Moving the Needle on Small Business - Part 2 (#237)

In this week’s episode of "Maximize Business Value," Dave Casey continues his discussion with Rick Hopper, Serial entrepreneur, Founder of ReadeREST, Shark Tank Winner, and Executive Director of Biz Owners Ed, a nonprofit serving the entrepreneur community in the DFW area. Tune in weekly to hear more from Mastery Partners and to receive relevant key content on your journey to maximizing your business value!

#maximizebusinessvalue #maximizebusinessvalue #MBVPodcast #PodcastForEntrepreneurs

Learn More about Dave Casey
Dave Casey is a seasoned business owner with deep expertise in all aspects of organizational behavior and a passion for helping entrepreneurs reap the full rewards of building their companies. He understands that a truly valuable business isn’t just profitable—it’s secure, scalable, and transferable. In addition to his work with Mastery Partners, Dave actively gives back to the entrepreneurial community through leadership roles with organizations like Business Navigators, Biz Owners Ed, and Liberty Ministry. Whether advising on strategic growth or mentoring the next generation of business leaders, Dave brings clarity, integrity, and decades of real-world experience to every interaction. His mission goes beyond exit planning—he’s committed to helping owners build lasting legacies. 

Learn More Rick Hopper
Rick Hopper is an American inventor and entrepreneur, best known as the founder of ReadeREST, a magnetic eyeglass holder. His journey to become a successful inventor gained national attention when he appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank in 2012. During his pitch, Hopper captivated the Sharks with his story and product, earning a deal with investor Lori Greiner.

Before Shark Tank, Rick had worked in various roles, including sales and manufacturing, eventually launching ReadeREST after creating a magnetic solution to keep his reading glasses secure. His innovative yet practical product struck a chord with consumers. ReadeREST quickly scaled from a grassroots invention to a multimillion-dollar brand, selling in major retailers like QVC, Walmart, and The Container Store. Rick Hopper is both the Executive Director of Biz Owners Ed, a nonprofit serving the entrepreneur community in the DFW area, and a serial entrepreneur.

Hopper is known not only for his product’s success but also for inspiring others through his story of perseverance, faith, and innova

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
STEP 2: Roadmap for Value Acceleration
STEP 3: Relentless Execution
STEP 4: Decision: Now that desired results are achieved, the business is ready for the next step in the journey!

CONNECT WITH MASTERY PARTNERS TO LEARN MORE
LinkedIn
Website

© 2025 Mastery Partners, LLC.

Transcript

MAXIMIZE BUSINESS VALUE PODCAST - EPISODE 237 Transcript

(1s): Tom Bronson

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.

(45s): Tom Bronson

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

(59s): Rick Hopper 

Excellent. And I got an offer many more times, more than I should have. Yeah. And I'm like, you know what? And the world was ending as we know it. Yeah. And it was, it's the end of the world as we know it. That's REM, by the way. Yeah, it is. We gotta keep the footnotes as keep footnotes straight. Anyway, so we grew through adding a no-brainer product that goes along with readers' reading glasses, read, rest, and we sold, and Nice. It was a, it was no regrets. Yeah. And I never imagined that. I didn't imagine I would get it back, but miraculously they said, Hey, we wanna buy the brand, but we don't wanna manufacture anything.

(1m 53s): Rick Hopper 

My glasses are made in China, which is the iPhone, by the way. Yeah. So you really can control quality. And I got a great relationship with a factory in China, and I've been out there; they're incredible people. They're human beings just like us, trying to make a dollar. But these, they do a nice job of these. Well, I wound up, when I sold, they didn't want manufacture or anything, so I took turn 'em over to my manufacturer of these. But we were making these in Texas. The read rest magnetic eyeglass holders were made in North Texas. They asked me if I would continue making the product for them. Oh. So I did. So I got to continue. I kept a small team together for the next couple of years, and we made, made, kept manufacturing the product, and last year I decided I don't wanna be, I don't wanna do this anymore.

