Shed Geek Podcast

Backyard Profits, Built On Fun

• Shed Geek Podcast • Season 6 • Episode 13

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Tighter margins, tougher competition, and buyers who research online before they ever step on your lot—sound familiar? We sat down with David Hershberger of Hershberger Lawn Structures to talk about the simplest lever dealers can pull right now: diversify beyond storage and become the go-to solution for the whole property.

We get practical about the numbers. A shed might net a 10% commission, but a playset can carry around a 60% markup with room to price delivery and setup. Hunting blinds don’t move in the same volume as sheds, yet the margins often beat them—and the buyers come back year after year. David explains why some dealers made more on one playset than on three sheds, and how a few high-visibility displays can transform drive-by traffic into qualified leads. He also opens the hood on quality: Woodguard structural members wrapped for durability, Tangent poly rails, stainless hardware, proprietary rotomolded slides, and Stryker blinds with whisper-quiet tempered-glass windows designed for real hunts, not showroom talk.

If you’re wondering about the lift, we cover it. Expect a minimum display investment near $10K, smart packaging that allows hand unloads, flexible shipping options, jigs and instructions for quick assembly, and onsite installs that often wrap in about an hour. Add a playset 3D configurator and simple mapping tools to your website and watch your time-on-site and lead quality jump. Families engage because they’re designing memories. Hunters engage because they’re upgrading outcomes. Both groups bring emotion, urgency, and referrals that compound over seasons.

We also share a big announcement: an exclusive partnership to help expand the dealer network for PlayMor playsets and Stryker hunting blinds. If you want to future-proof your lot and sell solutions that make people smile, cheer, and come back for more, this conversation will give you the strategy, the tools, and the confidence to act. Subscribe, share with a dealer friend, and leave a review telling us what you’ll add to your lot next.

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This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Shed Pro

NewFound Solutions
Shed Suite
Three Oaks Trading Co

INTRO:

Hello and welcome back to the Shed Geek Podcast. Here's a message from our studio sponsor. Let's be real. Running a shed business today isn't just about building great sheds. The industry is changing fast. We're all feeling the squeeze, competing for fewer buyers, while expectations keep climbing. And yet, I hear from many of you that you are still juggling spreadsheets, clunky software, or disconnected systems. You're spending more time managing chaos than actually growing your business. That's why I want to talk to you about our studio sponsor, ShedPro. If you're not already using them, I really think you should check them out. ShedPro combines your 3D configurator, point of sale, RTO contracts, inventory, deliveries, and dealer tools all in one platform. They even integrate cleanly into our Shed Geek marketing solutions. From website lead to final delivery, you can quote, contract, collect payment, and schedule delivery in one clean workflow. No more double entries, no more back and forth chaos. Quoting is faster, orders are cleaner. And instead of chasing down paperwork, you're actually running your business. And if you mention Shed Geek, you'll get 25% off all setup fees. Check it out at shedpro.co/ shedgeek. Thank you, Shed Pro, for being our studio sponsor and honestly for building something that helps the industry.

Shannon:

Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. Thank you so much for listening in today. We are here in Millersburg, Ohio. So if we missed you on this trip, uh watch us on Facebook. A lot of times on the Shed Geek Facebook page and the Shed Sales Professionals page. We will let people know where we're traveling. We want to talk to you. We want to hear your story. We want to know about your Shed story. We want to know about your playset story. We want to know about your hunting blind story, your carport story. So, give us a call at 618-309-3648 or message us at info@ shedgeek.com. Welcome back a familiar face and an old friend of mine, Mr. David Hershberger from Hershberger Lawn Structures. David, uh I think people know who you are, but just in case, give us a little bit of like detail about who you are and what you do and how you find yourself here in like shed geek world. Sure.

David Hershberger:

Sure. So um I'm David Hershberger, and uh I uh in in the in Dutch language you would say you got yanked up, uh we got pulled up um in the uh plays at industry. Uh my dad started a business um thirty-three years ago. So um anyway, this is what I've done and known. And I met Shannon when he worked for a uh rent-owned company. That's right. And our friendship has grown over the years. Um and so that's how I ended up in the Shed Geek world. Um, and I guess my dad's to blame as to why I'm in the playset world.

Shannon:

Been here a few times o over the years, even got invited to speak at your dealer event, which I got an opportunity to see some of the things that you guys do uh actually uh uh uh go through the assembly process and just meet so many of your dealers, which is really interesting because you get this um like shed dealers, carport dealers, playset dealers, uh hunting blind dealers, and uh a mixture of each of those things. Uh which just seems to be a common thing that we're seeing uh in the industry now where people are diversifying cord, you know, uh wanting to offer different products.

Cord :

Yeah, big time. I mean, I think we've been beating this drum uh really probably for the past year, but um this fall, especially, as we start thinking about what that product mix is going into uh 2026, uh the sales season here in the spring. And you know, I know we've said it, but it continues to be true today, and it will be truer tomorrow and the day after. Um you know, for the dealers out there, the product mix, what you're offering, what that ultimate value proposition is to the consumer is evolving. Um and not to mention the industry itself is evolving, right, and maturing. Um and you know, the margins are getting tighter because people are operating at a higher level, and then you're uh you're operating on price and you're competing with the guy down the street. Um and more and more the dealers who succeed are the dealers who are offering the solutions um for the entire property, right? Anything outside of that home.

David Hershberger:

Right.

Cord :

Um, if you need a property solution, I know we've always said backyards, which is of course you know, most of the time where uh a playset goes uh into the backyard, but a property solution, a hunting blind solution, which by the way, they have absolutely Cadillac hunting blinds if you're uh if you're a hunter out there. Um I mean hunting blinds that that uh damp all of the uh your dad was actually telling me that he was taking business calls uh out hunting out hunting and waiting for the yeah, it was I mean you gotta make money sometimes if you pay for the right and was on a business call and watched uh a doe walk out 20 yards in front of him, was still talking, just talking with a normal cadence, ended his call in due time, opened the window that doesn't make any noise, right? That's right. What is there uh what's is there like call it the whisper track window? The whisper track window opens the window, shoots the doe, harvests it, said he took a few minutes to uh to have a little bit of joy, but then he had another call to make. So, he put the window back up, you know, made the call and then went down and obviously harvested the deer. But um, you know, these uh I guess what I'm getting to is that is a property solution, right? Right? Whether or not it is directly in your backyard, uh directly for storage, like these the you know, I know we're at the shed geeks, but even that concept is evolving, right?

