Episode 146: How One Idea for Improved Skimming Transformed into a Line of Innovative Pool Tools with Eric and Jenel Resh

Episode Summary:  Eric and Jenel Resh are the owners of Piranha Pool Products, formally known as the Smart! Company based in Temecula, CA. An industry leader among pool cleaning brands, Piranha’s products include leaf nets, poles, and brushes which are available through hundreds of wholesale distributors around the country.  Eric and Jenel look back on a long career in the pool industry. They got their start buying a bare-bones route in Southern California in the mid-1990s, at a time when pool service as a career or a business—particularly one that is scalable and whose foundation is its brand—was far from the point where it is today.  Similar to the pool businesses back then, the tools were far from where they are today as well. Eric described his tools from the past as “working with toys”. The lack of innovation from the 60s to the 90s left the door wide open for the Resh’s to take advantage and build products that would change the industry.  Listen in as Eric and Jenel discuss the moments that sparked the ideas for both the Smart! nets and Power Poles, what goes into the production of them, and how they have developed into their highly acclaimed Piranha nets, poles, and brushes.  Topics Discussed:  03:35 - How the Resh’s got into the pool industry  14:27 - How they built their pool service company  16:56 - Eric’s first idea to make skimming better  22:37 - How the industry became more “professionalized”  35:11 - Taking your pool tools seriously