Jen Reiner is a business development strategist that has spent the last 20+ years in marketing, service design, and program management.  She currently owns her own business management consulting firm, Align, that enables organizations to adapt and grow by enhancing customer experiences, launching new services, creating strategic plans, and innovating business models. In this episode, Sam and Jen discuss what holds businesses back from innovation, the value of diversity of thought, and letting go of perfection and accepting ambiguity in your career and in life. Jen knows how to ask the right questions and provides valuable insight into how you can too.Time StampsIntro [0:17-1:11]Professional & entrepreneurial background [1:11-8:47]Finding your niche [8:47-11:50]Transitioning into starting your own business [11:50-15:12]Letting go of perfection & accepting ambiguity [15:12-20:23]The value of diversity of thought [20:23-23:52]Advice to your younger self  [23:52-28:06]Intentionally looking for feedback [28:06-30:21]What holds businesses back from innovation [30:21-34:28]Important questions to ask yourself [34:28-37:11]Conclusion [37:11-37:48]Links www.alignltd.comwww.linkedin.com/in/jennreinerwww.boostpoint.com

In our first episode with two guests, Sam sits down with the founding partners of Infantree, Ryan Martin and Ryan Smoker.  The Infantree is a creative agency focused on the power of brand communication that has done impressive rebranding, marketing, and design work with many local businesses here in Lancaster, PA. Ryan & Ryan discuss their approach to brand building as well as their experiences starting their business and transitioning as it, and they, have grown in the last 11 years.Time StampsIntro [0:17-0:52]Entrepreneurial background [0:52-5:38]Finding experiences before starting a business [5:38-10:42]Infantree’s humble beginnings [10:42-13:22]The dream behind Infantree [13:22-18:45]Growing & business partners [18:45-23:58]Branding is more than a logo [23:58-27:27]From a partnership to a team [27:27-31:19]Intentional company culture [31:19-38:56]Keeping motivation to run your business [38:56-44:37]What Infantree does for their clients [44:37-48:18]“Brand” is a feeling [48:18-51:58]Conclusion [51:58-52:53]Linkswww.Infantree.comwww.Boostpoint.com

In this episode, Ellen Weber provides insight into the mind of an angel investor. Ellen is the Executive Director of Robinhood Ventures, an angel investment group that has been investing in early-stage, high growth startups since 1999.  As a founding member of Robinhood Ventures, she has over twenty years of entrepreneurial experience from starting her own businesses to helping almost 90 companies get started themselves. Sam and Ellen’s conversation highlights how to stand out to angel investors, when to raise capital, and the successful traits and common mistakes of entrepreneurs.Time Stamps:Intro [0:17-1:50]The motivation behind Robinhood Ventures [1:50-5:42]Understanding how angel investors think [5:42-9:55]How to stand out to investors [9:55-12:06]Making monetary assumptions when starting a venture [12:06-17:08]Finding balance between doing it yourself and getting support [17:08-18:59]When to raise capital [18:59-21:36]Mistakes entrepreneurs make [21:36-22:40]Milestones to set when starting a venture [22:40-25:45]Why hiring your first salesperson is difficult [25:45-27:01]Final advice for entrepreneurs from an investor perspective [27:01-27:48]Conclusions [27:48-28:32]Links:www.facebook.com/elleneweberwww.robinhoodventures.comwww.boostpoint.com

In this episode, Sam talks with Vinny Sakore about the value of being courageous as a leader and entrepreneur while laying out the questions you should ask yourself if you’re struggling to find your purpose. Vinny is a business owner with a range of experience as well as a professor at Messiah College. Throughout his career, he has learned the ins and outs of being a leader in business and in his own personal life as a parent, making sure to include his children in the entrepreneurial experience as much as he can.  Time Stamps:Intro [0:17-8:17]Today's CEO is the modern day pastor [8:17-12:28]Preparing to have courage [12:28-18:21]Finding your purpose with your business [18:21-23:51]Being a strong leader [23:51-28:28]Advice for entrepreneur parents [28:28-33:45]Outro [33:45-34:33]Links:www.linkedin.com/in/vinnysakorewww.boostpoint.com

