Construction | Louisville, KY | Coached by Alan Melton, Small Business Coach Associates
Sean Schmidt and Alex Johns started A&S Construction in 2021 with $5,000 and no construction background. Before their first coaching session, Alan Melton audited the digital marketing agency they were about to hire for $4,000 a month and discovered A&S’s own website traffic was higher than the agency’s. That one finding saved $48,000 a year and redirected their focus to a Google Business Profile strategy that produced equal leads at zero cost. Combined with strategic hiring and a personal SWOT that clarified each partner’s role, A&S grew from $5,000 to $9 million, landing on the 2026 Inc. 5000 list.
Here’s how.
The Challenge
Sean and Alex’s biggest challenge wasn’t sales.
Their biggest challenge was achieving clarity for both the owners and considering a $4,000/month marketing agency while stuck at just $5,000 in revenue.
Sean and Alex were dealing with:
- Too many moving parts.
- Unclear team member priorities.
- No proven marketing system, about to sign with a $4,000/month agency with no track record.
- Processes that are not helping them to scale.
- A team working hard but not always aligned.
Growth without structure created stress.
They needed order, focus, direction, and a marketing system geared to their business needs and target clients.
“Before we even got started, Alan looked at the digital marketer we were about to hire for $4,000 a month. Tell me what happened when he showed us what he found.” — Sean Schmidt, A&S Construction (Source: Beyond The Owner’s Podcast interview
The Solution
The solution began with slowing down long enough to see things more clearly. And Alan reviewed the proposed $4,000/month marketing agency contract before Sean and Alex signed.
The first step, Small Business Coach and Sean and Alex, was building a marketing system and aligning the business around:
- A properly optimized Google Business Profile instead of a paid agency retainer.
- A clear mission and vision, created with all the employees involved.
- Company short-term and long-term goals are communicated and understood by the team.
- Action plans are tied to real outcomes.
- Identifying “strategies to be implemented” in digital and local marketing, SEO, and internal processes.
This approach provided them clarity and focus and saved $4,000 a month.
Because they are now more focused, they are able to execute better.
This foundation allowed Sean and Alex to lead instead of react.
The Role of Small Business Coach Associates
Through extensive coaching sessions, Sean and Alex worked closely with their coach to bring structure to the business.
Small Business Coach Associates helped by:
- Building and optimizing their Google Business Profile as the primary lead-generation engine.
- Facilitating mission and vision work with the entire team.
- Identifying gaps in marketing, SEO, and internal systems.
- Training their sales team.
- Providing an outside perspective in creating smart decisions.
- Turning ideas into clear action plans.
- Restoring order, focus, and accountability.
The leadership and business coaching sessions helped them in transforming chaos into clarity.
The Results
With the right guidance and system in place, the results followed.
- Sales grew from $5,000 to $9 million.
- Named to the 2026 Inc. 5000 list.
- The team became aligned around a shared purpose.
- Systems and processes replaced their guesswork.
- Leadership decisions became clearer and faster.
- The business gained focus without losing momentum.
- Sean and Alex were able to begin working virtually and spend more time with their families.
Most importantly, Sean and Alex built a construction business that scales with confidence, not chaos.
By focusing on gaining clarity and scaling sales, Sean and Alex transformed the way their business operates.
With the support of Small Business Coach Associates, they moved from reactive growth to intentional leadership and created results that last.
Author Bio
Alan Melton is an Inc. 500 founder, award-winning entrepreneur, and business coach who has built or acquired 18 companies and coached more than 1,100 business owners. His companies have served elite clients including the Ritz-Carlton and the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is a Florida Governor’s Sterling Award winner and former SBA Small Business Person of the Year.