It’s not every day that the owner of Texas’ largest roofing company chooses to purchase a hand-cleaner company. They’re all interchangeable, right?
Not to Rodger Brogdon. For him, the connection between roofing and VizionOne Hand Cleaner begins and ends with something far less complicated: Find a good product, figure out how to sell it and make money.
“Well, it wasn’t never on my radar, I’ll tell you that,” Brogdon said. “But the first time I tried it, I though, man, this is a hell of a product. Smelled good, kept my hands moist when I got done, and did a heck of a job of cleaning them. And long story short, I liked the product, so I bought the company.”
That might be one of the shorter acquisition studies ever conducted.
Then again, Brogdon didn’t build his business career waiting for somebody else to tell him when an opportunity looked good. The longtime NHRA Pro Stock racer has bought companies before, and VizionOne tripped the same business instincts.
“I’ve done it a few times, to be honest with you,” Brogdon said. “It’s just something in my blood. I’m always trying to come up with ideas to make more money, and I just thought it would be a hell of a venture to do it now. When it gets to the point where it’s making me money, we can redo this article, but it’s a challenge, but I figured a three-year process to get it where I want it to be.”
It’s not every day that the owner of Texas’ largest roofing company chooses to purchase a hand-cleaner company. They’re all interchangeable, right?
Not to Rodger Brogdon. For him, the connection between roofing and VizionOne Hand Cleaner begins and ends with something far less complicated: Find a good product, figure out how to sell it and make money.
“Well, it wasn’t never on my radar, I’ll tell you that,” Brogdon said. “But the first time I tried it, I thought, man, this is a hell of a product. Smelled good, kept my hands moist when I got done, and did a heck of a job of cleaning them. And long story short, I liked the product, so I bought the company.”
That might be one of the shorter acquisition studies ever conducted. Then again, Brogdon didn’t build his business career waiting for somebody else to tell him when an opportunity looked good. The longtime NHRA Pro Stock racer has bought companies before, and VizionOne tripped the same business instincts.
“I’ve done it a few times, to be honest with you,” Brogdon said. “It’s just something in my blood. I’m always trying to come up with ideas to make more money, and I just thought it would be a hell of a venture to do it now. When it gets to the point where it’s making me money, we can redo this article, but it’s a challenge, but I figured a three-year process to get it where I want it to be.”
Brogdon isn’t planning on a get-rich-quick story. He’s giving VizionOne three years to become the business he believes it can be, and he’s barely into Year One.
The product came from emergency-room physician and Comp Eliminator racer Ashton Hudson, who was looking for a hand cleaner capable of attacking serious grime without leaving hands dried out. Brogdon noticed both qualities the first time he used it.
He also noticed something Hudson probably didn’t need a medical degree to diagnose. Brogdon spends his weekends surrounded by people with filthy hands.
Drag racing is populated by engine builders, crew members, racers and mechanics who consider grease, oil, clutch dust and assorted grime part of the uniform. Hand cleaner isn’t a luxury in those surroundings.
For Brogdon, that made racing an obvious place to start. He already knew the customers, spoke their language and didn’t have to explain why they might need the product.
“There’s a lot of people out here with dirty hands,” Brogdon said. “Yeah, it’s perfect for it. Any type of racing, and since I’m so involved in drag racing, of course it was natural for me to do this the first time, but we’re going to try to get it in all forms of racing.”
That’s where Brogdon’s racing background becomes more than a convenient place to hang VizionOne banners. He can put the product directly into the hands of people who spend their weekends getting those hands dirty.
And Brogdon isn’t interested in keeping VizionOne confined to the drag strip.
The next major push comes at the Performance Racing Industry trade show in December. Brogdon sees PRI as an opportunity to move beyond drag racing and introduce VizionOne to competitors, builders, manufacturers and businesses from across motorsports.
“We’re going to do the show in December, and I think we’re going to really explose the product to all the different racing organizations and types, at the PRI show,” Brogdon said. “And I think that’s really going to be a boost for us. I’m anxious to see how that goes.”
The fit isn’t difficult to understand. Racing provides the kind of customers who can judge a hand cleaner before the sales pitch is finished.
Brogdon knows those customers because he has been one of them for years. His NHRA career, particularly in Pro Stock, has kept him close to the mechanical side of racing and the people who make their living there.
The harder part comes after the samples are handed out and the displays come down. Exposure doesn’t automatically become sales, and Brogdon isn’t pretending otherwise.
His three-year timetable reflects that. VizionOne isn’t another racing sponsorship designed to put a logo on a car and measure success by television time.
Brogdon bought the company because he believes there is a business to build.
That probably explains the acquisition better than any connection someone might try to manufacture between roofing and hand cleaner. There really isn’t one anbd there doesn’t have to be.
Brogdon saw a product he liked and a marketplace he understood. His first move was to take it into drag racing, where finding somebody with dirty hands isn’t a needle in a haystack experience.
The first year is about establishing VizionOne, putting the cleaner into people’s hands and expanding its reach. The next two will determine whether Brogdon’s instincts were right.
He isn’t declaring victory yet. In fact, Brogdon already volunteered to revisit the subject when VizionOne starts making him money.
That sounds like a businessman willing to put his own scorecard on the wall.
Three years from now, Brogdon will know whether buying a hand-cleaner company was another good business decision or just one of his more unusual ones.
For now, the explanation remains pure Brogdon.
“And long story short, I liked the product, so I bought the company.”
