(Image: University of New Brunswick)
An entrepreneurial student at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John has won three awards for his delivery business.
Door2Door Pickup Couriers, which launched in December 2019, won two platinum awards in the courier service and delivery categories from CommunityVotes Saint John 2021.
Founder Agunbiade (Seun) Richards also earned the Immigrant Entrepreneur award from PRUDE Inc.
Richard said it’s always humbling to be nominated for an award and he’s feeling grateful for the recent wins.
“It’s a mixed feeling. You remember the hard work you put into the venture,” said Richards in an interview. “You [almost] feel like an extra layer of responsibility has been put on you … and that just makes me grateful to God, to the community I serve and to our coworkers.”
Richards, originally from Nigeria and moved to the Port City from India in 2018, said the inspiration to start the company came after working as a driver for SkipTheDishes. He saw a need, especially for newcomers.
“When we came to Saint John, it was pretty difficult for us to get direct-to-home delivery services,” he said. “The alternatives we had were pretty expensive.
“People don’t only need food delivered,” said Richards. “So, I started thinking about my experience as a newcomer and that we needed other things, not only food, so that was when our lightbulb moment actually came.”
Similar to services like SkipTheDishes, Door2Door offers delivery service for more than food.
Through the company’s website and mobile applications, available on the Apple and Google Play app stores, users can request an order to have anything delivered right to their doorstep.
As a first-time entrepreneur, Richards said it can be challenging, but says he has had a lot of support from community resources like faculty at the University of New Brunswick and the Economic Development Centre.
As we begin a new year, Richards says he’d like to scale up his company’s impact and possibly expand outside of the Maritimes. In addition to Saint John, Door2Door also has partners in Fredericton, Moncton and Halifax.
“We want to reach out to more people,” said Richards.
“We want to be an integral part of solving problems in society. That’s our goal.”