Shannon:

Like absolutely well, it has to into these different products, and you know, cool thing is like sheds are practical, yeah, carports are practical, yeah. But play sets, hunting blinds, those are fun. Yeah, you're selling fun. And anybody who's selling fun has a uh uh a joy about them whenever they go to work. I mean, you're selling something for kids and grandkids to play on. Uh you're selling something for the uh uh I'm not a big I'm not a big hunter. I hunted more whenever I was young, but you're selling something more for like a passion project, which is still fun. Like, let's be honest. Like, guys don't get to have fun very often. So deer hunting might be.

David Hershberger:

When we play golf, then if we're if we suck, then we're no good, then we still didn't have fun.

Shannon:

I'm not good at hunting or golf, David. Like I better stick to I better stick to what I know. But no, uh, and you know, one thing that we talked as we were uncovering this, uh, the thoughts about this, and we've had you guys on the show before, but something that I failed to like uncover before that I think's interesting for those who are listening is the margins.

David Hershberger:

Yep.

Shannon:

The margins on these things. Yo u know, most of uh most folks bring in uh a whole plethora of consignment sheds and they get whatever it is, 10, 20, 200 sheds on their lot, you know. Uh, and then if you're not wholesaling them, you know, average 10%. So you sell a $10,000 shed to make $10,000. We were sitting here talking or to make a thousand dollars. One of the things that we were talking about was the margins on these. So go through a little bit of that. And I just want to like maybe we're getting too on that too early. I think the listeners would find that interesting. So, give us give us just some of your overall arching thoughts on that because you spelled it out so well when we were asking you questions.

David Hershberger:

Yeah, so the long and short of it is basically with a shed, your salespeople are typically making a 10% commission. Um and probably where this actually hits home the most is when you have somebody that's trying to operate an actual backyard experience and they're running a shed lot as their business. Um, this doesn't quite hit home as hard when you're talking about like corporate stores where the barn manufacturer is the actual um sells the and the salesman is their employee. But when the salesman is the owner of the company um and they're selling sheds, you know, they're making a ten percent commission, is typically what's there. There's said some shed companies that are more. Um but uh with a playset, you're looking at a a lot bigger uh markup. Um typically in our poly play sets, we're running about a 60% markup on average. So, um that's not marginless markup. There's a difference there. Um and hopefully they know that. Um and then there's costs involved um to get it there and so forth. Um there's also room in that yet to add for um delivery and setup. So it's not capped there. Um I'm just giving you rough numbers. Um those are not specifics with ballparks, you know. So yeah, you know, you sell a ten thousand dollar playset, you're walking home with a little more than a thousand bucks, um, like you do with the shed. Yeah, now there's gonna be more work involved. Um you're gonna have to get out there, you're gonna have to set it up and some of those types of things, but you also get paid for that. So um there's definitely a lot more money um sitting in the play sets uh per sale than there is in the barn per sale, especially if you compare it dollars to dollars.

Shannon:

Which means you don't have to necessarily try to think with the mindset of I need to sell as many playsets as I sell sheds. Right. It's not as a in-demand product because of the practical use, it's more of a fun uh purchase, right? But you can you can take the same amount of time that you're putting into a shed, you can put four times the amount into selling a play set and still come out just as good. So it's really about the customer acquisition. And whenever somebody comes in to purchase a shed, if they're doing it on an impulse, I like to get in here 15 minutes, I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to know you, I don't want to be your friend, I want to get a shed. I know some people take longer, you know. You break out the honey buns and you know, you get them a Dr. Pepper, hey, sit down and talk to me, and you go through the process. Nothing wrong with being that professional, but a lot of you know shed folks will buy impulsively. Uh you just gotta spend a little bit more time acquiring that customer. But the payoff is so much more worth it.

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David Hershberger:

In the shed world, so you know, well, you're the customer you're describing is that typical what I call that that 10 by 16 or that 12 by 16 customer that just wants that shed. Right. And I've seen uh that changing um where writing a shed order is not as simple as it used to be. Um there is companies out there that are that way, but there is a lot of customizations um in the shed world that didn't used to exist five years ago. Um yeah. I mean, now we have finished out packages and we've got floorings and we've got this and we've got that. And all of a sudden it actually takes quite a long time to close some of shed deals, and you actually some of those customized sales, you have to be very intentional with that customer. You talked about getting out in the honeybuns or whatever, you know, to make them feel good. You have to do those things with a shed customer. And we used to be the people out there saying, you know, a shed customer, you don't have to feel that as much. Um I've seen that change where the playset customer, what it takes to sell a play set, you have to feel them. This is personal, this is fun, this is their kids, this is you know, this isn't their lawnmower, this isn't their chairs, this isn't their garden rake. Um it's different, but I've seen that that thing change just a little bit with especially this, I mean, this year, especially, the cust or last year and even the year prior, the amount of custom work out there that people were asking for in the shed industry was huge. Um it's only gone up.

