How Yousef Benhamida, Founder of Humboldts Secret Supplies, Turned a Good Problem into a Great Company

Everyone has problems. But there’s an important distinction: some problems are bad problems, but some problems are good problems. Most problems are of the first type, but sometimes a person has problems of the second type. These can become very good things if we let them.

For example, imagine that a person who’s passionate about agricultural growth loves to create his own nutrient additives to make his growth as robust and rich as possible. He becomes so good at what he does that other people begin to find out, and they want some of what he creates so they can achieve the same rich growth he does. Suddenly, he’s turned a hobby into a business. But then more than just a handful of friends want to enjoy the nutrient additives only he offers; hundreds and even thousands of people want to experience it.

This is a very good problem to have, and it’s exactly what led one entrepreneur to massive success in the agricultural growth industry.

Yousef Benhamida, the founder of Humboldts Secret Supplies (HSS), summarizes his journey: “So much of the success with plants that you can have will depend on what you are feeding them. That’s one reason I began my company: I wanted to create additives, fertilizers, and other products that would empower more people to experience the simple beauty of plants and flowers.”

Yousef (better known as Ben) says that he has always been a flower lover. “I grew up growing anything and everything I could get my hands on,” he remembers, “and when I got older, I became known for producing the best flowers in Southern California. At one point, I was so passionate about growing that I spent 24/7 in my greenhouse for three years.” Yousef wanted to fortify his plant growth with the best additives he could find, but he ran into a problem: “Some of them were just too expensive, to be honest. I have the heart of an entrepreneur, and I thought to myself that I should make an additive so good that it could be used as an all-in-one additive,” Yousef remembers. “I had to do a lot of fun experimentation, but eventually, I developed Golden Tree. The idea was that any tree that got a taste of it would turn to gold for the grower.”

Yousef caught fire at this point. He was singularly driven by a desire to create an incredible product that was affordable, and he continued working on his products. By 2016, he had completed his nutrient line. “I found an enthusiastic market for it,” he says. “Because my formulas gave growers the ability to grow at a lower cost yet still see wonderful results, people kept asking for more.”

This is where the good problem started kicking in.

“One bottle that I made in 2012 became popular throughout the United States, leading to the impossible task of making 10,000 bottles in two weeks – a bit of a challenge!” he recalls. “I got an Uber driver to help me every day for two weeks. I always feel grateful to that man for helping me take HSS to the next level.”

Today, his products are so effective that HSS has emerged as one of the major plant nutrient manufacturers and suppliers to hydroponic/agricultural distributors in the United States.

“I can always spot a plant that isn’t being given nutrients and additives,” Yousef says. “It lacks energy and isn’t as glorious as it could be. Plants need food just like humans do. You have NPK/microelements and additional additives that are meant to increase yields. A plant needs baseline nutrients, and we provide this in the form of our Base A & B. The additives can increase a plant’s aroma and increase its yield, among other benefits.”

Since its inception, Humboldts Secret Supplies has grown at an average of 30% year over year, one of the fastest-growing additive and nutrient players in the gardening industry.  

Yousef attributes this to his company’s custom formulas as well as the passion of his employees. “We have hundreds of thousands of customers because of two reasons: our products work, and they were designed with the express goal of bringing more joy into people’s homes. Our employees want your plants to bloom and grow as much as you want them to, and that desire has resulted in the products that will make your plants be spectacular.”

For more information on Humboldts Secret Supplies, please see its website.