Now Mail Packaging and Postal Service celebrated its second anniversary in March. It is one of those local twenty-first century small businesses that have found their way into niche markets arising out of the growth in demand for support services from the transformation of the Guyana economy. The quick and easy movement of goods, ranging from packages of important documents to consignments of household furniture has become one of the more sought-after services in both the public and private sectors.
Now Mail has jumped in ‘at the deep end,’ its operational structure still seemingly a work in progress. What appears to be driving the fledgling company is the thirst for success and the seemingly unbridled optimism of its founder and Chief Executive Officer. Colin Goodluck is 32, affable, enlightened and altogether unfazed by the challenges associated with doing business.
Most of his knowledge of planning and executing strategies to respond to logistical challenges has derived from his earlier job with a locally-based Chinese company concerned with exports. Goodluck, whose rise within the company appeared to have been close to meteoric, told Stabroek Buusiness that he learnt to deal with the complex institutional, organizational and logistical challenges associated with moving large volumes of cargo out of Guyana as well as interacting with the various external agencies associated with ensuring that the cargo arrives at its intended destination safely and without undue delay.
Goodluck explains that the movement of goods is attended by a thicket of local and global regulations and procedures and that the effectiveness is entirely dependent on its understanding of the procedures that govern the work of the organizations associated with the job of moving materiel.
His job as a facilitator/expeditor lasted five years – 2006-2011; after that he had more-or-less become qualified to start an enterprise which he had already fashioned in his mind.
There are no needless complexities to the Now Mail service. It offers its customers the opportunity to move goods ranging from ‘a pin to an anchor’ to destinations in Guyana and beyond. Routine coastal deliveries are covered mostly by the three vehicles owned by the company. For more challenging jobs Goodluck has learnt how to press other modes of transportation into service. It is, for example, not uncommon for Now Mail to dispatch consignments of cargo to distant destinations in speedboats accompanied by couriers.
The growth of administrative transactions as part of the local business culture has also helped to grow the company’s mail service. Goodluck says that there is a growing market for the quick and reliable movement of mail…envelopes containing legal documents, birth, marriage and death certificates required in various places for various transactions and other “papers.” These days, doing business can require a bewildering array of paper credentials and the speedy and safe movement of documents is a niche that has attracted a fair measure of entrepreneural interest.
Inevitably, Goodluck has sought – with a fair measure of success, he says – to externalize Now Mail’s service. With on-line shopping having become one of the fastest growing trends among local consumers Goodluck has used his experience to good effect. Much of the company’s revenue comes from the movement of goods from abroad…”enough to keep us very interested,” the Now Mail boss says. He says that the volume of patronage in this area has to do with the significant expansion in consumerism associated with the increase in the number of shopping sites and, by extension, in the range of goods available.
Imports apart, Now Mail’s operations also includes an international shipping service that facilitates the movement of cargo by air and sea to the Caribbean and North America.
Berbice has been the backbone of Now Mail’s business. Goodluck estimates that more than 50 per cent of the company’s revenue comes from its Berbice market while a further 15 per cent is accounted for by its Linden customers. Service to Essequibo accounts for five per cent of revenue. While research has been undertaken into the viability of the hinterland market, Goodluck says that what his company’s study suggests is that the movement of goods from the coast to the mining communities is, in many if not most cases, handled by the miners themselves, utilizing their own transportation.
At the Company’s Howes Street, Charlestown premises consignments for movement to various parts of the country are appropriately wrapped or otherwise packaged, weighed and/or measured. Charges are arrived at based on calculations that factor in a various considerations associated with the degree of difficulty linked to delivery. There are also additional costs depending on the degree of urgency associated with the delivery.
Business may be growing but there are still more mountains left to climb, Now Mail is hoping that its recent ‘trial run’ with the delivery of bills for the Guyana Water Inc. might lead to bigger, more permanent contracts. Goodluck says that during the three-month period during which the water company’s bills were delivered by Now Mail, the company acquitted itself well.
In recent times Now Mail has also sent proposals to several prominent local companies offering its services.
Now Mail is managed through a network of “Home Offices,” modest spaces in the homes of the company’s agents in the various regions. Goodluck says that the company currently runs “Home Offices” at Corentyne, Rosignol, Linden, Diamond, and on the West Coast Demerara.
Focused as he is on increasing market share, Goodluck says that much of his time is spent tailoring the services he provides to meet customer requirements. He understands, he says that the nature of the business requires sustained improvement in customer service. “There really isn’t a great deal of room for error in this business,” Goodluck says.
