NW Quik Pull 2023 Year In Review
The year 2023 is over and like last year, I am taking some time to review the past year and reflect on the growth of our business. Many things have happened this year, and I would like to share a few of them here.
For NW Quik Pull 2023 was the year of Trade Shows! Because we exhibited at a total of 10 of them! We have come to learn the importance of exhibiting at shows so that we can be in front of our customers, and network with others. Last year we really displayed that importance.
NW Quik Pull 2023 National Hardware Show
One of the first shows we exhibited at was The National Hardware Show in Las Vegas in January. As a new exhibitor, we had the opportunity to give a pitch to some folks who had been successful being on Shark Tank. Because of that opportunity, we were encouraged to apply to be on Shark Tank which we did. We have not received an invite, but it was still exciting to engage in the process. You can read more about that experience in another one of our blogs.
Also, at the beginning of the year were some shows we exhibited at the previous year. The California Rental Association (CRA) Rental Rally Show was in Las Vegas, along with the American Rental Association Show in Orlando, and the American Fence Association (AFA), FENCETECH show held in Oklahoma City OK. Because we had previous experience at these shows, we knew that we needed to return. Between those 4 major shows, we had a good start to the first quarter of 2023.
In April, we exhibited at a smaller Washington state Public Works show in Tacoma Washington. We are still working to get NW Quik Pull in front of those in that arena. We then exhibited at a small local show in our hometown called the Home and Garden Idea fair. Our main purpose there was to share about our tool in our neighborhood, and direct people to our local tool rental stores that rent out Quik Pull.
In June we became a vendor for FASTSIGNS, a company of franchises which makes signs of all types, with hundreds of locations. In August, we traveled to Indianapolis for their Outside Summit Trade show to showcase NW Quik Pull and let them know that we have a solution for their sign removal needs.
August was our busiest travel month with that show in Indianapolis, then The Fence Show and Security Expo in Las Vegas, followed up quickly by the Public Works Expo (PWX) in San Diego. Let me pause here for a moment and tell you more about those shows.
The Fence Show and Security Expo was sponsored by The Fence Workers Association (FWA). This brand-new association was started last year by Brian Frederickson who owns Las Vegas fence. He and his team have been in the planning stages for this show for well over a year. While this association may have started out being smaller than the American Fence Association (AFA) I have no doubt that it will grow to be of similar size or larger if it hasn’t already!
Here is the goal of the FWA: We aim to create a dynamic and thriving community within the fence installation and access control industries. We strive to connect professionals, businesses, and enthusiasts, fostering collaboration, knowledge exchange, and industry growth. By promoting networking, education, and innovation, we empower our members to excel in their careers, drive excellence, and contribute to the continued success of the fence industry.
While at The Fence Show and Security Expo, I can honestly say that we saw most of these goals being met. There was networking, education, exchange of knowledge, connecting of professionals, and so much more within this thriving community. This show had great vendors, awesome attendees, and lots of fun with parties, impersonators, games and a whole lot more! This show proved to be a success for us mainly because this is our number one industry where our tool is needed the most!
Immediately following this show, we traveled to San Diego for the Public Works Expo (PWX). This show was one of the bigger shows with large costs to us to be exhibiting there. There were some good connections made there, and we are still believing that Public Works is the right arena for NW Quik Pull. It just might take us longer to prove our tool there.
The final trade show of the year was The Northwest Rental Conference held in Kalispell Montana. This was an ARA regional conference which was smaller in size than the ARA show held earlier in the year. This show allowed us to connect with some of our local rental stores, and stores in our neighboring states.
Exhibiting at 10 trade shows in 12 months seems like it was a big task! And it was! But that is not all that we did! I already mentioned becoming a vendor for FASTSIGNS. We also became a vendor for another sign franchise called SIGNARAMA. We have been working to get our tool sold by other companies, and those now include:
- Toolfetch in New York Toolfetch.com,
- Diamond Tool Store in Florida diamondtoolstore.com
- Power Equipment Warehouse in Ohio powerequipmentwarehouse.com
One of the best things that has happened this year is that we signed on with a sales group who are really doing the things they promised. One of the first things is that they arranged for NW Quik Pull to be sold on AMAZON and Great Northern Equipment (GNE). They also have plans in the works to increase our sales distribution!
2023 has proven to be a very productive year for us, and we are excited for what is next. As I write this blog, we are preparing to exhibit at FENCETECH in Nashville in January, the ARA show in New Orleans in February, and The National Hardware show in Las Vegas in March. We are starting out 2024 with big shows but are also planning for fewer shows as our list of distributors and dealers continues to grow.
