The Missing Ingredient Behind Every Growing Education Business

The Missing Ingredient Behind Every Growing Education Business

Every teacherpreneur and education founder starts with the same belief. If I create something that genuinely helps students, schools will want it. It sounds reasonable. But education businesses don't grow on value alone. They grow when buyers trust the founder, partners strengthen credibility, and the right people help create momentum around the solution. That's the real conversation in this episode. Originally recorded live at IFE in Monterrey, Mexico in April 2025, Josh Chernikoff [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff], founder of the EdSales Revenue Machine, sits down with Beatriz Guillen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/beatriz-guillen], Executive Director of The Resource Foundation. While the conversation explores philanthropy and education across Latin America, the lessons reach far beyond one region. Together, they explore a question every education founder eventually faces: What helps great education businesses become businesses that actually grow? The answer isn't another feature. It isn't better marketing. It's learning to think beyond the solution itself. From partnerships and buyer confidence to credibility and long-term ecosystem building, this conversation challenges founders to stop asking, "How do I sell this?" and start asking, "What needs to exist before buyers are ready to say yes?” Why This Matters Whether you're preparing to launch or already selling into schools, education buyers rarely make decisions on value alone. They look for evidence. They look for credibility. They look for trusted partners. Founders who understand that build momentum faster, create stronger relationships, and give great solutions a better chance to succeed. 🔑 Key Strategies & Mental Models 1️⃣ Build an Ecosystem, Not Just a Business The strongest education companies don't grow alone. They intentionally build relationships that create momentum. 2️⃣ Credibility Comes Before Adoption Evidence reduces risk. Buyers need confidence before they make commitments. 3️⃣ Partnerships Beat Isolation Strategic partners often create opportunities that marketing alone never will. 4️⃣ Solve for the Buyer, Not Just the User Great products help students. Great businesses also make buying decisions easier. 🎯 Who This Episode Is For * Teacherpreneurs building their first education business * Founders selling into schools or districts * Education companies seeking strategic partnerships * Operators navigating long education sales cycles 🚀 Next Step Ask yourself: Who needs to believe in my business before my next customer says yes? Text "90 DAYS" to 771-333-4233 Get the 90-Day Founder Challenge—a practical framework for your next 90 days. Teacher-founders: limited 1:1 planning sessions available. 🔁 Subscribe & Share If this episode changed how you think about growing an education business, subscribe and share it with another founder. The strongest education businesses are built through relationships, not just great products. Connect with Josh Chernikoff Founder, Edsales Elevation Experience Host, Edsales Edge Show 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff/] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.chernikoff [https://www.facebook.com/joshua.chernikoff] 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuadcdc/ [https://www.instagram.com/joshuadcdc/] 📩 Email: Jc@joshchernikoff.com [Jc@joshchernikoff.com] Join the Edsales Entourage Get closer to the conversations, strategies, and operators inside the ecosystem: 👉 https://www.skool.com/entourage [https://www.skool.com/entourage]

