The Plug Co. team has been going around countries and cities plugging businesses of all industries to their needs. Starting from basic products like fuel passing through seeds, fruits and vegetables to even reach luxurious products like paintings and statues.

However, something about the agricultural industry left a mark with me, making me more interested and willing to invest more of my time and my business goals towards this industry. I can already hear you saying: “Why would you do something like that, especially if you already have a steady and established business with multiple industries”.

I cannot deny that this was a decision I took based on less calculations and more of a gut feeling that pushed me towards paying more attention to that industry. After taking the decision, I found that I did not only have love and appreciation towards that industry but also had something valuable that I could add and gain from in this industry.

It all started with a trip to Mexico, which showed me that there are unutilized resources in the form Small Scale farmers all around Latin America that no one pays attention to. I found that small scale farmers are not usually able to access any kind of progress or development in their markets. This deficiency is cause by the fact that these farmers are not visible for large traders because of their inability to supply them with the needed quantity, and their ignorance of communication methods that can help them improve their market share.

Getting Introduced

This is where I found a place for me to do what I do best, establish connections between worlds. I started by establishing a formulated connection with as much farmers as I know and keep track of the types of crops that they can grow in their lands. This included making feasibility calculations, and analyzing the type of crust of their farms. This helped us create a large database of types, quality and quantities of all the crops that we can supply to our clients.

We are now able to make multiple farmers with different owners work together to produce a bulk quantity of the same crop. This is an essential step that will help us introduce the farmers to a larger market, to improve their income; while helping our suppliers access the products they need with better quality and better care.

After finding success with this idea in Mexico, I decided to expand this project to be in multiple countries like Colombia, Nicaragua and even Greece, for their variety of harvests that can be brought up to the map of the industry through our help.

The Practical Steps We Took

After starting on the path, we found that we still had a long practical way to go, as we needed to fill multiple gaps that small-scale farmers do not usually deal with in their usual sales. These were problems like finalizing export papers, finding the correct packaging method for each product we have, and finding an efficient packaging factory that can operate within the needed timeline.

The first step was to locate packaging factories that are relatively close to the farms that we operate with. Using our representatives in these countries, we made extensive site visits to these factories and made sure that they can package the crops in the correct method and deliver it to the needed ports for them to start on their journey to our clients’ doorsteps.

As for the export procedure itself, we were there with our wide network of connections helping us determine the costs and the forms needed to make the products eligible to be exported to another country.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, we were able to place ourselves in a market that we were interested in by finding a gap for a multitude of reliable suppliers with no buyer to be found and connecting them with buyers who are looking for specific products with no consistent suppliers. It is usually said that the devil is in the details, we here at The Plug were not scared to start looking the devil in the eyes and finding our advantage in these details; as within the confines of these details, we were able to find gaps in the market to fill.

As I always say, one of the most important predecessors to finding success, is to find a gap in the market that you have the idea to fill, and never be shy of taking that advantage to improving the status quo of the market. This is how you grow into becoming a trend setter in the market.