From Operator to Owner 101 - Part One (#230)

In this week’s episode of "Maximize Business Value," Darren introduces EOS Implementer Christian Landers. Tune in weekly to hear more from Mastery Partners and to receive relevant key content on your journey to maximizing your business value! Part two of this podcast will be released next week! 

#maximizebusinessvalue #maximizebusinessvalue #MBVPodcast #PodcastForEntrepreneurs

Learn more about Darren Williams 

With over 30 years of leadership in management, operations, and sales, Darren Williams is a seasoned business advisor specializing in business value growth, leadership development, and operational efficiency. As a Certified Partner with Mastery Partners, he helps business owners optimize their companies, increase profitability, and prepare for successful transitions. Darren’s extensive experience includes 18 years in the construction industry, where he led and scaled roofing companies, most notably as President & CEO of a private equity-backed firm. There, he played a key role in evaluating acquisitions, driving strategic growth, and strengthening business structures for long-term success.

Learn more about Christian Landers 

Christian Landers is all about shaking things up and helping leaders crush their goals! His entrepreneurial journey kicked off at 24 when he boldly jumped from a comfy corporate sales gig into the wild world of franchising. After three rollercoaster years, He sold his franchise, narrowly dodging bankruptcy. Instead of retreating to corporate life, he dove headfirst into new challenges, spending the next 15 years in leadership roles at fast-paced entrepreneurial companies.

Fast forward to 2015, when he found himself as COO of a Medical Affairs Company that was struggling. That’s when he discovered the magic of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) through the book Traction. Implementing EOS was a game-changer, breathing new life into the company and sparking incredible growth. Eight years later, with the help of a Professional EOS Implementer, he achieved amazing results in two more businesses using EOS.

If you’re ready to unlock the magic of EOS and elevate your organization, team up with Christian to make it happen!

Please be sure to subscribe for more great content to help YOU maximize YOUR business value!

Mastery Partners

Elevating Businesses to Achieve The Business Owner’s Dream Exit
The unfortunate reality is that for every business that comes on the market (for whatever reason), only 17% of them achieve a successful exit. You read that right. 83% of attempted business transitions never reach the closing table. Mastery Partners is on a mission to change that. We ELEVATE businesses to achieve maximum value and reach that dream exit.

Our objectives are simple - understand where the business is today, identify opportunities for dramatic improvement, and offer solutions to enhance the business, making it more marketable and valuable. And that all starts with understanding the business owner’s definition of his or her dream exit.
Mastery has developed a 4-Step Process to help business owners achieve their dreams.

STEP 1: Transition Readiness Assessment
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STEP 4: Decision: Now that desired results are achieved, the business is ready for the next step in the journey!

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Transcript

MAXIMIZE BUSINESS VALUE PODCAST - EPISODE 230 Transcript

Tom Bronson (1s):

Welcome to the Maximize Business Value Podcast, brought to you by Mastery Partners, where our mission is to equip business owners like you, to maximize your business value and achieve the exit of your dreams, whatever that means to you. With insights gained from over a hundred business transactions, we share real world strategies, lessons, and expert advice to help you build long term sustainable value in your business. Each episode is hosted by one of our mastery certified partners. They're seasoned experts who've helped countless business owners navigate the complexities of growth, scaling, and building value.

Tom Bronson (45s):

They bring firsthand experience, actionable insights, and a passion for helping you build a business that thrives. So, let's dive in.

Darren Williams (57s):

Hi, this is Darren Williams, and welcome to Maximize Business Value, a podcast for business leaders who are passionate about building long-term sustainable value in their business. And I'm excited to introduce you to one of my friends and a fellow business owner, Christian Landers. Christian and I have known each other for several years. We have several mutual friends, and I've always respected Christian's approach and perspective when it comes to life, people, and business, and I can't wait to get into all of that today. So before we do that, Christian, welcome to the podcast. And before we get started, what's the best way for people to find you, for people to reach out to you?

