Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Entrepreneurs, Small Business, and Start up

May14

“I love getting into industries that have not seen change in some time and figure out ways to better them.”

Avi Shenkar

BLO/OUT Blow Dry Bar

Founder & CEO

http://www.BloOut.com

The Philadelphia area’s first and best Blow Dry Bar as designated by Philadelphia Style Magazine in July of 2012.

BLO/OUT Blow Dry Bar has taken the Philadelphia area’s media by storm with a 2 page spread in Philadelphia Style Magazine as well as coverage by Philadelphia Weekly, CNN, The Philadelphia Inquirer many more.

Rapid social media growth and word of mouth that spread like wildfire have allowed BLO/OUT to expand to 2 locations in just 8 months with 4 more in the works including a partnership with PREIT bringing BLO/OUT to local area malls as well as Caesars Pier Shops in Atlantic City.

MO: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to launch BLO/OUT Blow Dry Bar?

May6

They said it couldn’t be done, I said, “Oh yeah? Let me show you what I can do.”

Nick-Anthony Zamucen

President & CEO

Bio-One Inc.

http://www.BioOneInc.com

“Nick-Anthony Zamucen” the President & CEO of Bio-One Inc. The first and only successful franchised crime scene cleaning company. Nick-Anthony has done for the “crime & trauma scene cleaning industry” what Mark Zuckerberg has done for social media. He is also a published author, business strategist, and an award winning serial entrepreneur that has had tremendous success in various business ventures. He has recently been named to the list of “Top 40 Under 40 CEO’s” and has lead the Bio-One franchise organization to three national franchise awards in the last year.

Bio-One Inc. is the first and only successful crime and trauma scene clean-up franchise. Our franchises are in 10 different states and we are by far, the leader in bio-recovery worldwide. Bio-One’s marketing campaigns are industry specific, innovative and have proven successful year after year.

MO: How did you come up with the concept for Bio-One?

Apr15

“Our goal is to help give small businesses every advantage possible to compete with large corporations.”

Jack Bergman

Allied Business Network

President

http://www.ABNSave.com/

Jack J. Bergman is the President of Allied Business Network, a business membership program that offers small- and medium-sized businesses discounts on items that they use every day. Jack is a business thought leader and brings businesses together with abnsave.com, smartbizsavings.com, and businessadvantageplus.com. He welcomes anyone to reach out to him on Twitter or Google+.

Feb28

“We continually review our internal processes and procedures to take advantage of operating efficiencies that become apparent. I believe this has resulted in a better work environment at Garfield and, as a result, a better customer experience.”

Chris Chipman, CPA

Garfield Refining

Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer

http://www.GarfieldRefining.com

Prior to joining the Company, Chris Chipman was Chief Financial Officer & Secretary for Capital Gold Corporation, from March 1, 2006 through the company’s eventual 2011 sale to Aurico Gold for $420 million. Chris received a B.A. in Economics from Ursinus College in 1994 and is a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Chipman is a CPA and a member of the American and Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Garfield Refining, located in Philadelphia, PA, has been one of the country’s leading refiners for precious metal scrap for over 120 years. With its award-winning customer service, the Company buys gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, and sells gold and silver bullion. Garfield offers the quickest turnaround in the industry, usually sending payment within 24 hours of receiving a shipment of gold, silver, dental scrap or other precious metal material.

MO: Can you talk about the challenges of keeping a 120 year old company relevant and moving forward while still holding onto its roots and history?

Dec14

“We look for leaders who are looking to forge a new path and not just follow where everyone else has been before.”

Chris Paliani

Kinext

Founding Partner

http://Kinext.com/

Chris Paliani is a founding partner of Kinext, where he helps visionaries soar to new heights within their businesses. Chris has always been a problem solver, and had a true passion for solving even the most complicated and difficult problems. He comes from an engineering background and received a Ph.D. in engineering from Penn State University. From there he went on to found 7 different businesses. Through this, he learned that he had a knack for finding solutions to a client’s most difficult problems and helping them approach their future problems along the way. Thus, Kinext was born!

Sep6

“My advice, if you want a growth business, is to concentrate on optimization and surround yourself with high-energy, analytical people who share your desire to get big quickly.”

Dan Roitman

Stroll

Founder and CEO

http://www.Stroll.com

Daniel M. Roitman, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Stroll, is responsible for the broad corporate vision, the Company’s intense commitment to analytics and optimization, and overall execution. Dan founded Stroll in 2000 while a senior in college and has led the firm from startup to its present status as of one of the leading internet retailers of educational products.

