Scratch Entrepreneur

Kurtis Cummings founded Switchyard Brewing Company in his garage and then spent 7 years developing the business plan before opening his doors.  In this episode, he breaks down the 8 guiding principles that he developed to get there.   We're glad you joined us!  Topics covered include: Starting the business (5:00) Serving great beer (16:00) Creating a great place to hang out (20:30) Open book management (26:00) A great place to work (37:00) A place to learn (41:00) Giving back to the community (44:00) Special thanks to Kurtis Cummings for taking the time to share the Switchyard Brewing story with us   Contributors to this episode include: Host - Jeremy Goodrich Music - Mark Vinten Editing - Christopher Lang If you enjoyed this podcast, there’s a couple of things we need you to do right now:  SUBSCRIBE to Scratch Entrepreneur on itunes, Stitcher, Google Play or wherever you listen to podcasts  While your there, please REVIEW the show  SHARE with friends Finally, please, JOIN the Scratch Entrepreneur Faceb

Chuck Surack founded Sweetwater Sound in his VW Bus. Now he's closing in on a billion dollars annual revenue. Topics discussed include: Resources (5:00) Getting started in a VW Bus (12:30) Old tech vs new tech (16:00) Advantages and disadvantages of audio tech (18:45) How the Kurzweil K250 changed everything (20:00) Customer service and sales training (29:00) Trends in audio (33:00) The NAMM Show (35:30) The Amazon threat? (37:45) Acquiring businesses (46:00) Where’s Sweetwater 10 years from now? (54:55) Mentions: Business Schooled Podcast Tower of Power NAMM Special thanks to Chuck Surack for sharing Sweetwater's story Contributors to this episode include: Host - Jeremy Goodrich Music Production - Mark Vinten Audio Editing - Christopher Lang Copy Editing - Talia Chakraborty If you enjoyed this episode, stick around: SUBSCRIBE on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts.  REVIEW the show and SHARE with friends. JOIN the Scratch Entrepreneur Group so we can make it Facebook

Dhar Mann grew LiveGlam from a small business to a booming multimillion dollar success through influencer marketing. Topics: Resources (5:30) Origins (8:45) Growth (15:00) Dhar’s mantra (19:50) Which ideas to pursue (21:00) Learning from failure (24:30) Influencer marketing (32:45) Influencer responsibilities (39:20) How to become an influencer (42:00) Dhar's 5 year plan (45:45) Mentions: Gary Vaynerchuk Measure What Matters Project Management Tool - Monday   Special thanks to Dhar Mann for sharing LiveGlam's story   Contributors to this episode include: Host - Jeremy Goodrich Music Production - Mark Vinten Audio Editing - Christopher Lang Copy Editing - Talia Chakraborty If you enjoyed this episode, stick around: SUBSCRIBE on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts.  REVIEW the show and SHARE with friends. JOIN the Scratch Entrepreneur Group so we can make it Facebook official. Thanks for listening!   Want insurance without the headache? We’re here for you. More great sto

Pat East, founder of Hanapin Marketing and director of The Dimension Mill, knows the five things it takes to create a healthy profitable business. Do you? Hit play to find out. Mentions: The Tim Ferris Show The 4-Hour Work Week Breakthrough Strategy Siri QuickBooks Digital Marketing Blog Hero Conference Showers Brothers Furniture Factory StoryBrand Clayton Christianson Special thanks to Pat East for sharing his story with us Contributors: Host - Jeremy Goodrich Music Production - Mark Vinten Audio Editing - Christopher Lang Copy Editing - Talia Chakraborty If you liked this episode, stick around: SUBSCRIBE to Scratch Entrepreneur on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts.  REVIEW the show and SHARE with friends. Connect with us! JOIN the Scratch Entrepreneur Group so we can make it Facebook official. Thanks for listening!   Want insurance without the headache? We’re here for you.       More great stories & information at: Youtube - Blog - Podcast Facebook - Twitter

