Skid Steer Nation Builds Online Community Highlighting Small American Manufacturers

In an increasingly digital world, leaders of organizations need to change how they build trust with their audience and foster an organizational culture. Ryan Deemer is doing that successfully as he builds his new company, Skid Steer Nation.

“I had been sitting on the concept for a new business and decided it was the perfect time to take this idea, devote all of my time to it, and make it a reality.” Deemer said.

During his 10 years in manufacturing skid steer attachments and other heavy equipment in the construction industry, he became aware of many small manufacturing companies that were strong in engineering and operating but struggling with sales and marketing. Deemer had the vision to use his sales and marketing expertise to overcome that challenge by creating an online store that partners with American small, family-owned businesses.

“They make a better product,” Deemer said. “It’s a higher quality product than an imported implement. The small American manufacturers care more about the quality of the product than they do about their profit at the end of the month.” Ryan found an innovative way to put a spotlight on those small firms and help them generate new sales growth.

With a goal of building an online community, Deemer started a Facebook Group called Skid Steer Nation Community to educate people about Skid Steer Nation’s products, engage with customers and perform market research. By relentlessly creating and releasing new video content showing the featured skid steer attachments in action, Skid Steer Nation captivated and cultivated an audience that developed into a community of 9,000 users within nine months.

After creating the Skid Steer Nation Community, Deemer’s team reached out to small businesses that carried a full line of products and offered them more exposure through this sales and marketing platform. “The world is turning into a virtual world,” Deemer said as he addressed challenges in starting the business. “You just don’t meet people in person anymore, you don’t shake hands.”

Ryan knew it would be a challenge to develop trust within this business-to-business model. People looking to purchase their products are not able to walk into a store to shop and get a feel for the attachments before buying them. Skid Steer Nation customers have also never met the people working for the companies building the attachments. According to Ryan, this hurdle cannot be avoided as the world turns to more virtual ways of doing business. To overcome this hurdle, the video content created by his team allows the customer to become familiar with the head of Skid Steer Nation while also becoming familiar with the capabilities of the attachments. The result is that the buyer is put at ease and can be confident in their decision to purchase.

Skid Steer Nation is a team of five that works virtually to educate people about the products the company sells from their four main manufacturing partners. “People do not want to be sold, they want to be educated,” Deemer said. “All the content that we create comes from an educational perspective; the unexpected value to us is the sale itself.”

To build a strong foundation, Deemer said he had to define success for himself and his company. He knew an online store would be the only way to generate revenue 24 hours a day. Next, he worked backward by envisioning what the company would look like in five years and made decisions to reflect that.

“I have a little note on my desk, and I just stay true to what my vision of success is and what the business’s vision of success is, so that we are always planning and are always on track and moving forward with the foundation that I originally set forth on the business,” Deemer said.

According to Ryan, the mission statement and core values of the business include partnering with only small, family-owned American manufacturers, selling to people in the United States, offering high-quality products from reputable people, and making sure the products they offer fit the marketplace and solve the problems the customers face in their construction-related businesses.

“I’m constantly asking myself if we’re staying true to why we started the company,” Deemer said.

Ryan works to build and empower his team by giving his employees tasks that suit their strengths, and he uses mistakes as learning opportunities. He looks for ways to remove himself and have his team do certain tasks. He created standard operating procedures for every task, so his team can run things when he’s not available.

“Trusting that they have the best decision for the business was very difficult. You are tempted to micromanage everything because the company is your baby, but the best decision I ever made was to set the parameters for them to work within and let them go do the work,” Deemer said.

The relationship between Deemer and Bradley University’s Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) first developed when Deemer was running a manufacturing company. Before that, he was an entrepreneur for 12 years. The Center helped Ryan support his prior employer with international growth opportunities. He said they did ISTEP missions with Illinois together, which included going to places like Chile and Canada.

When Ryan launched Skid Steer Nation, it was natural to reach out to the Illinois SBDC at Bradley University. Turner Center for Entrepreneurship Director James Foley and International Trade Specialist James Ryan introduced Ryan Deemer to Eric Sampson, SBDC Director. Mr. Sampson now helps on a weekly basis. “We have a weekly call, and Eric is a business mentor to me,” Deemer said. “He keeps me on track with the business ideas that I want to make sure we’re doing, and he gives me that professional conversation, accountability, and a format to discuss our current status.”

“It’s always a pleasure to discuss business management with Ryan. He is a systems-thinker, and he is focused on continually making progress.” says Eric Sampson. “With Skid Steer Nation, Ryan Deemer is building a compelling vision, building systems for success, and building a winning culture by investing in his employees, his vendors, and his customers.”