Capacity Building in Courier Service

In courier business just as in other spheres of human existence, increasing capacity is one of the necessary ingredients. No company would want to remain the same way it was established without any sign of growth.
In the 21st century  dynamics where economies are graded as haves and have nots, businesses are also polarized along the same line as small scale, medium and large scale enterprises, the same way courier companies are ranked in terms of each courier company’s  capacity and capability  in the industry .
Capacity building has to do with repositioning a courier company to be able to play active role in its line of business. As the Nigerian economy is expanding with more foreign direct investment flowing into the country, every sector of the economy that plays complementary role especially those that are service driven like the courier companies have also to shape up. Many of the courier companies ordinarily would want to expand and become some of the dominant players in the industry but they are limited by some factors which they don’t have control over. One is that the Nigerian environment is harsh for industries to thrive. The infrastructures that are needed to serve as a spring board for small and medium scale businesses to thrive are not there. One opening a business concern has first of all to make provision for a stand- by generator which most of the times ends up serving as the main source of power generation for the business. This increases cost f operations and cuts down the profit margin of businesses.  States and local governments also impose arbitrary taxes on some of these companies that struggle to see the light of the day. Deplorable condition of the roads across the country is another area of challenge. This has direct impact on vehicles leading to increase in maintenance costs, reduction in life span of vehicles and waste of time and manpower as several hours that would have been used for production are spent in the traffic.
Never the less, in the area where courier companies specifically can improve capacity are in human capital development.  Human development is an important aspect in the courier service. It has to do with improving the quality of staff that work in the organization. The workers have direct contact with the customers and they therefore serve as the prism through which other organizations look at a particular company. There is need for constant training and seminars for the staff of an organization to increase corporate performance, specialization and job satisfaction. 
There are new developments which can be shared and keep workers of a courier company abreast of information and new trends in the industry which will improve the quality of the staff and invariably translate to more productivity for the company.
There is also the need for infrastructural development by courier companies to be able to play big in the courier business. Information and Communications Technology has expanded the scope of the business and it becomes imperative to use these ICT tools to deliver service. Courier companies that are thinking capacity expansion or building must tap into this. The company also has the need to have functional vehicles that are ready to deliver service any time. Since electricity is a major challenge in the country, solid plans must be made to have a standard power generating set that will supply energy to the company.
Courier companies must also think of expanding their networks. The Courier Regulatory Department requirement is that every courier company must have at least five branch offices for a start. There is need that as courier companies are growing that more offices are established to make sure that their services get to every where. Courier companies should also explore faster means of servicing their clients other than the road transport system that is riddled with hiccups.
To be able to build capacity, more capital is required to be injected into the company but courier operators interviewed said that getting a loan from the bank is little the proverbial camel passing through the eye of a needle. Banks should encourage small and medium scale industries by giving them credit facilities. Real development of the economy starts from this sector. The sector has been able to employ good number of job seekers that would have been wondering the streets. Banks want quick turn over and can afford to give out loan to businessmen who are ready to import and share some of the proceeds with the manager of the bank where the loan was accessed.