Featured Guests
Owning a Franchise
Have you ever wondered about the world of owning a franchise? This was the show for you. In fact, it will be the show for you next week too, because we had such a good time, we asked everyone to come back to finish the conversation.
We first had Ruth Garcia, a franchise consultant with RG2 Consulting. She helps people looking to buy a franchise discover the perfect franchise for them. She brought in a client and a Master franchiser in to talk with us about their businesses.
We spoke with Curtis Crays who owns a local franchise of Archadeck, a builder of decks, sunrooms, and outdoor spaces. He shared with us about his transition from corporate life to now wearing all the hats.
Then we spoke with Christie Spencer, a Master Franchisee of Always Best Care. This was a unique look at what kind of service a franchise could have…but not all get this kind of support. We surprised Christie a little, by calling one of her franchises that she works with to get an idea of what kind of help she really gives.
Last, we spoke with David Lundstrom, who owns a three local franchises of the UPS Store. It was good to get a seasoned franchisees perspective.
We’ve learned a little bit about them all, next week, we are going to have them all back to dig a little deeper. It should get interesting! Join us Saturday at 8 am on AM 560, KLZ radio.
Down on the farm!
This Saturday, listen in as I talk with John Paul Maxfield who owns Waste Farmers and Brian Freeman who owns Growers Organic. No we aren’t going down on the farm, but it is going to be a great show because these unique niche businesses are a great example of the founders following their passion, and building successful companies.
Do you play to win?
A friend of mine challenged me with an idea last week, and I can’t get it out of my head. He asked me if I was “playing to win”, or “playing to not lose.” At the time, I was a little caught off guard. It didn’t settle with me very well. I thought, of course I was playing to win; playing to not lose was so ridiculous. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wasn’t that I was playing to not loose as much as I was just showing up to play.
I started to play soccer this year. It has been a really great outlet for me. So much, that I have now joined three teams.
I think if there was one team that practiced a few days a week, it would be enough, but this is the over 30 league. We just play games. At first, I was amazing. I hadn’t played in about 16 years, but I was the top scorer out of our first three games. I was an animal. I would attack and I would win the ball, or take out the guy trying. Needless to say, this got me a very quick reputation, as well as a lot of penalties. I was quicker than most, and I was in better shape. Up and down the field I would run. Then I realized that this was just a game. We are suppose to be having a fun time, and I was coming home injured almost every night. It was time to calm down.
So now, I’ve played about three, 8 week sessions. I am much more mellow. Two weeks ago, some of the guys asked me what happened to the Nick we use to see. I shrugged it off and said I needed to mellow out and not get so worked up. I started to just show up.
Tonight, I sit with two skinned knees, a bruised forearm, and a twisted ankle. I didn’t get put in the penalty box (that was last Monday), but I did score, and had some fantastically aggressive plays. I was playing to win tonight, and it was so much fun. I am not a big finesse player like a lot of the guys, but with attitude and desire to push the envelope, I can compete with these guys that have been playing most of their life.
It is the same in running our
businesses. Do you play to win, or do you play to just show up? There is a group of mostly business owners that I see fairly regularly, and sadly, most of them just show up. They don’t put on their A-Game when they leave the house. They don’t call people back in a timely manner. They don’t speak as professionally as they could…they just show up.
You might hear “No” a few times. But what happens in those situations when you keep pressing and have the determination and grit to attack? You win more times than you loose. Why? Because everyone gets excited when they spend time with people on their A-Game. It is contagious. They want to hang around you. They want to do business with you.
So go ahead…push the limits. Get aggressive. No blood, no foul. It is time to score, and it is time to win.
From the pages Entrepreneur…
This week we are shaking things up a bit. I have contacted three business owners that have all been in Entrepreneur Magazine to tell us their stories. We’re gonna hear from a surf shop in OHIO, a cookie company that runs an on-line bake sale (yep, just like back in your school days), and an inventor that has created the COOOOLLLest bottle opener. They are all small business owners…just like you…that took an idea and did something about it.
Then, we’re also going to hear how they got into the magazines, and what effect has it had on their businesses. Cool, huh? This promises to be a great show, so don’t miss it. Saturday, 8 am on AM 560 KLZ.
Get your coffee ready!
From Cookies to Cook books.
Saturdays show was filled with visions of baking moms cookies to writing that book we all have in the back of our head. Once again, I was joined by my friend John Erbert, from Erbert lawns as my guest host. John always provides a great perspective and insight on our show.
We were joined by Gary Gilliard of the Trudy Fruity Cookie Co. who, after being laid-off of his corporate job in marketing, decided to bake, and sell, his moms secret recipe for fruit cake cookies. These aren’t your ordinary cookies. Gary shared a story of how a family in Florida had received his cookies by mistake and ended up ordering more. Gary is just starting his journey into full-time entrepreneurship, but you better keep your eyes on him, cause I think Trudy Fruity just may become a household name.
