We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Greg Niewold . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Greg below.
Alright, Greg thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
Power Planter is a small family owned and run auger company that specializes in home gardener and professional landscaper/maintenance auger manufacturing that started in 1988. I came back to the family business in 2013 after teaching high school agriculture and industrial technologies for 8 years at a local high school. I managed Power Planter for 2 years under my Grandfather and family’s eye, and took over ownership in 2015. Success in MOST cases is slow and methodical, and in some cases fast due to luck or as I like to think about it ‘thanks to God.’ Creating an idea or product is often the easy part….marketing and selling is the hardest part of the equation. It takes constant persistence, patience, and a willingness to accept both failure and success. One of my keys to success was constantly telling the story of the company, our founding, and where we are today. If there is a good and truthful story to tell, people will listen. Secondly, creating an engaging website and social media platform is a must. In the first few years of managing and owning Power Planter I went through 3-4 different websites until I finally was comfortable with the result. That led to both US based and international companies reaching out to inquire about the products, it’s benefits and uses. We also put a heavy presence into 1-on-1 events like tradeshows. It was not so much about being profitable as it was about brand and company exposure. That has led to several well known gardening influencers and large scale landscape companies beginning to work with Power Planter. Those interactions begin to take hold after several months to a year, and then word of mouth about our brand and product began to spread. Once that happened we began selling to independent garden centers, and large known stores (Ace, Home Depot, Lowes, etc). What I did not know then, that I do now…is all of those IGC’s and other stores were sitting back watching and listening to us at shows, events, and social media. We were on their radar and did not even now it. That all took time. 8-9 years to be exact. The other thing besides time and patience, is persistence and passion. If a company is lacking either of those scaling up may be nearly impossible.
Greg, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a 3rd generation auger manufacturer, and 6th generation grain farmer located in Loda, IL. I have been in the farming business almost from birth, and my mother owns a local printing business. To say that I was born into business would be a very truthful statement. I went to college to be a high school agriculture and industrial technology teacher. I was a very hands on instructor, I am not a fan of ‘book work’ or ‘busy work’. My classes spent the majority of time welding, constructing garden sheds, fixing small engines, making woodworking projects, landscaping, etc. After 8 years in education, and watching my grandfather begin to slow down I realized I was the only one in the family in my generation who was able and willing to come back to the family business (Power Planter, Inc.) and take over for him. When we say family business we mean it. My aunt was the office manager, and the 2 employees in the shop had been with us for a combined 70 years (or close to it). I think both my upbringing in a business household, and on a farm, combined with 8 years of education put me in a unit position of understanding by the company, current and new staff, as well as the consumer marketplaces wants and needs. Anyone that knows me will tell you I am not the most patient person in the world. I am constantly trying to evolve, solve a problem, advance my staff and company, and provide a solution to my customers. I like to say that I don’t sell a product, but a SOLUTION. In addition, we are 100% Made in the USA and still on our family farm. We will always stick to our morals and ethics and be a company that lives and dies on our word and reputation. We will not race to the bottom on price or quality, nor will be send anything overseas to be manufactured for us. We are here to provide a service and solution to those that need it and want it, and we want to know and be comfortable in telling people the facts about our company and construction, and simply can not do that if we don’t control things ‘here.’
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
Power Planter sells on our own website, but also Amazon. The website bar none is the greatest generator of real traffic and passionate consumers for the product. I say that because we manufacture and sell a very specific product line, a consumer does not end up on our website by accident, so it is vital when they are on the site to tell them what they are looking for so they can make an informed decision. To drive website traffic you will need good SEO and some PPC. Those are not the cheapest, but they drive traffic and consumers. Once SEO had our site in a great position with the search engines then we could focus on driving new traffic with PPC AND dialing back on some other PPC that was likely repetitive to some viewers.
Amazon on the other hand…be very cautious! It sounds great…but it is both EXPENSIVE and dangerous. You very well could have great sales…income is great, but watch the expense column very very carefully. This is my personal feelings, but it is VERY difficult for a small business to be profitable on Amazon with the percentages they take, shipping to them, advertising (almost a MUST to drive traffic), and customer returns. On top of that software like Helium10 will tell your direct competitors how you are doing financially and with product sales making it extremely easy, and in an unethical manner in my opinion, to create fake and knockoff products. Power Planter has dealt with all of the above scenarios since we made the jump to Amazon. Hindsight being 20/20 I would NEVER get on Amazon if I had a complete redo.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
The best and worst part of being an owner is employee relations. The easy and fun conversations are just that easy and fun. The conversations about issues, pay, status, etc are dreadful and there is NO good way to handle it except straight on! I always tell my staff my door is wide open, walk-in and let’s talk! No need for drama, no need for wondering what I or they are thinking…it is wide open communication. I also enjoy doing random acts of kindness with staff, whether it is a nice random lunch, or a gift just because I can it keeps morale and spirits high.
The last thing I will say, that I always emphasize is to be available and put yourself in their shoes on a regular basis. Go get your hands dirty, do what they are doing, realize their likes and dislikes first hand and then ADAPT! If they like me and the company then it is a career and not just a ‘job.’
Contact Info:
- Website: www.powerplanter.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/power_planter
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/powerplanter/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@powerplanterinc.2967