8R Customs Brokerage: Building Trust One Transaction at a Time

Business: 8R Customs Brokerage · Brokerage and Logistics

For Rio Mae Gardose, building 8R Customs Brokerage was a natural next step in a journey already rooted in logistics. Before starting the brokerage, she and her spouse were already operating a trucking business. With her wife becoming a licensed Customs Broker and with both of them having experience in customs brokerage and freight forwarding, they saw an opportunity to offer something more complete: an end-to-end logistics solution that could support clients from transport to customs clearance.

Like many founders, they did not begin with a large office or a full team. The business started as a hands-on family effort, run mostly from home, with operations built around trust, persistence, and direct client service. As clients began asking for help not only with deliveries but also with customs releasing, the business grew from practical demand.

The Early Challenges

One of the earliest challenges they faced was financial pressure. In their line of work, expenses often need to be advanced before payment comes in, and billing can take weeks to be collected. On top of that, the work is demanding. Documentation, trucking coordination, customs transactions, and client communications all need attention, often all at once. With only the two of them managing the business, every task required discipline and stamina.

When It Started Feeling Real

What kept them moving forward was client trust. Even during difficult periods, customers continued to rely on their service, and that trust became one of the strongest reasons to keep going. Over time, the business began to feel truly real when repeat clients returned and entrusted them with more shipments. Handling releases directly at Customs and building working relationships in the field gave them a stronger sense that they were earning real credibility in the industry.

Where They Are Today

Today, 8R Customs Brokerage continues to operate in a lean and flexible way. Rio Mae and her spouse remain deeply involved in the work, meeting clients personally when needed and maintaining a service model that is responsive, practical, and relationship-driven. Their story reflects a kind of entrepreneurship that is not built on hype, but on reliability, resilience, and doing the work well.

Their advice to new business owners is grounded and hard-earned: understand your cash flow early, stay adaptable, build trust through honest service, and do not be afraid to start small. Growth, they show, is often built one reliable transaction at a time.

How Incub8 Space Supports Their Business

As an Incub8 Space Virtual Office client, 8R Customs Brokerage benefits from having a professional business address that helps strengthen client confidence. Even though most operations and documentation are handled from home, a proper business address adds legitimacy and trust, which matters greatly in a service business where credibility is everything.