Globalocity Radio: Recent Episodes
Doris Nagel
Erin Marcus, founder of Conquer Your Business, is not one to mince words. She’s a no-nonsense “tough love” coach for startups. But given that most entrepreneurs are pretty stubborn and laser-focused, that’s what most of us really need. She joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to talk about why having absolute clarity about what you want from … Continue reading "Entrepreneurs: What Do You Really Want, And How Badly Do You Want It?"
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Dawn Hryshko is truly passionate about saving her business clients money. She knows that most businesses pay more in taxes than they need to. She founded her own firm, Hryshko & Associates, because she felt that was the best way to form the deep advisor relationships needed to truly help them with their taxes. Many … Continue reading "Business Tax Strategies To Save You Money!"
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Victoria Thayer came from a working class family in Venezuela. Raised by a single mother and her aunt, both of whom were maids, Victoria got her big chance when she was offered a college scholarship in the U.S. She had never been to the States before, and spoke little English. Classes were so difficult that … Continue reading "The Story of Novii CPA"
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Barbara Provost and her daughter Maggie Nieman created Purse Strings, a platform dedicated to helping women make better financial decisions. They joined The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently to share how they got started, and some of the challenges they’ve faced along the way. Barbara spent many years working with financial institutions as a consultant. … Continue reading "Purse Strings: Helping Women Make Sound Financial Decisions"
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Balancing life with our business is one of the fundamental challenges of any founder. There is always too much to do, and never enough time! And women business owners often find it especially challenging to balance everything. Jenna Piche, creator of First Light Health, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to share some of the … Continue reading "First Light Health: Too Much to Do, Not Enough Time!"
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Your business’ brand (or your personal brand) is the market’s perception, and the value that it/you have. Sometimes, your company or product/service needs a refresh, or maybe a complete rebranding. Maybe your product sold well at first, but sales are tapering off. Maybe your industry or the demographic for your product has changed significantly. Or … Continue reading "Does Your Brand Need a Refresh?"
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Have you ever wondered if you could turn your passion for fitness into a business of some kind? Marisella Villano, founder of Marvil Fit, has done just that. Marvil Fit offers spin-related fitness classes (including some unique spin and floor combination classes). She also offers personal training. She’s tried different combinations of offerings over the … Continue reading "How to Build a Fitness Business: Marvil Fit"
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Laura Gallagher, the founder & CEO of The Creative Company, talks about some of the many challenges women entrepreneurs face. Laura started The Creative Company, a full-service marketing firm, during her senior year in college. That was in 1989, the year after Wisconsin finally allowed women business owners to sign for a business loan in … Continue reading "Entrepreneurs: Say “No” to Silos!"
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Ever dreamed of making a living by singing, acting, or dancing? If so, this is an interview you need to listen to! Jamie Blythe Martin is a self-professed “Enterpreneur” — a successful entrepreneur in the entertainment world. She found success on the stage as early as middle school, and was buoyed by lots of support … Continue reading "Blythe-Martin Productions: How to Be a Successful Enterpreneur"
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Being the founder/CEO of a startup or small business can often be lonely, confusing, discouraging, and downright overwhelming. Most of us start a business around an idea we’re passionate about, and it often revolves around something we’re good at or know well. But building and running a business requires many skills, and few of us … Continue reading "Advantages of CEO Peer Group Mentoring"
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Are you insured for the risks your small business presents? Anna Maria Viti-Welch joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to talk about some of the many misconceptions people have about business risks and insurance coverage they may want or need. For example, a common assumption is that, if you work on your business out of … Continue reading "Business Risks and Insurance"
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Making the right hire for a small business is absolutely critical. Al & Sarah Katz from FirstSearch share practical tips to ensure that.
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Allison Staiger’s company, The Matriarchy, is a great example of a company building a business around a very specific niche. The Matriarchy coaches feminist women, helping them build caregiving businesses. The Matriarchy is Allison’s second business venture. Her first, Highwire Therapy, is a counseling practice focused on perinatal mental health. Allison joins The Savvy Entrepreneur … Continue reading "Matriarchy: Coaching Feminist Businesses"
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Nora Kerr’s company Memoir For Me began when her father was dying of prostate cancer and was told he only had 6-8 months to live. Nora took that opportunity to sit down with him over the course of several months. She asked him many of the questions she’d always had about him and his life, … Continue reading "Memoir For Me: Custom Memory Books"
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Trina Ntmere and her company, Lavender Eucalyptus LLC, are passionate about helping nonprofits become more strategic. By helping them do that, they raise more money, provide more valuable services, and make better use of scarce staff resources. She shares with The Savvy Entrepreneur some of the ways she and Lavender Eucalyptus do that. Non-profits struggle … Continue reading "Lavender Eucalyptus: Helping NonProfits Be More Strategic"
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Nicola Brown, Founder & CEO of Kokoro, is driven to help entrepreneurs and small businesspeople stay in touch with their human side. Rather than try to explain what that means, she takes both me and my listeners on a taste of what that journey might look like. At her suggestion, I turned the lead over … Continue reading "Grounded Entrepreneurship: A Guided Journey with Kokoro"
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Andrea Herran, an experienced Human Resources consultant, shares tips on things for startups and small businesses to consider before hiring their first employees. Some of the most common mistakes are: Andrea’s company, Focus HR, provides not only question- and project-specific H.R. assistance, but is also the outsourced H.R. department for several small companies. She brings … Continue reading "What You Need Before Hiring Your First Employee(s)"
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Everybody knows video is hot. It continues to draw viewers and potential customers. Nathan Wiens joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share tons of practical video marketing tips. He’s a video marketing expert with more than 20 years’ experience. He runs two video-related companies, UVC Media, a full-service digital marketing company, and UAV Chicago, which provides … Continue reading "Video Marketing Tips"
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Charlotte Trecartin founded CharCharms while a student at the University of Illinois in Champaign. She’s proof that Covid actually had many silver linings. So, she took advantage of some of the many resources that the U of I, an engineering and business powerhouse, offers. And, when Covid hit, she decided to use the extra time … Continue reading "CharCharms: Cool Water Bottle Accessories & More"
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Since 2004, Wisconsin’s Annual Governor’s Business Plan Contest has been fostering startups. More than 4500 startups have participated. Category winners have gone on to raise more than $300 million, win more than $2.5 million in prizes. Even more amazing, 77% of the competition finalists are still in business, a statistic that defies the notoriously high … Continue reading "Annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest"
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Lori & Traci Tapani are true unicorns. There still aren’t many women in senior manufacturing positions, and even fewer who own a manufacturing business. There are still fewer that whose companies thrive in small towns, and when you add in the fact that both are blond and beautiful and uber-competent besides, they are rare indeed! … Continue reading "Wyoming Machine: Innovation in Manufacturing"
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Jill Salzman, Founder of Founding Moms, didn't intend to create the organization. She was managing bands and also running her baby jewelry business. But she said she "freaked out" when she was pregnant with her second child, trying to figure out how to juggle everything.
She created a simple local Meetup group for moms who were also entrepreneurs. The group kept growing, and she tells The Savvy Entrepreneur that about six months in, she realized she was onto something. From there, she formally founded Founding Moms.
In time, it grew to chapters in 30 cities, and eventually incorporated an online platform with virtual events and on-demand training. The Founding Moms has been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today, Business Insider, and a host of others.
Jill is sassy, smart, and funny. We laughed our way through the interview, and you will, too!
Click on the arrow to listen!
Heather Wentler, Co-Founder of The Doyenne Group, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to talk about how the group was founded to help women entrepreneurs.
Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Heather and co-founder Amy Gannon, Doyenne was born when Amy and Heather’s husband organized a Startup Weekend. And they notice that of the 130 attendees, only 10 were women.
Amy and Heather started on a quest to find a way to change that. They organized a women’s business breakfast during Madison’s Annual Forward Fest, a 5-day event for entrepreneurs. The breakfast sold out rapidly. At the breakfast, they polled the attendees about what they were looking for and needed help with.
From there, Doyenne took off. Today, it consists of workshops, online courses, mentoring, and connecting women entrepreneurs with all of the many groups and resources that already exist. Plus, their signature Triple Threat Venture training, which is similar to an accelerator program.
Heather candidly shares how Doyenne has morphed over it’s 10+ year history, from changing its funding model to moving to online offerings. Its members are enthusiastic champions (see my interviews, for example, with Richelle Martin and Karen Renee), and it boasts numerous success stories. And it’s creating a cadre of self-described “badass women entrepreneurs” who clearly love helping each other.
Click on the arrow to listen to this inspiring interview! It’s a testament to what two women can do who are on a mission to create change.
Jordy & Jahna McNamara took a novel approach to starting their app company, Critter. They decided to quit their jobs, pack up everything and take a cross-country road trip in a van. Their road trip allowed them the focus and freedom to finally start the business they’d dreamed of.
Traveling for months out of a van isn’t the easiest way to start a business. But it got them out of their old routine and into a new one. And they were disciplined enough to work hard almost every day on their new business. It also had the unexpected benefit of getting lots of in-person customer feedback, with a geographic and demographic breadth that would be hard to do any other way.
Critter was born because Jordy & Jahna wished there was an easy way to summarize everything their dog Lucy needed for various caregivers. They found themselves writing the same information over and over on scraps of paper. They knew there must be something easier.
Creating a new app and a company around it was right up their alley – Jahna has a software background, and Jordy a consulting and business background.
The app launched in October 2022, and for now is free. But they are exploring “freemium” tiers and other options to help monetize the business. Their long-term goal is to create a suite of apps that would also include pet professionals as well, such as vets, groomers, and boarders.
It’s a fun story about how to navigate the hassles of living in close quarters and moving constantly while trying to start a business together. It’s the ultimate challenge in being flexible.
But then, that’s what the couple says is one of the keys to a successful road trip, but also building and marketing an app from scratch – have an overall plan, but stay flexible!
Click on the arrow to listen to this fun interview!
Ed Dernulc. He is the Foundation Director of something called Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs (or "NBT," for short). It's the foundation arm of the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association (FMA). He joined The Savvy Entrepreneur recently to talk about future manufacturing talent, including entrepreneurs.
NBT's mission is to connect that next generation of entrepreneurs and manufacturers to consider careers in the manufacturing industry.
Ed says that the number one thing that keeps him up at night, along with NBT's and FMA's members, is not supply chain, it's not the cost of raw materials, and it's not finding parts. It's is human resources.
The U.S. today has about a 2-million-person manufacturing skills gap -- meaning there are 2 million jobs in manufacturing that employers can't fill. And it's only growing, so the need is definitely there.
Truly, Ed says, one of the biggest things that Nuts Bolts & Thingamajigs tries to tackle is to change perceptions about manufacturing. Manufacturing has changed dramatically over the past few years. It is no longer the dark and dangerous place people might envision. There are also misperceptions about salary, and skills needed, as well as expected salaries and career paths (hint: the growing labor shortfall has driven up salaries, and by quite a lot for certain skillsets).
