Zero-till (no-till) and straight-cut canola were reshaping the Canadian agronomy landscape. Farm consolidation was accelerating. Land bases were expanding. 

And suddenly, high-capacity, high-clearance self-propelled sprayers weren’t a luxury — they were a necessity. Farmers could justify owning their own machines instead of relying on custom applicators. 

Our pull-type market was disappearing in real time. 

Our First Pivot: Get Creative

Customers still wanted our patented air boom application technology. So we became aftermarket installers — fitting air booms onto self-propelled chassis from several major manufacturers. Technically, it worked. But let’s just say the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) weren’t exactly thrilled to see us modifying their machines. 

Our Second Pivot: Build Your Own 

We partnered with a manufacturer who supplied us with a bare mechanical-drive power unit. We finished it out as a complete Spray-Air self-propelled sprayer. The mission was clear: Protect and expand our air boom technology as our customers scaled their operations. 

But then we made a classic mistake. As units rolled off the line, we felt the pull of “bigger market share.” So we offered two options, a standard sprayer or a sprayer equipped with our air boom technology Guess what happened? 

Our “standard” configuration had zero meaningful differentiation. Customers could buy similar machines from Apache, Case, Deere or Rogator…. These were machines with brand recognition and large dealer networks. And because we were smaller scale, our sprayer was more expensive. We hardly sold any. 

After banging our proverbial heads against the wall, the realization hit. We had completely forgotten why we built the self-propelled chassis in the first place. It wasn’t to become another sprayer manufacturer. It was to sell air boom technology. 

The Third Pivot: Refocus

We reconfigured standard boom units to air booms. We overhauled our marketing. We flipped our brand positioning 180 degrees. We stopped trying to be “either-or.” We went all in on what made us different. Sales returned and growth followed year over year. 

The self-propelled manufacturing venture was ultimately short-lived — buying third-party power units was structurally inefficient. That journey eventually led to the sale of Spray-Air to Miller-St. Nazianz, where I spent nearly 9 more years in product development and senior leadership. 

But the lesson stuck: When you drift from your core differentiation, the market will remind you — quickly. Being a “me-too” in a sea of commoditized, low-cost, uninspiring products is a fast path to mediocrity… and often failure.

Know your strength. Protect your differentiation. Build around what makes you unmistakably valuable.