The AC Method

Can your custom manufacturing facility successfully scale across four decades, survive massive national recessions, and land elite professional sports teams without ever hiring a single salesperson? In this episode of The AC Method, Aaron Clippinger sits down with Jim Lutz, founder and president of Arena Graphics, to break down the operational parameters of extreme business longevity. Jim shares h...

If your custom manufacturing business or signage shop is still spending valuable shop hours milling, setting up, and hand-placing substrates into strict physical jigs, you are flushing profit straight down your facility's floor drains. In this episode of The AC Method, Aaron Clippinger sits down with Jason, the CEO of Auto Tran, to tear down outdated methods holding custom shops back. Jason re...

If your custom manufacturing shop or signage studio is trying to build everything for everyone, you don't actually have an elite operation. You are trapped in the "Cheesecake Factory Trap"—offering an over-inflated menu of capabilities that guarantees internal chaos and kills your bottom line. In this episode of The AC Method, Aaron Clippinger sits down with Anthony Clayton, founder...

Are you truly a business owner, or have you just constructed a hyper-stressful, 14-hour-a-day job for yourself? In this episode of The AC Method, Aaron Clippinger sits down with Steve Lowe, President of Valley Signs, to unpack the psychological and operational shifts required to step out of daily production crises and step into true executive leadership. Steve transparently shares his journey from...

If you are running your business from a kitchen table while completely relying on subcontractors to deliver your physical client assets, your scaling potential is non-existent. Your custom brand reputation is entirely exposed to the broken timelines and empty promises of third-party vendors. In this episode, Aaron sits down with Shaun Ensign, CEO and co-founder of Legacy Sign Group, to analyze the...

You can own the fastest machinery and design the most visually stunning assets in your region—but if your brand rollout cannot survive the final mile of execution, you do not have a scalable business. You have a logistical disaster waiting to happen. In this episode, Aaron sits down with Chad Haar, CEO and owner of Lakota Sky, to pull back the curtain on managing national rollouts for dominant ret...

In this episode, Aaron breaks down the #1 mistake killing sign shop profits — underbidding your own work. From the employee mindset that keeps you pricing too low to the fear of losing deals that actually should walk away, Aaron shares the hard lessons every business owner needs to hear. 🔥 Topics Covered: Why trading time for money destroys your growth The four mindset traps keeping your prices l...

Do you actually know how many tools are in your installers' trucks? Aaron Clippinger recently discovered 14 Hilti drills in his shop—for only 6 installers. In this episode, he dives into the massive "blind spot" of equipment mismanagement and the cultural issue of employees hiding broken tools. Aaron reveals the new SquareCoil "Resources" feature: a Home Depot-style tracking system that monitors m...

In this episode, Aaron sits down with Rick Goyette, owner of All Mark Signs and Graphics, to discuss the "total teardown" of a legacy family business. Rick shares how he applied 30 years of corporate operations experience to move All Mark from a safety signage focus to a high-end custom project management powerhouse. They dive deep into the modern realities of the sign world: why answeri...

Are you the most valuable person in your company, or its biggest obstacle? In this episode, Aaron Clippinger explains why being "busy" is the biggest lie entrepreneurs tell themselves. He reveals the exact framework he uses to "fire himself" every year to ensure he isn't the cog stopping his company's gears. Learn the "Keep, Coach, Kill, Replace" audit and how...

Fresh off the massive success at the ISA Expo, Aaron is pulling back the curtain on the most requested feature of the new SquareCoil platform: Precision Cost Accounting. In this episode, we move past the "cool AI tricks" and get into the brutal reality of shop floor labor, scope cards, and the human factor. Aaron discusses why your team—no matter how technical—has no excuse for not track...

In this episode, Aaron is on the "five-yard line" of the biggest launch in his company's history. Reflecting just days before the ISA Expo in Orlando, he reveals the brutal psychological reality of the long-term entrepreneur: the temptation to quit right before the finish line. Aaron breaks down why a "clean slate" approach is often superior to decades of evolution, how to shift your perspective t...

