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 train…

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…

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…

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 lear…

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 …

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 M…

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 …

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-wis…

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 age…

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 personalit…

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 you…

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 hea…

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 pers…

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…

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 enou…

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 v…

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…

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 Vi…

Standing on the edge of a new venture as a budding entrepreneur is equally exhilarating and bone chilling. To truly do this you have to strap into the harness of friends and family that believe in you, lean out over the abyss that is no longer having a salary or benefits, and jump. Think about the moment you did that. What job did you leave? Have l…

Today's episode starts a new series of one air coaching session between business owners and executive coach David Quick. We start with ourselves, Jeremy & McKenzie Goodrich owners of Shine Insurance. Our crossroads is How Do We Strategically Scale? The Crossroads episodes of Scratch Entrepreneur are all about solving a specific point of growth for …

Simone & Malcolm Collins are venture capitalists, marketing gurus, entrepreneurs, and authors. They're on a personal and professional journey towards the perfect iteration of themselves. We talk about that, their opinion about where most start up pitches go wrong, and why they feel Latin America is poised for big wins. We’re glad you joined us. Epi…

Every entrepreneur who’s every read a business book has heard you need to exude confidence, never give up, work hard, use this magical system that some dude with a shabby website invented and will happily share with you for $1997. Everyone wants to tell you how it works. But what they’re usually telling you is simply how it worked for them. Owning …

Have you ever bought a house? I remember the first time I did. It was a really beat up old bungalow with great old bones. I fell in love immediately even though I probably shouldn’t have. The one thing I didn’t do, that I really should have, is hire a realtor. They probably would have noted that the basement was leaky and flooded every time it rain…

There are a lot of terms that could define entrepreneurship: Risky, busy, confusing, overwhelming, fun, inspiring, and on and on. Starting and growing your own business is one of the most challenging adventures a person can go on. But there’s another word used a lot to describe owning a business and that’s lonely. So many entrepreneurs describe mom…

Our guest today is a hero in the Bloomington, Indiana community of artists. Armored with her hand crafted leather notebooks, she started by venturing out and attempting to make a living as an artist. As so many heroes do, she experienced perils, hardship, and moments of doubt. Then she realized that she should band together a collaborative communit…

If you own a business, it reflects you, whether you mean for it to or not. Every system, every product, every experience, has you embedded in it. Any business owner that isn’t comfortable with that should run for the hills. The “owning a business is like having a child” metaphor may be over used but there is, of course, some truth to it. The things…

There are some jobs it seems like no one would ever want. Who wants to pump a septic tank, why on earth would you ever work in a restaurant dish tank, who in the world would ever deal with dead people? Us humans are infatuated with rationalizing our place in the world by comparing it with those who have it worse. But the concept of “those who have …

Today’s guests are world renowned in the field of Graphic Design. They’ve worked for some of the biggest design agencies, advised some of the best companies, studied under legends in their field, spoken in front of huge audiences, and built a following of other graphic designers. They themselves have now become a powerhouse couple in their field. A…

There are jobs you simply do, that’s what most of us have, and there are creative passions that turn out to make you a few bucks, which very few are lucky enough to succeed at. One way to gauge the difference is the perception of children. If, as a child you heard of an occupation and immediately felt you would rather eat raw spinach with no ranch …

There are some businesses that are integral in the fabric and story of a community. Think about the town you live in. If someone asks, "What are some things I HAVE to do when I visit?" you immediately think of them. Maybe the dive bar in that back alley, an ice cream shop that has handmade old-fashioned vanilla but you have to specifically ask for …

Many of our favorite businesses were built out of someone loving something and then figuring out how to make it better. Yvon Chouinard created Patagonia because he loved rock climbing, hiking, and being outdoors. Everything else stemmed from that. Ben & Jerry loved ice cream, Jake Carpenter of Burton snowboards just wanted to find the perfect ride.…

Us humans, we have all these labels for people, right.Us humans, we have all these labels for people, right.Some are mean like calling someone a nerd or a moron. Some are self-applied like goth or grunge. Some clearly state a specific spiritual philosophy like Christian or Pagan. Some are about ancestry, others skin color, still others define the g…

