Sometimes you just have to call it what it is!

One of the quickest ways to fail in a business is to listen to what everyone else has to say. By anyone else – I generally mean competitors and haters. Generally speaking, one goes into business to be successful and provide a quality product or service that fills another’s needs. When we started Throttle Muscle, we did it for that very reason. We started the company to provide a quality product that filled a need for automotive installers with the side benefit of providing money and awareness to our favorite charity! I did not go into business to step on people’s toes, threaten their business, spread lies about others or to scheme up ways to drive down the competition.

In the early days of launching the company I hurt some feelings and stepped on some toes of some territorial and sensitive individuals. It wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t out of ill-will or with some sort of evil scheme. I am sure you can peruse through some of my past posts to get the scoop on that if you wish. But, my full 100% intent with Throttle Muscle was to create opportunity to raise money for MDA. We couldn’t do that without introducing high quality products into the market place at a competitive price. I mean – really – do you think we could sell substandard products and earn trust? Do you think we could price ourselves out of the market by selling the gold standard? No. Our goal was: offer high quality products at competitive pricing in order to raise money.

I laugh today when I think back to some very reputable companies talking about the chemists they have on staff and how every product they sell is based on a secret formula. Then one day I find the ACTUAL manufacturer’s own product in the box of this “reputable” company. HAHA the secret was out. But in all seriousness, who do you want manufacturing your product? Some no-name company that has a chemistry set in their garage or a well-known OEM manufacturer that makes a living off making great products for many different companies? Taking a walk through our manufacturer’s production facility was eye opening. I’d guess that ? of the companies in the last NOLN additives guide had at least one product filled by our main manufacturer.

I know I have joked before about one of my students who asked me that very question – or at least professed the doubt about me sitting in my garage mixing up gas and additives in beakers! The truth is, we researched several different manufacturers when we were developing our formulas for Throttle Muscle. We identified market needs and market niches where we felt operators could sell additional items that benefited consumers and had our products developed to standards that met those needs. We continue to do that today.

So why do our competitors – who by the way do the same damn thing – need to make up stories about Throttle Muscle products and formulations? My guess is – they feel threatened. They feel threatened by our vision, our mission and our commitment to doing right by our customers and the charity we work with. One of our competitors actually had the nerve to state this to my face: “your products are just my old formulations and my new products are much better”. FALSE! Your products are YOUR old formulations and our products are actually completely different – but thanks for your cowardly audacity. Because really – did you ever (or do you now) have a One-Step Fuel System Cleaner that has a synthetic lubricant in it that has been PROVEN by a third party to add an average of 2.3% fuel economy? No. You. Don’t.

It was ironic again – today – to get a phone call concerning a potential customer who was concerned because he was told we don’t manufacture our own products and use old formulations. Gee, I wonder where he heard that. Answer: open up January’s issue of NOLN and look for the ad that says: WE MANUFACTURE OUR OWN PRODUCTS. I guess they don’t believe in 100% truth in advertising. But everyone should believe their product is good. I could go on and on about how some people just live to try to bring others down – but that’s not what we are about at Throttle Muscle.

We will stick to our guns – and our mission. We aren’t afraid to admit we use one of the largest, most reputable blenders in the US. (Yes our chemicals are made here in the US). Why? Because they can take our formulas, blend it, put it in a bottle and ship it to us for less than we could possibly do it ourselves. Period. Same reason American Airlines doesn’t fly American Airlines manufactured planes or Ferrari uses Pennzoil as a factory fill or why 64% of Americans believe in buying store brand vs. brand name. If you can have the same quality product without the added costs that go along with manufacturing at a smaller scale – why spend more?

So next time you hear someone crack a joke about Throttle Muscle or another brand you know and love – stop and ask yourself: “why is this person spreading crap instead of focusing on their own merits?”