You’ve been warned since you were small not to play with glass. It’s sharp, it’s fragile, and you’ll get hurt if it breaks. Abby Gitlitz, founder of The Bloomington Creative Glass Center (BCGC), agrees. You’ll get hurt if it breaks, and you can count on it breaking if you blow glass. You’ll get burnt too. But it won’t be a big hurt, and you’ll learn to make art using the medium you’ve been scared of since before you can remember. Hit play if you want to hear about: magical realism apocalyptic literature and art glass pumpkins the science of blown glass, and more. Some Mentions: Shine Insurance Station Eleven Welcome to Night Vale The NeverEnding Story Great Glass Pumpkin Patch Bay Area Glass Institute The MIT Glass Lab Monroe County Public Library (MCPL) Switchyard Park Special thanks to Abby Gitlitz for sharing her story with us Contributors: Host - Jeremy Goodrich Music Production - Mark Vinten Audio Editing - Christopher Lang Copy Editing - Talia Chakraborty If you enjoyed this episode, stick aroun

Medical conversations are usually one of two things: confusing, bad news (or both). Join me and Pete Yonkman as we talk medical equipment shop in a way you, your five year old, or your great grandmother would understand. Learn how medical devices changed the face of healthcare forever, how Bill and Gayle Cook went on the entrepreneurial venture of a lifetime, and how Cook President Pete Yonkman once kidnapped a scooter.   Along the way, you’ll gain insight into how to create a positive company culture, how to give back to your community, and how the American healthcare system compares to others around the world.   Still wondering why this episode is titled “walking billboard for cook medical"? Hit play to find out.    Mentions: Cook Medical Cook Group Here’s The Thing with Alec Baldwin The Dimension Mill   Special thanks to Pete Yonkman for sharing his story with us   Contributors: Host - Jeremy Goodrich Music Production - Mark Vinten Audio Editing - Christopher Lang Copy Editing - Talia Chakraborty If y

Have you ever met someone who had their whole life figured out before they’d learned how to tie their shoes? Most of us have no idea what we want to be when we grow up. Or we think we do, but with age and gray hairs realize pro baseball probably isn’t going to happen...   Others stumble purely by chance into dream careers, never looking back. Enter Matt Ellenwood of Matte Black Architecture.   Join us as he begins his professional journey in the sixth grade on Career Day. Follow him as he builds a flourishing career out of small beginnings in Muncie, larger than life skyscrapers in Seattle, and finally a beautiful mix of modern and traditional in our beloved Bloomington.   If you’re curious to learn how: architecture is the perfect mix of art, math, and problems (time and money); the healthiest, most profitable businesses find a balance between making money and helping people; and everything comes full circle when Matt talks entrepreneurship with his son’s fourth grade class, go ahead and hit play.   Mentio

We all dream of taking the thing we love to do and growing it into a healthy profitable business.  Well our guest today has done just that.  Since she was a little girl sewing was a curiosity, then a pastime, then a college major, and then a career.  Now Margaret is the owner of a sewing and tailoring shop called The Tailored Fit.  In this episode she shares about working on Broadway, how to pick the right sewing machine, and what it takes to build a business from scratch. We're glad you joined us! Topics discussed include: Podcasts we’re listening to (1:00) How Margaret got in to sewing (3:45) Going from Quilting to Costuming on Broadway (18:00) Starting her own business (30:30) What makes a bad sewing machine (32:00) Recommended sewing machines (34:00) The Tailored Fit five years from now (47:30) Mentioned in the episode: The Tailored Fit The Entre Leadership Podcast Threads Magazine Podcast Association of Sewing and Design Professionals   Special thanks to Margaret Fette for taking the time to share her

Today’s show is the fourth in our series of on-air coaching sessions between veteran executive coach David Quick and an entrepreneur who sits at a crossroads.  A big decision point in his or her business. Our guest today has built a painless way for your business to share your expertise with the world.  His team includes rock star writers, street-wise marketing gurus, and analytics obsessed techies.  When you put that all together, Content Cucumber has created a one stop shop for building your brand and sharing your perspective with the world.  Our guest today is co-founder Chris Chasteen who started as a financial investor in the project but then felt so connected with it he up his connection to a full-fledged member of the founding team.   Topics discussed include: Podcasts we’re listening to (4:30) Chris’ Crossroad (7:30) With money out of the equation, which business would Chris choose? (11:30) The steps to making Content Cucumber profitable (17:30) Dave’s tip #1: Setting milestones and the steps to achi

Jeremy walks you through his thoughts on reflecting and projecting for the coming year.  He address the year that was and new things that are coming up.    