To help address those gaps, Nuts Bolts & Thingamajigs offers scholarships, education, and outreach. But it's probably best known for the week-long camps that it hosts to expose 12-16 year-olds to the world of manufacturing.
In 2022, NBT has grown to 165 camps in 25 states and Canada. The camps are structured building some kind of project, and also around local industry sponsors, who give students insights into what it's like to work in manufacturing.
NBT also offers Glow & Gadget camps for young women. Today, women represent only about 12% of manufacturing employment.
The overall goal of both camps is to spark curiosity and open students' minds to the possibility of careers in manufacturing, including many different types of entrepreneurial opportunities.
Learn more about the important work of the Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation in fostering future manufacturing talent by clicking the arrow. You can also read a transcript of the interview here.
Ashley Moy joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share how Cast21 is making radical improvements on the traditional orthopedic cast for breaks & fractures.
The novel cast is lighter, waterproof and more comfortable than traditional plastic and fiberglass casts. It takes only three minutes to apply, and has a open lattice net-like design. That design is hard for support, yet open so that the skin is accessible and air can circulate. Plus it comes in several cool colors!
The idea came about when Ashley and her co-founder participated in an accelerator program at the University of Illinois. Her co-founder, a gymnast with a birth defect, had been in 60 different casts, and knew first-hand how miserable they can be.
Their flagship product is a wrist or arm cast and sold in the U.S., but as you'll hear in Ashley's interview, the opportunities for new products and new markets are enormous.
That said, creating a novel new medical device -- especially in the U.S. -- is no easy task. Designing, manufacturing, marketing, and dealing with a host of regulatory issues, Ashley and her co-founder have carefully but determinedly pushed on.
Cast21's story is inspirational and Ashley's interview is full of great tips.
Click on the arrow to listen, or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of the show!
SBA loans offer a number of advantages for small businesses. Chris Hurn, the CEO and Founder of Fountainhead Commercial Capital, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to talk about the ins and outs of both types of SBA loans: 7(a) loans, and 504 loans.
Fountainhead Capital is one of only 14 non-bank SBA lenders nationwide, and also one a small number of preferred SBA lenders. As a specialist in SBA lending, Fountainhead Capital prides itself on providing great service and support to its customers. He also says that it really helps to find a bank or non-bank lender that truly specializes in SBA loans to ensure you get the best experience.
Chris talks about the 3 key advantages of SBA loans over conventional lending: (1) lower downpayments; (2) longer repayment terms, both resulting in typical lower monthly payments. A third advantage is typcially the lack of loan covenants that commercial lenders include.
He talks about the differences between the two SBA loan programs, and also gives plenty of tips for pitching to lenders, as well as how to keep your relationship smooth with your lender.
Click on the arrow to listen to an insider talk about SBA loans, or go here to read a transcript of our interview.
Nikyra McCann is living proof that mental health issues are not well-understood -- not by employers, not by law enforcement, and not by society in general. She was detained and incarcerated several times when she should have received institutional care because of her mental health issues.
She's taken those painful, terrifying experiences and turned them into opportunities to help others. She's become a licensed rehabilitation worker, gives frequent seminars and workshops on mental health, and even has her own public-access TV show.
To try to amplify her voice, she's created Still Standing Enterprise to educate on mental health issues, as well as provide hope and inspiration.
Although focused at the moment mostly in the Madison, Wisconsin area, Nikyra hopes to partner with more mental health agencies to grow across and U.S. and even become international.
The need is out there -- more than 1 in 5 Americans will struggle with mental health issues. The rate of teen suicide is growing. The pain is real, and Nikyra McCann is out there doing what she can to educate and inspire.
Click on the arrow to listen to her inspiring story, or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of the show & learn more about Nikyra and Still Standing Enterprise!
Amie Kesler shares her quest for the perfect plant-based cookie cracker and how she's grown her company, Carolyn's Krisps with The Savvy Entrepreneur. She started with her favorite grandmother's recipe for a cookie-crisp. All of her friends raved about it. And then she experimented with how to replace all of the traditional ingredients with plant-based ones.
Plant-based food is becoming increasingly popular, as it is healthier. It improves gut health, stabilizes blood sugar, helps lower cholesterol, and is higher in fiber.
She started making Carolyn's Krisps (Carolyn was her grandmother) in a shared kitchen at The Hatchery, a Chicago-based incubator focused on food & beverage startups. Since then, she's expanded to selling online and through several large retailers.
If you've dreamed of starting a food product business, Amy shares lots of tips and helpful suggestions.
Click on the arrow to listen, or go here to read a transcript of the interview.
Click on the arrow to listen to the amazing story of Neopenda! Or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of our interview.
Click on the arrow to listen to our interview, or go here to read a transcript of our chat.
Kevin Finke, Founder & CEO of Experience Willow, shares with The Savvy Entrepreneur how more acceptance of our differences and more openness to gender inclusion can spark more creativity, make organizations more adaptable, and help people contribute their best.
Click on the arrow to listen to this uplifting interview, or go here for a transcript of the interview.
Jackie Comacho Ruiz is the self-professed "Make It Happen Director" at JJR Marketing, her marketing and PR firm. Jackie not only helps entrepreneurs, but she is an entrepreneur herself, several times over. So when she gives advice, she knows what she is talking about!
She joins me on The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to share marketing tips, and specifically, her "5 Types of Marketing" framework, which is the topic of her upcoming book.
The 5 Types of Marketing are: (1) Foundational Marketing (2) Executional Marketing (3) Time-Bound Marketing (4) Innovative Marketing and (5) Cause Marketing. She talks about why each type is important and gives examples.
She also talks about common marketing mistakes small businesses make, and offers some suggestions on how to balance each of the types. Our interview is chock-full of free, practical marketing tips -- there's something in her interview for everyone!
Click on the arrow to listen to our interview, filled with marketing tips for small businesses. Or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript.
Ever thought about having an independent record label as your business or side job? Rob Sarwark, Co-founder of Tiki Core Records, shares with The Savvy Entrepreneur some insights about how to go about doing that. He talks first about the label typically does and doesn't do, and the decisions made by the label vs. those made by the artist. He shares tips for finding artists to sign to your label, and ways to help artists monetize their work, including merchandise, tours, and recordings. He also explains some of the key considerations related to music royalties.
It's an interesting glimpse into a world most people never see. For now, it's Rob's side gig, so he also talks about some of the challenges of building the business while holding down a full-time, more traditional job.
Click on the arrow to take a listen to this interesting corner of the business world.
James Wilkinson and India Henderson are a husband-wife duo who are the co-founders of their side hustle, Blank Space Coach. Lots of people have side hustles, but India & James’ side hustle has a twist: their business is intended to help other people establish and grow their own side hustles.
They started this business after India had successfully grown her own home daycare business. She has also had a creative side business for a while. James, India says, is the “numbers guy,” because he has an MBA and also has worked in the financial services industry. The two of them decided to take their shared learnings to help other entrepreneurs. They joined The Savvy Entrepreneur recently to share the story of Blank Space Coach.
Blank Space offers online courses for a modest fee, and also coaching and consulting services. They describe coaching as a 50/50 partnership, where Blank Space provides guidance, but the client does most of the leg work. The consulting offering is envisioned as 90/10, where Blank Space provides guidance but also does most of the work.
The two of them are likeable and play off each other in the interview. It’s clear they are still experimenting with their offerings and their marketing -- consulting and coaching are notoriously difficult to get started in and keep viable over the long term. But it’s also clear they are having a lot of fun in the process, and that the process of building Blank Space Coach is helping them learn more about each other.
The interview has lots of ideas and thoughts for setting up a new consulting business, especially one that is a side hustle, and one that features a husband-wife duo.
Click on the arrow to listen to our interview, or go here to read the transcript.
Why are jar and bottle lids sometimes so darned hard to get open? Brandon Bach is on a mission to make jars easier to open, especially for the elderly and disable.
He's the CEO of Consumer Convenience Technologies, a company founded by his father and a friend of his father's, and they have developed and are marketing the EEASY Lid which makes opening jars much easier. Brandon says it's the first real innovation in jar lids in over 75 years.
Not only does the EEASY Lid make jars of all kids much easier to open, it's made from aluminum -- not steel -- and so is lighter and easily recyclable, and will help many elderly and people with disabilities who struggle to open certain food & beverage containers.
So why isn't the food & beverage industry pounding down the door to get the EEASY Lid on their containers? It turns out there are several reasons. First, the food & beverage industry is complicated because there are several players in the production and supply chain, and the decision-maker differs, depending on the product. Second, it's hard for the industry to change -- the food & beverage industry is hardly the only market segment highly resistant to change, something many entrepreneurs struggle with.
Brandon shares how the company has successfully worked through numerous challenges in design, manufacturing, and sales & marketing, and offers some advice to other entrepreneurs.
Click on the arrow to listen, and be on the lookout for an EEASY Lid on items in stores near you!
Click on the arrow to listen, or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of the interview.
Click on the arrow to listen to the interview, or go here if you'd rather read a transcript!
Professor Mukila Maitha from Harper College talks with The Savvy Entrepreneur about the many business opportunities that drones will offer.
Click on the arrow to listen, or go here if you'd rather read a transcript of our interview.
Did you know there are astrologists who focus exclusively on money matters? I didn't, until I re-connected with Susan Abbott Gidel, an old high school mate.
Susan, a Financial Astrologer, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share her journey from commodities trading and journalism to a self-employed astrologer. You'll hear how to become an astrologer, and what financial astrologers do.
You'll also hear how one entrepreneur methodically and internationally pivoted her career into something entirely new, and some tips for coping when your planned side hustle becomes suddenly becomes your full-time business.
Click on the arrow to listen to the interview, or if you'd prefer to read a transcript, go here.
Laura Barnard, CEO of BREAKTHRU Brands, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur show to talk about personal branding. She shares what personal branding is, how to tell if your brand is strong or weak, why a strong personal brand is so powerful, and tips for helping build a stronger brand.
Laura works with women to help them find their voice -- their passion, their purpose. Then she helps them craft that into a powerful story and then shows them how to amplify that voice. And she helps them uncover hidden obstacles that stand in the way and how to power through them.
We chat about some of the things that hold women entrepreneurs back, including self-confidence and the imposter syndrome. And talk about some of the ways to overcome those fears and voices inside our heads.
Laura's passion for what she does is clear from the first few minutes of our interview. She offers tons of tips and suggestions to help women entrepreneurs -- all entrepreneurs, really -- improve their personal branding. And to find and amplify their voice and make a bigger impact in whatever they're doing.
Don't miss this episode!
Click on the arrow to hear the interview, or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript.
Popular YouTuber ProfessorBlackOps joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share his top cysecurity tips for startups and small businesses.
He talks about passwords, routers, and printers, and how to avoid the increasingly-sophisticated phishing and vishing schemes. He also shares tips for what you should do WHEN you get hacked. Because as he stresses, it's a question of WHEN, not IF.