Christian Landers (1m 37s):

Man, the best way to find me to reach out to me is to via LinkedIn like so many people now. So, you know, www.linkedin.com/in/basics over buzzwords. Basics over buzzwords. Perfect. Where you can find me.

Darren Williams (1m 54s):

Okay, great. And then we'll, we'll link your profile when we, when we publish this. Awesome. We'll link your profile there as well. So, great man. Well, hey, welcome man. I always enjoy our conversations. Can't wait to get into this today. So why don't you just catch us up, catch everybody up, man. What are you doing these days? And tell us what's going on.

Christian Landers (2m 14s):

Yeah, you know, well, first of all, thanks. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. I love our conversations too. You know, I was trying to, before I came on here, I was trying to, I was trying to recall the first time that you and I met and I was trying to call the year I remember the situation. We were in a workshop. We were in a workshop together. And so, but I couldn't remember when that was. I think that was that, was that 2018? Was it 2019?

Darren Williams (2m 38s):

Man, it prob That sounds right. Yeah, I don't have that kind of photographic memory, but that sounds about right. Probably 2018.

Christian Landers (2m 44s):

Well, what lots have changed for both you and I in that time, so, you know, so yeah, I'm, I, I'm excited to be here, what I'm up to now. So, you know, now I'm full-time. I'm, I'm pouring my heart, soul, my passion into being an ES implementer. So I've been doing that for about 10 months now, really since August of 2024. That's what I'm doing full-time. I still own a business, so a business partner and I, we, we have a custom cabinet manufacturing business. We actually bought that couple years ago. I was more heavily involved in that business, kind of in, in the first year that we bought it.

Christian Landers (3m 24s):

Now, thankfully, I'm, I spend about 90 minutes a week in that business. Still love that business. I, I, I joke all the time with my wife, you know, when I, when I wanna hide from the world, I go up to the cabinet, the cabinet business, so I can, I can just maybe sweep the floors or help the guys, you know, up there, build cabinets doing that. And then, you know, I, I've got the beginnings in my head. You and I kind of talked about this. I've got the beginnings in my head of a book around, you know, just helping small business owners return to basics, get back to just fundamentals and just the importance of that in terms of, you know, in terms of building value, I guess you could say.

Christian Landers (4m 6s):

So that's what I'm up to now.

Darren Williams (4m 8s):

Awesome, awesome. Well, man, I got a lot of follow up questions on that. So what is it, you know, obviously you and I have talked about your experience and you have known each other for years, but just, just tell our, tell our audience here what's, so as an EOS coach helping someone with their business, with your own experience, your own background, so what is it about your experience that makes you u uniquely qualified to help business owners?

Christian Landers (4m 30s):

You know, I, I, I try to, I try to be realistic with this perspective. So, you know, me, I'm pretty pragmatic. I try to, I just try to be really straight, open and honest with people. And, and, and the honest answer to that is, you know, I have been, I've been in the position of an owner of a failed business, you know, so when I was 24, I, I, you know, opened my first business and three years later, you know, I barely sold that business. It was actually a fire sale. I'm just gonna be completely honest. I barely escaped bankruptcy, barely escaped divorce, you know, and, and so I've been on that side of the business struggling.

Christian Landers (5m 14s):

You know, I tell people that's, that's when I got my real MBA,, was those three years, that's when I learned everything. I, I, I now kind of know about business. And, and so I've been on that side of the session room with my clients. I know what they're facing, you know, furloughed along in my career. You know, I, I kind of found myself a funny thing happens, Darren, A funny thing happened. You know, I, I started this franchise business, you know, I sold this franchise business, you know, I knew that it was a fire sale. You know, the buyers knew that they were, they were getting, you know, they were getting it from, for pennies on the dollar.

Christian Landers (5m 54s):

But everybody else out, you know, around me saw me as, Hey, Christian. Christian started a business and then he sold the business. And so he must, he must be good. He must know what he's doing. And so when I sold the business, a funny thing happened. I started getting phone calls and, and other business owners, you know, calling me saying, Hey, we, we, we saw what you've done. Come help me do that. And so I spent the next 15 years of my career as a kind of operations director, you know, chief operating officer for other, you know, mid-market, small business entrepreneurs, helping them run their businesses.

