Grace Bruins engages with Chad Schultz, the owner of Innovative Signs in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Unveiling the multifaceted world of signage, Chad elaborates on how signs act as a silent salesman and the diverse services offered by Innovative Signs.

From large format digital printing to outdoor electrical signs and managing installations, Chad shares his journey from finance graduate to successful entrepreneur. This episode provides practical insights into navigating business challenges with resilience and strategies for fostering a collaborative work culture that's built to last.

Listen in to discover how Chad’s leadership and innovative approach drive not just the success of his signage business, but also empower his team to see the big picture—one sign at a time.

Episode Highlights:

07:04 - What's nice about our product with the printing side is that we can be a an annual sponsor and donate all the signage. So, as an example, Commercial Association of Realtors is an association we're a part of and we look at the entire year for what they have coming up for programs. And we'll donate at their events they need like a registration sign, a banner behind the podium, a podium sign, or if it's a golf outing, the golf outing signs that–this whole sponsored by, this tee box sponsored by–so we'll donate all that and we'll become a gold level sponsor. And then for that, we go to all the events and we meet people as a sponsor. And that's been how we've done it for a long time.

16:19 - I'm also looking for ways to make my business more valuable, and that is, in essence, eliminating me. So that's where I hired a business development person to eliminate that side of things. So I was getting to the point where if I had someone doing business development, then I'm just running the company. If I ever wanted to sell it, then it's more valuable because the business isn't just me. The business operates on its own. It's sufficient or efficient.

24:09 - One of our values is integrity, and it's live above the line. So you can live below the line and blame somebody else or hide it, but that's not going to help us long term. Something that drives me crazy is when somebody does something but doesn't tell anybody what the next step is.

Connect with Grace Bruins

LinkedIn

Connect with Chad Schultz

LinkedIn

Website