Shannon:

Well, it's a it's exciting for us because we see the we see the quality. I mean, like we, you know, I want to make sure we address and talk a little bit about the poly and things like that. But the coolest thing that we're able to talk about here is something we haven't done at Shed Geek uh yet, which is to open up that conversation for exclusive partnership. Um and like, I mean, we go back a long way as it is already. So, it was a simple conversation in terms of like uh uh figuring out the details of how to work together. But we're excited to announce that like Shed Geek is partnering with Hershberger Lawn on PlayMor and on Stryker to be the exclusive provider for those uh uh products. That doesn't mean we are taking over your dealer network. That means that we're trying to grow your dealer network. We're trying to get more people to sell your product. So, we are welcoming phone calls, we are welcoming manufacturers' opportunities that say, hey, we want to add another product line and we want to be able to help our so maybe we're the manufacturer who wants to purchase these. Maybe we wanna we want to do a solid for our top one, top two, top five dealers. Uh, and we want to purchase some of these things and see how they perform. Um, this is a wholesale model, you know. This is skin in the game, which is something that I admire about the northeast part of the country uh when it comes to sheds, because there's just a commitment to um excellence, the white glove service that we talk about, you know, like wanting to be able to uh understand rent to own at a higher capacity, as opposed to I own a car lot and sure I'll sell some sheds. I don't think, David, if somebody's wanting to sure, I'll sell your play sets, I don't think that's the right fit. Uh no, no, we won't sign those kind of dealers. You want someone excited about it.

David Hershberger:

Right.

Shannon:

You're selling fun. You want someone who's gonna have fun with this and who who's gonna like do what's necessary to move the product, right? And that does not include I'll sell you one if you want one. We want you to be very intentional.

David Hershberger:

Yes, that's right. Very intentional about selling a place that being excited about fun. Um this is something that I believe in. This is something I think is important for kids. Um and yeah, as far as you know, dealerships and we probably have leveled the or put the level a little higher than we had at one point in our business here of who we sign as dealers, um, that we're looking for a very specific um type of dealer. Um so love to talk to you, talk to the Shed Geek guys, and then uh we're happy to talk to you about um getting into our network.

Shannon:

Um we're excited. We're excited enough that we want to become a dealer. So, we were talking about that as we started to have this conversation. We're like, look, we may be your first guys because like we're bought in, you know.

Cord :

You know, I think the quality of the dealer to me reflects the quality of the opportunity, right? Like, you know, PlayMor and Stryker to you're in a position where you can say we require this quality of dealer, right? And that's a good thing. And the reason you're in that area is because of the quality of that opportunity. You said it so succinctly earlier when we were talking uh off-air before we started the podcast, and you're talking about a dealer who called you and was so excited because they had sold, you know, three uh whatever it was, three sheds for, I mean, you know, whatever it was, $8,500 apiece or whatever that price point was. Um, and then they sold a playset and they made more money selling the play set than they did selling three sheds. And you know, to your point, um, you know, that now takes uh a longer period of time in a lot of cases to sell a shed. And you have a lot of tire kickers and and blah, blah, blah. But, you know, um, it's the quality of the opportunity, it's the quality of the products themselves. Um, you know, and as we were kind of walking through this, you know, obviously we talk about diversification and product mix and what you're offering your customers. But I think an undervalued piece of these playsets is the fact that they are in a lot of ways, um, they're doing some of your like lot marketing for you. They're very colorful, right? They're very nice, they're very colorful. And I'll just tell you, you know, you can't drive by this location here at your at your place. Or, I mean, I even called out to you that we had passed a couple of your locations on the way, and you saw them. On the way, and why did I see them? Because they are the red and green and yellow in a sea of that millennial gray that I think that's what they call it now, right? Like this, like whatever the color of McDonald's, the color of Dunkin' Donuts now, this like millennial gray that's everywhere, and like your products stick out and they demand attention. I mean, there's just a certain aspect of it that is not only fun, but it's practical just for all of those purposes. It makes it makes a lot of sense to me. Right.

David Hershberger:

So, so the simple word that I that I use for our products in that aspect is eye candy.

Cord :

Yeah.

David Hershberger:

I mean, I mean, who doesn't like a good piece of candy, right? Yeah, and who's gonna come for the candy first? The kids. That's right. So, the kids are gonna come first. And so, yeah, no, a hundred percent place that's our eye candy.

Shannon:

Your dad certainly made it, you know, uh an impression the first time we did a podcast with him about the you know, the desire uh that he had why why he got into this. You could you could choose to get in it into anything.

unknown:

He said

Shannon:

I really love the family. You know, I really love the family structure. I really love to see kids uh playing and being happy. And like he's just such a pleasant guy. First of all, I don't know what happened to you, David.

David Hershberger:

Yeah. I got the bed in the back. You got the bad then.

Shannon:

No, like honestly, you guys come are cut from the same cloth. You guys love to see, you know, whenever we talk to you guys off the air, I mean, that is a it goes beyond the job. And I appreciate that about you. It's what makes us excited here at Shed Geek uh to partner with you guys. Look, if you guys, first of all, if you if you want to know more about this, give us a call. Check it, you know. Hey, info at Shed Geek, call us, uh, go on the website, go to the newsletter, click and fill out these lead forms. We want to put you in touch with David uh and his family. Uh, we really believe in what they do. I've been excited to work with them as a partner for a long time. I think they offer a quality product. Um, I think that if you're a shed dealer in today, in 2026, um, I'm not gonna criticize anybody who says I'm only gonna focus on selling sheds. I'm not look, I'm not, I there's no strong arm here. But I also know that we travel across all the country, and I know that you're selling in the majority of these places, over 20-some states that you guys are in already, a multitude of dealers in both play sets and in in uh in in hunting blinds. Uh, and you hear the same thing all the time, you know. Like if I had more things to sell, or if I had more sheds to sell, or if I had more uh and and we hear the doomsday predictions. Like I don't think that there's any reason to sound the alarm, but I think that there's all the more reason in 2026 to start diversifying your products. And this is this isn't just about sheds, this isn't just about play sets, right? I mean, this isn't just about hunting blinds. I'm talking about a plethora of different things uh that you can be a backyard solution, you know, whenever you come in. And I think it's gonna set you apart from your competition. Uh but I just don't know anybody who's doing it better. And you you sell a good product, you sell it at a good price, and the margins are really good. I want to make sure to make that clear the margins for you are really good. And if you're gonna invest in yourself as a as a professional salesperson, there is no reason why you can't sell a play set and a hunting line the same way you can sell a shed. Not saying you're gonna sell as many, just saying your margins are gonna be good when you do sell them, so the effort is worth it and the risk is worth it to invest in yourself.

