms and timing gaps drain cash, and how a 13-week forecast eases the squeeze.

• How this differs from Freight and transport companies

  A freight company sells lanes and loads on contract rates. A packers and movers business sells a survey-based quote to a household and collects an advance and a balance.

• How this differs from Self-storage and storage facilities

  Storage earns rent on space month after month; a mover earns once per job and watches crew-days and vehicle-days instead of occupancy.