(2m 43s): Rick Hopper 

Yeah. Yeah. And they bought out all my inventory. Wow. And then, and then, then we found out, or we just, we hit 'em up in September of last year. Hey, how's it going? Would you guys be interested in selling the brand back? I'm like, yes, we would be. And it turned out

(2m 59s): Dave Casey

Just a, just a little inquiry, huh?

(3m 1s): Rick Hopper 

Yeah, no, just, Hey, you guys. And it turned out they had a downturn right after I sold 'em all my inventory. They had a significant downturn in revenue, but a much worse downturn in profits due to Chinese knockoffs coming in. Yep. Flooding Amazon. And they knew how, but I don't look, these guys bought a lot of companies when they were buying my company, and there was a lot of attrition with the help. And there's a, so they, they weren't able to do all the things that needed to be done to really protect. Yeah. Yeah. The brand. And it, I wound up winning in the end, but I, you know what? They won too.

(3m 41s): Rick Hopper 

Let's keep that straight. Because I took, I took a dying burning asset off of their books.

(3m 47s): Dave Casey

Yeah. And, you sold them a profitable company that I'm sure they made some profit on over the years. 

(3m 53s): Rick Hopper 

Oh, they made money for sure.

Rick Hopper (3m 54s):

Yeah. Wow. That's wonderful. So now, wow. Now you've got it back. Different, different landscape though. Different competitors. A lot, a lot of different things. So Rick Hopper's got some ideas, I think.

(4m 11s): Rick Hopper 

Yes, sir. I do. No, it's, I'm gonna go do, I'm gonna go do what I do best. Yeah. I'm going to get in front of people and I'm gonna, I'm gonna make sure anybody that can benefit from this little gadget, sure. They have access to it and they know about it. Yeah. We've, we've sold millions and millions of these things all over the world, yet every time I go out in public, people

(4m 35s): Dave Casey

Go, they're still gonna, I wear mine. I'm not wearing it right now, but when I wear it, I get asked every time.

(4m 39s): Rick Hopper 

Oh, yeah, no, you go on a trip, on a cruise, go out to dinner. You got your readers on, there's enough people out there. Like, you know, it's really funny as when you're out there, you're, you're out in public and you, you see somebody, I, you kind of see somebody recognize the product Yeah. Looking at it. And they're looking at you and then, and then, and you catch 'em looking and they look away. And then, and some of 'em, some of 'em will go, Hey, aren't you there? What is that on your shirt? Oh's, this thing. And then I always have some in my pocket. Yeah. So I always give,

(5m 11s): Dave Casey

I can start doing that as a brand ambassador for you. I need to have a handful in my pocket, because I will,

(5m 15s): Rick Hopper 

I will.

(5m 16s): Dave Casey

I've given away almost every one that I have, you know, so ReadeREST

(5m 20s): Rick Hopper 

Yeah. I will print Mastery partners. You got a great logo. Super for this. Yeah. I'll print some on there for you and give 'em to you.

(5m 27s): Dave Casey

Oh, that'd be, that'd be a little stack in your pocket. 

(5m 28s): Rick Hopper 

Yeah. And you, you just go like this, just pop 'em off. You pull one off, and you just hand it to somebody, and they're like, are you kidding me? You're giving this to me.

(5m 40s): Dave Casey

Wow. You know, we're headed for a trade show at the end of end of July. So I'll, I'll, I'll take you up on that. You don't have to give 'em to us. We'll, we'll pay for 'em, but

(5m 51s): Rick Hopper 

They're 20 bucks each, two grand for a hundred of 'em. 

(5m 55s): Dave Casey

20 bucks. Okay. You kidding?

(5m 58s): Dave Casey

You learned a lot from Walmart. Well, this is, this is fascinating. So, you know, when we talk to business owners, a lot of times, the discussions we have, business owners are normally good at something. You know, they're good at an idea and a product, maybe great at production. But usually, there are blind spots. Usually there's, okay. They may not be following their financials as closely as they could, or they may, even though they've got a great product, they may not have presented it to the world correctly, or they may not have a well-defined sales process. So when you were building the company, what was your biggest challenge? Like you said you're, you're a little unique in that you're a creative guy who loves to dive into spreadsheets.