Jon Mercer is the founder of Stacks Co, a member first, coworking community and Startup Bucks, an organization created by and for entrepreneurs to support new and existing startups in Bucks County Pennsylvania.  He had his start in the corporate world working in IT and digital marketing in Australia, but after dealing with his own mental health struggles, the lack of support in his corporate job made him change his entire career and life path.  In this episode, Jon and Sam discuss Jon’s various entrepreneurial projects and how crucial mental health support is to succeed as an entrepreneur.  Jon’s transparent insight into his own struggles is inspiring and optimistic.Time Stamps:  Intro [0:17-1:15]Jon’s entrepreneurial story [1:15-15:11]Leaving the corporate world [15:11-23:09]Advice for feeling stuck in business and mental health struggles [23:09-30:55]Dealing with the ups and downs of entrepreneurship [30:55-36:02]Conclusion [36:02-37:03]Links:National Mental Health Hotline:www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helplinewww.startupbucks.orgwww.stacksco.workwww.boostpoint.com

In this episode, Sam sits down with Jason Hollinger, president & CEO of Four Seasons Produce, Inc. Four Seasons is a family-owned, full-service produce wholesale distributor with over 800 employees, founded by Jason’s father.  Jason and Sam speak on the dynamics of a family business and why personal development is the key to leadership success. Jason also provides insight into his own career path-- from working at Four Seasons part-time as a teenager to becoming the president and CEO of the company.Time Stamps:Intro & background [0:17-8:48]Stepping outside of what you know [8:48-13:26]Advice for taking over a family business [13:26-15:50]Personal development strategies [15:50-22:05]Transitioning into a new leadership role [22:05-24:37]Maintaining & changing company culture as a new leader [24:37-26:36]Learning from leaders but being yourself [26:36-29:30]Promoting leadership within your business [29:30-32:30]What being a CEO means to Jason Hollinger [32:30-34:50]Outro [34:50-35:31]Links:www.fsproduce.comwww.boostpoint.com

Jeremy Hess is the founder and president of The Premise Studio- a studio in Lancaster, PA that focuses on helping you discover your why and using that why to bring clarity to your story through engaging still and motion imagery.  In this episode, Sam and Jeremy have a detailed discussion about the importance of details, solving conflict through your story, and the steps to creating an effective and valuable visual story.  Jeremy also provides insight about building his business out of necessity and the steps he’s taken to build his own story.Time Stamps:Intro & background [00:17-5:53]Finding the need to be an entrepreneur [5:53-14:16]Founding Premise Studios [14:16-19:49]Working with visuals for your brand [19:49-37:53]Where to start [37:53-42:36]Conclusion [42:36-45:56] Links:www.wakeenandcompany.comwww.thepremisestudio.comwww.boostpoint.com

Hiring top-performing talent is arguably the most important component to growing a healthy business. In this episode, Sam underlines why he believes that 80% of recruiting well at scale comes down to two strategies: how you source applicants and your hiring process. Sourcing employees is the problem most companies need to solve first, but once they get the applications they’re after, they often realize their hiring process is not efficient nor effective.  Sam provides solutions to both problems with strategic insights into social media advertising, instant text messaging and getting the best return on your investment.Time Stamps: Introduction and barriers to growth [0:17-3:45]Sourcing for applicants & limitations to online job boards [3:45-7:21]Utilizing social media strategy for recruiting [7:21-15:17]Improving your hiring process & advantage of text messaging [15:17-27:02]Your hiring process compared to your customer acquisition cost [27:02-29:20]Conclusion [29:20-29:43]Links:http://www.boostpoint.com

Larry Kreider is the founder and international director of DOVE International, a global family of churches and ministries on six continents.  Larry has an impressive amount of leadership and spiritual mentoring experience. He’s also an author and has written more than 40 books about ministry and leadership.  In this inspiring episode, Sam and Larry draw on points from Larry’s book, Passing the 21 Tests of Leadership, about what makes a great leader, dealing with criticism, and the importance of maintaining relationships as a leader.Time Stamps:Introduction [00:17-4:29]Traits of Leaders [4:29-7:30]Dealing with differences in leadership [7:30-9:41]Successes & failures of leadership teams [9:41-11:49]What makes a good leader & dealing with criticism [11:49-18:44]Your career doesn’t define your worth [18:44-21:30]How to help others with their leadership [21:30-24:37]Maintaining relationships when things are hard [24:37-28:19]Improving the type of leader you are [28:19-30:13]Conclusion [30:13-31:27]Links:https://store.dcfi.org/product/passing-the-21-tests-of-leadership/https://www.boostpoint.com/

