Longtime operator Moses Koktsidis, owner of Second Nature Limousines in Crown Point, Indiana, is officially debuting technology platform BookIt Rides on October 1.
Moses Koktsidis, founder of BookIt and owner of Second Nature Limousines
BookIt Rides, a modern online reservation and transportation technology platform, was built from the inside out from Koktsidis’ experience in all facets of the industry—including the long days and late nights that come with growing and operating a transportation company. For the past two years, he and his development team have been building, testing, refining, and expanding the platform around the realities of professional transportation, and for more than 21 months, BookIt Rides has also been actively operating inside Second Nature Limousines.
“I did not wake up one morning and decide I wanted to become a software founder,” Koktsidis says. “BookIt Rides came from more than 25 years of living this business. I knew there had to be a better way for operators to handle reservations, serve their customers, grow their companies, and modernize without surrendering control of what they spent years building.”
The platform helps operators manage online reservations, availability, pricing, payments, deposits, contracts, electronic signatures, confirmations, reminders, promotional codes, gift cards, client portals, analytics, customer communication, and other functions designed around professional transportation.
The real-life testing has allowed the BookIt Rides team to watch real customers and staff use the system, identify friction, test workflows, solve problems, and continuously improve the platform. During that test period, online reservations at Second Nature grew from a relatively small portion of business to approximately 70 percent, with multiple weekends reaching 100 percent online reservations. For Koktsidis, that experience reinforced his belief that customers want digital convenience, but operators should not have to give up control of their businesses to provide it.
“I am not here to get between an operator and their customer,” Koktsidis says. “I am here to help make the operator stronger. Technology should work behind the operator. It should not replace the operator or take ownership of the relationship they spent years building.”
He adds that he’s been guided by a simple philosophy: “Your customers are your customers. Your data is your data. Your business is your business.”
A POWERFUL AFFILIATE NETWORK
Beyond the individual reservation, the BookIt Rides Affiliate Network is being created to give operators a modern way to connect and work together while preserving company independence. Operators will be able to send and receive affiliate trips, communicate directly, manage trip offers electronically, accept or decline work, monitor trip status, maintain reservation histories, verify payments, and connect with other professional transportation providers through a searchable network. The system is also being designed to support affiliate-to-affiliate trip exchange.
In addition, BookIt Rides is being designed to allow operators to pay one another through the network, creating a more organized process for settling affiliate work—which he identifies as a common pain point in the industry.
“Our industry has always been built on relationships,” he says. “Technology should strengthen those relationships, make them easier to manage, and help good operators find other good operators.”
BUILT BY OPERATORS, FOR OPERATORS
For Koktsidis, it’s more than a slogan, as BookIt Rides represents something larger than software: It represents his belief that the people who built the professional transportation industry should have a meaningful voice in the technology shaping its future.
“I have tremendous respect for the operators in this industry because I know what many of them have gone through to survive,” he says as a fellow operator. “Vehicles cost more. Insurance has become incredibly challenging. Labor is difficult. Maintenance is expensive. Customers expect more than ever. Yet operators continue showing up every single day. I want BookIt Rides standing behind those operators.”
GRATITUDE
Koktsidis says the launch would not have been possible without the people who supported the vision.
“I want to thank my lovely wife, Maya Koktsidis, for standing beside me through the countless hours, long nights, sacrifices, ideas, changes, and challenges that came with bringing this vision to life.”
He also thanked Shivam Grover and the entire development team for their contributions to BookIt Rides.
“This may carry my vision, but it carries the fingerprints of an entire team,” Koktsidis says. “I am incredibly grateful to every one of them.”
He adds: “If I can take everything I have learned, combine it with modern technology, and build something that helps another operator grow their company, protect their customers, save time, connect with other professionals, and create a stronger future for their family, then every hour we have put into this will have been worth it.”
Visit bookitrides.com for more information.
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