(6m 42s): Dave Casey

But what was your biggest challenge? You know, when you think about all the things we covered, business owners, ed, which is, you know, all the aspects of your business, what was your biggest challenge?

(6m 54s): Rick Hopper 

Well, you're right. So everybody's got a different nature. We're all hardwired differently, and, you know, we're all better at something. So obviously you can tell just by talking to me on this video, I'm authentic, enthusiastic. I'm not scared of people. Yeah. I have a, I have a, I have a, I get a million-dollar idea every week. It's, it's ridiculous. I got, I got two last week, that, actually, three last week. One of 'em is a billion-dollar app that I'm gonna buil,d that I can't wait. And we're gonna talk about that later. Yeah. Another one of 'em is a, it's a backpacking thing that it's like, it's revolutionary. So I, I'm, but I, you know what keeps me humble, Dave?

(7m 37s): Rick Hopper 

I know that I'm not the author of my ideas or creativity.

(7m 41s): Dave Casey

Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

(7m 42s): Rick Hopper 

It comes to me from the ether. Yeah. From the creator. Sure. It comes to me from somewhere. Yeah. It doesn't come from the inside of me. I don't think of these things.

(7m 51s): Dave Casey

No. Somebody instilled that in you. Yeah.

(7m 54s): Rick Hopper 

So I get, I get to be overwhelmingly humble. Yeah. Sorry.

(7m 59s): Dave Casey

That's the way I always think of you. So, but no, that, that is awesome.

(8m 3s): Rick Hopper 

Okay. So we all have our hard wiring, obviously my gift is I can go talk to people and share it with people, but I'm some of the stuff that we teach at this owner's Ed, really revolves around inside the company. Processes, procedures. Yes. Bookkeeping, analytics, taking that p, and LI think Deb Vin is amazing. If you haven't had, have, have you had Deb on your show

(8m 26s): Rick Hopper 

Yet? No, but Deb's coming on. It's 'cause she's got nine numbers that everyone needs to know. And I want her Oh, that.

(8m 31s): Rick Hopper 

The nine numbers. And she is this knack for taking your p and l Yeah. And identifying every area of your business that affects your p and l. And then do, do things inside your company that make your p and l bring your P to life. 'cause guys like me, I hate that part of the business. Yeah. Banking and tax records and compliance and all. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's your thing. Yeah. You, you don't, you, that doesn't bother compliance and record all that stuff. That doesn't bother you at

(9m 1s): Rick Hopper

All. They're just not a compliant person. I mean, let's get, let's get with it.

(9m 4s): Dave Casey: 

Okay. That's different. 

(9m 5s): Rick Hopper 

So that, so yeah. So that would be the challenging piece then. So the, you know, the creativity, even the production, manufacturing, those are, those are just solving problems for you, I think. Yeah. I think what you're saying is the more mandated stuff, gotta do this, gotta grind this out. Those are the things. That's right. Those are a little frustrating. Yeah.

(9m 26s): Dave Casey 

I'm comfortable with maximum autonomy. I wanna do what I want when I want with whom I want. Yeah. Yeah. And I got, you know, I'm, I, I wanted the, the minute I even thought about building my, buying my company back. Yeah. I'm like, who would I want on my team?

(9m 45s): Rick Hopper 

Yes. Yeah.

(9m 46s): Rick Hopper 

So I contacted one of my all-star guys who was working for another guy that used to work for me before, who built his deal. And I'm like, Hey, bro, I got this, what do you think? And then putting the band back together,

Rick Hopper (10m 1s): 

He spent the last two months working for free to help himself create an opportunity to come back and do what he loves. Wow. Who he loves on Tyler.

Rick Hopper (10m 15s):

Oh, wow. Wow. Wow. 

Dave Casey (10m 16s):

I hear that is awesome. But it is awesome. But it, it's, it was, yeah. It's great.