The Teacherpreneur's Dilemma: Why Great Solutions Still Struggle to Grow

Teacherpreneurs often believe growth will follow once they create something that works. It won't. A strong solution is the starting line, not the finish line. The hard part is figuring out who needs it, how to talk about it, and how to create demand around it. In this episode of EdSales Edge, Josh Chernikoff [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff], founder of the EdSales Revenue Machine (previously EdSales Elevation Experience) sits down with Grace Pokela [https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-pokela], founder of The Lesson Laboratory [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-lesson-laboratory/]. Grace built a digital curriculum and instructional model that helped students become active investigators rather than passive learners. The results were real. But like many teacherpreneurs and education founders, she discovered that expertise alone doesn't create a business. The conversation explores the shift from educator to entrepreneur. From identifying the right buyer to building confidence, developing a signature solution, and learning founder-led sales, Grace shares what it takes to build a foundation before chasing scale. This isn't a conversation about curriculum. It's a conversation about what happens when an educator decides to build a business. WHY THIS MATTERS Many teacherpreneurs spend years mastering instruction and very little time learning positioning, sales, and customer discovery. The result is often frustration. Strong solutions struggle because the founder assumes results will create demand. They don't. Growth gets easier when buyers understand exactly who you help, what problem you solve, and why it matters. 🔑 KEY STRATEGIES & MENTAL MODELS 1️⃣ A Breakthrough Is Not a Business A solution can be effective and still struggle in the market. Growth begins when founders learn how to position and sell that solution. 2️⃣ Clarity Creates Traction The clearer you are about the problem you solve and who you solve it for, the easier it becomes to generate opportunities. 3️⃣ Find the Buyer Closest to the Pain The person with the budget is not always the person who feels the problem most deeply. Understanding that difference changes your sales strategy. 4️⃣ Confidence Is Built Through Action Founder confidence doesn't come from motivation. It comes from customer conversations, market feedback, and repeated execution. 5️⃣ Build the Foundation Before You Scale Positioning, messaging, credibility, and pipeline development are not growth accelerators. They are growth prerequisites. 🎯 WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR Teacherpreneurs turning expertise into a business Education founders seeking product-market fit Educators building their first revenue engine Teams struggling to define their ideal customer Founders looking to improve positioning 🚀 NEXT STEP Ask yourself: Have I built a business, or have I only built a solution? Text "90 DAYS" to 771-333-4233 Get the 90-Day Founder Challenge—a practical framework for your next 90 days. Teacher-founders: limited 1:1 planning sessions available. 🔁 SUBSCRIBE & SHARE Follow EdSales Edge and share this with a teacherpreneur who's trying to scale before building a foundation.  Growth gets expensive when clarity is missing. Connect with Josh Chernikoff Founder, Edsales Elevation Experience Host, Edsales Edge Show 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff/] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.chernikoff [https://www.facebook.com/joshua.chernikoff] 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuadcdc/ [https://www.instagram.com/joshuadcdc/] 📩 Email: Jc@joshchernikoff.com [Jc@joshchernikoff.com] Join the Edsales Entourage Get closer to the conversations, strategies, and operators inside the ecosystem: 👉 https://www.skool.com/entourage [https://www.skool.com/entourage]