Finally, he shares his predications for future cybersecurity risks, as well as some of the job & business opportunities arising from cybersecurity.
Listen in -- the interview is full of lots of practical tips that will help individuals as well as small businesses stay safer. Or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of our interview.
Click on the arrow to listen, or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of our chat.
Mike & Malaika Wells are a husband-wife duo who co-founded Do Well Brands, a Chicago startup. They're figuring things out as they go, not afraid to pivot where needed, and most definitely enjoying the journey along the way.
They'll keep you laughing as they finish each other's sentences and have friendly back & forths. They share how their quest for better, healthier foods & beverages led them to found and grow Do Well Brands.
Click on the arrow to take a listen! It's inspirational, full of helpful advice, and sure to make you smile!
Lidia Varesco Racoma, founder of Lidia Varesco Design, is passionate about helping non-profits and other mission-based organizations raise their brand profile through effective storytelling.
She shares with The Savvy Entrepreneur radio show the three biggest branding mistakes that most organizations make: (1) they don't articulate their "why" effectively enough (2) they don't do enough market research to find out whether their message is truly resonating with their stakeholders and reaching those stakeholders with the right platform and the right content; and (3) they focus too much on the features and benefits of their product or service, and not enough on how they will add value to their customers.
She shares plenty of tips and suggestions that have worked for her clients over the years. Spoiler alert: one of those tips is to pick a message and create a campaign with regular, consistent pieces of your message, rather than just posting here and there as the spirit moves you. Non-spoiler alert: there's lots more of those kind of practical tips in our interview!
Click on the arrow to listen, or go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of the show. It's well worth your time to listen to or read!
Karen Renee, CEO of eCourtReporters, says that she and her business partner Judy Gerulat run their business the same way they ride their Harleys -- full-speed ahead, with no reverse.
Renee joined The Savvy Entrepreneur radio show to share some of the bumps in the road, as well as some of the many successes as eCourt Reporters got started and has grown rapidly. eCourt Reporters was founded to help lawyers more easily find available and qualified court reporters. Finding those reporters is not always easy, something that Renee, who formerly ran her own court reporter agency, knew from personal experience. She wanted eCourt Reporters to be essentially an "Uber" for court reporters.
She also felt that court reporters deserved a bigger piece of the pie, because agencies take up to 50% of the fees paid by lawyers.
eCourt Reporters now sources qualified court reporters in all 50 states, and is growing quickly. The lawyer/court reporter matching platform is appealing because it is free for both court reporters (and legal videographers) and lawyers to use -- eCourt Reporters only gets paid when a court reporting job is successfully completed & the court reporter is paid.
A complex matching platform like theirs, one with hundreds of users and growing, and with many different parameters that can be searched, wasn't easily built and took resources of all kinds.
Renee found as well that pitching was a challenge, although (like everything in her business), she ultimately found success.
She talks about the helpful resources she found along the way, and offers some very candid tips for entrepreneurs -- especially for women entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs needing to build a tech platform, and for those pitching for funding.
Click on the arrow to listen to the show -- you'll be pulled in by Renee's candid, no-nonsense style and sparkling sense of humor. Or, go here to read a transcript.
Meridth Hammer tried hard to be a good employee, but when she was laid off during the 2007 crash, she ultimately decided it was time to open her own law firm. She set up the Hammer Legal Group in Indianoplis, and was successful for several years.
Then she got an offer she couldn't refuse at the Cook County Clerk's Office, but eventually knew she wanted to get back to running her own firm, so she started the firm back up from scratch in Chicago. Her practice focuses on wills, trusts, probate, and real estate.
Along the way, she learned a lot -- about setting up and maintaining a business, about what works and what doesn't, about real estate shenanigans, and most importantly, about herself. She also shares stories of some of the strong women in her life that have been an inspiration to her along the way.
She candidly shares with The Savvy Entrepreneur some of the challenges along the way, with humility, humor, and absolutely a "can-do" attitude.
Click on the arrow to listen and be inspired! Or, click here if you'd/ prefer to read a transcript of our chat. Either way, it's well worth your time!
Kim Meckwood joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Show to share how she invented & developed the Click & Carry device and has successfully grown her business.
She came up with the idea of the Click & Carry to help carry multiple bags of groceries. Her idea? A simple handle device that helps shoppers manage and carry multiple bags at once comfortably, either in your hands or over your shoulder, because there's a comfy gel grip for a hands free carry.
People use it to carry books, paint cans, walk multiple dogs, and even skis and ski boots.
It's a simple device, but there were lots of challenges designing, manufacturing, and marketing the product. Kim shares some of those, as well as how she resourcefully pushed through.
She also shares details about her appearance on Shark Tank, along with advice for people who want to be on the show.
Click on the arrow to take a listen!
Some people have their best singing moments in the shower. For Qeepsake founder Jeff McNeil, he thought of the idea for the company one morning while showering. After kicking around the idea with his co-founder and wife, they started the company as a way to more easily keep track of and document key events in their five kids' lives.
The idea was to prompt Qeepsake subscribers with occasional text questions, like "What is you child's favorite outfit these days?" And Qeepsake then would file all those memories of that child all together.
These days, Qeepsake has expanded to lots more questions, more customized questions, the capacity to uptake photos with captions, and even to produce a
Sample Qeepsake Memory Book
memory book.
It currently has several tens of thousands of subscribers, an investor, and a successful appearance on Shark Tank.
The journey wasn't easy -- there were lots of technology issues, and funding was a real challenge. Jeff candidly shares with The Savvy Entrepreneur many of the speedbumps and joys of founding and growing Qeepsake.
Click on the arrow to listen to this inspiring story!
The ecosystem for startups has been steadily growing in Traverse City, Michigan and the entire Northern Michigan region. It's a lovely, affordable place to live, and as remote work grows, more and more skilled workers have gravitated to the area.
And Michigan, and particularly Northern Michigan, have done a great job of supporting the ecosystem for those who want to create their own businesses. Traverse City has steadily created more and more resources for startups and entrepreneurs, in spite of the pandemic.
And that has led to an outpouring of enthusiasm and events in the form of an inaugural Norther Michigan Startup Week. Two of the organizers are 20 Fathoms, a co-working space, and TCNewTech, an organization helping startups with training and connections and other support.
Keri Amlotte, from 20 Fathoms, and Jennifer Szunko, from TCNewTech, join The Savvy Entrepreneur to talk about some of the key activities surrounding Northern Michigan Startup Week. They also share their thoughts on how to successfully build a startup ecosystem.
Click on the arrow to the left and listen to how Northern Michigan is steadily growing its entrepreneurial community.
Monika Joshi, Founder of Art of Pure, shares with The Savvy Entrepreneur her quest to source and sell sustainable health and beauty products.
A former New York City investment banker, she grew tired of the long hours and time away from her young family. When she and her family moved back to Chicago, Monika knew it was time to do something different,
When her daughter began struggling with eczema and other skin issues, the dermatologist suggested putting her on steroids. Monika felt there must be other, more natural alternatives to try first.
That led her on a journey to find truly natural products but all types and health and beauty needs --something that sounds like it should be easy, but definitely is not! And at that point, Art of Pure was born.
Click on the arrow to take a listen to Monika's story and some of the bumps and challenges she's faced along the way creating and growing Art of Pure. Or you can read a transcript of the interview here.
Jesse Byrd has already accomplished amazing things. From a college basketball scholarship player, to authoring and publishing childrens' books, to starting his own publishing house, with stops in Dubai and Silicon Valley along the way, it's clear Jesse's mind is always working.
He joins The Savvy Entrepreneur show to talk about his journey to create Jesse B. Creative, a publishing house featuring under-represented children's book authors and illustrators. He shares a little bit about what it's like inside the children's book publishing world, as well as lots of tips for budding entrepreneurs and aspiring book authors.
Click on the arrow to take a listen! Or if you prefer, you can read a transcript of the interview here!
It's clear that Elaine Frei, Founder & President of Luft Balloon, delights in the sheer joy of sharing colorful balloon bursts and balloon art.
She creates balloon art for her customers, but also loves giving back to her Chicago community. The company frequently "balloon bombs" first responders, front-line workers, and small businesses that have gone above and beyond, just because they want to spread that joy.
Luft Balloon prides itself on the enormous range of colors of its balloons. Elaine likens most balloon colors to the old, original Crayon box. She "double stuffs" her balloons, and uses high-quality latex and messaging on the balloons. She also adds her flair for color and design by creating jaw-dropping art with her balloons.
Here are just a few examples, but check out her website for a few of her amazing creations:
Elaine shares with The Savvy Entrepreneur her interesting journey from landscape architect to CEO of a fast-growing startup focused on balloons. And she candidly shares some of the challenges of growing so fast.
It's a delightful listen, and will leave you smiling and wanting to balloon bomb someone tomorrow! Click on the arrow to listen, or go here to read a transcript of the interview.
Stacey Kohler, Founder & CEO of Kiddy Crawler, was a new grandmother. And she was on a mission to find the Crawligator for her new granddaughter. Stacey remembered the Crawligator from her childhood and how it helped kids develop mobility and core strength.
She found an old one on ebay, and bought it. But that lead her to wonder what happened to this amazing toy. It turns out, it ended up in the dust bin, sort of like the toys in the movie Toy Story. Stacey revived the toy, found a way to manufacture it to today's standards, and is rapidly growing her company.
Her story is one of persistence, determination, taking one step at a time, and asking for and finding help in many places. She shares her story on The Savvy Entrepreneur, and offers plenty of lessons learned for others starting out.
It's a wonderful story, with a completely relatable founder, and one helping kids' development. Click on the arrow to listen, or go here for a transcript of the interview.
The Julie O'Brien Design Group has been a successful Indiana-based interior design company for residential and restaurants for many years. So you know the owner and founder, Julie O'Brien, is doing a lot of things right.
She joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to talk about her journey: how she got started, how she self-funded her business, and tips for other women entrepreneurs that she's learned along the way. She also shares some of the challenges of the interior design business, and how it continues to change and challenge small business people in the business.
Julie is candid, and shares some of the joys and the speed bumps, while giving us a glimpse into the world of interior design. Here are a few examples of the work done by the Julie O'Brien Design Group:
Click on the arrow to the left to listen, or you can go here to read a transcript of our chat. It's a fun listen -- Enjoy!
When you ask business people what public relations is, some may think of press releases. On the other end of the spectrum, many think public relations today is mostly about social media postings and engagement. Or maybe they think of movie trailers and TV interviews for rock and movie stars.
Jennifer Fortney, President of Cascade Communications, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Show to talk about what public relations (PR) is, and what it isn't. And who should consider doing more PR, and when.
Jennifer has more than 20 years in the business, and is the author of “Pitched: A Simple DIY Guide to Public Relations for Small Business," available on Amazon.com, or directly from Jennifer's site.