(10m 22s): Rick Hopper 

Yeah. That is, is what a great story, man. What a great story. So, you know, I know of only one other person personally who's been down this path, and that's our friend Ron Sturgeon. Yep. So he and Ron, I'm hoping to have on the podcast at some point in the future, because he is, his story's just great too. I mean, he, he'll do it. He starts with nothing. He builds a very successful business in salvage yards, sells it for a fortune, you know, a 100-company to probably a Fortune 50 company, and then buys it back, you know, after some time. And then replicates the process. And I, I think of Joe Kesteren too, another good friend of ours. Oh, sure. That has done the same thing over and over.

(11m 3s): Rick Hopper 

Just noticed he launched a new company in the last month. Yep. You know, we just can't sit on the sidelines. So you're, you're that kind of guy. That's the kind of person that I'm hoping that our podcast listeners go for, because that's, these are people you want to emulate. You know, people who have not only solved for, for, for the right business, you know, all the right quotients, but do it over and over again, and sometimes in different businesses, you know, so that's, that's even even cooler.

(11m 34s): Dave Casey 

Yeah. I'm gonna build this thing back up, and I'm gonna turn down some offers. Yeah,

(11m 38s): Rick Hopper 

Yeah.

Dave Casey (11m 39s):

And then I'm gonna eventually entertain an offer, but I will always put something in the agreement that says, if you take the company from here down to here, yeah. You have to sell it back to me at a predetermined price. Yeah. And I'll, I'll, I'll put that in the contract

Rick Hopper (11m 55s):

Company, and then you get to that price, you know,

Dave Casey (11m 58s):

But I'm going to buy this thing back three more times between now and I'm a hundred years old. That's

Rick Hopper (12m 5s):

Kind of a perpetual motion machine. That's awesome.

Dave Casey (12m 7s):

Oh my gosh, that would be amazing. That is so

Rick Hopper (12m 9s):

Good, man. I have enjoyed it so much. Thank you for taking No,

Dave Casey (12m 12s):

No, no. We can't do it, you can't end it here. We, we teased Biz Owners, Ed.

Rick Hopper (12m 17s):

Oh, that's true. But we

Dave Casey (12m 18s):

Didn't talk, but we didn't talk about it.

Rick Hopper (12m 20s):

We didn't talk about it. So that's actually how we met. You're in the class, the mighty class of 2014, in a nonprofit that we both are on the board of now called Biz Owner's Ed. You're the executive director. I'm just a, just a board member. But that is

Dave Casey (12m 36s):

OG original founding board member.

Rick Hopper (12m 38s):

Well, that could be, that could be that. But it is something that's just, you know, something that's in my heart. You know, I started and founded a business, bought a couple of businesses, and sold them. And the whole idea is to turn around and become a servant leader and help others follow the same path. Right. So some great people had a very good vision on how to do that. In 2010, we launched, I think 201 Dave Casey and two years later, Rick Hopper came in along with several other stellar members that particular year. But the whole idea behind biz owners, ed, and I'll give it my impression, I'll let, I'll let you give yours, is the idea is to, for serious entrepreneurs that are serious about growing their business and scaling their business and growing to the point where they're, they're, they're creating jobs or creating opportunities for others.

Rick Hopper (13m 32s):

And in a lot of cases, that's their whole goal is to create opportunities for others. Yes. They're, they may build some personal wealth along the way, but the real thing is to show a path for others. And we do it once a year. We have a 10-week, I call it bootcamp for business owners, which covers every aspect of business from inception to exit. We talk about both on the first night and work through. And Rick has stepped up in the last several years to be, to run the show. He's the executive director of business owners Ed, calling the shots. And it's been just a joy to serve on your board. Let me say that.

Dave Casey (14m 11s):

I wanna just add a couple of items if you don't mind. You

Rick Hopper (14m 14s):

Bet.