The Summer Advantage: What Teacherpreneurs Should Build Before Fall

The school year may be ending, but the work of building a business doesn't stop. For teacherpreneurs, summer creates something rare: space. Space to think, plan, and improve the business while the pace of the school year slows down. But the lesson extends beyond teacherpreneurs. Every education business owner faces the same challenge: using quieter seasons to strengthen the business instead of simply reacting to it. In this live episode of EdSales Edge, Josh Chernikoff [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff], founder of the EdSales Revenue Machine, and John Gamba [https://www.linkedin.com/in/johngamba], Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Penn GSE, discuss why summer is one of the most important seasons for teacherpreneurs. Not because schools are buying more, but because founders finally have space to think, plan, refine, and prepare for what's next. The conversation explores common mistakes: forcing offers that no longer match buyer behavior, disappearing completely, or staying trapped in delivery work without improving the business itself. Josh and John share a practical framework for using summer intentionally. From clarifying offers and understanding buyer priorities to creating a focused 90-day plan, this conversation is about building a stronger fall before it arrives. WHY THIS MATTERS Growth problems don’t start when sales slow down. They start when founders stop checking what’s actually working. Most education businesses enter a new school year carrying the same problems: unclear messaging, weak positioning, inconsistent outreach, and broken sales flow. Summer is the window to fix it—before those issues get expensive. The founders who grow aren’t always the busiest. They’re the ones who use quiet seasons to sharpen their message, deepen relationships, and prepare for the next buying cycle. KEY STRATEGIES & MENTAL MODELS 1️⃣ Sell Where Demand Is Real Focus on buyers already showing interest instead of forcing conversations that aren't moving. 2️⃣ Clarify the Transformation Be able to explain who you help, how you help, and what outcome you create. If buyers can't repeat it back, your message isn't clear enough. 3️⃣ Build a 90-Day Plan Skip the giant annual strategy document. Focus on the next ninety days. Clear priorities create momentum. 4️⃣ Work on the Business Use summer to refine your offer, strengthen outreach, revisit goals, and prepare for the next selling season. 5️⃣ Understand What Buyers Care About Strong founders focus on the problems buyers are actively trying to solve. Summer is a great time to do that research. WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR * Teacherpreneurs building education businesses * Educators turning classroom expertise into a business * Founders struggling with sales consistency * Operators building repeatable growth systems 🚀 NEXT STEP Ask yourself: If the fall started tomorrow, would your business be ready? The next season is built before it arrives. Text "90 DAYS" to 771-333-4233 Get the 90-Day Founder Challenge—a practical framework for your next 90 days. Teacher-founders: limited 1:1 planning sessions available. 🔁 SUBSCRIBE & SHARE Follow EdSales Edge and share this with a founder who plans to "figure it out" in September. The next school year gets built long before the first day of school. Connect with Josh Chernikoff Founder, Edsales Elevation Experience Host, Edsales Edge Show 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff/] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.chernikoff [https://www.facebook.com/joshua.chernikoff] 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuadcdc/ [https://www.instagram.com/joshuadcdc/] 📩 Email: Jc@joshchernikoff.com [Jc@joshchernikoff.com] Join the Edsales Entourage Get closer to the conversations, strategies, and operators inside the ecosystem: 👉 https://www.skool.com/entourage [https://www.skool.com/entourage]

Stop Pitching: What Actually Gets a Superintendent’s Attention

The fastest way to lose trust is to try to earn it too quickly. That's a difficult reality for education companies. Dr. Jared Bloom [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtbloom] sees it every day. As Superintendent of Franklin Square School District in New York, Jared receives hundreds of emails every day from companies trying to get his attention. Most never get a response. Not because the products are bad. Because that's not how trust gets built. In this episode of EdSales Edge, Josh Chernikoff [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff], founder of the EdSales Revenue Machine sits down with Jared for an unusually honest conversation about what actually gets a superintendent's attention—and why most education sales outreach misses the mark. Jared explains why cold emails rarely stand out, why generic LinkedIn pitches feel transactional, and what separates a vendor from a true partner. He also shares how districts evaluate new solutions and why some companies earn long-term trust while others never make it past the first conversation. For founders, sales teams, and customer success leaders, this episode offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from the other side of the table. WHY THIS MATTERS Most education companies assume they have an outreach problem. In reality, many have a trust problem. When relationships are weak: * Every sales conversation feels harder * Follow-up becomes chasing * Pilots stall * Adoption slows When trust exists: * Conversations happen faster * Feedback becomes honest * Internal champions emerge * Partnerships last longer The strongest education sales strategies aren't built around volume. They're built around credibility. KEY STRATEGIES & MENTAL MODELS 1️⃣ Relationships Scale Better Than Outreach The goal isn't more conversations. The goal is stronger conversations with the right people. 2️⃣ Relationships Are Built In Real Conversations Face-to-face interactions allow education leaders to understand who they're working with—not just what they're buying. 3️⃣ Start Small, Then Expand Successful districts start with small pilots, gather evidence, and expand only after results are visible. 4️⃣ Teacher Buy-In Matters Even the strongest product can fail if the people using it don't believe in it. 5️⃣ Partnership Continues After The Sale The most successful companies stay involved, listen closely, and adapt based on district feedback. WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR * Education founders struggling to break into districts * EdTech sales teams relying heavily on cold outreach * Customer success leaders focused on retention and adoption * Companies looking to build long-term district partnerships * Anyone selling into K-12 education 🚀 NEXT STEP Ask yourself: Are you spending more time increasing outreach... or increasing trust? Because schools rarely buy from strangers. They buy from partners. Text "RELATIONSHIP" to 771-333-4233. 🔁 SUBSCRIBE & SHARE Follow EdSales Edge and share this with someone who thinks more outreach is the answer. Sometimes the real answer is building better relationships. Connect with Josh Chernikoff Founder, Edsales Elevation Experience Host, Edsales Edge Show 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff/] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.chernikoff [https://www.facebook.com/joshua.chernikoff] 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuadcdc/ [https://www.instagram.com/joshuadcdc/] 📩 Email: Jc@joshchernikoff.com [Jc@joshchernikoff.com] Join the Edsales Entourage Get closer to the conversations, strategies, and operators inside the ecosystem: 👉 https://www.skool.com/entourage [https://www.skool.com/entourage]