In her view, public relations is the image of your company, and what people think of you. She's a big fan of refining your story, your why, and making sure this is absolutely consistent across various media that you use. She's also adamant about making sure you know your audience, which will drive which media channels are most impactful for your business.
Click on the arrow to listen to some great, actionable advice about public relations, or go here to read a transcript of the interview.
And if you'd like to learn more, here are some helpful resources Jennifer has provided:
"Do These 6 Things to Improve Your Digital Marketing" "Is Your Business Really Ready for PR? This Checklist Will Save You Time & Money"
Erika Lacroix has successfully built EZ Breathe Home Solutions, a construction-related business. She is a kind of unicorn, thriving in what is still traditionally a man's world.
She says she was always more of a tomboy, which no doubt helped prepare her for her role with EZ Breathe. And her down-to-earth, funny, no-nonsense approach probably did as well.
She shares the story of her journey with me on The Savvy Entrepreneur. She also shares plenty of tips for other women entrepreneurs operating in this world. She has navigated bumps along the way, but is fiercely dedicated to her customers, as you'll hear in my interview with her.
Click on the arrow to the left to listen, or click here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of the show. It's well worth the listen!
Dr. Phillip Meade is passionate about business culture change and his company's Missing Links culture change model. He joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Show to talk about how humans naturally resist change, but also how Gallaher Edge's Missing Links culture change model can help organizations create and follow an effective blueprint.
The Missing Links model has four strands: Maturity, Diversity, Community, and Unity. The Maturity piece is particularly interesting, as it deals with our many human defense mechanisms that resist change. Phillip points out how an entrepreneur or owner's attachment to their business as "their baby" directly leads to challenges in scaling the organization. It's a fascinating look inside the human psyche, and the things we often hide from ourselves!
Meade also talks about the upcoming book that he authored, entitled "The Missing Links: Launching a High Performing Company Culture," available at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. The book, he says, is intended to both be an overview of business culture, as well as a resource for those who want to attempt culture change on their own.
Click on the arrow to the left to listen. Or, go here to read a transcript of the show.
Lisa Brown, host of the popular live show Side Hustle Saturday, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur show to talk about growing her platform for black entrepreneurs, and some of the challenges of doing regular live shows.
Side Hustle Saturday is a live show that features black entrepreneurs. Lisa started the show during COVID. She says she knew many people were hurting, and many felt isolated. She wanted to bring together black entrepreneurs into a community where they could share their stories with others.
Her show started on Facebook live, then migrated to Instagram live. But her show is poised to make the next big jump as a television segment. She's clearly tapped into something important.
Along with the telling of her journey, we compared notes about how to find great guests, build a community, and ways to monetize a live show or podcast. We share a lot of laughs. Even though our missions and platforms are slightly different, there are lots of tips here for anyone thinking about live blogging, podcasting, or doing a radio show.
It's a fun listen -- Lisa's warm, down-to-earth and engaging personality makes this a great listen!
Or, if you prefer, you can read a transcript of our chat here.
Dr. Sherry Benton, Founder of TAO Connect, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share how her platform provides alternative ways to support mental health and wellness.
TAO Connect was first created to help support college students who needed mental health support but struggled to get it. Student need for support is significant, but is woefully underfunded and under-supported on campuses of all sizes.
TAO Connect is a robust digital platform, consisting of more than 175 modules addressing all aspects of mental health and wellness. It also includes various assessments and exercises. The material can be combined in a variety of ways: to guide those seeking self-help, to aid therapists, or to create or enhance courses.
Mental health issues are chronically underaddressed in most Western countries, and TAO Connect is offering creative, cost-effective ways to meet those needs.
The company has grown rapidly, serving more than 200 colleges and universities. It has now branched out to offer its non-traditional mental health and wellness support to supplement small companies with their employee benefits. TAO Connect has also partnered with Canada as part of that country's mental health offerings.
Click on the arrow to take a listen -- the issues are important, and TAO Connect's offerings are a creative way to tackle them. If you'd prefer, you can read a transcript of my chat with Dr. Benton here.
People appreciate art in its various forms, but they probably don't think about the business of art itself. Constance Scopelitas, Founder & Owner of Constance Art, has been a successful artist for many years. She joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Show to talk about the business of art and her journey as a self-employed visual artist.
Everyone knows it's a difficult path to make a living as a musician or artist. But it bothers Constance -- a lot -- that art and music schools and universities continue to crank out graduates, yet never include in their curriculum how to actually start and grow a business around their art.
Constance shares the story of how she built Constance Art through luck, trial and error, persistence, and a lot of hard work. And she offers some valuable pieces of advice for others starting out -- things she wishes someone had told her.
Click on the arrow to the left to listen to hear more about the business of art! Or, go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of our chat.
And take a look at a couple of Constance's works while you're here! They're amazing!
mHub Chicago is an award-winning startup business ecosytem for manufacturing . Its goal to help ensure that the manufacturing industry which has been so important in Illinois and the Midwest over the years continues to accelerate, grow and thrive. Although it's a nonprofit, it probably best is described as a public-private partnership, funded with both public money and corporate sponsorships.
Melissa Lederer, Chief Experience Officer at mHub, joined The Savvy Entrepreneur show recently to talk about the mHub community and some of its programs and accomplishments.
The mHub community includes over 350 active and alumni startups, supported by a deep talent pool of product designers and developers, entrepreneurs, engineers and manufacturers and a host of other experts designed to help support commercialization of new manufacturing related businesses, resulting in intellectual property growth, along with revenue and job creation
Since launching in 2017, it has helped companies launch more than 1200 products new products, hired more than 2100 employees, and raised nearly 702 million in capital. mHub's close partnerships with area manufacturing companies offers more rapid go-to-market opportunities, real-time mentoring and feedback, and expedited exit strategies to its member startup companies.
It has also recently branched out to create a formal accelerator program, offering startup seed funding to innovative manufacturing startups in exchange for equity. The new offering has attracted startups not only from the Midwest, but from across the U.S. and internationally as well.
The mHub community is thriving and vibrant, and Melissa shares some of the ecosytem's successes. Having seen lots of companies come through the program and drawing upon her past experience with 1871 and Matter in Chicago, she offers some advice to help startup businesses increase their chances of success.
It's a great listen -- Melissa's enthusiasm for mHub and what they are doing there shines through! Click on the arrow to the left to listen. Or, go here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of the show.
Franchising is an option that many people should consider if they want to own their own business -- especially if they are not sure how to get started. And franchising & women are a particularly good combination.
Tamika Franklyn, Founder of Precision Franchise, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur show to talk about some of the many advantages of franchising. She also shares why franchising may be a particularly good option for women entrepreneurs. She dispels the notion that you need brick and mortar to build a successful franchise. Similarly, there are franchises that require far less than 20 hours a week, and can be built on your timeline.
It's a great listen, and chockful of great advice and insights! Click on the arrow to the left to listen. Or, if you'd prefer to read a transcript of our chat, click here.
Dr. Asha Parekh, Co-Founder and CEO of Frontline Medical Technologies joined The Savvy Entrepreneur recently to chat about her company's journey and about how to encourage more women in STEM, entrepreneurship, and especially healthcare startups.
Asha is a first-time CEO -- no small feat in the medical device world. She and her partner have also largely boostrapped their way through regulatory approval, and are nearly ready for commercialization.
The device they've invented and are bringing to market through Frontline Medical Technologies is the world's smallest REBOA device. It's designed to stem traumatic bleeding to allow critically injured patients a better shot at getting to the operating room before they lose too much blood. Currently, 90% of trauma patients with significant internal bleeding never even make it to the OR.
Asha candidly shares some of the many challenges she and the company have faced. She offers several pieces of advice that she's learned along the way.
She also is passionate and devotes time to helping girls and young women consider STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine) careers. She shares her thoughts on how to encourage more women -- not only in technology careers, but also to have the courage and vision to become entrepreneurs and leaders. On average, only 19% of leadership roles in the MedTech industry are held by women. Similarly, only 10% of healthcare startups are owned and/or founded by women.
Click on the arrow to the left to take a listen! Or, if you prefer, read a transcript of the interview.
Shaniqua Davis was tired of not landing jobs she felt qualified for. So she woke up one day and decided to do something about it. She founded Noirefy, a platform that helps match diverse tech talent with companies interested in finding those resources. The platform is free for job seekers, and revenue for the company comes in the form of finders' fees. Revenue also comes in the form of coaching and consulting with companies to foster more diverse and inclusive workplaces, so that they become a more attractive workplace to hire and retain that talent.
Shaniqua joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share the story of how she founded the company, some of the challenges of mostly bootstrapping a startup, and dealing with the sensitive issues surrounding diversity and inclusion. It's an inspiring story, showing how people like Shaniqua are helping our world change and improve, one step at a time.
Click on the arrow to the left to listen to Noirefy and Shaniqua's inspiring story! Or, if you prefer, read the show transcript here.
Matrix4 was originally Patricia' Miller's grandfather's company. It made plastic parts. And when he turned over the business to Patricia, it was struggling.
She completely turned the company around. In the process, she created what she calls the first product design and manufacturing "house." The house combines all four key production phases: design, engineering, tooling, and manufacturing. The goal was to drive industry growth and innovation, and usher in a new era of culture, leadership and sophistication.
Patricia, the CEO of Matrix4, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur radio show to share her journey and how she rebuilt Matrix4, mixing the best of the old and the new.
The story of the "House of M4" is inspiring, full of great insights on taking on a turnaround situation, building a culture, and revitalizing American manufacturing!
Click on the arrow to listen in! Or, if you prefer, you can read a transcript of the show here!
Taralinda and Dale Willis, the Co-Founders of Curate Solutions, prove once again that the opportunities for creative businesses are almost unlimited. Curate Solutions is a Wisconsin-based startup that makes local government data more accessible through its AI platform.
Taralinda, the CEO, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share the story of how they came up with the idea, how they found their first clients, and how they basically bootstrapped their way to success. She offers tips for creating and building a business, finding helpful resources (including a stint with Madison's famed Gener8tor accelerator program). She also provides incites on pivoting to meet customer needs, scaling a startup business, and generally staying nimble.
Her candor is refreshing, and the story of Curate Solutions is a great listen! Click on the arrow to hear the show, or click here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of our interview!
Franchising is a popular way to start a new business. Scott Majeski, a franchising consultant who is the Managing Partner of FranNet for Chicago and NW Indiana, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to talk about franchising basics. FranNet advises its clients on franchising, helping match them with the right franchising option. Scott likens the business model to a real estate agent -- there is no charge to the buyer, and the franchising company pays FranNet for a successful match with a new franchisee.
Scott shares all the franchising basics: the pros and cons of franchising, as well as what makes franchisees successful. He speaks from experience, having built and operated a successful PuriClean disaster recovery franchise himself. He talks about some of the common misconceptions about franchising, the kind of people who are a good fit for franchising (and those who are not), the most common mistakes franchisors make, and some of the costs associated with franchising.