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Cord :

You know, your dad's uh passion for this really came out earlier whenever we were um you know talking to him off air and talking to the two of you. But um, you know, we were talking through you know, whenever a customer receives a shed delivery, right? That that hauler comes and you know uh does a great job, right? Does a great job whether there's already a foundation or they're blocking it up or whatever, right? Taking, you know, we obviously appre appreciate the haulers uh in a lot of ways they keep this industry uh taking, you know, they're at the core of of kind of what and the customer service, right? The per the people who are there last. Um but whenever that shed it is is set, dropped, whatever you want to call it, it is in place. I'll tell you what, there is not. There is not a round of applause and excitement that rings out from the house, right? Like there's not people inside cheering it on. I mean, there are we probably know some haulers who give themselves a round of applause when they get one set. But there's some that deserve it. And there's some that deserve it. That's right, that's right. Uh I've seen them, I've seen them uh, you know, really work those those trailers. But uh, but you know, yeah, from a shed sales, from a dealer's perspective, the idea that you are able to sell a product and sit across the table from somebody and have this conversation that we're having, which is, you know, when this swing set gets delivered and gets installed and your kids get home from school, right? It's not going to be a new place to keep your rakes. You know, it's not gonna be a new place to fill up with with boxes after after, you know, with totes after Christmas. All those things are necessary. But like the excitement, the joy, the applause, you're selling fun. You're selling fun. You're selling all the good stuff. And like you were saying, Shannon, I mean, yes, the the industry is maturing. It is it is changing. Um, there are people out there who who see the doom and gloom because margins are gonna get tighter and and big companies are are gonna you know be out here looking to to um you know acquire smaller companies and there's gonna be competition and people are gonna fail, right? But like this is a product that diversifies that offering, it increases your margins, and you get to sit across the table from people and you get to you get to have the sunny face. Yeah, right. You get to be the the voice that tells somebody, like, can you imagine when those three kids get off the bus and you know our guy has just put that together? My goodness, you know?

Shannon:

Municipalities, places like that. But one thing that really strikes me, and I bet you see a lot of this, churches. Yeah, we are a very faith-filled industry.

David Hershberger:

Yes, we are.

Shannon:

You know, you you you you hear people talk about the Lord everywhere we go, both on on air and off air. Those are conversations. Kids love play sets at churches. Everybody here goes to church, everybody here who's listening. I'm just saying there's a there's opportunity. We'll quit making our hard pitch on how fun it is. We believe in the product, obviously. Let's talk a little bit about the quality because you guys have made a little bit of changes over the years. Uh, obviously, Polly is uh a phenomenal product, long lasting. So tell us about like if people become a dealer, what are they actually getting? What's the what's the quality of the product? What's it look like?

David Hershberger:

Yeah, so we're the main structure um is made out of what we call a Woodguard product. Um that can be a little bit hard to explain completely. Um the company originated out of Oregon um and they started making products in the 1980s. Um so the company's been around a very long time. Um in 2018. 2018, yeah. Summer of 2018, the factory burnt to the ground.

Shannon:

Oh wow.

David Hershberger:

Um and uh so the company has since sold to a large uh billion dollar company, actually. Uh Wood Green is the actual company name. But it's a wood guard product. It's made in in uh Georgia. Southern yellow pine. Um it's treated with uh yellow wood, not yellow wood. It's called yellow wood. Yeah, um yellow wood treatment, if you're familiar with that. Y-E-L-L-A, yellow. Yeah, yep, yellow wood, southern, right?

Shannon:

So that's how that's how we say it, just naturally. I wasn't gonna say that. You gotta remember what's going on. Everybody, everybody susses us out quickly whenever we're up here up north. They're like, You're from down south, aren't you? Yes, sir.

David Hershberger:

So yeah, so then uh the product goes through some molding that we do to it, and then it goes into an extruder and we put plastic. Uh the simple way to explain it is you put a hard plastic and a stretch wrap mix together is the result that you get. So, you get a plastic that's got some flexibility to it, so that if the wood cracks, warps, uh, any of those types of things, which it doesn't much because it's a confined environment, um it can move and give to that. Um we put a coating of that on the outside. And uh that's what's used for our structural part of it. Um and then we use um tangent poly for our rail slats. Uh big fan of tangent. Love their stuff. Um and then we source we source our other plastic components. Uh we own our own slide mold for some of the slides. Um, get those molded. Um, that's a cool process, rotom molding. Um anyway, um, so yeah, that's the structural um integrity of the product. We use all stainless steel hardware.

Shannon:

Yeah, you know, not rusting.

David Hershberger:

Right. Yep. Uh steel components are made here locally. We have a uh steel manufacturer that makes everything on his plasma and all that jazz. Cool job. Yep. Yeah, yeah. Yep. So yeah, that's the quality part of it. The canvases we own another company next door. We have a uh blind, um, a window shade um company that does a lot of different custom sewing and they still make our uh tarps, so we sew those by another company that we own as well.

Shannon:

So very, very like I mean, the whole process, and I've I've been lucky enough to be here at your facility a couple of different times. And for obviously for those who become dealers, you know, uh that's I'm sure open for them to come up and you know, they receive training. Every time they receive, you know, support. Like and I got to thinking about that. So, we were talking about this uh as we were thinking about like even our endeavors, you know, like we want to help we want to help dealers, that's why we want to sign people up. We believe that adding a product line helps dealers. So it became a simple no-brainer for us to do this. And it just we were lucky enough that you guys have two products that we're eyeballing, which is play sets and hunting blinds. As we're talking about the the playset specifically, obviously that's been your flagship. You've been around longer in that area. Um, what does it look like? I become I'm trying to think of like questions that a dealer might have. Uh let's go with all the quote unquote hard questions. Uh what does this cost me? What is that?

