The document discusses the challenges that small businesses face when entering the large and competitive freight industry. It notes that starting a freight brokerage business has low startup costs but contacting carriers and building an industry network takes significant time. An express freight franchise like InXpress can help solve these challenges by providing access to an established global carrier network and business support systems. This allows franchisees to compete effectively in the freight market while maintaining the advantages of independence and low overhead that come with small business ownership.

1. [1] “Safe, efficient and sustainable domestic and international transport systems are vital to Australia’s continuing prosperity.”
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/transport/
[2] http://internationaltransportforum.org/statistics/
[3] Nina Kaufman, http://www.entrepreneur.com/answer/221632
[4] http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/8167.0~2011-12~Main+Features~Business+Structure+and+Arrangement
s?OpenDocument
[5] http://www.franchise.edu.au/home/topics/franchise-australia-topics/franchising-grows-to-$131-billion-sector
[6] http://www.whichfranchise.net.au/index.cfm?event=getArticle&articleID=689
www.inxpress.com.au

2. www.inxpress.com.au
Advantages of Combining Small and Big Business
Keys to Success in the Freight Industry

3. The freight industry is a global market worth over $65
billion and is growing all of the time, with container traffic
growing by 5% globally in 2013, and the amount of goods
being transported growing by 3% in Australia in 20132
.
While this marketplace is global, it is not out of the reach
of a small business operator. Home-based companies
can begin a freight brokerage business with relatively
low start-up costs, securing their own piece of the ample
freight industry.
Even though a freight business can be operated as a
small business, starting in the freight business can
be fraught with problems. Contacts and information
networks are key to success in an industry that depends
on knowledge of who can reliably transport what to
where, and the related costs.
Another challenge is competition with the established
businesses. Start-up businesses must get the sort of
price that will allow competition with the established
and bulk-movement freight businesses that can ship
bulk orders and run low margins. When the rates of
the carriers change, will new businesses adjust prices?
What affect can this have on their bottom line?
These industry-specific challenges come on top of the
normal challenges that face any new business operator
– establishing the business and client base, training
staff, developing and shaping business procedures.
Even the smallest of businesses need a solid team of
advisors – for insurance, record-keeping, legal issues
and banking3
.
Starting from scratch and developing solutions to these
problems will take time away from doing business, and
so cost owners money.
Research can be an effective way of developing an
effective network of carriers in the freight industry.
Through researching directories and trade magazines,
following up on reports, word-of-mouth and attending
industry-specific gatherings a business operator
can develop the sort of network that can make them
competitive. But time spent developing a network from
scratch is time away from the business.
Small Players in a Big Game
One of the key enablers of today’s global economy is the ability to send an item across the world in an extremely
short space of time. The interconnectivity of the marketplace makes it necessary that industries and expertise from
all across the world combine to create the tools and consumables we use every day; be they the imported fruit and
vegetables in our freezer, to our mobiles phones and desktop computers.
The transport systems used to send materials across the world create an ongoing market that is secured not only by
economic necessity, but by government policy1
.
Introduction

4. “An express freight
franchise can solve
many of the challenges
of starting in the freight
industry”
InXpress, with its 15 year history of success in the
global freight industry as a freight business and as a
franchise operator, offers an option for those who want
to take advantage of the business opportunities in the
freight industry.
InXpress has developed a network of carriers that allow
the franchisee to optimise the marketplace for their
franchisees. Agreements with carriers across the globe
to allow franchisees to provide international express,
domestic express, freight and mail services from
experienced and proven carriers to their customers.
Through combined buying power, InXpress assists
small and medium businesses to secure international
and domestic express courier rates that are normally
reserved for large volume shipping businesses. The
global agreements with world-class carriers allow
InXpress franchisees to offer discount rates comparable
to the bulk freight companies while still providing the
‘small business touch’ that delivers excellent and
specialised customer service.
InXpress franchisees are provided access to a fully
integrated system, with the training and support to
help them develop their business and customer base.
This approach answers the challenges of many new
businesses of training staff, developing procedures,
and negotiating the hurdles of financial advice and
legal support.
In this way the business operator is saved time, effort
and money by being provided with unique solutions for
express, freight and mail services through world-class
carriers with a solid market reputation. Their business
model provides solutions to the challenges of starting
up a business in the freight industry thereby allowing
the franchisee to be independent and set their own
level of prosperity.
Find Your Place in Freight with InXpress
Small businesses will rarely get a fair share of trade
in big business. Big business will undercut in price to
help remove competitors from the market. The only real
advantage a small business has is that it can adapt, and
can provide personal service. While superior service
helps a small business compete, the advantage big
business has in obtaining saving through bulk purchases
will always be hard to beat.
Just as franchising offers the twin benefits of working
independently and being a part of a larger support
network, an express freight franchise can solve many of
the challenges of starting in the freight industry.
More than 5% of businesses in Australia are franchise
systems4
, employing over 400,000 people5
and
generating $131bn revenue generated from franchising,
which is 14% of the GDP6
. Franchises are a significant
part of the economy and a reliable way of doing business.
Finding Your Edge