How much do you need to start a delivery business

The question “how much do I need to start a delivery business” has a misleading answer, because the startup number is not what fails people. You can open owner-operator for a few thousand dollars. What sinks new couriers is the second number nobody asks about: monthly burn, the cost that hits every month whether or not the route is full. A $45k new Sprinter has a small startup cost (the down payment) and a brutal burn (about $2,700 a month once the payment lands). Get burn right and the startup figure almost takes care of itself.

The vehicle decides everything, so start with it

Sixty to ninety percent of your startup number is the vehicle, which means the buy-versus-lease-versus-used call is the whole budget. A used cargo van at $8k to $18k keeps both startup cash and monthly burn low. A new van financed at $45k has a small down payment but a roughly $700 to $900 monthly payment that you carry through every slow week. Leasing sits in between, lower cash out, a fixed monthly, and mileage caps that punish high-volume routes.

For a first van, buy used and cheap until a route is booked, then finance the newer vehicle from cash flow. The vehicle-first logic runs through the best way to start a delivery business, and the full gear list is in buying equipment and supplies.

Add the rows and a lean opening comes to roughly $3k to $14k. A multi-van fleet with W-2 drivers, a bigger insurance floor, and dispatch software jumps to $30k to $80k.

Monthly burn is the number that actually matters

Add up every cost that hits every month: van payment or lease, commercial auto and cargo insurance, fuel, phone and software, and a maintenance reserve. That is your burn, and it is the number that tells you how long you can survive before the route fills. A lean owner-operator on a used van runs $1,500 to $2,500 a month all-in; a financed new van adds a $700 to $900 payment, so it runs about $2,200 to $3,400.

The point of keeping burn low is survival time. Delivery revenue does not switch on; it ramps over 60 to 90 days as accounts onboard and referrals build. Low burn means you can wait out the ramp; high burn means you are racing a clock you set yourself.

Where you can cut, and where you must not

Some startup costs are optional and some are load-bearing. Cut the vehicle cost (buy used), the branding (magnets over wraps), and the software stack (start with one routing app) freely. Do not cut insurance, the reserve, or the entity, because each one is the thing that turns a bad day into a bankruptcy instead of an inconvenience.

The rule: bootstrap until the first van runs at more than 80 percent capacity and the reserve is intact, then finance growth from proven cash flow, not hope. If you are truly starting with nothing, the free-and-cheap path is laid out in start a delivery business with no money.

Getting found is the part that decides everything

Budgeting a lean start is only half the battle; the route has to fill fast enough to beat your burn. Two free moves this week shorten the ramp: fully complete a Google Business Profile so local searches surface you immediately, and directly pitch five independent businesses that already deliver badly, because a signed account is worth more than any amount of saved startup cash. The local playbook is in how to promote a delivery business locally, and client tactics are in how to get clients and customers.

Then the higher-stakes work. A courier website is what turns a searching business owner into a booked route while your reserve is still intact. Done right it loads fast on a phone, states your niche and coverage area, and gives a quote form plus click-to-call. The gap between a site that fills routes and one that just exists is invisible until you compare who calls, and a slow ramp is exactly what burns through a reserve. To have it handled, get a free video walkthrough of a website for your delivery business. For Google Ads and local SEO, see our services. If you have the idea but not the plan, start at expntl.com.

Where these numbers come from

• IRS: standard mileage rates sets the 2026 business rate at 72.5 cents a mile (January to June) and 76 cents (from July 1). A van that runs 25,000 business miles a year is about $18,000 to $19,000 at those rates, which covers fuel, wear and depreciation. It is a useful cross-check on whether your monthly burn is realistic.
• BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers puts median pay at $43,950 a year, $21.13 an hour (May 2025). Use it when you cost your own time or a first W-2 driver.
• IRS: independent contractor (self-employed) or employee? explains the tests that decide whether a driver you direct must be an employee, which drives the multi-van fleet costs.
• SBA: calculate your startup costs says to count at least a year of monthly expenses in your projections. Our three-month burn reserve is a minimum for surviving the ramp, so extend it if your first accounts are slow to onboard.
• SBA: apply for licenses and permits confirms that licenses and permits vary by state, county and city, so the registration line is a range.

Van prices, insurance premiums, gear and software costs are planning estimates, not quotes or audited numbers. Check them locally: price three used cargo vans, get a monthly commercial auto and cargo quote from a broker for your route type, and ask your first client what payment terms they use.