Christian Landers (6m 36s):

And I saw a different dimension from a different seat, a different perspective within the small business of just the struggles of the, the challenges of running, running and fast moving entrepreneurial company. And so I tell people all the time, you know, now that I'm an EOS implementer, it's hard for me to, to, to kind of not recall being in that business, Darren, you did this, man, you know, it's, it's hard to not recall being in the business, facing those challenges, working through those struggles, those growth, that growth and scaling. I feel like that, that allows me to bring an extra bit of value into that session room. So I'm not, I'm not coming from a place of theory as an implementer.

Christian Landers (7m 19s):

You know, I'm coming from a place of, hey, I, I, I owned and my first business kind of failed. You know, I helped build some other businesses for entrepreneurs. And then later on, you know, got got into business for myself again and had a more successful go at it this time. And so, you know, so for me, if you're gonna, you know, what I hope to bring is a bit of Levi, you know, bit of levity, pragmatism, and just clarity to my clients and let them know, hey, they're okay. You know, their struggles, their struggles are very normal. Their fears are very normal and healthy. And, and so let's just, man, let's, let's, let's go tackle this, tackle this one step at a time.

Christian Landers (8m 5s):

And I know what that looks like. You know, I've lived that out. You know, that's a long answer to your question, Darren.

Darren Williams (8m 11s):

No, it's perfect. I, Hey, long form podcast, we're great. So, man, I think there's so much value in that. So there, there's so many things, you know, that I could, that I could, you know, tap into that you just said. But, you know, one of those is, leadership, right? And I think a lot of times what's missing in leadership is this idea of vulnerability and transparency. And one of the dangers is you kind of get isolated and you think everybody else has got it all figured out, and I must be the one that's broken, or I must be the one that doesn't know how this works or whatever it is. So, when we have a chance to learn, whether it's a coach or a mentor from somebody that's been there that has struggled and is open about that and, and can say, listen, you don't have to have it figured out.

Darren Williams (9m 2s):

You need to have a process to figure it out. And, and frankly, and we can kind of backtrack a little bit because we both kinda, you and I both kind of have a love affair with EOS. Yeah. And that's where you and I met in an EOS workshop. And, and, you know, I'll let you tell your story, but you know, I, I was introduced to EOS when, when I kind of reinvigorated my, I, I won't say passion, but I will say discipline around reading. And, you know, I recommended the book Traction. And, and that was it for me, right? I read it and, and you can probably tell your story, but so, so what'd that look like for you? Because I know early on you Yeah, you were kind of introduced to it like that, you know,

Christian Landers (9m 41s):

You know, I, so I was introduced to Traction. I was given the book by a business owner in 2015. I was chief operating officer of a medical affairs firm based out of Frisco here in Dallas. And, and, you know, I was, I was coming out of it the second straight year in which our revenue was flat, our margins were shrinking. Culture really, culture was deteriorating. The owner, the owner himself, was just really frustrated. I was frustrated. And, between the two of us, between, between the experience and the knowledge between me and the owner, we just did not seem to figure out what, why we were stuck.

Christian Landers (10m 27s):

And, and, and, and so I was, I was, I was discussed, I was actually complaining about this at the gym, you know, to a guy that I knew at the gym that owned a business. And he, I mean, he went out and went out to his car, brought a, brought the book traction back into the gym, handed it to me and said, Hey, I think you need to read this. I think he needed to know about it. And so, and, and when I, you know, when I read that book, I don't know how it was for you, but when I read the book, I was like, I was like, somebody just documented every, every struggle and experience I've ever encountered. And not only that, but that, that, that the tricks that I kind stumbled upon that work, that, that, that have worked, wow.