David Hershberger:

Yeah, to become a dealer. Yeah. Yeah, you're looking at a minimum of about a ten thousand dollar investment. Um that's the minimum. Um I like to see more than that. Um and I like to see, you know, we say three. Um, I like to see five. Um, I like to see ten. Display models. Display models. Yeah. And you know, you're talking about real estate, and so we're willing to work with you there um on barns. You know, you're you're taking it away uh from your barn display. We get that. Um, so you know, where where can we put them that it's not, we can't hide these suckers. They gotta be up front. That's right. They need to be who hides the candy? It's a grumpy grandma, right? So don't be her. Um but uh yeah, so talked through that, but a minimum of is i n that 10,000 range.

Shannon:

Um so I become a dealer, I invest ten thousand dollars, I get some displays out there. How do the displays get to me?

David Hershberger:

Yeah, good question. Good old shipping question. Um the that is one that goes can go a lot of different ways. Um we ship stuff LTL, um, we do direct uh shipments um like a dedicated truck. Um we have trucking companies, we have local hot what we call hot shots. Um we we ship on hot shots. Um we have people that come and get their own. Um one thing that we've focused on is our packaging. Um we have endeavored to make our packaging so that if we ship it to a customer, they can hand unload it. Now, hand unload it, yeah, you're not there's items that are heavy. Um, you know, there's items that are you're both people are gonna be picking up a hundred pounds apiece, you know. Um our beam is strong. Um it's four two by sixes. Um and they have the coatings on them, so it's not like picking up four treated two by sixes. Right. It's got coating on top of that, yeah. You know, and they're twelve feet long, fourteen feet long, ten feet long. Um that's probably the most the heaviest piece. Um, but the other boxes are all we try to keep them around eighty pounds. Um so everything comes in a way that people can unload them by hand if needed. Um obviously we would prefer to do things the easy way, why not? You know, forklifts, bobcats. Yeah, right.

Shannon:

And a lot of people do, especially the manufacturers, you know, that's coming to the facility, they have all those those things. And that could probably be uh I don't I don't want to say a point of contention, but a point of concern for somebody who says, you know what, I want to be a dealer, I want to jump into this. Like, I don't I don't know uh what that has to look like. I've been here to watch the assembly of some of these things, and a lot of these things are very simple. If you have a bit of know-how, a bit of ingenuity, and and you know what? If you're a salesperson who has a bit of drive, like I know people come pick up a shed, goes on a truck, you don't see it, right? They go take care of it, the hauler does all the hard work. Us dealers, we don't we don't really, you know, have to do any of the hard work. So, there's a little bit of you know ingenuity involved here. There's a little bit of like you're you know, you the dream is free, but the hustle's sold separate. You know, you're gonna have to work just a little bit, you know. Uh, but when we talk about those margins, I don't see how that's not worth it. I mean, there's even mar in my opinion, there's margins in there to even hire help, you know, uh to do this. But I I'll digress from that. Um, what do you see? I mean, um most dealers do. Uh they get these things LT uh LTL'd in and they're able to set these things up in you know a day or two, or I mean if you're one day easily.

David Hershberger:

Yeah. Yeah. So we provide um installation instructions for them. We also um have jigs um that are quick helps with making things to hold boards in specific places. Um we also have designed a uh wheel set for the play sets um that you can you can literally um you know put the set on wheels, pull it in like a wagon, and drop it and slap the other items on and you're gone. Right. Um so on average our install guys spend about an hour on the job. Oh wow. Um that's fantastic, but then they build it here, so you have to build it. Right. So a lot of dealers do what we just talked about right there, and then they have their salesperson or um somebody else build it um either before the lot opens. Um, or uh, you know, a lot of shed lots don't open till you know 10 o'clock. Well, guess what? There's three hours in the morning there that you know you could have done something, I guess, if you'd get up at that time. But maybe we not everybody does, but we're Amish country, right? Yeah, that's right. That's right. Right.

Shannon:

You know, it's gonna set you apart too as a dealer. And like that's the question I have for you in 2026. Is the idea gonna be I'm just gonna sell more sheds uh with minimal effort in terms of like, you know, uh hope that the manufacturer uh brings me more uh inventory? And does that always relate to more sales or am I gonna diversify my product offering, add value by you know, creating these different uh uh reasons for people to stop by as they're driving by? I mean, that's gonna catch your eye every time you go by. I mean, not to mention, you know, just your online marketing and uh, you know, and things like that. And you guys do a lot of good dealer support. You do training. Uh, I've been here for your dealer event.

David Hershberger:

Like, I think you guys gave away like a couple of uh play sets and yeah, we give five plus uh five play sets away every year.

Shannon:

Yeah. So like you know, you come to the event, you know, you get to hear uh a speaker, you get to eat good food, and you know what? You just may leave with a free play set. Margins are even better on those, just in case you're keeping track. No joke. Uh but uh, you know, and I've just known the way that you guys operate for a long time. You know, uh I've actually worked with you like uh hand in hand. So, like I know the support that you guys uh that you guys provide. Let's talk about the hunting blinds a little bit.

David Hershberger:

Yeah.

Shannon:

Um, I mean, I know you and your dad are hunters. Yep, we love hunt. Uh so that kind of stemmed the desire for you guys to uh be into this world. But what does the what does the hunting blind side look like? Obviously, your flagship product has been your play sets for a long time, but you're really trying to grow this market, and you know what? It seems easy to grow because everybody's a hunter nowadays. Uh did I just pull a Donald Trump? Everybody's a hunter. Everybody's shooting the deer. I don't know what it is. I don't g do good impressions, but you guys are uh passionate about the hunting side as well.

David Hershberger:

Yeah, so the part of the reason behind that is um when young people get out into the nature and in into the woods, and God has given us a lot of cues um and a lot of things here on earth to um give us life examples. Um and so that's partly you know what, or that is one of the things that's driving um that. And today we see a lot of people stuck sitting on their phone, screen time. I just had a conversation with that about um with somebody last week, and anyway, the statistics of some of that stuff is crazy. Yeah. But now we have people that they go sit in our luxury hunting blind so they can be on the phone all the time. They can watch a video and they can like your dad, right? Yeah, exactly. So maybe we're defeating the purpose here. Uh no.

