Maximum Yield USA April 2018 | Page 97

What did you learn? We learned that we needed to start advertising online. How did you end up gaining market share and recognition? We gained recognition by stocking the products that are known to work. When something works, people know about it. If they’re unsure about a specific product, we try to make sure that we invest some time in researching the product and get the answers they are looking for. What product lines do you carry? “ The number of loyal customers we have gained in just the first year has given us the confidence we needed to be able to sit back at the end of the day and say, ‘Yes, this was a great idea.’” We carry product lines from FoxFarm, General Hydroponics, Botanicare, Cx Horticulture, Clonex, Roots Organics, Mother Earth, Down to Earth, Ion, EYE Hortilux, Sunlight Supply, Hydrofarm, BWGS, Plant Success, Humboldt, Mammoth P, Bluelab, and many more. These names are already known for a reason and we can stick behind them because it’s proven in all the displays and demonstrations we do throughout the course of the seasons within our own store. We stand by these products because we know them. We trust them because they have shown us results. How many employees were there at the beginning? In the beginning, there was not one employee. All the owners and family members volunteered their time to work at the store and get it running full- time before I got into the mix. They still invest a large amount of time here each and every week to oversee things. They are all retired. They have confidence in this industry and that our business will succeed. I came in the last half of 2017. I take care of all communication with sales reps, and I take care of all the online platforms, including our Facebook, Instagram, eBay, Craigslist, website, Gmail, webmail, YouTube, and PayPal. I am also in charge of scheduling events and seminars, and starting in the new year, I’ll be hosting some craft nights on Sundays. groundbreakers 97