WNY Entrepreneur

Dan Vecchio is The Founder & President of Sheridan Benefits which is a full-service, independent insurance agency, founded in 2006 by Dan Vecchio. In this podcast we talk about how and why he started his business and from his experience; why it truly matters for both the business and employees to make sure they have the best options in healthcare. This isn't a sales pitch. This gets the real reaso...

Ryan Stang is a native of Hamburg, NY where he still resides today and owns Stang Insurance Consulting. In this episode we talk about the ERC Program and how so many businesses are not taking advantage of this free tax credit for businesses with Employees that were effected by Covid-10.  Here is the link we refer to in this episode - ERCBuffalo.com COVID-19 has been a challenge for all of us. As t...

Dan is the President of Tresca Design, an engineering firm providing end-to-end engineering service for products, components, and machines, with capabilities spanning the entire product lifecycle. Here we talk about what local businesses miss or misunderstand when it comes to engineering of products and software, what questions they should be asking and what he's learned over the years scaling his...

Robert Grant is a serial entrepreneur, artist, publisher, producer, and musician known as O’Mega Red. He has about 12 years of experience in the payment processing field. Now he runs it through his own company. He has been CEO of Stay Grindin for 15 years+, which is an independent Music Company. He is regularly adapting and always looking to connect people together. Plus, he served our country in...

Want to know more about Crypto? This is the podcast episode for you. We interview Michael Colyer, a local Buffalo Native who is the Founding CEO of The Digital Foundry in Rochester NY! They have over 85 Employees and are purchasing a building in Buffalo to build their next mining operation right in our backyard. This is thee local guy to talk to about Crypto. We talk about it all.  A little b...

Eric Worral is an affiliate marketer on YouTube with a diverse background of digital, traditional, and event marketing experience. He likes to create and gets bored too easily.  Here we talked about:  - What he would do to brand/market any business if he only had $1000 to do so.  - His tips and journey about making a full time income doing youtube. 

Do you really want 2022 to be your best year ever? This podcast episode will help you start that journey. Asking the right questions often lead to the right answers if we are being honest with ourselves. Here we talk about the questions that will spark action in the right areas of your life in 2022.  If you love what you hear and want more, head to WNYEntrepreneur.com

How do we get the most out of social media to reach our target market?  These are common questions most business owners want to know these days. Or they at least want to make sure they are taken care of. In this podcast episode we talk to Stephanie Kennedy about all the ways we should maximizing our social media presence to grow our business. If you don't Stephanie, here is her bio: Stephanie...

At one point, one way or another; A business needs legal help with something. Whether it be drawing up contracts, becoming an LLC, partnership legality's, and the list goes on. But how do we get the best bang for our buck? What questions do we ask? How do we know if we found the right lawyer for the job?  These are all questions we ask local Western New York Attorney, Andrea Tashus. Andrea, l...

This is my most vulnerable podcast I’ve done on the WNY Entrepreneur Podcast. It’s true, probably because I interviewed myself on this episode and shared a bunch of things that have went down over the years. The original goal of this specific podcast episode was to create a way to have a cup of coffee with someone without actually meeting. What do we do when we connect over coffee for the 1sttime?...

This is a must listen, podcast episode If you want.... -To learn how to bootstrap a business from the ground up. -To eventually sell your business. -To learn from someone who has scaled their business insanely quick (13000% over 5 years) - To get better at presenting to Angel Investors and what they are looking for. Jeff Knauss is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. He co-founded a digital m...

Thought about changing careers or businesses? Wonder why employees really quit? Cathy would know since she is paid  to talk to them about changing careers which means they are leaving their job or business. Want to know if a middle aged single woman TRULY can start a business after a bunch of successful careers? Cathy is CEO of Inspire Careers, a full-service career marketing firm based in Bu...

Have you ever wondered how and what it takes to create "E-courses"?  Webinars & Platforms where Entrepreneurs selling courses online has become very popular. "People call Joel Erway “The Webinar Guy” but that’s a tiny slice of his expertise. Joel is a local WNY Native who lives in the Lewiston area.  Joel’s a master at crafting high-converting offers and helping Experts scale their b...

