Namibia: Engineers deliver goods door-to-door

EasiPost Couriers. Credit: The Namibian/All Africa.

From observations, EasiPost Couriers is the country's fastest growing start-up courier enterprise, with additional services in logistics including door-to-door delivery, real-time parcel tracking, insurance on parcels, same day deliveries, flexible payment options and many other packages.

Of late, this business model has become the talk of the town, especially among young people. But the story behind its formation will make one to talk even more about it.

It all started when engineering postgraduate student Moses Pius and fellow engineers Rafael Kalumbu and Thomas Shuuya worked on the courier idea and got it into motion early this year.

Pius told The Namibian in an interview this week, that they started off by operating one route between Windhoek and Walvis Bay, and eventually expanding operations to offering intra-town deliveries in Windhoek, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, and recently the northern route.

He described EasiPost Couriers as a door-to-door courier and delivery business, striving to become one of the best in Africa.

EasiPost Couriers is a paid service through which individuals and organisations can send packages daily, big or small, between Windhoek and Walvis Bay, Walvis Bay/Windhoek to northern towns and all other towns along these routes.

"EasiPost was established this year to make courier services easier to access, more affordable and payment methods more convenient," Pius said.

Solution

Before one starts a business, they must recognise a problem and come in with a solution in the form of a business venture.

The three engineers saw frustration from the shortcomings of established operators and told themselves they could offer a better and comprehensive courier service.

Pius said they recognised the need for a courier enterprise that is innovative and can leverage technology to provide solutions that are fast, reliable, secure and easy to use.

The trio had a strong desire to establish a unique brand that identifies with the needs of Namibians and enterprises which are advancing in conducting their businesses with convenient courier partners.

After working on a clear business plan, the three partners contributed to the start-up capital and started operating on a 'small' budget. But today, a few months down the line, the company has grown and employs five people with plans to expand further.

Pius said they cater for everyone, from individuals to corporate entities. He said EasiPost is tech savvy, and offers a free parcel tracking service, online payment options, e-wallet/blue wallet services, which makes their services easily accessible to a broad clientele base.

"Our uniqueness is in the fact that we strive to make the collection of a parcel from one doorstep and deliver it to another as seamless as possible, catering for busy office people, or those who wish to take care of other business while we take care of their deliveries," he said.

But like any business, the company also experiences challenges, especially teething problems associated with a new kid on the block.

Youth enterprise

For this business, convincing potential clients to work with them is challenging and in addition, getting attention in a loud and crowded market place dominated by well-established market leaders, is another challenge.

"For an example, the market leaders are NamPost couriers, DHL and others, but we are starting to realise that it is up to us to show why we are different and why potential customers have a better deal with us," he said of the challenges.

Availability and access to capital in order to expand their business services and reach out to as many clients is also a challenge for this new venture, although the trio said they have patience and that perseverance has seen them through.

"While we are driven to grow our business and generate revenue, we are also encouraging Namibians to participate and support youth enterprises through our start-up initiative called "EasiPost Entrepreneurs' Hub" and the promotion of safe driving since it is part of our daily operations, an effort to curb high accident rates on national roads," he said.