When McKenzie and I started Shine Insurance I had very little knowledge of how to run a business and even less about how to sell something.  I had been a teacher for 13 years.  People brought their kids to my classroom and if I boomed, the immediate consequences were limited.   I also knew that people don’t particularly like insurance and insurance agents, maybe next to used car guys, are the basic definition of slimy sales people. We knew we where setting out to change that perception to literally change the way people feel about insurance, but besides just being ourselves, we didn’t really know how. So we did what so many new business owners do, we asked around about good resources for starting a business.  Fortunately, we came across two particular resources that would define our trajectory.  The first was an online course by Marie Forleo called B-school.  This course, directed at female business owners was chalk full of good advice from brand strategies, to launching a product, and beyond. The second was

The great thing about entrepreneurs is that they come in all categories.  On almost any topic you could name business owners across the entire scale. Lets start with money – Jeff Bezos is a pretty rich dude and on the other end, a homeless person on a street corner is doing the best they can with the cards they were dealt When it comes to personality, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are total introverts while Joe Rogan & The Dwayne Johnson could probably talk to a fish for 8 hours. There are big personilties and small ones, overflowing bank accounts and a sock full of change hidden under the couch.  Everyone can be an entrepreneur. But there are some fields that you simply know the path to success is a tiny trail up the side of a steep mountain.  Our guest today decided to take one of those. His rugged entrepreneurial trail of choice was comedy found accidentally while he was chasing another hard fought dream, a career in music.  About ten years ago Mat Alano Martin was performing as a singer songwriter un

There is no one value more important to running a healthy profitable business than being yourself.  Maybe that wasn’t true 50 years ago, maybe molding to the established norms was how you succeeded.  But not today.  Today, authenticity is everything.  You don’t have to be polished or perfect, but you do have to be real.  Don’t get me wrong, if being yourself means wearing pajamas out into public and you’re the CEO of a high-end fashion company you may not stay CEO for long.  But, you may be the next marketing director of Pajamagram.    Sorting still happens, we aren’t simply immune to the inequality, the prejudice, the unspoken hierarchies of old.  But now more than ever, being yourself matters.  Today’s heros are youtube vloggers acting stupid and tech moguls that flying to Mars.  In politics, one of the world’s most pure marketing experiences, atheletes are speaking truth to power and power is saying whatever it damn well pleases whenever it wants.  Authenticity whether wholesome or heresy,   obnoixious or

Today’s Hosts: Jeremy Goodrich – Owner of Shine Insurance Agency David Quick – Business Coach at Helping Bulls Thrive in China Shops The Crossroads episodes of Scratch Entrepreneur are all about solving a specific point of growth for our guest.  David and Jeremy ask thoughtful questions for the first half of the show.  Their goal is to get at the heart of the factors that affect this point of growth.  The second half of the show is all about solutions.  David will offer three next steps and the outcomes that he sees from taking them. Today’s show is the third in our series of on-air coaching sessions between veteran executive coach David Quick and an entrepreneur who sits at a crossroads.  A big decision point in his or her business. Today’s guest has an enviable crossroads.  He’s doubled the business every year since he started.  Now, sitting at four million in gross receipts he’s been pumping the breaks, the growth just seems too fast and the weight of it all is getting bigger.  David helps him address what

The best towns, just like the best businesses, have a story.  There’s a simple reason why.  Because every single one of us is wired to connect with a great story.  We connect with the characters, love their simple flaws that remind us of our own, yell at the bad guys in a way we probably couldn’t in real life, and use the story to analyze our own perspectives on the world, how we would have done it, how we would have become the hero…or the villain. Our guest today has actually built the fabric of our town's story in a variety of ways.  First he wrote for a local public radio show called A Moment of Science, then he crafted many of the stories in Bloomington’s own magazine called Bloom.  Most recently, he when out on his own and started a podcast called BTown LowDown.  Btown Low Down, which has gained a ton of notoriety even though it’s less than a year old, breaks down the goings on in our little southern Indiana community.  Jeremy Shere and his cohost Jen Richler, chat about upcoming events, local phenomenon

