If you have a van, a drivers licence and a smartphone you can make money.
Be sure to check out our tips for earning more.
There’s no doubt if you have a van you can make extra cash with all kinds of services that can be offered to people who are looking for help every day.
Whether you are looking for full-time work or just as one of a few potential side hustle ideas we have covered as many ways to make money with a van as possible.
Have a look through all the ideas. Think about whether you want to work for a third party who will provide you with a days work from day one, or whether you want to find your own work and potentially earn more.
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How to Make Money with a Van
There are multiple ways to make money with a van. From signing up to be a delivery driver to providing local man with van services for assisting with house clearances and removals.
Below we have gone though a range of ideas to make extra cash from your van, either working for someone else or starting your own self-employed business.
Delivery Driver / Courier
One of the most obvious ways to make extra money with a van is to use it for deliveries and collections.
Now more than ever as a society we are ordering goods online for home delivery and many of these delivery services use self-employed driver services.
Demand for self-employed delivery drivers is forever growing, and there’s always a wide range of options available.
A good-sized van will give you the advantage of being able to fill it with more and larger items so you can earn more than people doing the same work with a car. Plus with more space, you can organise your deliveries more effectively.
You can set up yourself or consider signing up for work with will known courier firms:
- Amazon Flex ( self employedAmazon delivery driver)
- Hermes (self-employed drivers)
- Vanuse (on-demand van driver service)
- Yodel (self-employed drivers)
You can expect to earn around £10-£15 an hour from this kind of work.
You could apply for jobs as a driver for one of the above companies, or generate your own direct delivery relationships with local businesses that require regular delivery of their products, which we cover in more detail below.
Apply for Other Van Owner Jobs
As well as well known courier firms there are numerous other van owner job vaccines offered by all kinds of small to medium and large companies.
Just looking at the job site Indeed, there is no end of jobs for van owners.
Removals
People are changing accommodation of all kinds every day and need their belongings transporting from one property to another.
For many people, a full lorry removal service is not required a smaller and cheaper man with a van alternative is enough to move everything in one go.
There are all kinds of removals taking place, including:
- Flat Removals
- Studios
- Bungalows
- Holiday Homes
- Care Homes
- Office removals
You may be able to make extra money by providing suitable packaging and storage boxes.
For some jobs, you may need extra equipment such as a sack barrow, trolleys, blankets, sofa protectors, and straps to assist with safely transporting goods to and from the van itself.
House and Garage Clearances
Clutter builds and before you know it some people have more than a few car fulls to get rid of it.
Not to mention homeowners dying, tenants leaving stuff behind at properties when they move or are evicted etc.
Whatever the reason, people will pay for you to clear their property.
They may designate where it should go or they may just leave it in your hands as to what you do with it.
You may find this presents an opportunity for you to resell some of the items that other people just want to be cleared.
You could advertise your van services for clearing:
- Property clearances
- Garage clearances
- Garden shed clearances
- Furniture
- Appliances
- Lock up
- Storage units
Clearing Rubbish
Not everyone wants a skip outside their property, or they may just want the rubbish cleared quickly.
The type of rubbish you clear might depend on the condition of your van, but you could offer it as a source of all kinds of rubbish clearance.
- Garden Waste
- Waste building material/ rubble
- Large household items, e.g mattresses, sofas
Beware you may need a license to dispose of rubbish at your local recycling centre.
Not all man with a van type adverts offers this service for obvious reasons.
Towing Service
Van’s have a higher towing capacity than cars and there are all kinds of things people need to be towed:
- Cars
- Horseboxes
- Caravan
- Boats
- Trailers
- Motorhome
Motorcycle Transportation
There are all kinds of reasons motorcycles needs transporting rather than ridden directly to a location.
Whether it’s the transportation of a motorcycle to a track event, a workshop or one being sold or brought for drop off or pick up.
This is a service you can actively advertise to provide as there is certainly demand for it.
Rent Your Van Out
Some people just need to hire a van for a short period of time without the need for a driver, so it will be the van they want and not your personal service in any way.
For example, short term van rental might be required for:
- Transporting gig equipment for a band
- Heavy luggage airport run
If you have a van that you aren’t personal getting much use out of you could consider renting it out regularly via the following:
- Getaround is a national service that offers you the opportunity to rent out your van.
- Turo (Van Rental) sign up as a host to rent your van out for various services.
Sell Advertising On Your Van
Depending on your location and van usage you can earn good money every month from selling advertising space on your van via sites like:
All kinds of brands are willing to pay for advertising on vehicles. The more you use your van the more advertising revenue you can make as more people see it.
Of course, if you are providing your own van jobs service you should first consider whether it would be more beneficial to clearly advertise your own business on the side of your van.