Cord :

Well, we had to walk into the woods at least.

David Hershberger:

Yeah, at least he did, right, right, yeah, yeah. So anyway, the drive behind the hunting blinds that uh started that is we've hunted for years and we enjoyed hunting out of hunting blinds, and we bought hunting blinds from multiple different manufacturers, and we weren't happy with the way they were made, and there was one feature of this blind that we liked, and one feature of that blind that we liked, and yet we weren't happy with it. So we decided one year we'd need several hunting blinds for ourselves, and so we decided to build those the way we wanted to build them, and so we did, and there were several employees that were on board with that as well. And so, we made I don't know how many hunting blinds, but it was quite a few. And from that is where we decided to market the hunting blinds. Um, we look back now at the blinds that we made then and we say, we're sorry. Uh the they have evolved majorly since then. Um the whole window system has evolved where we you know we have special products that are made exclusively for us for those windows. They're not readily available on the market. Today. You can't go to Menards and buy it. You can't go to Lowe's and buy it. You can't go to Kime Lumber or Holmes Lumber and buy local stuff. It's you know it's specific products that we've gotten designed for the window so that it functions the way it does. So, Whisper Quiet. Whisper quiet. It's silent. I mean it you can open and close that thing with deer right there. Um and the best part is it's tempered glass, it's not plexiglass. So, you get a clear mirrored image and it won't distort plastic distorts. Um so the only thing the only negative is if you take your gun and you don't you get too excited and you don't open the window, then things don't go well. Um

Cord :

True of any window.

David Hershberger:

Uh yeah. So that's the side of the hunting blinds. We I'm gonna be straight up front. We it's an LP smart side um with wood frame. And in the barn industry, there, you know, we we come to the shed show, we have guys that come up to us and they're like, oh I can make that. You know, and it get it, I granted like you've got that stuff sitting in your lumber shed. So, you know, we're using the exact same products. Um, I will say we've figured a few things out on the roof. Um, we figured a few things out on angles um that normally aren't in mini barns. Um, but any construction guy can do it. So, you know, from that aspect, it's like, why why why are we selling hunting blind? But they aren't finishing them.

Shannon:

So, we are debating having a sign hung in our offices that says there'll be a uh a 10% increase for those who say I can build it cheaper myself uh when they upon their return. Because uh, you know, like uh anything that you do uh for a living, you get better at than someone who does it recreationally. Of course, nothing saying you can't build your own hunting bond, nothing's saying you can't build them and sell them. Uh what you can't do is do it more efficiently in most cases, uh the most you guys are doing it here. And you know your margins, you know the barn uh and shed industry uh yourself. So like you understand the cost. And you know what? The margins are still better than a shed. Maybe not as good as a playset, but even selling hunting vines, FYI, margins are still better than if you're selling sheds. So you may not have to sell as many, you're not gonna sell as many. I think there's an acknowledgement that the practicality of storage uh uh is probably more uh of a need purchase or what appears to be a need purchase, you know, as opposed to fun, you know, which is play sets and hunting blinds, but it's still a uh uh uh a worthy product to have to add to your line of what you're selling already. I mean, we're seeing utility trailers, right? Really start to hit the market pretty heavy. I mean, obviously carports have been around for a long time. You know, you see furniture, you see a lot of guys getting into post-frame, pole barn. I've even heard about people getting into red iron that get really, really deep into like uh selling the on-site built structures. Customer acquisition time is much higher. You gotta spend a couple of days with people, you really gotta plan these things out. But why not have uh these things also available to a customer? It's a relatively low um uh investment, you know, if you're a dealer or if you're a manufacturer. Like I said, I really, really, really want to harp on those. Uh you want to do a solid for your top five salespeople and you're a you're a 60 lot company, you know, give people something to aim for. Buy those top five producing uh shed sellers, you know, uh uh five or ten play sets, watch them go. Yeah, watch them sell them, and then that's gonna motivate, you know, at your next dealer day, those dealers that are six through ten. You might not motivate the 11 through 50s, right? I get it, but those but those six through tens are gonna be like, you know what, we want some of that free product that you guys are gonna sell. And you figure out the margins, but it just adds to, and guess what? Your top five salespeople, they're gonna sell pizzas if you put them on the on the lot. It doesn't matter what it is because they're salespeople and they're gonna figure out a way. Um I I'm a fan. I have been. I got to see the assembly at the uh uh the dealer day that we came to and that we spoke at. Uh so like I'm excited to become you know a hunting blind dealer. We are in southern Illinois, we're right there in Deer Country, right? We're right there in an area where people want to uh want to hunt. You even got a couple of influencers, I think, that have pushed a few of your things. You know what? I got a couple of buddies that if they're not influencers, they're redneck enough to be entertaining, I promise you. And we're gonna get them on video because they are fun. Um, so we're excited about you know uh the product. We're excited about partnering with you guys. Uh we want serious people. We want people, I say we want serious people, but we also want people who want to have fun. Yeah, this is a fun product to sell.

Cord :

Yeah, it's a well, it's a you want serious people who are serious about sales. Yeah, intentional about sales. And, you know, again, just back to like, you know, um buyers aren't rational, right? Like people, no, no, no buyer is like we can trick ourselves, you know, and we can we can sort of build up all of these rationales for why we bought something, right? But like buyers are emotional, and there is nothing in this world that is easier to sell at a better margin than fun. That's why ferraries are red, right? And they go fast and they're worth a lot of money, right? Like whatever it is, right? Like, you know, and so um, you know, I think an underrated aspect here um, you know, of this sort of total prop, uh, as we were kind of discussing uh before, we've been the other thing that we've been kind of like talking about on the podcast is the continued development of the digital tools. We know that um we know that the digital customer is becoming more and more important in everything, but even in the sort of classic, you know, very firmly rooted in stuff, lumber construction, you know, even these customers um you know are becoming more and more digitally based. And so we know we have 3D Builder for Sheds, right, which is a great tool. It produces volume, it produces better leads. Um, you and I have been big advocates for real works labs. I think that their map is the interactiveness of it is a great tool that allows customers to uh you know have an interactive way uh to validate your company, to zoom in.