My second guest was Brent Sampson from Outskirts Press. Outskirts Press helps authors to self publish their book, by providing printing, editing,
distribution, and marketing assistance. We learned that authors looking to sell books weren’t the only ones that should consider self-publishing. Any business owner looking to market their business could consider writing a book. Due to technology, it is far more feasible, and affordable to publish.
To listen to this show, and all our past shows please go to the Radio tab, or click here.
From Automotive parts to Cleaning Toilets
This week, we had Mike Belasco in the studio again as my guest host. It is always good to get his perspective. Mike owns seOverflow, a search engine optimization company that helps a lot of businesses, but also helps a lot of website and marketing companies really do it right.
We were joined by our Spotlight business owner John Kitts of Denver Concierge. They have an amazing reputation as a high end, green, residential cleaning company. While John did not start the business, but shared with us the experience of purchasing the company from its original owners, and taught us that there are many ways to get into business ownership.
Listen to the show, and hear about why systems are important, and why sometimes your really should say “NO” to your customers or prospects.
Small Business Heros are in Denver
If you own a small business, you have to come out and see what Deluxe is doing for you. They have put a free event together, and they are driving all around Denver so you can access this great stuff. 
A lot of great speakers…like myself…will be sharing ideas on marketing, social media, and other hot topics. Speakers to include: Mike Belasco of seOverflow (who joined us on the show last week), Mary Bowling of GetListed.org, Nathan Eide from Deluxe, Nick May of seeds llc and The Cultivating Small Business show here in Denver, and Jerry Ross of The Disney Entrepreneur Center to name a few.
There will also be panels through out the week to listen and participate in. Check out the Small Business Heros site for more information.
High Tech meets low Tech.
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Today was a great show, in fact we had a hard time fitting it all in. First, I was joined by my good friend Mike Belasco as my guest host. He owns a company called seOverflow, a Search Engine Optimization company that works nation wide and has recently been named to the Denver Busin
ess Journals list of fastest growing companies in Colorado.
Our quote of the day is from Gert Boyle from Columbia Sportswear Company:
Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise.
Our first Spotlight Business was Brad Wolfe who owns an organic fertilization company based in Boulder and Ft. Collins called Organo-lawn. Brad has a great focus on just working with fertilization and weed cont role for lawns and tree, but does not do any maintenance. He told us,
“ I’m trying to do one thing well, instead of 10 things poorly.”
Brad shared with us a little about how he started his business while still in college and wanted to have a job that would allow him enough time to enjoy skiing in the winter. Starting with aeration, customers eventually asked him to add more services. Brad shared with us how they decided to open their second branch and their current plans to expand into franchising his business.
Our second Spotlight Business owner was Tom Smith of TechEn who helps companies harness the resources of cloud computing and in particular Google apps. There is a lot more than just gMail and Google Calendar. These apps can save companies thousands of dollars because now they won’t need to buy software for each computer terminal, AND mobile users can access all company information on the fly.
As we talked, Mike suggested that we look into how Brad could use Google apps to transform his business. Tom opened his eyes to some amazing possibilities. We may have helped him transform his office systems.
Contact Mike Belasco at www.seOverflow.com or 303-905-1504
Brad Wolfe at www.organo-lawn.com or 303-499-2000
Tom Smith at www.gafyd.net or 303-932-8146
Upcoming events:
Get Listed University on October 21st. Local University is an informative four-hour crash course in the basics of internet marketing–and especially Local Search. It’s largely a beginners’ event that is definitely intended for business owners. Attendees learn Search Engine Optimization tips and techniques that will lead to sustained, long-term search engine rankings–and, hopefully, new customers. Use the discount code “seeds” for discounted tickets.
Meet the Fastest Growing Painting Contractor in THE COUNTRY!
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It is really fun that I get to talk to all these successful business owners and hear about what they are doing. This week, I was able to talk to a guy who has not only been listed on the Denver Business Journal’s fastest growing companies in Colorado, but has also been on the Inc 500 fastest growing businesses in the country.
Meet Jeremiah Owens who started Vivax Pro Paintng about seven years ago. He came into painting with a 
construction background, but has built a great system to grow a business that is impressive by any standards.
You will want to hear the conversation as we talked about marketing, systems, and staying focused. Jeremiah is a true entrepreneur, and if you love a good success story, you won’t want to miss this show.
Can you still make money in Contracting in this Economy?
A lot of contractors are really hurting right now. This week, hear how one contractor has found a nich and really exploded an industry. He’s been named in the Denver Business Journal and the Inc 500 list as one of the fastest growing companies in Colorado and the country. Join us Saturday at 8 am on AM 560.
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