Hidden Gems: Meet Wes Hopkins of airRyd LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wes Hopkins.

Hi Wes, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My story begins in the heart of the US, in Kansas City, where I originally grew up. That was before I transplanted to the sun-kissed desert of Arizona. I moved out to Arizona around 2019. Regarding my business story, I have always had a determined mindset to do my own thing at all costs. I would rather risk failure and risk it multiple times if needed instead of having a boss and having typical working hours. And with remote work exploding these days, many feel the same desires, even if they don’t necessarily want to launch their own company. But the company I now run, “airRyd.com,” – is a total service transportation and logistics brokerage, entirely online, specializing in the movement of motor vehicles, boats, ATVs, and motorcycles across the USA beyond. And, of course, the obvious next question one may ask is, what got you into that? The answer goes back a decade or more to one of my first full-time jobs, where I worked at Advanced Auto Parts as an assistant store manager. At Advanced Auto, I routinely dealt with auto mechanics, repair shops, parts specialists, dealerships, and many other automotive professionals with commercial accounts. One particular retail client that we had was a man named Tony. Tony was one of our top clients at that store – he purchased thousands of dollars in parts monthly. One afternoon one of our delivery drivers called off, so I had to fill in and do the deliveries that day. One of my stops was at Tony’s. When I showed up to deliver Tony some parts on an order he had just put in, I was shocked to find out we were providing his parts all along to his house, not a shop, not a repair facility or dealership, but his residence. Tony had the client’s cars wrapped up and down the street where he lived. He probably wasn’t making any friends with his neighbors. But I got to speak with Tony and began asking him how he had garnered so much business working out of his home. He explained that one of his main tactics was posting free organic ads for auto repair on the community website Craigslist. This was back in the early 2000s when Craigslist was a popular site for various classifieds.

After I spoke to Tony that day, I decided I would begin posting some ads for detailing cars, something I always did on my cars but felt I was capable enough to do for others. I also knew I could do it at a discounted rate and still turn a profit because I had access to Advanced Auto detail supplies at a reduced price. The most exciting part of the story is that the first client ever to contact me on my Craigslist posting was a man who I would soon begin working exclusively for, not as his employee but as his primary detailer. He was buying and selling many cars, and he needed all of them detailed. So I began hanging around him frequently, and as we grew close, he began taking me under his wing and showing me the ropes of many factions related to the automotive industry.

Fast forward to about a decade later, my path took several twists. It turned within the automotive industry, from opening my detail shop, running my own used car dealership, eventually running a collision and repair facility, and finally hauling cars. The shipping industry is very slow-moving in terms of innovation, and driving a truck is something only some people want to do. I learned a lot about many different sub-industries within the auto industry. Ultimately, that knowledge led me to want to build a transformational auto-shipping platform that was transparent, reliable, and innovative. If you have ever tried to ship a car before, and you happen to be reading this, you will know how difficult the industry can be for an unknowing consumer trying to ship a car for the first time. The industry is fraught with misinformation online, along with endless gimmicks, scams, and companies that will do almost anything to get one over on their customers.

My goal with airRyd.com was to create an auto-shipping platform with one thing in mind: Trust. Typically, people are satisfied because a price is high or low or if a service is average or excellent; surprises typically lead to an unhappy client. So we mitigate any surprises on the front end of every order so that clients have a realistic understanding of what to expect within the process. And since its creation, that’s what we have set out to do, build a level of trust and reliability with clients and customers online so that they can feel comfortable shipping their cars and that they know there will be no surprises during the process. So if anyone reading this is considering starting a business, I advise you to work on transparency and eliminating unexpected consumer surprises. Reliability, consistency, and trustworthiness often come to mind if you think of some of the most successful businesses. Places like Starbucks, Chipotle, and Mcdonald’s. Why do these places work so well? Is it because their product is much better than the competitors? No. It is because you know what you’ll get when you go to one of those 3 places. You get the same quality product every time. This is highly crucial to running a successful business of any kind.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
With any new business, there will always be struggles. But, in my view, “struggles” should be replaced with “experimentation.” The first couple of years of business are an experiment. You need to focus on customer feedback, client comments, and reviews. What’s working? What needs to be fixed? What are you getting the most praise on? What problems are costing you the most amount of time? So this period is critical in analyzing and modifying your business plan accordingly, based on customer feedback. Any business that recognizes real-world feedback and continues marching on with its original business plan, regardless of what clients say, will only be in business for a while.

Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Our business and organization are known online as airRyd.com. airRyd is a full-service transportation and logistics firm specializing in the movement of motor vehicles across the United States and internationally.

Some quick facts about airRyd:

• Has gone from $0.00 in revenue in 2020 to close to 1 million in revenue as of Q4 of 2022.
• Moves approximately 300 cars monthly as of April 2023, growing every month.
• One of the highest-reviewed auto shipping companies in the nation, achieving a 4.9 on multiple review platforms, including Yelp, Google, FB, BBB, and Trustpilot.
• Is the only auto shipping brokerage that charges the same flat fee for every auto transport it facilitates online. All other brokerages will try to maximize profits on every order at the customer’s expense.
• Runs a highly popular Youtube Channel known as “Auto Transport For Dummies,” which serves as an informational asset to first-time auto shippers and an extremely valuable funnel for us in terms of locating new leads and new business opportunities.
• 99% of all auto brokerage firms online do a heavy amount of advertising and cold calling, while airRyd relies on 100% organic traffic to its site.
• airRyd.com now generates around 10,000 unique hits per month.
• Is the only auto shipping brokerage with a complete trucking company profile and review page for every trucking company we dispatch an order to – which is precious information for clients within the process. You can search over 1300 trucking companies nationwide on airRyd at this link: https://airryd.com/trucking_companies.php
• Is associated with our legacy platform, “Midwest Exotic Transport,” which has built a name for itself in its own right.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
If you are considering launching your own business, always listen to your clients! They will guide you like a compass on your path to success. Only try to navigate with it!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://airRyd.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/airryd_transport/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/airrydautoshipping/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weston-hopkins-73310271/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/autotransportfordummies
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/airryd-chandler-4
• Other: https://midwestexotictransport.com