Bhutan is more than Buddhism, Franchising is fast catching on, in this emerging country

What was started as a small one-man company seven years ago in Thimphu has now grown into a flourishing courier company. Tamu Courier not only delivers letters and parcels within the country, but also throughout the world. It is a franchise of Blue Dart, an international courier company in India, and international consignments are routed through it.

In July 2002, Raaj Gurung invested Nu 25,000, which he saved from his brief service in the corporate sector, and started a courier service and a telephone booth.

Initially, he started letter and parcel delivery service between Thimphu and Phuentsholing. The first year was a year of struggle so he could manage to make profit just enough to buy a motor bike. In the following years, he expanded his service to Paro, Samtse and Gomtu.

He employed a delivery boy to pickup and deliver parcels to and from various places like government offices, business houses, airports, hospitals and even made home deliveries. The delivery boys make rounds of different ministries to find out if they have any consignment to transport. To supplement income, the courier company distributed Kuensel (Bhutan's National English Daily) in Phuentsholing and Samtse which was later expanded to Paro and along Thimphu-Phuentsholing highway. Today, Tamu Courier distributes all Bhutanese newspapers in these places.

It also does door-to-door delivery of newspapers apart from making vegetable delivery on demand. Today, the company has 10 employees and four vehicles. “These services are in great demand,” said Raaj. “There are always people who want a package delivered to another place as soon as possible, and there was a need of courier services.” According to him, government post offices worked during office time and they had scheduled time for collection and delivery.

“A courier can often deliver or pick up the item at any time of the day or night, when it is needed,” he said, but added that competing with Bhutan Post and the already established DHL was a big challenge. Prompt service, safe handling, and competitive service charges enabled him to survive and make a mark in the courier business. A letter to any part of India reaches in three days, and the rate ranges from Nu 150 to Nu 500 which are lower than that of other courier companies’ in the country. Raaj’s manager, Suraj Rai, said technology had enabled tracking of consignment at any time of the day. The customers are informed through SMS regarding the delivery of consignments.

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