It's a good, practical overview of franchising for those considering this option. Click on the arrow to listen, or click here if you'd prefer to read a transcript of the show!
Dr. Anthony Orsini, Founder of The Orsini Way, dedicated his career to helping people have difficult, compassionate conversations after an incident during his medical training. His senior, whom he knew to be a very compassionate doctor, completely botched delivery of the news to a father that his baby had just died. Dr. Orsini reasoned that, if someone this humane could still fail to deliver difficult news effectively, then there must be a need out there.
He spent the next 10 years researching the best ways to deliver bad news, and experimenting with how to teach others. Since then, he has become increasingly known for The Orsini Way, which helps people -- both healthcare providers and business leaders -- to have difficult yet compassionate conversations.
He joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share his story and research -- it's a fascinating listen. He also offers tips to help everyone have better conversations -- click on the arrow to hear more! Or, go here if you prefer to read a transcript of the show!
You can also read his book or catch his podcast, "Difficult Conversations," to learn even more.
Dr. Shashikant Gupta, or Shashi as he is called, co-founded Apex Co-Vantage with a radical idea: that business should be a force for good. What he means by that isn't really about sustainability or reducing our carbon footprint or donating to charity (although he established the Gupta Family Foundation to do that).
Shashi recently joined The Savvy Entrepreneur show to explain that, instead, the culture that his company lives and breathes is based on three simple core values: (1) integrity (2) human dignity and (3) the relentless pursuit of excellence.
These might sound like typical big-company mission statements. But the way he has implemented them has been described as "zen." By integrity, he means that everybody in the company is always empowered to tell the truth and not avoid the facts. People have been fired when they have told customers things that aren't true. Employees at all levels of the company do not to "whitewash" information, and are empowered to speak to managers at any level about disagreements or things of concern.
By human dignity, he means that every employee conducts themselves in a way that enhances the other person's dignity. And by that, he means that the stronger or more powerful you are in the company, the gentler you should become. And this applies not only to other employees, but to customers and to vendors. For example, the company has no vacation policy -- you can take as much as you want, and no one keeps track. And the employee handbook is a slim four pages.
He and his co-founder refused outside funding in order to build this culture and avoid the pressure to only make money. And the result is a company culture that employees, customers, and vendors alike sense is palpably different.
But his company isn't a non-profit; nor is it struggling financially. He is clearly and rightfully proud that his company lives these values, and yet is highly profitable.
Click on the arrow to listen to Apex Co-Vantage's fascinating story and how they have built a company that many people dream of working for! Or, if you prefer to read a transcript of the show, just click here.
Richelle Martin tells The Savvy Entrepreneur show that she founded the Winnow Fund and got into venture capital by chance. She never planned to raise money for a venture capital fund. But with the encouragement of one of the directors of Wisconsin's state Badger Fund of Funds, she became the first woman to create a venture capital fund in the state.
The Fund of Funds was looking for someone to help more professors and researchers within the state's university system to take the plunge and become entrepreneurs. Wisconsin, like most states, has many people in academia creating new ideas. But the challenge is to get those ideas out into startup companies. Richelle's background as a lawyer, her familiarity with the University of Wisconsin system, and her knowledge of intellectual property and technology transfer made her a great fit for the Winnow Fund.
The Winnow Fund provides seed money to companies (and even just ideas) in agriculture, medical devices, medical imaging, advanced manufacturing and engineering products.
Click on the arrow to the left to listen to Richelle's amazing story of how she founded the Winnow Fund and tips on what seed investors look for. Or, you can read a transcript of the interview here.
Jason Weaver, founder & CEO of AirDeck, knows how to zero in on game-changers. He also knows how to take a concept and build a successful business around it. AirDeck is Jason's third startup. He previously built and successfully exited Shoutlet and Spendship. He's also a high-profile consultant, an angel investor, and a prominent author.
This time, he's focused on presentation software. AirDeck is a fast and easy way to add voice or video to any document or presentation. It allows the user to easily edit each page or slide separately without needing to use a separate video editing tool. Its users are trainers, educators, marketers, lawyers, and frankly, anyone who wants to narrate a presentation or document so that the recipients can understand the context, on-demand.
Jason joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to tell the story of how he decided to start AirDeck. He shares how he found funding, and tips for staying sane while building a fast-growing startup. His candor and humor make him relatable. His formidable track record of startup success, along with his numerous other accomplishments, make him a force to be reckoned with.
What follows is a transcript of that interview. But if you prefer to listen, you can access the podcast here.
Doris Nagel 0:42
Hello everybody and welcome to The Savvy Entrepreneur show. We're broadcasting from the Greater Chicago Milwaukee area.
If you're an entrepreneur or small business person, this show is for you.
I'm Doris Nagel, your host for the next hour. I'm a serial entrepreneur, and I’ve also counseled lots of startups and small businesses over the past 30 years. I’ve seen a lot of mistakes, and I’ve made plenty myself. I’m driven to help others avoid some of these pitfalls and be more successful.
The show has two goals: to share helpful information resources, and to inspire -- to make your journey as an entrepreneur faster and easier, and maybe just a bit more fun!
To help with that. I have guests every week on the show who are willing to share their stories and their advice.
This week's guest is Jason Weaver, the CEO and founder of AirDeck. AirDeck is a company that allows you to create distributed and track narrated presentations. Its users are recording things like on demand webinars, personalized a sales presentations, creating employee onboarding guide, sending investor pitch decks. Frankly, almost anything that you can think of that is used for PowerPoint presentations or precede eggs or other kinds of presentations to communicate with other people. AirDeck, Jason says, is much easier to use than creating videos and everybody knows how important video is for today social media. And he says it has better tracking capabilities.
Before I share Jason's biography, I have to warn you that he is one seriously accomplished human being. He's a prominent author and thought leader in product innovation, digital marketing and entrepreneurship. Prior to launching AirDeck, he founded and successfully exited from two other technology companies, including Shoutlet, a social media management platform, and Spendship, a mobile loyalty platform.
He's authored numerous articles for publications, including Forbes, Mashable, and Bloomberg. He's a frequent speaker, and his book Managers Guide to Online Marketing has become a go to guide for companies. Jason has raised over $50 million in venture funding for his companies. He's also an active angel investor.
He also works as an advisor for several emerging technology companies in the likes of Emma, Live school, Venture 360, and Directly. In addition, he advises both venture capital firms and network Angel funding groups. And he's been a technology advisor to some of the world's most recognizable companies, just to name a couple in a very long list, eBay, Miller Brewing, American Family Insurance, Best Buy, IKEA, and Nissan, to name just a few.
Jason, with all your accomplishments already,
Jason Weaver, founder & CEO of AirDeck, knows how to zero in on game-changers. He also knows how to take a concept and build a successful business around it. AirDeck is Jason's third startup. He previously built and successfully exited Shoutlet and Spendship. He's also a high-profile consultant, an angel investor, and a prominent author.
This time, he's focused on presentation software. AirDeck is a fast and easy way to add voice or video to any document or presentation. It allows the user to easily edit each page or slide separately without needing to use a separate video editing tool. Its users are trainers, educators, marketers, lawyers, and frankly, anyone who wants to narrate a presentation or document so that the recipients can understand the context, on-demand.
Jason joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to tell the story of how he decided to start AirDeck. He shares how he found funding, and tips for staying sane while building a fast-growing startup. His candor and humor make him relatable. His formidable track record of startup success, along with his numerous other accomplishments, make him a force to be reckoned with.
Click on the arrow to hear the interview -- it's a great listen! Or, if you prefer, you can read a transcript of the interview here. And you can check out his book, "The Manager's Guide to Online Marketing," here.
RealityBLU provides marketers with 3D interactive, media rich content to deliver their ideas into the crowded social media world. Co-founders MJ Anderson and Stefan Agustsson joined forces to develop enhanced reality tools made especially for marketers.
Stefan Agustsson & MJ Anderson
They join The Savvy Entrepreneur Show to share the story of how they met and started the company. They relate some of the challenges of finding funding, and scaling the company. They also share a peek or two at where and how the company will be expanding.
Their story is compelling. But just as riveting is their predictions for the future of media and marketing. RealityBLU's founders are also visionaries, envisioning a future that is truly inspiring and a little terrifying.
For example, they are convinced the smartphone will be completely obsolete in less than 5 years, and we will all soon be using wearable devices to receive and interact with media. They see it as inevitable that we will move closer and closer to immersive experiences. The result will increasingly blur the lines between reality and enhanced or even altered reality. The possibilities for improving our lives are many, and also create potential scenarios that we as a society will soon need to grapple with. RealityBLU and companies like them will definitely be ones to watch!
Click on the arrow to the left to listen to the absolutely fascinating story of RealityBLU and a look into the future of technology in our world! Or, click here if you prefer to read the interview.
Rock River Capital is an early stage venture firm looking to invest in companies -- particularly those based in the Midwest and Wisconsin -- that are industry disruptors with a viable product and sales.
Co-founders and partners Andy Walker and Chris Eckstrom share the story of how they came together to create the fund. They share some of the challenges of raising money for a new fund.
Rock River Capital has also formally reviewed more than 800 companies as potential investments. So they know what they're talking about when they share tips about what works and what doesn't when it comes to pitching for funding.
They share very candid advice for startups seeking funding, especially seed funding. It's a great listen, and one that every startup looking for seed money should listen to!
Click on the arrow to the left to listen!
Kyle LaFond joins The Savvy Entrepreneur radio show to share the story of a Midwestern success, American Provenance.
Started on his family's 4th generation farm in Wisconsin, American Provenance makes all-natural grooming products. Kyle shares how he started and grew the company in detail. Along the way, he offers lots of tips and insights for other startups.
Kyle's enthusiasm and "can do" attitude are positively infectious, and he is a gifted storyteller! Click on the arrow to the left to listen to his story -- you'll be glad you did!
Matt Cordio has spent a lot of his career focused on how to grow Wisconsin's startup ecosystem. He's studied other successful startup ecosystems, most notably Silicon Valley, Boston, and Research Triangle. And he's devoted a lot of time and energy to helping Wisconsin take the steps needed to build the state's startup ecosystem.
Matt joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Show to share his insights on what makes for a thriving startup ecosystem. We talk about everything from supporting student entrepreneurs, to attracting venture capital, the role of larger companies, and the impact of successful exits. He talks about why he co-founded the Wisconsin Startup Coalition. He also talks about his own business, Skills Pipeline, which helps startups find and retain talent.
It's a great listen, and may spark ideas among entrepreneurs and organizations alike on how to improve startup ecosystems everywhere.
You need a conversation-starting elevator pitch for your business. You need a way to catch the attention of busy people, whether potential investors, customers, employees, and partners. Without it, you'll lose the chance to engage them further. Equally bad, you'll spend a lot of time chatting with people who really aren't a good fit.
Lots of people focus on the pitch deck, and that's important (take a listen to our podcast with Chris Banakis on pitch decks). But if you don't have a "hook" -- a memorable, conversation-producing elevator pitch, you'll never need a pitch deck.