Is your sign shop acting as an authority, or just another vendor? In this episode, Aaron sits down with Mike Davis of Hilltop Signs and Graphics to discuss the "Cheesecake Factory" trap of offering too many products and how a 3-day deep dive changed the trajectory of his business. They dive into the "Liquid Gold" of customer data, the necessity of wholesaler relationships, and the brutal reality o...

In this episode, Aaron challenges the traditional way we look at leadership and potential. Returning from a grueling trip through Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Houston, Aaron reflects on a powerful lesson from the Iron Oak Society: we often fail as leaders because we try to see our own potential in other people's shoes. He breaks down how to stop "telling" and start "sharing," why true CEOs must cat...

In this episode, Aaron is on the "five-yard line." After a year and a half of intensive development, he shares the raw journey of rebuilding the SquareCoil platform from the ground up. This isn't just a software update—it's a masterclass in recognizing when your current "engine" can no longer support your vision and having the discipline to start fresh. Aaron also dives into his recent experience...

What do you do with a bucket truck after Christmas light season is over? If you're Trevor, you start installing signs; and eventually build two separate companies from that single piece of equipment. In this episode, Aaron sits down with Trevor Lavy, a former utility lineman who stumbled into the sign industry through a power washing trailer, some vinyl graphics, and a whole lot of entrepreneurial...

What does it take to keep a family business alive for 65 years across three generations? And what are the odds of making it to a fourth? In this deeply personal conversation, Aaron sits down with Casey, a third-generation owner whose grandfather started as a rubber stamp company in 1950s Indiana. His premise? "Order by 10am, pick it up the same day." From there, three generations navigated technol...

What does it take to successfully acquire and lead a 50-person, employee-owned sign company that defied the odds for 20 years? Aaron sits down with Wade Halma from Valley City Sign, a mechanical engineer who entered the signage world via finance. They dive into the counterintuitive pitfalls of buying "too perfect" equipment, why building an in-house engineering team is a game-changer, and how to i...

Is your sales team bogged down in paperwork while costly mistakes slip through in the shop? It's time to rethink project management. Aaron breaks down the exact system he's used for over a decade to streamline operations, slash warranty costs, and free up his sales team to sell. He reveals the one simple check that prevents chaos, why you don't need to hire an expensive "seasoned" PM, and the comm...

What does an international writer and filmmaker know about running a sign shop? More than you might think. Meet Peppur, co-owner of Collaborative Sign and Design, who made the leap from the world of storytelling to the signage industry. She shares with us her deep insights on how the core skill of communication connects Signage and Storytelling, the brutal and hilarious realities of a shop's first...

Tired of your skilled team getting bogged down in repetitive CAD work? In this episode, Aaron sits down with Adam from AP Consulting , an automation expert who has visited hundreds of sign shops worldwide. They dive into the real-world strategy of using software to automate design tasks for products like channel letters and cabinets. Not to replace your people, but to make them more valuable and f...

In this raw and unscripted episode, Aaron shares a powerful conversation that completely shifted his perspective on business ownership. After a call from an old mentor, he reveals a revolutionary way to think about firing employees, why you should be happy about tough decisions, and how to audit where you're investing your most valuable asset: your energy. This is a deep dive into the mindset requ...

Year-end is more than just a party.. It's the most critical strategic period for a business owner . In this episode, Aaron breaks down the essential checklist to close out your year profitably and set your business up for a dominant 2025. He covers how to use your profits to buy equipment tax-efficiently, the right way to pull money out of your company, and how to forecast for growth without the g...

 Aaron breaks down his experience at Printing United 2025 — one of the biggest and most diverse print expos in the world. From setting up a two-story booth in record time to realizing how much reputation and resilience matter in business, this episode is packed with lessons about preparation, presence, and persistence. He shares how SquareCoil’s first appearance at the show pushed his team to thin...

This week on The AC Method , Aaron sits down with Steve Weist , a true industry veteran who’s spent nearly three decades shaping the print and signage world from the inside out. From learning the ropes in a family business to running large-scale operations across the U.S., Steve shares how his team built trust, maintained excellence, and adapted to the ever-changing world of 3D systems and print i...