In this episode, Sam sits down with his dad, Aaron Beiler of Equipter, to discuss his humble beginnings as a business-owner, his own entrepreneurial process, and the more recent exponential growth of his company.  Equipter is a manufacturing and distribution company that provides roofing companies and other contractors with the revolutionary time-saving equipment that they need to run more successful businesses.  Aaron also speaks on the importance of building a team and maintaining Equipter’s culture and values as his company grows.Time Stamps:Introduction [00:17-6:03]Conceptualizing the Equipter [6:03-14:40]Making the Equipter a reality [14:40-18:40]Growing Equipter as a company- marketing [18:40-29:56]First years as a new business owner and entrepreneur [29:56-38:00]Exponential growth in 5 years [38:00-44:31]Building a team at Equipter [44:31-49:27]Advice for your vision [49:27-51:42]Conclusion [51:42-52:14]Links:https://www.equipter.com/https://www.boostpoint.com/

Chris Bache is the CEO and co-founder of Hatch, a B2B platform that accelerates revenue for home improvement companies by creating instant two-way conversations.  After realizing that business owners in the home improvement industry were struggling to effectively communicate with their customers, Chris and his co-founder were looking for solutions- what they found redefined customer satisfaction in the industry.  In this episode, Chris gives inspiring and optimistic insight into becoming an entrepreneur and highlights how Hatch provides value to small businesses.Time Stamps:Introduction [00:00-5:52]Inspiration for Hatch and leaving corporate America [5:52-9:05]Entrepreneurial challenges and staying optimistic [9:05-11:56]Providing value to customers  [11:56-14:19]Rewards of launching a business [14:19-15:39]Building a business from the ground up [15:39-18:33]Mission to help small businesses [18:33-21:49]How Hatch impacts home improvement business [21:49-24:46]Expected value for customers [24:46-31:52]Optimal customer journey [31:52-35:43]Conclusion [35:43-37:07]Links:https://www.usehatchapp.com/https://www.boostpoint.com/

Steve Esh is the founder of NCFITT Lancaster. Steve has a background in the roofing industry but found his passion for physical fitness which lead him to start a fitness studio just before COVID-19 hit our nation. Take a listen to hear his entrepreneurial journey and get motivated to do hard things. This episode is also loaded with a ton of advice on how to live a healthy lifestyle while being an active business owner.

Peter Greer is the CEO of Hope International which is an organization that invests in the dreams of families in the world’s underserved communities through micro-loans. Hope International serves over 1 million entrepreneurs in over 16 countries. In this episode, Peter talks about the importance of lead with a mission and how to stay on track with your organization's mission as you grow.

One person can only do so much. But if one person can create a culture where everyone is working together toward the same mission, the opportunities are endless. In our Small Business, Big Growth podcast series, business leader and innovator Steve Lindsey shares five crucial tips for leaders who want to create this culture of motivated employees and endless opportunities.Lindsey currently works as CEO of Garden Spot Village, a retirement community in Lancaster, PA, with 540 employees and 1000 residents. He graduated from Messiah College in 1983 and jumped right into working with adolescents at a residential treatment center while also completing his master’s in social work at Temple University. Lindsey now has more than twenty years of leadership and administrative experience in retirement communities and rehabilitation hospitals. https://www.gardenspotvillage.org/

In this episode, Boostpoint CEO Sam Beiler walks us through his 9 step Facebook ad framework that Boostpoint uses to write killer ad copy.