John Fisher, founder & CEO of Rethinking IT and SCORE Mentor, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur radio show to talk about why you need a good elevator pitch. He also walks through the elements of building your business elevator pitch and tips for making it memorable.
Click on the arrow to the left to listen! You can also view a transcript of the interview here.
VizyPay's Austin Mac Nab is passionate about giving small businesses better credit card processing options. He joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to share the story of how he founded West Des Moines-based VizyPay. He talks about how he's rapidly grown the company. He also talks about some of the challenges he's faced along the journey, and offers advice for other entrepreneurs.
Click on the arrow to take a listen to his story!
Dr. Laura Gallaher's fascination with changing company culture began with her work at NASA. After the tragic explosion of the Space Shuttle Columbia during re-entry, she joined a team there to change the culture to encourage more open dialogue about issues. An expert in industrial organization, she joined The Savvy Entrepreneur to talk about changing company culture.
The CEO & Co-Founder of Gallaher Edge explains why culture is everything to a business. She shares why some organizations can't really see their culture, and why it takes a lot of careful work to change and maintain the culture you want. She has a number of tips for companies and culture, whether trying to establish the right culture, changing the culture, or maintaining the great culture you have.
She shares with The Savvy Entrepreneur show why it's so essential to have difficult conversations to create a healthy business culture, even though most of us don't know how to have them. She then shares tips on how to approach these conversations.
Click on the arrow to the left to listen -- you'll be glad you did, because some of the tips will help in your personal life as well! Or, you can read a transcript of the show here.
Chris Banakis is a frequent speaker and presenter how to create a winning pitch deck. He's the founder of Acuity Advisory Partners and a SCORE workshop presenter on the topic.
He joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to walk listeners through the elements of putting together a great pitch deck. A persuasive pitch deck helps persuading investors. It also is useful to pitch to customers, potential employees, and partners.
Click on the arrow to take a listen -- it's chockful of great, actionable advice!
Three Dog Logistics was originally named Direct Mail Logistics and was a very small player in a very large logistics industry. Founder John Kennedy shares the story of how he partnered with marketing goddess Pat Veverica and her company, What's Your Plan, to completely transform the company.
They worked together, creating a new brand for the company that played on John's fondness for dogs. They used playful and creative marketing on budget. And together, they turned the company from $500K in revenue and 10 customers to a game- changer in a very mature industry. And in the process, landed Three Dog Logistics on the Inc500 five times. As they share the story, there are lots of learnings for other entrepreneurs. It's a fun story, and a great listen!
Click on the arrow to the left to listen! Or if you prefer, read a transcript of the show & interview.
Steven Clayton, Founder & CEO of NetBlaze, has been in and around digital marketing for many years. He's seen small businesses waste a lot of time and money on digital marketing that doesn't produce.
He joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Show to share his 80/20 rules of digital marketing. He has lots of practical tips to help small businesses maximize the impact of their digital footprint, cost-effectively.
Click on the arrow to listen. It's chockful of free, practical advice!
Accelerators have been successful in helping many startups. Finding the right one can mean the difference between success and failure. And accelerators vary in terms of industries served, and the type and quality of support provided.
Gener8tor, an accelerator based in Madison, Wisconsin (which has since expanded to several other mid-market cities) has been named one of the top 10 accelerators in the country. That's no small feat. Gener8tor is the only accelerator receiving that accolade that's based in the U.S., and only one based in a mid-market city, so you know they're doing some things right!
Troy Vosseller is the Co-Founder of Gener8tor, as well as the founder of Sconnie Nation and Sconnie Beer. He joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Show to talk about how and why Gener8tor was founded, and some of its many innovative programs. He also shares advice on how to find the right accelerator for your business, as well as how to get accepted into that accelerator.
Click on the arrow to the left to listen to Gener8tor's story and learn more what's it's like to be part of an accelerator.
Brett Jacobson has mastered the Art of the Pivot, across industries and within businesses multiple
times. He talks about how he approaches pivoting, both when and how. He also talks about his latest venture, Giddy, a wearable ED device, and how his gamble is paying off big.
Click on the arrow to the left to listen as he shares his story and tips to master the art of the pivot.
Joey Frayne joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to talk about Wisconsin's Qualified New Business Venture Tax Credit. He's worked with entrepreneurs his whole life, starting with working in the family's pizza franchise as a kid.
Now he counsels startups and small businesses of all kinds through his role as Investment Technology Manager at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, or WEDC.
We talk about what the WEDC does, and some of its programs. In particular, we focus on the Qualified New Business Venture Tax Credit. The program is not a direct subsidy to small businesses. Instead, it's a tax credit for those who invest in small and startup tech businesses, thereby boosting small businesses indirectly. Investors can include angel firms, venture capital firms, family offices, or high net worth individuals.
Joey talks about how the program has grown and helped hundreds of small Wisconsin companies. And for those not in Wisconsin, Joey assures me that many (if not most) other states have similar programs.
Take a listen by clicking on the arrow to the left! You can also learn more about the program here. You can also learn more about other Wisconsin resources to help entrepreneurs by listening to this podcast.
Jeff Hodges is a self-described community agent of change. As the founder of the One Sound Foundation and a key organizer in several other Chicago community support organizations, he makes the lives of his friends and neighbors better every single day.
One Sound Foundation evolved out of the work Jeff started doing with the Chicago Public Library. Later, he partnered with DePaul University, teaching kids about digital music. And he's also involved with several other community development initiatives, including the Imani Community Development Corporation, which was founded by his father.
Click on the arrow to the left to take a listen -- you'll be drawn in by Jeff's vision and enthusiasm. And you'll quickly understand why starting and growing community nonprofits requires top-notch entrepreneurial skills.
Lil Roberts knows a thing or two about accounting, finance and tax. She co-founded Xendoo in 2017, and it has grown steadily since then. Xendoo is an accounting and bookkeeping company for businesses with less than 20 employees.
Working with many small businesses over the past few years, she's seen some common mistakes and misconceptions. She's particularly passionate about is the importance of balancing cashflow with profitability. All too many small businesses just operate from their checkbook, and that means they don't see the whole picture. She has seen many businesses that are overall profitable, but still run out of cash and go out of business.
Take a listen as Lil very clearly and simply takes us through the concepts of cashflow vs profitability, and then shares some tips to make sure your business stays profitable AND has healthy cashflow! Or you can read a transcript of our interview here.
David Liebman, J.D., SIOR, has been in and around commercial real estate for over 35 years. He's the Managing Broker of Merit Partners LLC, and is an Illinois and Wisconsin licensed commercial broker who has earned the prestigious SIOR designation. He specializes in buyer and tenant representation, site acquisition, leasing, purchases and build-to-suits of industrial and commercial buildings and land.
Listen in as he joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to share his top commercial leasing tips. He also shares insights about how the covid-19 pandemic has changed commercial leasing, and what future changes are still likely to come.
Click on the arrow to hear some great tips to save you money and headaches before leasing your next office, warehouse, or manufacturing space!
David also mentions in the podcast two helpful resources, including a recent blog post with tips for commercial leasing in the pandemic, as well as a CBRE study with powerful recommendations for designing the office of the future. Enjoy!
Bill Miksch founded WDMA Insurance Group. He says fear was the basis of his decision to become an entrepreneur, but if you listen to his story, his path actually sounds more typical -- he tried lots of other paths, but found he just didn't fit in anywhere else. WDMA Insurance Group focuses on employee benefit issues, and health and benefits insurance.
Bill talks about building a book of business, balancing larger clients with smaller ones. He also talks about cold calling, and how he pushed through his aversion to it. He also shares some tips on designing employee benefit programs.
Click on the arrow to take a listen!
Ron Wajer and Mark Akerly are co-authors of a small but mighty business book entitled "Food for Thought." Both are long-time successful small business consultants. Mark is President of The Sigma Resource Group, and Ron the President of Business Engineering.
They joined The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to talk about how they turned lessons learned from building their own businesses into a book. "Food for Thought" is a compilation of their combined 60+ years of business experience to help others build their businesses.
They offer tons of great insights for starting and building a professional services business. But frankly, some of it is just great life advice!
Click on the arrow to take a listen! And consider buying their book -- it's an excellent read: "Food for Thought."
BPE Global is a group of women who are some of the best global trade experts around. Beth Pride talks with The Savvy Entrepreneur how she started and grew BPE Global. She also shares tips on how to successfully start a services business.
Click on the arrow to take a listen!
Randy Rice founded Surely Signs after working for a number of years in corporate America. Surely Signs is a Chicago-area business that makes signs of all kinds for all types of customers. Randy recently appeared on The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to share his story. He says he loves making unique signs for his customers, and his passion shows in the interview. He also shares some great advice for other entrepreneurs and small businesses, including advice about franchises.
Click on the arrow to take a listen!
Sue Reardon has a unique vision for co-working. She's successfully created a successful business around it, called Suite Spotte LLC.
She shares her story with The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show. In addition to being an entrepreneur herself, she's also seen and worked with lots of entrepreneurs in her co-working spaces. She shares some lessons learned, and what she's seen make businesses successful. She also shares her thoughts about when co-working makes sense for a business, and how to best make it work for your business.
Click on the arrow to the left for a great listen!
Chris Brown has built his company, Slades Corner Computer Repair, step-by-step. He literally started his business in one room of his house, expanded to his built-our garage, and then eventually moved to a stand-alone storefront office.
Listen in as he candidly shares his story on The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show. His growth has hit some bumps, and he's had to be nimble and pivot a few times. He is very open about some of the many challenges he's faced along the way and also about his successes. He also shares some of the lessons he's learned over the years.
Click on the arrow to the left to listen to his story!
Sean Hauser has been in and around commercial payments for nearly 20 years. He joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to explain some of the many electronic payment options -- ways for small businesses to pay vendors and receive payments from clients & customers. Sean takes us behind the scenes to explain the mechanics of how each works, and some of the pros and cons of each.
Each of the electronic payment options has unique costs and benefits, whether the costs are transparent (fees) or not so transparent (days to clear; which party to the transaction pays the fees). Sean provides a framework for weighing the options to help you choose the best one for your business.
It's interesting and informative! Click on the arrow to listen to an insider's perspective on various payment methods.
Tom Still, President of the Wisconsin Technology Council, has been an integral part of the Council since it was formed in 2001. A bipartisan organization, it advises the Wisconsin Governor and Legislature on policy issues. It also serves as a connector and community builder for all thing entrepreneurial in the state.
Tom joins The Savvy Entrepreneur weekly radio show to share some of the many successes of the Wisconsin Technology Council. Those include a number of very successful companies as well as significant growth in angel and venture capital investment dollars.
The Wisconsin Technology Council also hosts the prestigious annual Governor's Business Plan Competition. Tom shares some helpful tips on what makes a pitch successful. He also gives his insight on the most important qualities a successful entrepreneur needs, how to identify weaknesses, and ways to strengthen those shortcomings.
