Lititz Record: Business Develops Behavioral-Awareness App for Entrepreneurs
Ted and George Wolf were featured in the April 2020 Lititz Record talking about The School of Biz and their behavioral-awareness smart app, Growth Factors.
To read the full article in the Lititz Record, please visit this site and select 4/14/22 in the date dropdown.
Article TEXT:
Lititz-based family business develops behavioral-awareness smart app designed for entrepreneurs
A father-and-son team from Lititz has launched a new behavioral-awareness app designed for entrepreneurs.
Ted Wolf and his son George Wolf developed the new Growthdrivers App through The School of Biz, an online business school co-founded by Ted 68, and George, 28. The School of Biz is an online startup offering informal business classes.
“We worked out of two rooms in our home for the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ted Wolf. “Now we are growing the concept and looking to offer entrepreneurs access to a new app that integrates logic, emotions, and actions so users can take full advantage of change.”
George Wolf points out that the Growthdrivers App has been designed to give entrepreneurs the ability to track awareness of behavioral patterns, as well as how those patterns affect their circumstances and the attainment of their goals.
The Growthdrivers App is accessible through an Internet browser, as well as iOS and Android devices. “Growthdrivers helps users design effective strategies to break through obstacles, with a five-step formula that enables users to choreograph the mindset they need to execute their plans,” explained George Wolf.
Some of the features of the Growthdrivers App include a text-to-speech engine that offers unbiased perspectives on past introspections, goal planning that acknowledges the past and plans for the future, tracks personal development of business mindset and provides leaderboards that make behavioral awareness a team sport.
“Most coaches and educational institutions are idea factories,” said Ted Wolf. “They might give you new ideas and help you devise exceptional strategies, but they don’t help you develop the skills you need to implement those ideas. We built Growthdrivers to help you implement ideas and strategies.”
The School of Biz combines Ted Wolf’s extensive business experience with George Wolf’s forward-thinking view of today and the future. Originally from Lancaster, Ted Wolf went to Lancaster Catholic High School, then earned his B.A. degree in finance at Penn State University in 1976. His son is also a Penn State grad, who attended Lancaster Country Day School and earned a B.A. degree in philosophy and a B.S. degree in cyber security & risk analysis, graduating in 2016.
Ted Wolf worked for Hershey Foods and IBM directly out of college, then started a business with his brother in 1980, doing technical consulting and staffing. Headquartered in Lancaster, the business started with two people, growing to more than 650 employees with 13 offices throughout the U.S.
His son George Wolf has worked in film production, digital marketing, software development, and the culinary world. Since Ted Wolf was also part-owner of Lancaster’s Carr’s restaurant, his son was around the restaurant business and ended up cooking professionally at local restaurants, including Greenfield Restaurant. He then worked at the Manhattan-based Craft. When the pandemic began in March 2020, George Wolf returned to Lititz, and the father-son team was born.
“During my time cooking in New York City, I had also started a software development and project management consulting LLC, to help pay the bills. We quickly realized after working together that we had stumbled upon a very significant business opportunity to launch the company, The School of Biz,” explained George Wolf.
His father agrees that the pandemic turned out to be an opportunity for the two to hone their experience and talents. While his son took over the technology development and marketing aspects of the business, Ted Wolf was able to service clients, further developing and refining the school’s core educational curriculum. He filmed his School of Biz “lessons” at his home studio and relied on Zoom to stay connected to clients. “The School of Biz provides a unique platform that is designed for entrepreneurs and includes an online educational curriculum, software application for personal development and behavioral awareness, and access to coaching, accountability and mentorship/guidance,” noted Ted Wolf, adding that clients include real estate firms, pharmaceutical companies, and other regional businesses.
The new Growthdrivers App represents a new step in their partnership. It is designed to help owners, key leaders, and their employees learn how to guide and lead others through change, disruption, and crisis, not just in business, but also in their personal lives.
“Look at The Great Resignation. It has people saying. ‘I need something better and I need more help in making my life meaningful because everything seems pretty crazy at the moment.’ Growthdrivers was designed to help improve greater self- and behavioralawareness, so people can understand how they impact others, events, and even themselves,” said George Wolf. The ability to adapt and cope positively with extreme change, disruption and crisis gives businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals a competitive advantage, by helping them manage personal and business change, disruption, and crisis.
“Borrowing some concepts from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Growthdrivers helps the user connect the dots in the ways they react toward specific events in their life,” said George Wolf.
