Bottled water and cooler delivery round

Small offices, workshops, gyms, building sites, medical clinics and households that want water delivered on a schedule.

You mark up wholesale stock per bottle or carton, and charge cooler rental and a delivery fee. Regular weekly or fortnightly customers give steady income.

• Reliable driving and route planning
• Lifting and handling heavy loads safely
• Friendly customer service
• Basic invoicing and record keeping

• Public liability and commercial vehicle insurance, plus goods in transit cover if offered
• Manual handling injuries from heavy bottles; check your state's work health and safety guidance and use trolleys
• Check whether your local council allows storing stock at home or whether you need a small storage unit
• Customers may be locked into contracts with larger suppliers, so margins can be tight
• Register for an ABN and check when you need to register for GST

Startup costs are typically estimated at around $5,000 to $25,000, depending on the van or ute you use, your opening stock, coolers and insurance. Treat this as an estimate and get supplier quotes.

Monthly revenue is typically estimated at around $2,000 to $10,000, depending on your number of regular customers and route length. Customers locked into larger suppliers' contracts can keep margins tight.

Check public liability and commercial vehicle insurance, and your state's work health and safety guidance on lifting heavy bottles. Check whether your council allows stock stored at home, and ABN and GST registration requirements.