Have You Ever Thought About Writing a Book? If you are like most entrepreneurs, you've thought about telling your story or writing book. Most don't do it. Why? We talk about that and how Gary's journey started from a thought to actually writing 3 books! Gary Friedman has traveled a long road, interacting with people every step of the way. Gary makes contributions to the betterment of the world eve...

Amanda and Deleon Alford, are working hard to build "The Alford Empire." Starting at such a young age, they now own and operate two businesses, "Alford's Angels" and "Nickel City Pet Pantry." Both with differences in experiences and expertise, they formed the perfect business relationship for growth, while raising their 3 children (8years, 5years, 3months). This is inspired by their passion for bu...

Does how we brand our business... really matter? Absolutely, but how and where do we do this? In this podcast episode, we interview a branding expert, Brandon Wilson. Mixing a background in Fine Arts and Web Design, Brandon Wilson is a designer who stands out from his counterparts. Using the fundamentals of what makes a good design and merging them with the modern practice of UX Design, his work h...

Greg has started or been a partner in an almost laundry list of companies here in WNY. In 2013 Greg started his entrepreneurship route with the first real estate company he was a partner of.  *In 2014 with another partnership Greg formed Redline rentals of buffalo and exotic car rental company.  *In 2016 he started his own accounting firm to look after the main companies. ...

Dan Fuglewicz, a two-time UB grad, is an Embedded Systems Engineer, who's lived and worked in WNY his whole life. He has worked on many types of embedded systems, such as: real-time compressor controls, laboratory-grade sensor and data acquisition systems, fingerprint readers & identification systems, spacecraft actuators, telematics, and has done R&D for the FBI, FMCSA, and NHTSA, as well as for...

Lena Levine is a leader in the web design industry with more than 10 years of experience. Lena has worked with Fortune 500 and Inc. 500 companies on both national and local levels. At Forcoda, Lena helps startups validate product/market fit, start selling sooner and raise funding in 9 months or less without investing in expensive software development. Lena is also closely involved with Buffalo’s w...

Louis Mulone, owner of Two Wine & Liquor stores in Buffalo NY. He never thought he would ever move to NY, let alone Buffalo NY but fate brought him here because of a job. As told in the podcast, he ended up making a whole new reason to stay here and opened up 2 different businesses that he never owned and or operated before. Check out why Louis believes WNY is so special and how he made it wor...

What makes some of the best companies in the world, the best? They know how to create a raving fan base and take care of their current customers/clients. While most worry about gaining more, the best figure out how to treat their current ones like gold to create raving fans. In this episode we talk about how and why we are doing the same thing with The WNY Entrepreneur and how you can do the same...

Stewart Fonville is mission driven entrepreneur focused on making a difference and leaving a legacy. In his early twenties he took a bet on himself and started a mobile auto detailing business that allowed him to leave his job in corporate America and begin his journey into entrepreneurship. As a speaker he has been tasked with motivating and inspiring  college students, young adults and...

Rory Allen is a bootstrapping entrepreneur best known for Zoomcopy.com ( a graphic design and print shop) and ZoomBuffalo.com (an online print ordering tool) . In 2003, Rory started Zoomcopy.com with $3,000 in personal savings and a $5000 loan from his parents.  Zoom was started just offering document scanning, traditional print services like mailings, corporate stationery and stickers. &nbsp...

Mark Utech is the President of Utech Basement Waterproofing a second generation service contractor operating in Western New York. Mark has been working in basements for over 40 years, beginning his career by spending Saturdays and summer vacations working in the family business since the age of 14. Mark joined the organization full time in 1989, became partner in 1996 and 100% owner in 2008. Devel...

Eric Bond is the founder of Competitors Mentality, LLC where he is a coach to Entrepreneurs and Athletes. Drawing from his experience as an NCAA student-athlete and 10+ years in leadership in corporate America, Eric created a transformational coaching program to help his clients own big moments in their lives. He is the host of The Competitors Mentality Podcast and has spoken multiple times at nat...