Stop Building Alone: Why Community Changes Everything

A lot of education founders wear independence like a badge of honor. Figure it out yourself. Push through. Keep going. Until one day you're carrying every decision, every problem, and every hard conversation by yourself. That's usually when growth starts feeling heavier than it should. In this episode, Josh Chernikoff [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff], founder of the EdSales Revenue Machine and John Gamba [https://www.linkedin.com/in/johngamba], Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Penn GSE talk about something most education founders underestimate: the impact of having the right people around you. Not a bigger network. Not another Slack group you'll never open. Real relationships with people who can challenge your thinking, share what they've learned, and help you see around corners. Drawing from their own experiences building companies, founder communities, and entrepreneurial programs, Josh and John explore why so many founders in the education space try to build alone—and what changes when they stop. One of the most powerful ideas in this conversation comes from Theo of Golden, the bestselling novel by Allen Levi [https://www.allenlevi.com/]—what he calls a murmuration. A flock of birds moving together as one. No single leader. No one carrying the weight alone. Just shared direction, shared motion, shared awareness. It’s a simple image—but it reframes everything about how founders think about growth. Because most people are still trying to be the one bird doing everything alone. WHY THIS MATTERS Building a business is already heavy. But doing it alone changes the weight completely. It slows your thinking, limits your perspective, and makes every decision feel bigger than it should. Most education founders don’t need more effort. They need better proximity—to people who’ve already seen what they’re trying to figure out. That’s what community actually solves. KEY STRATEGIES & MENTAL MODELS 1️⃣ Community Is a Growth Asset Strong communities create faster learning, better feedback, and stronger execution. 2️⃣ Stop Being the Bottleneck Whether you're building an EdTech product or leading education sales, growth gets harder when every answer depends on you. 3️⃣ Borrow Expertise You don't need every skill. You need access to people who bring different perspectives. 4️⃣ Vulnerability Builds Trust The most valuable founder conversations usually start with honesty, not expertise. 5️⃣ Momentum Is Collective Growth compounds faster when people move together than when everyone moves alone. 🎯 WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR * Education founders carrying too much themselves * EdTech leaders building in isolation * Education sales teams stuck in growth plateaus * Operators seeking stronger accountability. 🚀 NEXT STEP Ask yourself: Where are you trying to grow alone when the right community could help you move faster? Community isn't a support system. It's infrastructure. Text "COMMUNITY" to 771-333-4233. 🔁 SUBSCRIBE & SHARE Follow EdSales Edge and share this with a founder in the education industry who feels like they have to carry everything alone... ...because growth gets easier when you stop building by yourself. Connect with Josh Chernikoff Founder, Edsales Elevation Experience Host, Edsales Edge Show 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuachernikoff/] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.chernikoff [https://www.facebook.com/joshua.chernikoff] 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuadcdc/ [https://www.instagram.com/joshuadcdc/] 📩 Email: Jc@joshchernikoff.com [Jc@joshchernikoff.com] Join the Edsales Entourage Get closer to the conversations, strategies, and operators inside the ecosystem: 👉 https://www.skool.com/entourage [https://www.skool.com/entourage]