Simplifying the Shift Schedule with Cory Warfield Co-Founder of ShedWool

Mar 14, 2019

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Cory Warfield is the co-founder of ShedWool. ShedWool is an employee scheduling and workforce management software company. What that means is they help staff at companies fill a shift or take on an additional shift. So if someone works at a restaurant they don't have to call all their buddies to see who can cover for them. They can put it in the ShedWool schedule and someone can pick up the shift easily. Early on they were able to work with companies like IBM, American Airlines, BP, Four Seasons and several other high-profile companies. Cory worked in the hospitality industry for years where he saw the need for a scheduling app. He is also the co-founder of Mentor You Global which is a pro bono consulting platform.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[3:20] Jeremy introduces his guest, Cory Warfield.
[5:30] Where did the idea for ShedWool come from?
[11:40] What caused Cory and the ShedWool team to change their price model?
[15:00] Cory talks about their early free model.
[20:00] How client feedback helped Cory make a positive shift in the business.
[23:00] Cory talks about connecting with high profile corporations.
[28:00] What was the post that Cory wrote that went viral?
[32:00] Tips for growing your following and professional network.
[35:30] How does Cory decide which industries to target?
[38:50] Cory talks about ShedWool working with Moonrise.
[42:00] What is Mentor You?
[50:00] Why did Cory eventually accept outside funding? Who did he hire first?
[54:00] A low moment in business for Cory.
[57:00] Why Cory turned down a buy out offer.
[59:20] Closing thoughts from Cory.

In this episode…

Did you know that one of the most complicated aspects of the hospitality industry is creating and navigating the shift schedule? Managers and employees stress about their shift schedule more than almost any other aspect of their job. What is the solution? On this episode of Inspired Insider, you’ll hear from innovator and entrepreneur, Cory Warfield. In his conversation with Jeremy, Cory opens up about how he got the idea for ShedWool, why they decided to change their pricing model, how they were able to connect with high profile organizations, tips for growing your network, and much more. You don’t want to miss a minute of this engaging episode featuring Cory’s story!

Pain points often show you where innovation is needed. There are so many great ideas out there just waiting for someone to realize that there is no need to settle for the way things have always been. Cory Warfield leveraged his twenty years of experience in the hospitality industry to address an issue that bugged him and his industry peers for years, the shift schedule. Cory was convinced that there had to be a better way to handle the constant frustration over staffing issues, so he went to work on a solution. It wasn’t long before the vision, and the groundwork for ShedWool, Cory’s solution to shift scheduling issues started to form.

Solving a problem is one thing: finding the right price to charge for the solution is another thing entirely. Cory’s dream was to offer ShedWool as a free solution, but he soon realized that there wasn’t a clear path forward for the financial viability of his solution without a pricing model. While Cory was able to get some high profile organizations to try ShedWool early on, the free aspect of the platform caused some businesses to hold back, not knowing if it would go the distance. Now, they’ve created a reasonable pricing model at ShedWool, and the brand is thriving. What can you learn from Cory’s experience with the pricing model?

One of the best ways to make a name for your brand or business is to expand your personal and professional sphere of influence. Many business leaders are turning to LinkedIn to make these connections and grow their profile. As he increased his engagement on LinkedIn, Cory started to notice his profile rise and his circle of influence expand. Is there a secret to Cory’s expanded reach? Not really. Cory simply took the time to engage with influencers on LinkedIn by liking and commenting on their posts; he also took the time to create content that caused people to engage with him.

Do you want to expand your reach as Cory did? If you needed to expand your reach right now, what would you do? Where would you start? Thankfully, Cory was kind enough to share his tips for growing your network.

Get to know your network personally. A little extra attention goes a long way!
Step up your engagement efforts! You can’t expect to grow your reach by sitting on your hands.
Put in the time. The truth is, you’ll need to devote time to this if you want to achieve your goal.

This is just the start of Cory’s insights on this topic. Make sure to follow Cory on LinkedIn and learn from his brilliant perspective!

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