Man With a Van Jobs
You could advertise your van services via a mini website or social media.
Keep an eye on local social media groups for people wanting van related work.
Let friends and family know you have a van available to undertake a wide range of jobs and encourage them to recommend your services if they spot any opportunities.
Example of Services You Can Offer:
- Clearing rubbish
- Towing
- Furniture – Beds, mattresses, sofas, wardrobes
- White goods – fridges, freezers, washing machines, dishwashers
- Carpet
- Garden Furniture
- Mobility Scooters
- Motorcycles, Mopeds, Scooters and Quad bikes
-
eBay orders
- Collections of Gumtree, Facebook marketplace purchases
-
Building supplies from B&Q, Homebase and Wickes.
-
Order collections from furniture stores like Argos, Ikea, DFS
- Exhibitions and Events
Man With a Van Business Ideas
Another option is to use your van to start a new business for which the van is a key part but not the centre point of the business.
Many of these are suited to small van business ideas because you only need enough room in the van to store tools and equipment to carry out any jobs.
For example, you could offer services that require large amounts of equipment to be transported to carry out the task.
Business ideas with a van include:
- Start a gardening business
- Lawn mowing/ lawn treatments
- Cleaning business (windows, jet washing)
- Handyman work including connecting washing machines, dryers,
- Carpet fitting
- Flat Pack Assembly
- Furniture dismantling and reassembly
- Dog walking or grooming transportation (if safely adapted)
13 Tips to Make More Money From Your Van Business
You can win work from the start simply by being cheap, but to earn more for your time, there are a few tips you could consider.
- You can get better-paid work overtime by consistently providing good quality and reliable service.
- Don’t compete by being the cheapest.
- Compete by being the best. Never let anyone down.
- Be presentable, look clean and tidy, keep the van clean.
- Be friendly, in-person and when answering calls and messages
- Be available, working early, or late, set your rates accordingly.
- Get back to people (potential customers) promptly
- Target more affluent areas where people might on average pay more for the same kind of service as a poorer more rundown area. Not everyone wants the cheapest going.
- Target delivery markets that pay more. Perhaps one that requires a little more trust and reliability in the delivery service. For example, delivery of fragile or expensive goods safely and reliably on time.
- Consider a basic website to advertise your services. It only needs to be a few pages as a window to sell yourself, what you offer, what you stand for and your reliable reputation. Plus any insurances and customer review scores.
- If relevant use social media channels, post photos and videos of your work that might be of interest or related to content potential customers might be interested in. Tag your location.
- Hire help to allow you to take on bigger and better-paid jobs. Make sure they are reliable and meet your quality standards.
- Look for ways to specialise if you spot opportunities to set yourself apart from the typical competition and earn better rates of pay.
Things to Consider When Starting Your Own Van Business
If you are working for yourself as a van and once you’ve decided on on van business and what services you want to offer, there are few other things you will need to do to get your business rolling.
Advertise Your Man With a Van Business
Once you have decided on the type of business you want to target you need to start spreading the word.
You can spread the word online. Post on your social profiles and encourage friends and family to recommend you if they spot any opportunities.
Keep an eye on local groups such as Facebook. People are always posting jobs they want to be done.
Also don’t forget the real world, if you know any estate agents, landlords, store or business owners let them know your availability.
How to Use eBay to Advertise
You can use eBay to advertise your business, but you have to do so in the right way following the t&cs.
I found plenty of eBay Man with van listings
You don’t directly sell business services, instead set up listings selling a coupon or business card for your business, but with the real aim being to use the listing to advertise your services targeting local areas.
Feature photos of your van ideally with services and contact details on the side. If you don’t have any advertising yet on your van, use a free editing tool like canvas or someone you know who might use photoshop.
Insurance
Depending on how you make money from your van always consider your insurances.
- Goods In Transit
- Public Liability
- Hire for Reward Insurance
If you are fully insured with Goods in Transit and Public Liability Cover make sure to advertise the fact and let your potential customers know.
These are extra costs that you will soon recoup because you can advertise the fact you have them and potential customers will take you more seriously knowing their possibly valuable items are covered in the event of an unfortunate accident or mishandling.
How Much Can You Make from Your Van
You can expect to make from around £10-£15 an hour up to £40-£60 an hour depending on various factors including location, time of day you work (unsociable hours) and the extra hands-on services you provide
As you can see in the list above there are multiple options for making money from your van, but obviously, some jobs will pay more than others.
Your location will be another key factor in how much you can earn. If you have the opportunity advertise your services in higher-earning more affluent areas.
Over time you will learn which jobs and opportunities are more rewarding in your local areas and can concentrate on getting more of those. You might find some niche markets or customers who require certain standards or reliability of service.