Editor’s note: This article was first published in January 2013, and tells the story of a business that had just started. Whether Cometa still operates, and whether it is still the only bicycle courier in Granada, is unknown.
Ignacio Mellado is an entrepreneur from Granada who, when he found himself unemployed, had only two options: leave Spain or start his own business. He chose the second and has created the province’s first bicycle courier company (the eco-courier Cometa).
As he explained in an interview with the newspaper Ideal, he came up with the business idea on a trip to the Netherlands and Berlin, where eco-courier services are very advanced. He says it hasn’t been easy at all when it comes to support for entrepreneurs, so in the end the little money he needed to get started was lent to him by family and friends. The business is starting to take off, and to be honest, as I read about it, it struck me that it can be very profitable because of how visible it is to customers.
Ignacio won’t focus only on businesses but also on private individuals: anyone who doesn’t have time to take a document to their accountant’s office or a public agency just has to call the company and they’ll take it for you. Pick-up and delivery services, small and medium-sized parcels, gifts, shopping, flowers and so on.
Considering that finding a parking spot in Granada is a feat on a par with landing a date with Charlize Theron, the customer not only saves time but also money on petrol, parking meters and related costs.
One of the company’s mottos is “to help customers be more efficient and save them the time lost on simple errands, time they could spend on more productive things“. Given that the service is very cheap, I’m sure that once word gets out, there will be plenty of demand.
There’s no doubt this business model can create opportunities in other cities and countries where this kind of company doesn’t exist yet. It’s a matter of getting the approach right and making it known.
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