Father and son team John and Tyler Richards — veteran entrepreneurs, venture investors, mentors, and educators — discuss all things entrepreneurship and venture capital.
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Father and son team John and Tyler Richards — veteran entrepreneurs, venture investors, mentors, and educators — discuss all things entrepreneurship and venture capital.
Ben Knell: Building a $100M+ Sales Engine, Family & Leadership, FBI, Pest Control, Business
Startup Ignition Podcast
1 hour
1 month ago
Ben Knell: Building a $100M+ Sales Engine, Family & Leadership, FBI, Pest Control, Business
In this episode of the Startup Ignition Podcast, hosts John and Tyler Richards are joined by Ben, the founder and CEO of BK Marketing. Ben shares his incredible entrepreneurial journey, from his early days in door-to-door alarm sales to revolutionizing the pest control industry. He details the creation of his unique business model, which focuses on building elite, outsourced sales teams for pest control companies nationwide. Ben opens up about the significant challenges he's overcome, including a business partner's FBI investigation, losing over a million dollars in bad investments, and the industry pushback he received for offering unprecedentedly high commissions. He also discusses the importance of work-life balance, the power of focusing on your strengths, and his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: "Why not you?"
(00:00:00) Ben's shocking call from the FBI (00:02:23) Introducing Ben, CEO of BK Marketing (00:04:35) Icebreaker: A fun "this or that" session (00:10:05) How Ben got his start in door-to-door sales (00:16:05) Launching his first pest control company with no experience (00:19:30) A partner's $51 million fraud investigation puts everything at risk (00:23:45) The pivot: Creating a new business model for sales (00:25:44) How a life coach helped Ben 10x his productivity (00:29:13) The personal cost of an 80-hour work week and finding balance (00:31:47) The business mechanics of paying higher commissions (00:36:19) How private equity transformed the pest control industry (00:40:21) The biggest scars: Losing $1.4 million and the lesson learned (00:45:04) Ben's two biggest pieces of advice for early-stage founders (00:46:31) Why the Utah pest control industry pushed back against his model (00:48:26) What to look for (and what to avoid) when recruiting salespeople (00:51:21) Favorite podcast and the importance of "the becoming process" (00:54:17) What keeps Ben motivated today (00:56:55) Final advice to his 20-year-old self: "Why not you?"
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Father and son team John and Tyler Richards — veteran entrepreneurs, venture investors, mentors, and educators — discuss all things entrepreneurship and venture capital.
