Introduction
The time is up on The HUGE Convention 2023, and what an exhilarating experience it has been! This premier event for the home services industry brought together an eclectic mix of vendors, business owners, and key employees under one roof. Located at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, attendees were treated to a whirlwind of education, networking, and inspiration from the trade show floor to the enlightening breakout sessions. Here's our recap of the convention and our top 10 takeaways that are sure to revolutionize your home service business.
Opening Keynotes
Due to our other commitments, we unfortunately missed out on both of the Keynote Speakers this year. Michael Bernoff, renowned writer and personal/professional development guru, was speaking on "Why You Don’t Get What You Want and What to Do About It". Kyle Scheele was speaking about the belief that some people are inherently creative while others aren't. His argument is that creativity is a skill that can be nurtured and developed by anyone. We’re sad we didn’t get to catch these guys this time but will definitely look for them in some upcoming conventions and speaking events.
Networking Galore
Beyond the educational aspect, The HUGE Convention provided ample networking opportunities that were nothing short of transformative. The feeling from everyone was extremely positive and supportive of each other's business ventures. From spontaneous coffee conversations to organized networking sessions, the connections we formed will turn into lifelong friendships and business relationships.
Notable company connections were the geniuses behind WhoHire - Jonathan Porter-Whistman and Dominique Demond Williams, (using AI and digital recruiting to make your hiring process easy breezy) - pretty crazy stuff! - and Martha Woodward from Quality Driven Software (an all-in-one software for retaining employees). We also got to pick the brains of Andrew Miller & Jennie Miller from Service Ally about how they help contractors build recurring revenue into their businesses. We were left inspired after spending some time chatting with Libby DeLucien, founder of WootRecruit, and multiple other companies!
One of the highlights of the convention experience has to have been getting to know the lawncare industry & software legend Jonathan Pototschnik, and his son Riley, who is working on his own software called EveryChat. Learning about Jonathan’s experience in the SAAS world was invaluable for our own software development, he spoke of his learnings and takeaways, including valuation considerations, what to focus on, building a community around the software, etc. Also very humbly, we were able to share some of our best practices and findings on building out a strong development team with Riley Pototschnik. The positive environment surrounding the convention, allowing for this openness to sharing information was profound!
Exhibitor Booths
The Huge Convention’s sprawling trade show, hosting over 130 vendors, definitely lives up to the name - from high-tech CRM solutions to innovative equipment, the trade room floor was full of business-enhancing tools and ideas from inspiring companies.
Among the standout booths, Service Ally left a lasting impression with their fun Capture the Flag game, and the booth at CONQUER showed a steady flow of entrepreneurs - it was awesome to chat with this team about their coaching and peer group offerings for business owners. We were also able to make stops at the NiceJob (helping contractors gain more sales by getting lots of good reviews) and CompanyCam (photo management tool) booths - we’re big fans and use these tools in our own landscape companies.
Breakout Speakers: Insights and Discussions
The breakout speakers at the convention were a great platform for experts to dissect industry trends and to learn from the masters. There was no way to make it to all of the speakers and classes, but we did attend as many as we could! Here’s some more that we weren’t able to catch but would recommend others to check out for some interesting content. If you were able to catch any of these, let us know what you thought in the comments!
One session, in particular, stood out: Marvin Salcido & Morgan Knox on “A quick and dirty look at Mergers and Acquisitions.” Their lighthearted and comedic perspectives offered a new view of the trends forming around purchasing companies (such as “The Silver Tsunami” - the baby boomer generation is rapidly heading towards retirement, and the rise of skilled trades which have been historically overlooked as valuable businesses), giving us ideas and tactics to find opportunities to invest in other companies, such as speaking with CPAs and local marketing companies, who often have insights into businesses facing challenges.
Another interesting one was Martha Woodward’s, presenting on “The Art of Accountability”. Her presentation covered implementing a performance-based incentive system in the workplace. She emphasized the importance of quantifying job roles' key components and setting specific metrics for evaluating employee performance, such as attendance, client satisfaction scores, and productivity. Her presentation highlighted the use of a system that ties rewards and consequences to meeting or exceeding these metrics, providing accountability and removing emotion from evaluations.
Key Takeaways and Lessons Learned
Continuing the Journey
And that’s a wrap! The connections we've made and the knowledge gained will undeniably take us to new heights in our business. We are extremely grateful to every participant, speaker, and sponsor for their contributions to this remarkable event, as well as for the time we had with the newly made friends which extended beyond the convention hours and agenda.
To our fellow attendees, how did The HUGE Convention 2023 impact you? We invite you to share your favorite moments and takeaways in the comments below. Let's keep the momentum alive as we await the upcoming shows of the season - see you there!