Stroll is a next generation education e-commerce platform company that deploys sophisticated marketing analytics and advanced e-commerce techniques to drive triple-digit growth for the products it owns or licenses. Their flagship product, the Pimsleur Approach, is one of the leading audio-based language learning systems, second in the market to Rosetta Stone. What started as a dorm room business at the University of Maryland in 2000 has become a successful e-commerce enterprise that has grown at an annual compound rate of 73% since 2002 and grew revenue over 100% just last year By 2020, Stroll aims to exceed $1 billion in revenue through organic and inorganic growth.

MO: Can you talk about your journey from opening a start up from your dorm room at the University of Maryland to becoming one of the leading internet retailers of lifestyle information products? What really worked from the beginning and what mistakes did you make along the way?

Aug20

“Leap, and the net will appear.” – John Burroughs

Chike Uzoka

Valentine Global

Founder & CEO

http://www.ChikeUzoka.com

Chike Uzoka is the Founder & CEO of Valentine Global – a consulting firm that specializes in Entrepreneurship workshops, games, and curricula for kids, teens, and adults. He has clients that are schools, non-profits, camps, and companies in NJ, NY, PA, California, and Atlanta, GA. He is also Co-founder of Real People Motors – a worldwide community of car and automotive enthusiasts.

His first book, ‘The Young Man’s Guide to Entrepreneurship: 16 Things You Need to Know’ can be found on Amazon.

MO: What inspired you to launch Valentine Global?

Aug17

What simple tip can instantly free-up your time & energy?

Erin Owen

Your Performance Breakthrough

Performance Breakthrough Coach

http://www.YourPerformanceBreakthrough.com

YOU = ENGINE OF YOUR BUSINESS

First, when you own your own business, YOU are the heart of your business.

If you expect to generate better results (more creative, faster, more profitable, etc), that means you need to invest more in your personal well-being than any other part of your business.

Jul20

“We are passionate, ambitious and determined to take on life, the world, and our business one endeavor at a time.”

Alexis Morgan

The Dream Agency

CEO & Founder

http://www.dreampragency.com

Alexis Morgan is the founder of The Dream Agency and is known as both “the press” and the “spin doctor.” She is a branding expert and communication and media powerhouse. Alexis routinely creates comprehensive media campaigns helping her clients propel their business. She dubs herself as the ‘perfect pitcher’; she’s gotten her clients into local, national and international media outlets.

The Dream Agency is redefining public relations. They are a boutique public relations firm comprised of the top young PR professionals in the business today. The Dream Agency specializes in public relations as well as a variety of other services catering to their diverse clientele.

MO: How have you managed to start your company with a capital investment of $500 and then grow by 800%, 12 employees and 17 clients over the course of 4 months?

Jul2

Finally, Search Engine Optimization Secrets Revealed

Mike Lieberman

Square 2 Marketing

Co-founder and President

http://www.square2marketing.com

written by MO.com Subject Matter Resource Mike Lieberman

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the trickiest marketing tactics around. One reason is Google, Yahoo! and Bing’s insistence on keeping their search algorthyms a secret. The other is they constantly change those same algorthyms. So you understand, those changes are for the users benefit and so we applaud their desire to continuously improve the experience, but those changes make it increasingly challenging for marketers to use search to get more leads for our businesses.

May17

“…join their pledge and make a donation for every pound the pledge hero loses or for every win by the St. Louis Cardinals.”

Leonard Fishman

Pledge4Good

Co-Founder

https://pledge4good.com/

As a Wharton MBA, Leonard Fishman cultivated his passion for entrepreneurship and social impact, finding an opportunity to fuse the two after joining up with, Vikram Bellapravalu, to launch pledge4good. Previously, Lenny worked at Lehman Brothers / Nomura as an investment banker, during which time he launched a mentorship program for one nonprofit, helped raise thousands of dollars in nonprofit donations, and remained active in several nonprofits.

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Spotlight: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Spotlight Interview: Gordon Logan

Spotlight Interview: David Allen

Spotlight Interview: Chris Babel

They said it couldn’t be done, I said, “Oh yeah? Let me show you what I can do.”

“Our goal is to help give small businesses every advantage possible to compete with large corporations.”

“We continually review our internal processes and procedures to take advantage of operating efficiencies that become apparent. I believe this has resulted in a better work environment at Garfield and, as a result, a better customer experience.”

“We look for leaders who are looking to forge a new path and not just follow where everyone else has been before.”

“My advice, if you want a growth business, is to concentrate on optimization and surround yourself with high-energy, analytical people who share your desire to get big quickly.”

“Leap, and the net will appear.” – John Burroughs

What simple tip can instantly free-up your time & energy?

Finally, Search Engine Optimization Secrets Revealed

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