Dave Casey (14m 15s):

Number one, we don't, we don't mind bringing people into the class who are in it for the money. It's okay if that's your primary motivator. Yeah, yeah. If you're in it to make other people wealthy, that's great. If you're in it to serve your community, yeah. And take market share from somebody in the community that has a business that's not doing as, as well as they should. That's good. Yeah. So what we do specifically, we spend, throughout the year, we interview several business owners who have the ability or the desire to grow and scale their companies, whether they wanna exit or not.

Rick Hopper (14m 50s):

Right? Yeah. We're pretty agnostic about that. Yeah.

Dave Casey (14m 52s):

And then at some point, middle of the year, we select 1Dave Casey qualified class members. And anybody that didn't didn't cut for that year. And anybody, any other business person that didn't apply for the class but wants to come join and get all the benefits from that mentorship program and this community of serious, committed entrepreneurs can sit in the gallery, which are the seats right behind the class. And we have 10 white, the first 10 Tuesdays of the year, typically from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. So if anybody in the Dallas area is watching this video, go to bizownersed.org, bizownersed.org.

Dave Casey (15m 32s):

BIZ, by the way, hit the join us button and apply for the class or register for the gallery.

Rick Hopper (15m 40s):

Yeah. And, and, and the thing that's, that I think is so refreshing about this, it's in person, you know, there, there are thousands of, of virtual programs out there, but this, there's something special about being in person, being in the room for those, those 10 nights in a row. And it goes by like a flash, it seems to me. But I've watched these relationships grow. I've watched people find each other and go into business together. I've watched people, just yeah. You know, support each other, that they're their businesses are tangential to each other and they both grow. It's been a tremendous experience for me to just see what happens in that room.

Dave Casey (16m 20s):

And during this video part, if you can put the word warning over the top of my head, I have a warning to service providers. Nobody is allowed to come to the biz. There are lots of networking places you can go and pitch your deal and solicit your services, and try to get customers. But if you show up to biz owners, Ed, you're coming here to be part of a community. Yeah. To learn and to grow, not to increase your sales by the community that you come into, but to join. Yep. So we take it very seriously. We protect our family, our group. Yeah. From service providers that are just there for the sole purpose of soliciting their business and trying to get clients' handout cars. Hey, I'm so, yeah.

Rick Hopper (16m 60s):

This, this is not a Chamber of Commerce breakfast. Yeah. This, this is serious

Dave Casey (17m 5s):

Entrepreneurs. I had an event, I had an event a couple months ago, and in my barn actually, and it was, you know, b owners, ed related, and, and somebody showed up and was heavily soliciting.

Dave Casey (17m 18s):

Oh. And I came down on her. I say, Hey, what are you doing? Stop soliciting. She's like, This is a networking event. I go, no, it's not. These are my friends. Get outta here. What are you doing? This is so dirty.

Rick Hopper (17m 32s):

She lucky. She made it out of the barn.

Dave Casey (17m 34s):

She was mad.

Rick Hopper (17m 37s):

Oh, that's crazy. Well, Superman. I have appreciated this. I’m looking forward to another visit, 'cause we have three or four other topics I'm sure we could cover. And for

Dave Casey (17m 49s):

Sure, Dave, we could do, we could do a 30-part series aspect of failures, near misses, and chaos. Oh yeah.

Rick Hopper (17m 57s):

Yeah. Unbelievable. Yeah, that's, that's, you know, people tune in for train wrecks and, you know, we haven't had enough of those. So we need,

Dave Casey (18m 3s):

Oh, let's do a train wreck episode, man. I've had a few.

Rick Hopper (18m 8s):

Yeah. We'll need some musical background. Dun dun

Dave Casey (18m 12s):

Every time

Dave Casey (18m 13s):

That happens. Well, that is super. So again, Rick Hopper, I guess I'm, I always just refer people to rick hopper.com, but you know, it sounds like you, we may, we have, may have a new place to refer you to, but, but with that, I'm gonna close and just say, hey, this is, again, I'm Dave Casey. This is the Mastery Partners Maximize Business Value Podcast. And it's designed for business owners who are just serious about building value in the organization. We hope you tune in next time.

(21m 20s): Tom Bronson

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 dot 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.

(22m 1s): Tom Bronson

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