Click on the arrow to the left to take a listen!
It's common knowledge that women in STEM fields are a minority, and women of color are especially rare birds. Mechie Nkengla joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to tell the story behind her data analytics consulting company, Data Products LLC.
She has a refreshing candor and no-nonsense approach to life and business. And she shares very openly some of the challenges she's faced in building her company and raising money, including the unique challenges of being a woman of color in data analytics .
She also has some great, hard-earned advice for other entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs.
It's a great listen -- click on the arrow to the left! You'll be glad you did!
Strategy can make or break most businesses. And Steve Garchow is convinced (and has statistics to back it up) that most companies do a poor job setting their business strategy.
And a big part of that they have no real business strategy process. He shares a simple business strategy process. He calls it Lean Strategic Decision Making, and he even wrote a book sharing in detail how to apply it.
Take a listen -- my interview with Steve is chock-full of eye-opening examples and statistics, as well as great tips to help companies of all sizes do a better job setting their business strategy.
Effective leadership is critical for business growth. But the term is often misunderstood and misused, according to John Casey, President of Shamrock Consultants.
John's been at the business of leadership assessment and coaching for 26 years. He shares what leadership is and isn't. He also talks about how his firm methodically assesses leadership capabilities, as well as how people can get better at being good leaders.
Click on the arrow to take a listen -- it'll be well worth your time!
Christina Fontenelle says she became an entrepreneur because she just didn't fit in and couldn't do what she wanted to do anywhere else. She shares the story of how she founded Fontenelle Art to help people with trauma and other mental health issues through art and dance.
Click on the arrow to listen as she shares her story.
Many people, even in Chicago, don't know about Rosalind Franklin University. It's probably the least well-known of Chicagoland's 6 medical schools. But nestled in the northern suburbs of Chicago, it sits close to Illinois huge cluster of biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Abbott, Baxter, Astellas, and Abbvie are the largest. But there are many smaller companies, as well as divisions of several other large healthcare companies.
Hoping to spur university-industry collaboration on new concepts and products, Rosalind Franklin in just 4 short years built a new science park. The park includes a new healthcare incubator, called Helix 51.
Michael Rosen, Managing Director of Research and Innovation at the University also heads up Helix 51. He joined The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities of building a new incubator. He explains the difference between an accelerator and an incubator. He also talks about how the University is planning to expand shared services for incubator companies.
Click on the arrow to listen!
Dr. Aaron Olson
Dr. Mehrdad Arjmand
NovoMoto co-founders Aaron & Mehrdad Arjmand join The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to talk about how they are growing their company. Starting from a student entrepreneur project at The Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Wisconsin Madison, NovoMoto has already improved the lives of tens of thousands in The People's Republic of the Congo.
NovoMoto provides economical solar-powered generators and appliances there, where many users are "off the grid" and have no regular access to electricity. Solar-powered generators are less expensive to use and are much better for the environment than diesel generators or other alternatives.
Their goal? To help 1 million families by 2026!
Click on the arrow below to listen to their fascinating story!
Ty Rohrer knows a thing or two about nonprofits. He's currently Director of Cultural Arts for the Waukegan Park District (which includes managing the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra), Director of the Waukegan Arts Council, and a Board Member for the Illinois State Historical Society.
You may wonder what running or being a board member on a nonprofit has to do with entrepreneurship. Ty articulates the many entrepreneurial skills needed to effectively steer a nonprofit -- maybe it's a way for you to test your entrepreneurship skills, or maybe even to put them to use!
Click on the arrow to take a listen!
Steve Dinehart says that creating & operating MoolaPitch has almost caused him to lose faith in humanity. He recently joined The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to explain what he means. He talks about the common mistakes businesses make when they put their offering out on a crowdfunding site.
He also shares his recommendations for how to raise money successfully. He also talks about when crowdfunding is a good tool, and when it might not be.
It's a very interesting listen from someone who manages a crowdfunding platform, and might save some of you entrepreneurs out there a boatload of time, money and disappointment.
Click on the arrow to the left to hear the interview with Steve.
Listen in as Angela Spinazze joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show. She shares how she built ATSPIN consulting, and how she has successfully pivoted with her offerings multiple times as the needs of her clients changed.
Angela founded ATSPIN consulting in 1997. She helps museums, art galleries, and other cultural organizations facilitate conversations about key initiatives. Angela's candor about the challenges she's faced makes for a great listen. And she generously shares many wise pieces of advice for entrepreneurs.
I promise you'll enjoy her story -- click on the arrow to the left to listen!
Dan Olszewski, Director of the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, joins The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show. He talks about the many programs and other support at the UWM for student entrepreneurs. The center welcomes any student with an entrepreneurial mindset, and he talks about what that means at the UW. He talks about some of the program's successful company launches. He also shares how entrepreneurial skills today are really life skills that benefit students, even if they don't go on to start a company.
Click on the arrow to listen!
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Dan for being our guest.
Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.
Fred Copestake, Founder and CEO of Brindis, a small training, coaching & consulting company based in the U.K. recently joined The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show by phone to share the story of how he transitioned from a full-time employee to a gig contractor to his own independent company.
Brindis provides sales training, coaching and mentoring, focusing on larger, global companies with large sales forces that are seeking measurable improvement in their sales goals.
Fred candidly shares some of his challenges in building a consulting and training business. He also talks about both successes and mistakes. And he has plenty of great advice for other service business startups.
It's a great interview, plus his British accent is fun to listen to, and his sense of humor is wicked! Click on the arrow to listen!
Whether you've retained a contractor vs an employee is an important question, and one that lots of businesses get wrong. John Sartoris, principal of The Sartoris CPA Group, recently joined The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show live in the studio to discuss some of the issues.
It turns out that a lot of companies think they've hired a contractor, but what they really have is an employee, which can lead to lots of issues and significant costs. John talks about the IRS and Department of Labor tests, and how the issue often comes to light later.
He talks about the costs and repercussions if you categorize the individual incorrectly. He also shares the IRS requirements for any contractor you hire that you pay more than $600 in any given year.
John is articulate and often humorous as he explains some of the issues, and gives lots of practical examples.
Click on the arrow to the left to take a listen!
Chelsea Brownridge, Co-Founder and CEO of DogSpot recently joined The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show by phone to share the story of how this disruptive company was founded.
DogSpot provides on-demand, temperature-controlled doghouses outside coffee shops, grocery stores, and other places. DogSpot allows owners to take their dogs on errands without tying them up or leaving them in a car or at home.
Chelsea candidly shares how the company went from bootstrapping to venture capital funding. She also talks about some of the challenges and successes, and gives some great advice for other startups.
It's a great interview -- click on the arrow to listen!
Marsha McVicker, Founder & CEO of Chicago's Errand Solutions joined The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently to share some of the challenges and stories of taking a business from a student business competition to a mature business. Joining her was Micky York, Director of Marketing and Innovation.
Errand Solutions runs personal errands and helps employees as well as patients and their families, making their lives easier. Over the past 2o years, they have done more than 7 BILLION chores and tasks for their clients.
They also talk about their upcoming book, which memorializes some of the many funny and touching stories that have become part of the company's lore. The book is called "How to Save a Choking Iguana," and will be available on Amazon soon.
They also share advice about starting up a business, and talk about some of the challenges that woman-owned startups face.
It's a great listen -- click on the arrow to hear the show!
John Miller and Kevin Dastic from Miller's Area Heating and Air Conditioning joined The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently to share some of the challenges of growing a second-generation family-owned business
in a highly competitive local products and services business.
They also share some pretty funny stories, and John shares candid advice garnered over the years since he took over the business from his father and uncle.
It's a great listen -- click on the arrow to hear the show!
Lori London, singer, song-writer, and author of 2 award-winning children's books joined The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to share stories and advice from her journey to grow her entertainment business. Lori has tips and advice for anyone who has thought about writing and publishing childrens' books, or who has wondered how to make money from their artistic talents, or is thinking about using their creative talents as a side hustle. Also, check out her websites at Lori London Entertainment and Lori London Music!
Click on the arrow to listen to the interview.
Michael Kastler, founder of 43 Technology Solutions, joined The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show to share tips
on designing or re-designing your business website. He talks about things to consider in selecting a website designer. He also shares his advice on maintaining your website and keeping it relevant for your customers.
Michael has more than 30 years' experience in IT, and is a rare combination of technical know-how and always-practical business advice.
Listen as Michael shares advice from his many years of working with businesses on their
websites.
The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined by live in the studios of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Tom Denison, the President & Founder of SmartHealth Activator. SmartHealth Activator is an innovative type of accelerator for healthcare companies, especially those in biotech. It does not seek startup healthcare companies, but instead looks for licensable technologies and then forms the companies and appoints the management teams.
Tom joined us to talk about why he formed SmartHealth Activator, and its unique business model. He also shared some of the platform's portfolio companies, as well as some of the challenges.
The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Tom for being our guest on the show!
Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcast
The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined by live in the studios of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Eric Freibrun, who manages Freibrun Law. Eric counsels startups and other technology businesses on how to protect their intellectual property.
Eric joined us to talk about the four categories of intellectual property: patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. He emphasized that almost all businesses have intellectual property that has value and should be protected. He also shares how failing to properly identify and protect intellectual property is directly connected to a business' value.
The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Eric for being our guest on the show!
Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.
The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined by live in the studios of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Heather Grove, Managing Director at Caliber Advisors, a Chicago firm that provides advisory and business valuation services to companies of all sizes and types.
Heather joined us to talk about and when a business valuation should be done. She provides advice on how to maximize the value of a business valuation. She also shares common misconceptions and mistakes that business make when it comes to business valuation.
The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Heather and Caliber Advisors for being our guest on the show!
Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.
The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined live from the studios of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Wendy Basch, Director of Commercial Lending at BCU, a credit union with 250,000+ members to talk about what lenders look for when borrowing money. She also shares tips for successfully borrowing money, inluding loan repayment.
Wendy has more than 30 years' experience in the banking industry, having worked previo
usly at GE Capital, CharterOne Bank, 1st Midwest Bank, and Alliant Credit Union, among others.
The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Wendy and BCU for being our guest.
Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.
The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined by live in the studios of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Barry Goodman, Partner at SVA Value Accelerators, a national firm that specializes in helping small and family-owned businesses transition to new owners for a higher return.
Barry is uniquely qualified to counsel small businesses. He worked in the family electrical distribution business when he was young, then went on to form his own CPA firm, as well as co-found a company that became one of the largest regional accounting firms. He shares with us many tips for helping companies become more valuable.
The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Barry for being our guest.
Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.
The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined by phone live from the studios of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Robert "Bo" Steiner, the Illinois Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Bo comes from a family of entrepreneurs, and after his service in the military, he held several roles in the private sector. He joined the SBA as the director of the Illinois office in 2013.