While I don’t have a traditional tech start up, I have a kind of love love relationship with the tech world.  Maybe it’s because Tech is the new American Dream.  To have an idea that solves a pain point in the world, build a model, have a bunch of tech stuff happen, and voula, you’re a millionaire.  One version or another of this story, the story of a magically different life than you have right now, has captured the American imagination from it’s infancy. The very act of immigrating, sailing on a ship for months to the new world is that story.  The industrial revolution is that story, And now, from our Commodore 64s and Ataris to the podcast your listening to right now,  we all love to believe that magic can happen.  So I do love talking with tech entrepreneurs.  To hear the pain point their solving.  To dig deep into the nuts and bolts of what it means to raise huge sums of money based basically on nothing besides the founders word and a compelling deck of powerpoint slides. And then build the thing and lau

I think about my business probably 70% of my waking hours.  I’m, not 100% proud of that actually.  There’s certainly mental space that needs to be freed for more about family, and fun, and nature, and playing tennis, and riding my bike.  But I obsess about the details, the upcoming decisions, internal systems, the right ways to market, do we have enough clients, do we have too many, are they the right clients,on and on.  Thinking about your business is a good thing but cycling on it isn’t.  McKenzie always pushes me to think through a decision, make it, and move on.  Yesterday’s decisions are over.  Celebrate your successes, learn from your failures, but mostly, move forward.      Our guest today has certainly done that.  His big entrepreneurial move was happened when he was a big shot sales guy at a large corporation.  Like so many, he realized that he never saw his kids, he drank too much, and, while his pockets were full, his soul was empty.  So, he dropped out. He left his way up the ladder sales job, the

We talk a lot on this podcast about building tribes, groups of customers that love your product, love your company, and feel like they are a part of something special because, well, they are.  The tribal metaphor has always worked in my mind for two primary reasons. If you have a community of raving fans then you must be doing something right It’s very easy to tell whether you actually have a tribe or not.   Our guest today is a part of a movement, a tribe that is made up of a community of millions of impassioned and empowered women who believe very simply that equality is not too much to expect.  She, like so many other women, has decided that sitting back and watching isn’t an option.  So she founded Be Golden, a business with the mission of supporting and empowering women of all shapes, sizes, colors, and creed.  In our conversation, she shares how Be Golden came to be, talks about the evolution of feminism, and why the Be Golden conference attracts women from across the country to come together and cele

All of us have aspirations.  From Elan Musk, who wants to dig tunnels and colonize Mars, to a homeless kid sitting in school and trying to look normal.  We all have aspirations.  The cool thing about being human is that there are as many visions of a better future as there are people.  Everyone’s is different.  And even though there are around 7 Billion different sets of aspirations, none of them are wrong.  Different than what your parents wanted, maybe.  Misguided, at least 40% of the time for sure.  But 100% yours and only yours, well, if you stick to your guns then difinetely.  Aspirations are the fabric of being human.  From wanting to win your next fantasy football game to trying to create balance between your work and your home life.  But when we become entrepreneurs we test the very fabric of those aspirations.  Suddenly they’re not just hopes and dreams but rather bread, butter, and the mortgage payment.  The aspirations of entrepreneurs are often referred to by another name >> your business plan.  T

It's time to get reflective.  This episode is all about when Scratch Entrepreneur is at and where we're headed. Jeremy talks why this podcast exists, how we do what we do, where we're at, and what's next. Here's a breakdown: Last Week:  How to get your first 200 customers with Jonathan Grzybowski (2:32)   Next Week: Mike McAfee – Director of the NFP Visit Bloomington    This week on Patreon: Jeremy’s StoryCorp interview with McKenzie   Overview of the conversation:   Section One: Why we do this How we started Scratch Entrepreneur (6:30) The insights that Scratch provides: I love to hear the successes and failures that other biz owners experience (12:10) The insights they’ve gained over the years (15:30)   Section Two: How we do this The first few episodes (21:45) The next 30 episodes (22:30) The team now (24:15)   Section Three: Where were headed Original Mission (27:15) As people starting hearing about the show, broader opportunities have started to be available. (30:15)  On air executive coaching wi