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

Sales, funding, scaling, loneliness, and where to put your money. Charlton Haupt and Gabe Rench asked business owners across the country for their number one pain point, and these five came up again and again. In this episode, they walk through all five, then dig into the second one: why most pitches from Christian founders fall short, and what a pitch needs to earn an investor's trust.

In this episode:

Business Makers Network is a network of unapologetically Christian business leaders. Learn more at https://businessmakers.network/

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He spent 13 years as a Marine combat engineer officer — building a base camp for over 5,000 Afghan refugees during the Kabul withdrawal and running the Marine Corps's biggest live-fire range, training 50,000 Marines a year. Then he got out, found an abandoned 500-acre shooting range that had been shut down for 5 years, and bought it — sight unseen.

In this episode of Business Makers Network, hosts Charlton Haupt and Gabriel Rench talk with Parker Tomassi, founder of Legacy Ranch Shooting Range (https://lrshooting.com) & Legacy Arms Gun Store (https://www.legacy-arms.com) in Edgewood, New Mexico, about:
🎖️ 13 years of active duty, including the Afghanistan withdrawal
🔫 Buying a shuttered range with zero business experience (a psychology degree, not an MBA)
🚀 300 people showing up on soft-opening day
🎬 The John Wick-themed retail room, weddings, and film shoots happening on-site
🏆 What it means to be a "double distinguished" competitive marksman
✝️ Building a business that puts Christ and community first

If Parker's story of courage, risk, and faith-driven growth hits home, this is exactly the kind of leader Business Makers Network exists to support.

👉 Join the network of Christian business leaders building successful companies and leading with conviction: https://businessmakers.network

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