Scratch Entrepreneur

Shine Insurance Agency

Starting a new business from scratch is an adventure. On the Scratch Entrepreneur podcast we dig deep into the systems, secrets, and stories of remarkable people who dropped everything to start a healthy profitable business.

  • 49 minutes 11 seconds
    Guiding Principles of Switchyard Brewing Company

    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:

    If you enjoyed this podcast, there’s a couple of things we need you to do right now: 

    Then, please share the show with whoever you think it will inspire.

    Until the next time, We truly appreciate you listening.

     

    Need Shine?

    More great stories & information at:

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    16 December 2019, 12:00 pm
  • 58 minutes 28 seconds
    Chuck Surack on Online Retail

    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:

    Special thanks to Chuck Surack for sharing Sweetwater's story

    Contributors to this episode include:

    If you enjoyed this episode, stick around:

    Thanks for listening!

     

    Want insurance without the headache? We’re here for you.

    More great stories & information at:

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    22 March 2019, 11:30 am
  • 48 minutes 25 seconds
    Dhar Mann on the Power of Influencer Marketing

    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:

    If you enjoyed this episode, stick around:

    Thanks for listening!

     

    Want insurance without the headache? We’re here for you.

    More great stories & information at:

    Youtube - Blog - Podcast Facebook - Twitter

     

    8 March 2019, 12:00 pm
  • 1 hour 30 seconds
    Pat East - 5 Steps to a Healthy Profitable Business

    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:

    Special thanks to Pat East for sharing his story with us

    Contributors:

    If you liked this episode, stick around:

    Thanks for listening!

     

    Want insurance without the headache? We’re here for you.

     

     

     

    More great stories & information at:

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    20 February 2019, 12:30 pm
  • 50 minutes 41 seconds
    Abby Gitlitz - Don't Play With Glass

    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:

    Special thanks to Abby Gitlitz for sharing her story with us

    Contributors:

    If you enjoyed this episode, stick around:

    Thanks for listening!

     

    Want insurance without the headache? We’re here for you. 

    More great stories & information at:

    Youtube - Blog - Podcast Facebook - Twitter
    6 February 2019, 12:30 pm
  • 52 minutes 53 seconds
    Pete Yonkman - Walking Billboard for Cook Medical

    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:

     

    Special thanks to Pete Yonkman for sharing his story with us

     

    Contributors:

    If you enjoyed this episode, stick around:

    Thanks for listening and as always, Shine on!

     

    Want insurance without the headache? We’re here for you.

     

    More great stories & information at:

     

    Youtube - Blog - Podcast

     

    Facebook - Twitter

     

    23 January 2019, 12:30 pm
  • 53 minutes 38 seconds
    Matt Ellenwood - How to Turn Problems into Opportunities

    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.

     

    Mentions:

    Special thanks to Matt Ellenwood for sharing his story with us

    Contributors:

     

    If you enjoyed this episode, stick around:

     

    Thanks for listening and as always, Shine on!

    Want insurance without the headache? We’re here for you.

    More great stories & information at:

    Youtube - Blog - Podcast Facebook - Twitter

     

    16 January 2019, 12:30 pm
  • 51 minutes 33 seconds
    Margaret Fette – How to build a business based on sewing

    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 story with us

     

    Contributors to this episode include:

    If you enjoyed this podcast, there’s a couple of things we need you to do right now: 

    Then, please share the show with whoever you think it will inspire.

    Until the next time, We truly appreciate you listening.

    Need Shine?

    More great stories & information at:

    Youtube - Blog - Podcast Facebook - Twitter

     

    8 January 2019, 9:30 am
  • 42 minutes 45 seconds
    Crossroads: Ownership Conversations with Chris Chasteen of Content Cucumber and Silicone Depot

    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 achieve them (26:00)
    • Dave’s tip #2: Prepping for the ownership conversation (32:00)
    • Dave’s tip #3: Create a laundry list of loose ends, if the conversation goes well (35:30)

    Mentioned in the episode:

     

    Special thanks to Chris Chasteen for taking the time to share his crossroads with us

     

    Contributors to this episode include:

    If you enjoyed this podcast, there’s a couple of things we need you to do right now: 

    Then, please share the show with whoever you think it will inspire.

    Until the next time, We truly appreciate you listening.

    Need Shine?

    More great stories & information at:

    Youtube - Blog - Podcast Facebook - Twitter

     

    1 January 2019, 9:30 am
  • 25 minutes 2 seconds
    Reflections & Projections with Jeremy

    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.  

     

    26 December 2018, 3:33 pm
  • 52 minutes 37 seconds
    Jay Baer – How to explode your word of mouth marketing with Talk Triggers

    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 a book called Youtility by Jay Baer.  This book laid out a basic premise: First you define your ideal client.  Then you figure out ways to do good things for them.  Things that are useful and helpful in their lives.  Those things do not have to be connected with the product you sell at all.  They simply have to help the people you envision being able to help someday.

    That book solved a conflict inside myself.  I loved helping people and, as a teacher, helping kids grow was my primary purpose. I knew that leaving teaching and starting a business was the right choice but the whole insurance thing was kind of a struggle, was I really going to meaningfully help people?  Jay gave me permission to add another layer and simply think of how I could help period.

    This podcast is actually a result of Jay’s book.  It is an attempt to help entrepreneurs big and small.  To offer one conversation a week where you hear another business owner like yourself tell their story and connect with a greater community of business owners in a meaningful way.

    So it is with great honor that I present this weeks guest.  Jay Baer is the founder of the internationally renowned marketing firm Convince and Convert, a Hall of Fame keynote speaker, and the author of six books including Youtility, Hug Your Haters, and his most recent booming success Talk Triggers.  This is a conversation you’ll want a pen and paper for.  Jay lays our smart, basic concepts about word of mouth marketing, how to create a Talk Trigger, why he loves research, and what the future of social media holds.  We’re glad you joined us.

    Topics discussed include:

    • Storytelling in Marketing (6:30)
    • Saying “No” and knowing your competition (17:20)
    • Talk Triggers - Word of Mouth (22:00)
    • Trends in Social Media (33:45)
    • Are we focusing too much on Social Media? (44:15)
    • Getting reviews (48:00)

    Mentioned in the episode:

    Special thanks to Jay Baer for taking the time to share his story with us

    Contributors to this episode include:

    If you enjoyed this podcast, there’s a couple of things we need you to do right now: 

    Then, please share the show with whoever you think it will inspire.

    Until the next time, We truly appreciate you listening.

     

    Need Shine?

    More great stories & information at:

    Youtube - Blog - Podcast Facebook - Twitter

     

    27 November 2018, 9:30 am
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