Our guest today builds houses. Really beautiful houses Hardwood floors with deep velvety purple finishes, huge windows full of afternoon sun. Each home is unique and, like any good builder, his finished pieces have a stunning signature to them. Loren Wood and his team of builders drop their heart and soul into every new build. They pour foundations…

Our guest today has perhaps one of the smartest solutions to a specific problem that's plagued beekeepers for centuries. Her and the Beecorp team are taking on some of the key issues around a dying community of animals that we actually really need. Ellie Symes shares her story, how BeeCorp is solving key issues for beekeepers, and what she's learne…

Have you ever dreamed of going viral, schmoozing with the stars, swimming in piles of virtual likes and shares, retweets and smiley faces? I mean who doesn’t want fan mail, right? Our guest today is fortunate enough to have experienced all of that but here’s the thing, he wasn’t really dreaming of it. In fact, as it turns out, most people who go vi…

Do you love the town you live in or do you long to move somewhere else? Have you ever thought about why you feel whatever way you do? I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. I’ve lived in Bloomington Indiana for most of the last 25 years and the more people I meet, the more stories build the thread of this town in my mind, the deeper connection…

Have you ever had a good idea? One that was so obvious, so helpful, so ingenious that you couldn’t believe it didn’t already exist? You searched the web and couldn’t find anytime about it, you researched the patent list and it just wasn’t there. You sat in a darkroom late at night thinking “what is my next step?”. Well, if you idea has anything to …

So you’ve got a million dollars that your looking to invest right? It’s just sitting around in your side table or stuffed into the cushions on your couch but you know it should be invested somewhere so it can grow into two or three million. You could invest in the stock market or real estate but that sounds so boring. You want to invest in ideas, g…

We’ve all seen those sad animal commercials, right? Underserved, scrawny, abused pups that need your help. On this episode, we sit down with someone who decided to address the problem head on. Not by donating a few bucks but by dedicating her life’s work to serving these animals. Who is this superhero to destitute animals? It’s the director of Monr…

On today’s show we chat with small business icon Jeff Mease who took the work ethic he learned from an early age and built a pizza shop that sprouted a restaurant which naturally needed a brewery. Once all of that was humming, he created a community commissary where other small food businesses could start just like he did. After over 30 years of gr…

Today we chat with RCV Roofing owner Jay Nelson about all things roofing. Learn how he grew from zero to one of the largest midwestern roofing contractors in less than 5 years. We’ll talk bad roofs, the tension between roofers and insurance companies, how to pick a good roofer, and more. We’re glad you joined us.…

On today's show, Jeremy sits down with the owner of Felt Creative Agency and Marketing Guru AJ O’Reilly. We’ll lay out the 7 specific steps to the perfect marketing approach. Get these steps right and the biggest issue your business will have is how to keep up.

On today’s episode of Scratch Entrepreneur we explore a real life example of someone who left his perfect apartment in lower Manhattan, a swanky job as a magazine fixer, a high rise office overlooking Times Square and moved to a small midwestern town with no real plan. What came next was the birth of a New York quality magazine on a college town bu…

On today’s episode of Scratch entrepreneur, how Jessica & Aaron Wehr, owners of Wehrloom Honey, took a Christmas present and turned it into a booming agricultural business. We’re glad you joined us.

On today’s show how Doug Dayhoff and the Upland team grew a small town brewery and pub into a multimillion dollar business known internationally for their lineup of traditional craft beers and their innovation around brewing wood aged sour beers. We’re glad you joined us.

What does it mean to create content to build your brand? On today’s episode Colin Clark, owner of Tribeswell, and Jeremy dig deep into our of their favorite topics: Authentic Content Marketing Creating great content (videos, blog posts, podcasts, etc) is far from new, people have been doing it for decades. But it becoming a more and more central st…

“Where will Ugo Today?” On today’s episode an incredible look into one of Bloomington Indiana’s rising food star’s Rebecca Walters. Rebecca is an entrepreneur who truly took an idea and built it into a healthy profitable business. Her idea solved a problem she had. She was hungry. She needed healthy food that was mobile but had the nutritional valu…

Have you ever just felt stuck, like your life or your business isn’t where you want it to be? Meet transformation coach Adam Schaeuble.