Shannon:

See all of the to see all the locations that your home service provider has uh operated in, whether you're an HVAC, whether you're selling sheds, you know what? Selling hunting lines, you're selling playsets. You can show like, hey, we've uh delivered 20 playsets in your in your in your neighborhood. You just didn't know it.

Cord :

Right. Same idea, but I but I think that uh one thing that you just said kind of casually that I was like, really? You so you have a 3D builder for the play sets. Well great. To me, you know, if you're a dealer out there, uh, you know, or even uh one of the bigger manufacturers with dealer locations who's providing a 3D builder to your dealers or whatever, if you have a website that is now starting to stack up tools, you've got a shed 3D builder, you know, maybe you have real works lives, maybe maybe not, we like it, but whatever. And then you have a playset builder, you are now getting people who are captured, entertained, interactive on your website. Like if you don't think that is your best customer, then you don't understand people the way that people build relationships in 2026. Because if I'm spending that much time on your website, I'm your best customer, right? Like I now feel like I know you whether we've ever met or not. And so, like that tool that lives on there is out here building relationships for you, building people's imagined future for them, right, without you ever having to speak to them. You talk about a good margin. Solves a lot of problems, too.

Shannon:

Yeah, solves a lot of problems in terms of visibility. You know, when you talk about using the five senses of of of uh uh you know, selling, you know, visual, like video just changes things. And whenever you can get on there and you can say, Well, we're thinking about putting a tower here or adding a rock uh climbing wall here, or we want to do that. Well, why don't we just see what that looks like? Just the same way as a shed. Let's take a look. And it gets more buy-in from the customer. And you can do this on Zoom, right? Like you don't even have to do this in person, but you can. Right. I mean, like you can you can dream with the with the customer if that's what they're doing. And you know what? That's all you gotta do. It's like, hey, what do you think your kids are gonna like the best? Let's try this out. Let's try this rock wall, you know. Let's try this uh uh slide, let's try this or whatever. You can build it out, you can see it. And I think we all know that the visibility, you know, changes the nature of things. That's why 3D configurators work, that's why they're one of the best, like you said, uh lead capture, you know, tools that exist. You guys even offer some support, some uh, you know, mild support. And you've talked to us about like getting into that more. You run some leads, you have your website, you run some organic traffic, you know, you give leads to the dealers when they're in that region. So you're spending the money to help your dealers be right successful, whether they're spending money on their own uh online platform or not. Um you believe in your product. I mean, you guys are all in, you're 33 years in. What do you want a dealer to know? If there's someone even on the on the cusp, if there's someone on the on the fence here. You've been doing this a long time. We're gonna try to push your product, we're gonna give it our best here at Shed Geek. But what do you, David Hirschberger, want dealers to know whenever they become a provider of PlayMor playsets and Stryker hunting lines? What's some of the most important things for you?

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David Hershberger:

Yeah, I would say um number one, you're becoming a uh a partner, not a purchaser. Um that's number one. Um we want to um take care of you the way we take care of our friends. Um that's our models. Um hopefully that's good in most cases. Yeah. Yeah. Um the number two thing is that that I like to talk about um is it is a lot of fun to sell something to somebody, the two things to s to one person. Um so you might write a shed order and the next month you wrote the play set order and it's the same person and you grow that customer, um that acquisition grows bigger and bigger. So um yeah, I like to talk about that. Growing margins are there. Um on the hunting blind side, that's huge. I mean, I've got multiple people that um I don't know if I have anybody that's over 20 yet, hunting blinds. But I've got I know I have 17, I have an 18-ish. I'm talking one person with that many blinds.

Cord :

Oh, right, units sold to a single hunter.

David Hershberger:

To a single hunter. Right. Correct. Um and so, you know, you're not making you know that that guy, for instance, he just he just buys three, four a year. Yeah. And then just adds in stacks and stacks and stacks. So, you know, it's a repeat customer. Um, it's not quite as good as you need hamburger buns every week or eggs every milk every week, but close to it. Yeah.

Cord :

I mean, it's so um well. It sounds like once you once you climb into a Stryker hunting blind, you're never getting up in a ladder stand again. Like this guy is like, oh my goodness, I'm only hunting in these things.

David Hershberger:

So that's awesome. Right, right. So um that is that is important. The other thing that I I want people to know is that we're here for you. Um, and we're gonna help you figure it out. And if it doesn't work for you, it's okay. That's the other side. Yeah. Um, you know, in life, not everything is for everybody. Um, we think that, you know, selling swing sets and hunting blinds is the best thing ever. It's a lot of fun, and we've had a lot of fun doing it and a lot of success doing it. Um, but at the end of the day, it's not for everybody. And so let's have an honest conversation, let's talk about that. And if it is for you, great. And if you try it and it doesn't work and we explore every avenue to make it work and it doesn't work, it's okay. Guess what? We're still gonna be friends. Um so I think those are the probably the main things that I want or that I like to communicate with people.

Shannon:

So well, I'm excited about 2026. I'm excited about talking with you guys more about this value proposition. I think it's a no-brainer for those who own independent lots who are willing to invest in their self. Uh, you're not just investing in into uh a product that you could move for the customer, you're investing in yourself. You're a professional salesperson, right? You can move these things, you just have to change your approach. Maybe it's a little bit different approach than it is to selling sheds, but man, when we talk about those margins, that that gets me excited because you can put in a fourth of the work, but you can still make uh the same money, you know. So, it's really just about like identifying who your target market is. Uh, I feel like, you know, I hate using this phrase, but they sell their self when it comes to hunting blinds. But I think in many ways, I mean it's an easier sell than even the shed because it is the people know what they want. It's just a matter of like, I'm gonna get a hunting blind, where am I gonna get it from? Who who's got it available and who's gonna provide that customer service for me? Uh, you know, play sets, I think you got to go in a little bit farther because the kids always want them, but it's just a matter of like getting mom and dad to understand that the release of the bunny for the joy that they're going to have is gonna be far greater than just a phone or a new digital gadget. Yeah, right.

