How You Can Become a Gamechanger in Your Part of the Horticulture Industry
August 4, 2020 
One year ago, HydraFiber, a growing media substrate from Profile Products, received the Gamechanger of the Year award from Greenhouse Grower magazine at Cultivate’19. The award highlights products, plants, and people that have made a difference throughout the horticulture industry.
Receiving the award on stage with the rest of the HydraFiber team was not only a milestone in my career, but one of my proudest professional achievements.
Many have asked me what it takes to become an industry-recognized, game-changing success story in fewer than five years. Besides recruiting a diverse, highly talented, and equally passionate set of teammates, I’d like to share a couple thoughts on what I consider to be key factors if you want to disrupt the status quo and change an industry like we’ve done with HydraFiber.
Rules are Made to be Broken
One of the reasons we have been successful with HydraFiber is that we let go of the “way we always did it” and allowed ourselves to work in a way that was different than business as usual at Profile Products. This was our short-term/start-up approach. As the HydraFiber business grew, we looked for opportunities to incorporate our practices back into the main Profile business structure.
Make a List and Check it Twice
If you want to change an industry, you’ve got to focus on the industry leaders that are open to change. Do your research. Do they have a track record for being the first to adopt new technologies, or do they tend to follow the rest? You need all kinds of customers, but start with the ones that like change and can quickly adopt it.
Create Disciples
You not only want your teammates excited about your product, you want your customers to be passionate about it, too. When customers start sharing how great they think your product is with others, you have achieved something magical. Word of mouth is priceless. At HydraFiber, we have a network of grower and blender customers and have put together a company logo board, a visual representation of our partnerships. This network helps connect our potential customers with existing ones.
You Get One Message
In our industry, we love to talk about the product details. We are highly technical. Albert Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” If you want your message to be heard, you have to pick one message. That message must explain why the technology is a real game changer and tell what purpose the product serves, improves, helps, and inspires.
Learn to Love No and be Relentless About Getting a Yes
Those of you who know me personally know I am highly competitive. When it comes to products, especially products that are game changing and new, you will hear no a lot. Don’t let no slow you down. Every no will show you what obstacles you need to overcome. Continue to revise your strategy until it puts you in a position to get a yes.
I’ve personally been involved in the launch of hundreds of products over the course of my career. It’s easy to just throw the product out into the market and see if it will stick. With game-changing technologies, if you want them to stick, you’ve got to be relentless. If you can be relentless, the business reward, as well as the personal achievement, will be nothing short of amazing.
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