He joined us to share some of the many programs and resources for small business that are offered by the Small Business Administration, most of which are free or low-cost. We also talked about effective business plans and business planning. Finally, he also shares some of his insights on what makes businesses successful after working with so many of them over the years.
The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player. It's a great listen!
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Bo Steiner for being our guest.
Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.
The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined by phone live on WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Manu Edakara, Director of iVenture Accelerator at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana.
Manu is a U of I graduate himself, and also spent time working for a startup in Silcon Valley before coming back to Champaign.
Manu talks about how the iVenture Acclerator came about, its goals and resources, some of the student entrepreneurs that are part of this unique program, and some of the program's successes.
The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Manu for being our guest.
Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.
The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined by phone live from the studios of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Tom Cox, Partner at McCarthy Duffy, LLC, a Chicago law firm that specializes in helping venture-backed companies.
Tom is uniquely qualified to counsel entrepreneurs and startups, as he has previously manged businesses as well as venture capital funds, in addition to being an experience corporate lawyer.
Tom joined us to talk about founder's shares and some of the considerations that new companies need to think about as they structure their company and grant equity and options to themselves and other key individuals. He also shared some of his insights on what makes businesses successful.
The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Tom for being our guest.
Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.
The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined by phone live from the studios of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Debra Kurtz & Andrea Nosek from Kurtz Consulting to talk about best practices in business innovation and new product launches.
Both Deb and Andrea have decades of experience in sales, marketing, and product management. They joined us to talk about some of the common mistakes companies make in trying to innovate and in launching new products, and share their years of wisdom on what works and what doesn't, particularly in the healthcare space.
The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Deb & Andrea from Kurtz Consulting for being our guests.
Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.
The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show recently was joined live in the studio of WLCB Lakes Radio 101.5 FM by Mark Goodman, CEO/President of e-Conversation Solutions and a long-time SCORE volunteer.
Mark has a wealth of different kinds of business experience. He held several positions, including Director of Business Development, at Motorola, was an executive for a Silicon Valley company, and was also a film buyer for General Cinema Theatres. Mark is the past workshop chair for SCORE Illinois. He;s also a frequent SCORE advisor and workshop presenter.
Mark talks about SCORE and the many free and low-cost resources SCORE provides, as well as the best ways to find and use SCORE mentors and other resources. Mark also shares some of his insights on what makes businesses successful.
The show was originally broadcast live, but you can still listen to it here by clicking on the embedded player.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Mark and SCORE for being our guest.
Catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing to our regular podcasts.
Greg Baker, Managing Partner of Bascom Ventures recently joined The Savvy Entrepreneur show live in the studio of Lakes Radio WLCB 101.5 FM.
Greg earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he developed his lifelong affinity for the university. It was then that he also had an internship that he says changed his life.
Greg is now Managing Partner of Bascom Ventures, a venture capital fund for Wisconsin Alumni, and a part of a larger alumni venture community called Alumni Ventures Group.
Greg talks about Bascom Ventures, the kinds of companies it invests in, and the many unique advantages of alumni investing. We also talk about Alumni Ventures, of which Bascom Ventures is part. Alumni Ventures offers a similar venture capital investing platforms to other alumni groups, and provides some unique shared services to all its funds. Greg also shares some VC insights on what makes businesses successful, and some tips for pitching to VCs.
Click on the embedded player to listen.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Greg & Bascom Ventures for being our guest!
You can catch other episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur by subscribing here.
We were delighted to have Sophie Lechner as our podcast guest on Globalocity Radio, joining us from New York City.
Sophie grew up in Pakistan, studied in Paris for several years, and then moved to the United States. She's experienced first-hand the many challenges of moving across cultures. She's also had deep experience in the business world, spending 25 years in the corporate world with positions at British Petroleum in France, Bayer. She also pioneered the position of Alliance Manager there, so she also knows a few things about finding and managing good partners.
She now heads up Global Commerce Education, helping non-U.S. companies get established and thrive in the U.S. market.
We spoke with Sophie about the importance of finding great partners to help foreign companies successfully navigate the United States, admittedly a huge market, but one that is very challenging and often bewildering to non-natives.
Some of the things you’ll learn from our podcast:
Why the U.S. can be absolutely bewildering to non-natives Why it's so critical to have great partners if you want to be successful in the U.S. How Global Commerce Education helps non-U.S. find partners who are good fits for their clients And much, much more!
Click on the embedded player to listen, or click here for a transcription.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Sophie & Global Commerce Education for being our guest.
We hope you enjoyed this podcast, and found it useful and interesting.
You can be sure not to miss our next podcast by subscribing to our regular podcasts via iTunes
We were delighted to have Ralph Vetsch as our recent podcast guest on Globalocity Radio, joining us from Boston.
Ralph is a 5-time VP of Sales. He has worked in a variety of industries, geographies and product types, with direct and the five main indirect sales channels: Distributor, Rep, Services company, OEM, and Influencer). Through his extensive experience in working with and even being a channel partner, he recognizes first-hand the challenges when a company is not channel ready.
He now heads up 10th Opus, which helps startups realize their full revenue potential. He's also working on a book entitled “Faster Revenue Through Channels,” due out in 2018.
We spoke with Ralph about the importance of being channel ready, and the steps needed to get there.
Some of the things you’ll learn from our podcast:
What it means to be channel ready Why channel readiness is so essential to help businesses scale and grow properly Why companies often think that a few sales means they are channel ready What happens when a company is not channel ready And much, much more!
Click on the embedded player to listen, or click here for a transcription.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Ralph for being our guest.
You can be sure not to miss our next podcast by subscribing to our regular podcasts
Channel management, and product management. Two very separate disciplines. TOO separate, in our opinion.
Channel managers toil away, managing distributors, wholesalers, and manufacturers' reps. They have to try to make the existing products work for all of them. And product managers mostly focus on direct customers.
Armed with a better understanding of the value each brings and a closer partnership between the two functions, several of our clients have seen truly amazing results, and we'd like to share some of that learning with you. In this webinar, presented by Globalocity principals Mike Hunter and Doris Nagel, you'll learn:
Why product management knowledge is essential for today's channel managers How product managers can benefit from an understanding of channel management basics How it cost companies real money when the two don't fully collaborate How better collaboration can improve the customer experience
Access This Free On-Demand Webinar Now!
In today's business environment, partnering is essential. Some 83% of organizations rely on partners, and annual CEO surveys consistently cite new strategic alliances as a key business strategy.
Most people think they're pretty good at partnering. If so, how come between 50-80% of these partnerships fail to fully deliver on their promised or expected value?
What if you could be sure that the teams managing your strategic alliances had good partnering skills, setting up those relationships for the best success? It's possible to do this, because partnering skills are quantifiable. They can also be learned or improved, consistently increasing the quality of your partnerships and improving your financial results.
In this webinar, presented by Globalocity along with guest presenter Stephen Dent, Founder of the Partnership Continuum, you'll learn:
• Why partnering skills are unique but essential • How to quickly assess your own partnering skills, those of your team, and also on your partner's team • A consistent framework for improving your partnering skills, as well as the success of your partnerships
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You can choose the right partner, but still get poor results if you don't get the onboarding process right. Watch our on-demand webinar to learn about best practices for partner onboarding: "Onboarding: The Foundation for Getting and Keeping Your Distributors/Partners Focused on Your Offerings."
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Access This Free On-Demand Webinar Now!
Your distributors & other indirect sales partners are not your end-customers.
So your partner value proposition needs to be different from your customer value proposition -- different, but just as important.
Listen in to the archived version of our free webinar, “How to Craft an Irresistible Partner Value Proposition,” and hear Globalocity principals Mike Hunter and Doris Nagel discuss how to consistently attract better distributors and other partners, and keep you "top of mind" with them by crafting a persuasive, consistent partner value proposition.
Access This Free On-Demand Webinar Now!
Listen in to the archived version of our free webinar, “No-Fail Process for Recruiting Great Distributors/Channel Partners.”
Listen in as Globalocity principals Mike Hunter and Doris Nagel discuss how to consistently avoid under-performing distributors through a 10-step no-fail process for recruiting better distributors and other channel partners, every time.
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We were delighted to have Alejandro Infante as our recent podcast guest on Globalocity Radio, joining us from Miami.
Alejandro brings a unique perspective on distributors, particularly international ones. He worked for many years as a corporate channel manager. His roles included VP of International at Hill-Rom, and head of international operations at Hospira.
He's now working on the distributor side, assembling a multi-country network of Latin American distributors.
We spoke to Alejandro recently about some key distributor financial aspects to consider.
Some of the things you’ll learn from today's podcast:
Some of the many ways distributors take on costs that suppliers may under-appreciate Why having distributors that are TOO focused on your products may be worse than having them under-focused How corruption happens with distributors, particularly in foreign markets How to spot corruption, and ways to prevent it And much, much more!
Click on the embedded player to listen.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Alejandro for being our guest.
We hope you enjoyed this podcast, and found it useful and interesting.
You can be sure not to miss our next podcast by subscribing to our regular podcasts via iTunes
Our podcat guest today on Globalocity Radio is Gene Detroyer, joining us from New York. Gene is a recognized thought leader in cross-border alliances and international expansion.
After 17 years of marketing and management in consumer products for global companies, including Mobil and the Van Leer Group, Gene launched several entrepreneurial ventures. He later sold the companies he created. For the past 8 years, he's taught entrepreneurship and strategy to international students at the New York campus of the European School of Economics, and at the Paris campus of the Weller International Business School.
In addition to teaching, Gene now also advises foreign companies to help them bring their products to the U.S. He is also Executive Director of the G2Experience, focused on innovative cultural training and immersion.
In today's podcast, we talk about some of the ways cross-border alliances and other deals frequently fail to live up to expectations, and some things companies can do to improve their odds of success.
Some of the things you’ll learn from today's podcast:
Why the world is inevitably becoming less U.S.-centric Why cross-cultural sensitivity is becoming ever more important How assuming things "there" will be like "here" is a recipe for disaster Why understanding culture is not about reading up on business etiquette And much, much more!
Click on the embedded player to listen, or click here for a transcription.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Gene for being our guest.
Click here to subscribe to our regular podcasts
Our guest on today on Globalocity Radio is Albert Costillo.
Albert is bi-cultural, and has many years' experience helping North American and European companies do business more successfully in Latin America.
In our podcast today, Albert shares some of his many insights to help North American listeners understand how differently business negotiations are approached in Latin America, and to help them devise more effective negotiating strategies there.
In this podcast, we talk about some of the ways disconnects happen in business negotiations between Americans and Latin Americans, and some different ways to approach those differences to make businesses more successful.
Some of the things you’ll learn from today's podcast:
How Latins view time differently from North Americans How Latins view relationships differently Why hierarchy matters so much more in Latin America What are some effective strategies for dealing with these differences? And much, much more!
Click on the embedded player to listen.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Albert and Global Business Fluency for being our guest.
You can be sure to catch all of our podcasts episodes by subscribing here.