Arian Radmand is the CEO & President of IgnitePost.com, a handwritten mail & analytics service which uses robots to send real pen & ink notes that are indistinguishable from human handwriting. We enable businesses to send more authentic communication to clients & prospects and provide easy tools to create, send, and track campaigns (as well as integrate directly into end CRM systems). Top Takeaways:Demonstrating personal human touch in your company's brand is the key to overcoming saturation in the digital market The Marketing Rule of 7Handwritten Notes can be a powerful tool in this digital world [01:04] Introduction of Arian Radmand [03:34] Motivation behind starting a business[06:47] The process of starting a business [10:56] Effective Delegation [16:26] Relationships in a digital age [22:56] Handwritten notes [27:19] Ways contractors can strengthen the relationship with your client [30:44] Increase your sales % [32:32] Automating your connecting points[34:38] The ROMI of Handwritten Notes vs. Email[38:09] How to stand out against your competition Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arianradmand/https://www.ignitepost.com/

Adrian Brambila got into internet marketing from being a professional hip hop dancer touring with T-Pain. Adrian started making dance tutorials teaching people how to dance the robot and it eventually grew to the #1 place online to learn the dance style of popping.Since then, Adrian has...   http://adrianbrambila.com/Taught thousands of marketers & entrepreneurs about side hustles 5 YouTube channels totaling over 750,000 subscribers and +3 million monthly viewsCo-owns a performance based marketing firmTop Takeaways: [01:31] Background of Adrian Brambila [4:38] Transitioning from inspiration to application [7:44] Running 3 different businesses [14:26] What can't you sell online [16:45] The Internet is for every business [21:39] Tactics to stay motivated [27:07] Marketing tips for great business owners [32:41] Social Media Channels businesses should be using [38:00] The importance creating a great offer [40:20] The Future of the Internet in 2 years  CONNECT: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianbrambila/http://adrianbrambila.com/

Founder of TaylorChip & ThePerfectDough Founder and Audio Engineer of Wombat Recording Studios Brick & Mortar Expert with 5 years digital marketing experience.Answering questions and teaching business owners how to market themselves & their business effectively even if you are starting from zero and have no connections. Top Takeaways: Sometimes there is a greater consequence of not taking risks, than being risk-averse" You can't outgrow your personal brand "Assuming no one will buy puts you in the position that you need to get out there so people can discover you [01:00] Introduction of Doug Taylor [02:06] The beginning of TaylorChip [05:40] Knowing when to start a business [8:18] Managing Risk [10:40] Faith in a business [13:00] 0-20 employees in two years [17:16] Assume no one is going to buy[21:51] Getting over the fear of putting yourself out there[23:56] Marketing your company well [28:49] An E-commerce cookie [34:17] The process of trial and error [37:40] The vision for TaylorChip Connect: https://www.taylorchip.com/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuiyHL6SHzjzFyHXAJx2RMg

Patrick Campbell is the CEO of ProfitWell, the software for helping subscription companies with their monetization and retention strategies. ProfitWell also provides free turnkey subscription financial metrics for over eight thousand companies. Prior to ProfitWell, Patrick led Strategic Initiatives for Boston based Gemvara and was an Economist at Google and the US Intelligence community. Top Takeaways:Starting a business could be less risky than NOT starting a business at allContent is an appreciating assetThe importance of resource allocation[01:00] Introduction of Patrick Campbell [04:15] Growth in numbers [07:55] Knowing when to start a business [14:38] Evolution of Profitwell[18:38] Becoming an expert[23:30] Building a consistent brand [26:50] Navigating content distribution channels [30:30] CEO's need to buy into content [35:00] Optimism for 2021 Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickccampbell/https://www.profitwell.com/

Heidi J. Ellsworth has worked in the roofing industry since 1993 and has held positions with Malarkey Roofing, Carlisle Construction Materials and EagleView Technologies. She is currently a partner with RoofersCoffeeShop® and owner of HJE Consulting.With a passion for networking and win-win scenarios, she continues to provide consulting and progressive digital advertising opportunities for companies and associations building strong collaborations for business profitability and success.Top Takeaways:Building your brand within your community is all about building the culture within your companyGet involved with your manufacturers and distributors! Join and engage in associations[01:38] Introduction of Heidi Ellsworth [04:10] How to grow a roofing company in today's world [08:16] Creating brand awareness [13:08] Investing in your community [17:28] Short-term goals vs. Long-term goals [22:40] Determining what to invest in your business [27:36] 2020 Trends in the roofing industry [31:58] Technology emphasis for contractors [38:17] Roofers Coffee ShopConnect: https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/https://www.nrca.net/https://rt3thinktank.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/hjellsworth/