Know Your Lane: Strengths, Partners and Grit From a 20-Time Founder [Business Makers Podcast]

Justin Johnson of Dominion Wealth is on his 20th business at 38. He’s fronted rock bands and made coconut-oil candles, published ebooks and worked as a state technology architect. He doesn’t count any of it as a failure, because every venture taught him something about how business works.
Hosts Charlton Haupt and Gabe Rench sit down with Justin, a Business Makers Network member, to talk about what he learned along the way: how to tell whether you own a business or just a high-paying job, why choosing a partner is a lot like choosing a spouse, and Gabe’s three-year “courtship” rule for new partnerships. Justin also gives his top lessons for anyone building something:
1. Know your strengths. They’re usually the things that feel boring and easy to you but hard for everyone else.
2. Expect it to be harder, more expensive and more time-consuming than you think.
3. Meet a real need and give more value than you charge.
3½. Be OK with working a long time before it pays.
Charlton adds what he learned running a Liberty Tax franchise, including a cheat code for getting your first year of tax prep done for free.
Join a courageous group of unapologetic Christian business leaders at https://businessmakers.network/
This episode is for general information and isn’t tax, legal or financial advice. Talk to a qualified professional about your situation.
Chapters
0:00 Welcome and meet Justin Johnson
2:05 From rock bands to candles: 20 business ventures
11:10 Do you own a business or a high-paying job?
13:15 Knowing your lane and finding partners
19:44 A partnership is a marriage
24:01 The three-year partnership rule
26:42 100% of $100K or 20% of $50 million?
29:11 Lesson 1: Know your strengths
30:08 Lesson 2: It’s harder than you think
31:29 Hire a bookkeeper (and when you need a CPA)
34:33 The tax prep cheat code
36:25 Lesson 3: Serve the real need
37:17 Lesson 3½: Be OK not getting paid for a while
38:31 Wrap-up