It all started in 1989, when Kim was working for a courier company with service hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. She had been at the company long enough to work as driver, dispatcher, and manager. When she was laid off, she realized she could use the business contacts her previous company used, but could offer to work after hours so she was not in competition with her prior employer. Kim used the knowledge she’d gained in the field to begin what would become Hot Shot Services, Inc.

Friends called Kim “Hotshot,” but at the time, she didn’t know that hotshot is the most common buzzword in the courier business. When a customer has to get an item somewhere quickly, they might call and say, “I’ve got a hotshot for you.” So, when it became time to name her company, she and her friend and business partner, Christine Nanney, decided on Hot Shot Services, Inc. Christine helped design a letterhead on borrowed equipment, and Kim printed only 10 copies of a sales letter, which they sent out to business contacts. She worked out of a home office, charging $13 a delivery, until she discovered she could charge more for night deliveries. With the addition of that service, Hot Shot Services, Inc. began to grow.

In 1994, Kim learned about the Messenger Courier Association of the Americas, and although she “was broke,” Kim attended the MCAA convention in New Orleans, staying in a cheaper hotel than the rest of the participants. After that, the business “exploded,” according to Christine. Kim took advantage of the networking that went on at the convention to learn how others improved service and raised profits. She learned about pricing and hiring drivers, and gained invaluable business contacts. “All the information was there. All I had to do was ask for it.” The other business owners there were not competing with her for business, so they were happy to give advice and suggest techniques that worked for them. The MCAA, a non-profit organization, is so important to Kim that “It’s time to give back,” she says. She now serves as an unpaid board member—and is the only female board member of the MCAA.

So, how did Kim go from nighttime courier service to a 24/7 multimillion dollar courier and warehousing business with offices all over the country? Well, from the beginning she answered the telephone whenever it rang—even at 3 in the morning. She could be in a sound sleep, but if the phone rang she would answer it with a voice sounding like she had been up for hours. “It was important,” Christine says, “to sound bigger than we really were.”

One call was from an air delivery service that had a customer who needed spare parts stored. Kim thought a moment, then said, “Well, I have a spare bedroom.” Putting shelves on the walls, they stored parts in the first-ever HSS, Inc. warehouse. HSS’ first business expansion was to rent and convert the house next door into offices and storage space. When they bought their current building in May 2000, they worked in extremely hot warehouse space at open desks until their offices were built. These women were not averse to hard work, and it has really paid off.

Hot Shot Services, Inc. offers three basic services: courier service, warehousing, and inventory management. Drivers deliver documents like architectural plans, tax documents, attorney’s documents, titles, and interoffice mail. Once, they delivered an insurance check for a residential customer who didn’t want to lose insurance coverage for a late payment. However, much of the courier service has to do with delivering machine parts to local and state businesses. In addition to delivery and warehousing services, HSS can also handle inventory management for a company. This means an organization does not need to rent or buy space or pay personnel to handle large volumes of spare parts or machinery. The call center in Albuquerque is all they need. From there, dispatchers can find the specific inventory and arrange to have it shipped directly to a maintenance technician. Using HSS not only saves large companies lots of money every year, it can save the small business time, which is money.

Kim says using her services can improve worker productivity and reduce a company’s risk of losing sums of money in liability and workers’ compensation payments. “Most people don’t think about the intangibles,” Kim says—the things you can’t count or foresee when running your business every day. For example, when you send a staff member out to deliver documents or go to the post office, he or she is away from the work area, not doing the work you’re paying for. When the employee gets back to the office, he or she needs to refocus on the work that was left behind. That takes away time and becomes lost productivity. Additionally, if that person has even a small fender-bender along the way, you will be responsible for damages to them, their person, and even the person in the other car. Employers are also required to pay mileage when they send staff out to drive their own cars. If they don’t, they’re breaking the law, Kim says.

HSS can deliver a package in Albuquerque for about $7 if you give them the whole day to do it. If you need something delivered in an hour, it’ll cost more—about $20, but Kim says that’s more cost effective than risking your business on one employee’s chances of getting through Albuquerque traffic safely. HSS will deliver anything from “an envelope to a 10,000-pound piece of machinery,” says Peggy Reed, Hot Shot’s Vice President of Business Development.

Technology has been a key ingredient in business expansion. Tracking software is a unique feature of the courier business, one that provides customers with a sense of control and security over their package. Customers with $2 million machines or $200,000 parts want the capability of tracking that investment, which they can do from their office computer, thanks to technology used by HSS.

Christine says they also provide “reverse logistics.” If a large, expensive machine breaks down, a company can call HSS, which will pick it up, deliver it to a company that makes sure it’s decontaminated, then to another that refurbishes it, and then HSS will deliver the machine to the originating company. Expanding services while remaining specialized in the courier and warehousing elements has given HSS an incredible increase in sales and profits over almost two decades.

HSS also has grown from one employee to about 62 in Albuquerque, and its philosophy is that “people make the company,” Peggy says. Christine says HSS goes “against industry standards” when it comes to providing benefits, offering profit sharing, a 401k with a match, and payments of 75 percent on dental and medical bills. It’s just good business to hire good people and keep them around, Peggy says. “If you care about the future of your business, you’ll take care of your good employees.”

HSS also uses its expertise to help the community, and is regularly involved in two community service programs. They provide logistics services for the annual KOATS for Kids drive, which has distributed approximately 225,000 coats to New Mexico children since 1989. HSS distributes big cardboard donation boxes around town, picks them up two or three times a week during the drive, and takes them to local cleaners. Once cleaned, HSS warehouses the coats and then distributes them all over the state. HSS also is involved in many behind-the- scenes logistics to make sure the Run for the Zoo operates smoothly, providing free gear storage, transportation for runners’ packets, and T-shirts. The staff at HHS seems to really enjoy these yearly service opportunities.

Kim Housholder and Christine Nanney are serious businesswomen who have learned much from their adventure in the courier and warehousing industry. But they are also fun, energetic, and easy to talk to, setting the tone for a business where the employees are friendly and there’s a place for Zeb, the office dog. When choosing a book to learn about business proposals, Christine says they actually chose one that began with the statement, “Do you want a job where you can take your dog to work every day?”

Each day, Zeb quietly surveys his territory as he waits for the postal worker to come in the door and call his name. When she does, Zeb actually takes the mail from her and delivers it down the hall.

Hot Shot Services, Albuquerque
Delivery: (505) 344-5440, 800-242-9417
Warehouse: (505) 344-0488, 866-856-0662
www.hotshotservices.com

Lisa Ragsdale lives in Albuquerque with her husband, Tim, and their four children. She teaches English at Central New Mexico Community College.