Cord :

Yeah, and for the comfort and I mean, you know, compared to what some people have hunted, even luxury, I would describe these. This is luxury, yeah. You know, the carpet on the inside, right? The entire thing.

Shannon:

Like you can lay down and sleep if you get bored of hunting.

Cord :

But for that uh comfort and luxury, even uh, you know, there's obviously so much work that's gone into the design. They're incredibly naturalistic. I mean, you know, like they I just noticed that, you know, I don't know if there's any right angles, right? And I mean that's on purpose, right? Because there's not right angles in the woods. You know, I was just looking at it, I had to take a phone call and was walking around one of them and just noticed like they've been very intentional. So anyway, I just want to point that out. Like, this isn't just a Cadillac for the sake of a Cadillac, right? Like it is it is very well thought out to kill deer, to have successful hunts. Um, you know, and uh I think that craftsmanship and the innovation you had mentioned earlier. Well, I could make that. Well, the innovation, you know, like you said, the angles, the cuts, the way that you join things to uh seal it while also um keeping the look that actually works. Uh innovation's hard won. Right. You know, and like you said, these look a lot different. So that's I just want to make that point because it's I had just been outside uh before we started the podcast and noticed that. You had said uh you said something earlier about a guy setting one out and then just a couple days later, what were you saying there?

David Hershberger:

Yeah, so we had a guy this year um that bought a property and was not able to like he bought it, he had closing two days before um the season started.

Cord :

Right, right.

David Hershberger:

And he was able to do a little scouting, so he knew what he was doing there. The people had let him do that. Um but he couldn't put any blinds on before. So, two days before the season started, he uh went and put his blind out. Uh he installed two blinds. Um yeah, two blinds on that property. And two days two days later in the in the morning, he shot an over uh over 200 inch uh whitetail out of there. An old Wily one who should have who should have known not to walk next to his name. Yeah. Um it was a it was a big deer. Big deer. That's awesome. That just kind of speaks to exactly that. And it wasn't an i fence. I'm not talking night. I'm talking wild Ohio white tails.

Shannon:

We got a couple of those high fences down there in our area.

David Hershberger:

And what's the other high fences?

Shannon:

I just we got a couple of those guys that's been uh pretty successful bringing baseball players down and uh serving it right up to them. But uh I'll tell you what, people just love sport. Right, you know, people love their kids, and that's why they love playsets.

David Hershberger:

I don't want to that's why I love the hunting blinds. I take I Rylan is six. Yeah, he goes hunting with me almost every time.

Shannon:

Yeah.

David Hershberger:

And we have a nice time together. We've spent more time in a hunting blind this year than we would have ever spent in a tree stand.

Shannon:

Few people have memories from a garden shed that holds your Christmas supplies and your rakes and your water hoses. That's right. A lot of people have memories left over from hunting blinds and places. So, it's to me, uh, I think I said this to you from the very first moment. It's the reason why uh I'm saying the word a hundred times in this episode. You're selling fun. Everybody likes to have fun. Uh it seems like a simple product. It's just a matter of like, as you're sitting back debating this for yourself as a shed dealer, are you willing to commit uh to yourself? Are you are you willing to invest in yourself? That means investing in your ability to move these things. People want these things. It's just a matter of you becoming the professional shed seller you are and taking the risk of saying, I'm gonna invest in myself, I'm gonna invest in something. They're gonna sell. It's just a matter of like finding your customer. Uh it's way more fun than selling a shed. So, it's really that simple for me. We can't wait to become dealers. We're excited about 2026 and being exclusive partners for Stryker Hunting Blinds and play more. Any final thoughts that you want to give to the industry? Any shout outs, just anything at all that you want to share? Uh questions, comments, death threats?

David Hershberger:

No, I don't think I have anything. Okay. No, I think we're good. I look forward to 2026. I think it's going to be a good year in the shed industry and in playsets and blinds. I look forward to it. Go close some big deals. And like I say, when I close out my sales, I'm go have fun and sell something.

Speaker 5:

That's right.

Shannon:

That's right. Well, we can't wait. We want to sell something uh for you. If you're a dealer and you want to find out more, if you call David, tell him the shed geek sent you. If you don't, just give us a holler. We're ready to work for your business. We're ready to uh uh show you guys how much fun it can be selling PlayMor uh swing sets and uh and Stryker hunting blinds. I believe in what you guys do. Thank you guys for having me up here getting to speak. You know, a half year ago, it was just so nice to meet your family, but really your work family, extended family through your dealer network. And uh everybody was so kind. Uh the food was good and the company was better. And uh we just thank you guys. Thank you, thank you that you guys are our uh our uh Jesus first uh company. Uh there's just you know, there's just a fight against that so much in today's culture, and that is who we are. And so, like we want to celebrate that and we say thank you for that. And your dad for like having the vision uh you know to be able to do this. I think he's just a warm guy who has a true uh heart to want to help people. And I don't want to oversell what we're doing here today. I just believe in what you guys are doing. Excited to be partners with you. Uh if you're somebody who wants to add these uh lines of products to your to your sales lot, give us a call. We'll work for you. So thank you, David. Appreciate you being on today. Thank you.

OUTRO:

Thanks again, Shed Pro for being the Shed Geeks studio sponsor. If you need any more information about Shed Pro or about Shed Geek, just reach out. You can reach us by email at info@ Shedgeek.com or just go to our website, www.shedgeek.com, and submit a form with your information, and we'll be in contact right away. Thank you again for listening, as always, to today's episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. Thank you and have a blessed day.