From Free Advice to Paid Impact: How Tom Sprinkle Transformed His Expertise into a Business

After years of enabling others’ success from behind the scenes, Tom Sprinkle realized it was time to step into the spotlight himself. Driven by a deep-rooted belief that AI is reshaping every facet of business, he launched BlueCrush AI to guide companies, big and small, through the chaos and potential of emerging technologies. In this Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight, Tom reflects on the hard-won leap from helping others succeed to betting on himself, sharing lessons from false starts, career pivots, and the simple yet powerful act of finally charging for his expertise.

Hi, Tom! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?

At BlueCrush AI, we believe almost every business out there, large or small,l is thinking and talking about AI! However, almost none of them are exactly sure where to begin. Sure, ChatGPT is a good start, but what's next? How can they really see true efficiencies and evolve their business? That is where we come in. Not that we know at all by any stretch. AI is moving far too fast for any person to have their arms around it. Still, we hope to be a sounding board for people who are asking the question and looking for ideas. Hopefully, they will trust us, and we can be a bit of a guiding light for them. So, no matter the industry (manufacturing, banking, insurance, medical, transportation, etc), the list is endless, every organization needs to be talking about it. No matter the area of improvement (automation, cyber security, customer experience, communications, logistics, business, intelligence, etc.) AI can and will affect every part of your business. 

We are happy to talk to anybody, but our real focus is organizations with more than 25-500 people or so.

Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.

Ha ha, tricky question. I feel like one day I'm still a wantrepreneur and then there are other days where I feel like I did it. I graduated and finally made it to an entrepreneur. In all truth, I suppose it was the day I created an invoice for a couple thousand thousand-dollar consulting fee and someone paid. Perhaps more importantly, though, the positive feedback I got at the end of the job and the proven customer environment was even more gratifying. There was a problem, they asked for my help and input, I offered it, they implemented it, and their situation dramatically improved!! Now it was time to rinse and repeat and grow and scale. That part is still in process and always will be.

Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.

For over 20 years, I have watched others, who seemed to be less knowledgeable, take the lead and succeed. Sometimes they were successful because of my support and help. It left me asking if they can do it. Why can't I? Part of the answer for me was timing. Me and my family needed to be ready to give it a go. After thinking about it and praying about it for well over a year and a half. I finally decided the time to come. I don't know that there's ever a perfect time, but this was as good as any. I made the leap and as you would expect, it was way harder than I thought and took much longer to get going.

Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?

Well, I cannot point to one tool that helped create my success. And unless she wants to consider my email or cell phone. Still, most recently, the biggest GameChanger has been AI tools like ChatGPT.

We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.

You are correct. It is definitely not linear. I have tried several different times to step out on my own. However, the most recent one, BlueCrush, was in 2019. I stepped out six months before Covid hit. I lasted about six months in Covid, and then I had to take an actual JOB. Still, I was able to work on my business on the side for the next 2 to 3 years. Then my wife and I decided to sell our house in Southern California and relocate to Tennessee, and that was when I made the jump again.

What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?

Charging for my services! I know that sounds strange, but in my industry, we are brokers. That means we are often doing a lot of work for free with the hope of getting paid on the backside, think of an insurance broker. You usually don't pay them for their services. However, there are times when you're doing so much work upfront for a customer it leaves you exposed and at risk. And it is wise to ask for a consulting fee upfront.

What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?

I wish I had better accounting principles and knowledge. I also wish I had some of the AI tools that aren't available now, it would have significantly helped in creating content.

Want to dive deeper into Tom's work? Learn more in the links below:

• Visit BlueCrush AI's website bluecrush.ai
• Follow BlueCrush AI on LinkedIn