Justin D Maxwell

Helping $1–$25M founder-operators build asset-grade businesses & family office-level wealth. Acquisition entrepreneur. Speaker. Author.

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

@JD_DeYonker Abdication of responsibility for any decision is probably not a good idea but especially when it's concerning financial outcomes that can so profoundly determine your future.

I agree with your simplicity

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

@The_AlexKirby Hopefully he talks positively about his experience and you are able to attract the next him quickly and easily and you start to be seen as brand employees seek to come to

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

Raise your prices if the value you bring demands it.

Raising your prices haphazardly with no value behind it will lead to increased churn which doesn't help you

[Codie Sanchez @Codie_Sanchez]

You can’t scale because you’re not charging enough.

We ran 1,600 businesses through our market based pricing assessment. There wasn’t a single one that was overpriced.

Raise your prices.

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

Family offices and private equity firms look at organization design early in an acquisition because structure determines what a business can actually produce.

If accountabilities are unclear, decisions constantly flow back to the founder, and the org chart reflects where the business has been rather than where it needs to go, scaling becomes difficult.

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

https://t.co/8m8QohlsMF

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

One of the hardest things for founders to admit:

Being good at reading people does not necessarily mean you’re good at interviewing.

We’ve sold, hired and negotiated for years.

So we trust our gut.

Sometimes too much.

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

The bigger the company gets, the more expensive gut-feel hiring becomes.

And if every important hiring decision still depends on the founder’s instincts, we’ve built one more part of the business that still depends on the founder.

I wrote a blog about this. Link in comments.

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

A business owners wealth potential is directly correlated to their leadership ability.

Are there unimaginably wealthy people who have terrible leadership skills?

Yes.

But I would propose they are the exception, and that their poor leadership will eventually harm or destroy some portion of their wealth.

When most business owners get to the low to mid 7 figure revenue point, they eventually run into their first real leadership ceiling.

Up to that point, success was often driven primarily by them.

The relationships they have.

The decisions they made.

The work ethic they lived by.

Their personal knowledge and genius.

But if they want the business to become a significant contributor to their wealth, they have to become the leader and investor in the business.

That requires creating alignment.

Creating buy-in.

Getting people to work for you and produce similar outcomes.

Building systems people can replicate.

Giving people upside in the journey.

That is leadership.

And the founders who can develop that level of leadership are well on their way toward creating the kind of business that can eventually produce an 8 figure exit.

But leadership does not stop inside the business.

I hear founders all the time say they refuse to pay investment advisor fees because they want to do everything themselves.

I think part of that often boils down to trust.

They are afraid an advisor will lead them somewhere they do not want to go.

But leadership means being able to lead the advisor toward your goals and aspirations.

The same thing applies to tax professionals, insurance advisors, estate attorneys and every other professional around the founder.

And sometimes founders confuse leadership with being a jerk.

Blaming professionals for things the founder should have been paying attention to.

Berating them when something does not go perfectly.

Treating people poorly and calling it accountability.

That is not leadership.

It requires introspection too.

And leadership has to happen at home.

You can lead your employees.

Lead your advisors.

Lead your partners.

Lead your investors.

But if you lead everywhere else and fail in the home, your wealth can still fall apart.

A business owners wealth potential is directly correlated to their ability to lead.

On Nov 5th, my first book, co-authored with Rob Williams, is coming out.

It gives you 5 behaviors that can help you become a better leader.

If you want to be on the list to get a copy, comment or DM me and I will make sure you get on the waiting list.

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

A business owners wealth potential is directly correlated to their leadership ability.

Most founders hit their first leadership ceiling in the low to mid 7 figure revenue range.

Up to that point, their success was often driven primarily by them.

Their relationships.
Their decisions.
Their work ethic.
Their genius.

But if the business is going to become a significant contributor to their wealth, that has to change.

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

My business partner, Rob Williams, and I have a book coming out this fall on the five keys to executing like a private equity or family office-level company.

Key three is simple:

Everyone needs to know what good looks like.

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

We have an operating partner service that helps with this problem

We bring our operating partner expertise 25 years of experience in PE and offer it as a stand alone service.

If you want to chat about if it's a good fit for your situation DM me or comment below and we will find a time

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

An accountability chart should be built around outcomes, not activities.

It’s not about listing everything someone does during the day.

It’s about defining what each role is ultimately accountable for producing.

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

https://t.co/r6fzdXvtF6

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

Something I've been thinking about:

You can hire managers, build departments, add layers...

And still have one person making almost every meaningful decision.

The founder.

That's not delegation.

That's a bigger company built around the same bottleneck.

[Justin D Maxwell @justindmaxwell]

More employees doesn't automatically mean less founder dependence.

You can keep adding people and still be the person everything waits on.

The business grows.

Your job doesn't.

I wrote a blog about this. Link in comments.