Christian Landers (11m 9s):

They've been simplified, they've been clarified and simplified and put together in a system. And, and so that's why I fell in love with it. But going back to that vulnerability piece, you know, I think was also connected with me because there is this, there is this vulnerability that I think business owners try to try to hide, and it's completely normal. In fact, I, you know, it's funny. We're talking about this, I was listening to Gino Wickman's podcast recently, you know, shine. And he actually talked about, he, he, he called it the meta metaphorical underbelly.

Christian Landers (11m 51s):

Okay? And so he said, you know, we as individuals, and, and so I immediately was thinking about business owners, but I think business owners, broadly speaking, I'm making a gross overgeneralization here, but I've seen it in the session room. I've experienced it myself. I think a lot of business owners, they're building these businesses. They're trying to build value in these businesses, and a lot of times they're doing it just outta sheer guts and grit and, and discipline, you know, and, and a lot of times underneath that all, is this what Gino says, is this sock underbelly, this thing that we try to hide from the rest of the world. And it's, it's, we're hiding it because it's, it's the thing that we are, are scared of people knowing about us.

Christian Landers (12m 38s):

And I think for a lot of business owners, especially ones that are semi-successful, that have made it past that five year mark might be headed into 10, 10 years, you know, or beyond. I think there's still this soft underbelly where they're feeling, man, I don't, I don't have the answer. I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing. And I, but I don't want any, I don't want anybody else to know that I'm, I'm struggling with this and I don't. And so what happens is they, they, they just, they just cover it up and in many different ways. But, but for the long-term health of the business, for sustainability, both for the owner and maybe maybe if they're looking to exit, you know, if they're, if they're coming and talking to you and saying, Darren, I'm thinking about selling my business.

Christian Landers (13m 27s):

A lot of times that soft underbelly doesn't get exposed until they sell the business and they start talking to somebody and they find out, you know, because, you know, that that process of, of kind of getting a business in shape to sell, I mean, there's a lot of hard truths and there's a lot of, there's a lot of digging and, and in, in finances and then this, that, and the other. And so, for me, there's a lot of, there's a lot of team health associated with the owner and the leadership team that kind of forces all that stuff out, just gets it out in the open and we deal with it. And, and I think that's good. I think it's good for building value in a business. It's what I loved about it.

Christian Landers (14m 8s):

How about you?

Darren Williams (14m 9s):

Yeah. And that's, so at Mastery Partners, like, I mean, we, we actually run on EOS and I ran previously, I ran my business on EOS. Yeah. And so we really, we, we recommend it. I mean, it's not a, you know, you don't have to, we don't enforce it, but, but it is a great way to work through some of those issues. And really the next, kind of, the next thing I want to kind of dovetail into is, is, is really two things, and I'll let you answer it however you want, but this idea of a self-managing company, because I know, you know, with, with both of our experiences and when you started off talking about, hey, you spending 90, 90 minutes a week at the company, right? So I would call that a self-managing company.

Darren Williams (14m 49s):

So I'm super interested in that. And, and the question I get most often is when we start introducing this concept is, come on Darren, is that really possible? Like you're talking about a self-managing company, but it, if you're living in this world where I'm the operator and I'm really the general manager of my own business, like this idea of a self-managing company, it sounds like a fairytale. So, so I'll ask the question this way, and, and maybe it's one of your own businesses, or maybe it's a a client business, but, but talk about a, talk about a success story where you're able to come in and, and just really show that impact. You know, again, whether it's yourself or through EOS, with this idea of a self-managing company.

Narrator (15m 32s):

Thank you for tuning in to the Maximize Business Value Podcast. This episode is the first of a two part release. Part two will be posted next week.

Tom Bronson (15m 43s):

Thanks for joining us for another episode of the Maximize Business Value Podcast. I hope today's conversation sparked new ideas on how you can continue driving value in your business. But remember, it's not just about listening, it's about taking massive action. Visit our website mastery partners.com for more resources. Grab a copy of any of the books in the Maximize Business Value series on Amazon or via the links below, and don't hesitate to reach out if you want to know how to apply these concepts to your business.

Tom Bronson (16m 24s):

So until next time, I'm Tom Bronson reminding you to relentlessly execute while you Maximize Business Value.