Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Paddock.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am originally from western New York where I had a family of 8 siblings, in total there were 6 boys and 3 girls. My brothers and I were wrestlers hold the national record for the most wins in the country, around 1,200 wins and 40ish losses between 5 of us, 1 did not wrestle. All of my brothers went D1, Iowa, Ohio, and Edinboro. I chose to attend Liberty University down in Virginia and only wrestled on their club team for part of one year.
I studied Accounting at Liberty and got my undergrad in accounting in 2015. I finished up my senior year online and worked full-time at a credit union as a staff accountant. After obtaining my undergrad, I interviewed and got a job as a corporate staff accountant at a publicly-traded company’s HQ in Rochester, NY. There I worked full-time, was doing my MBA full-time through Liberty University Online, and decided to also study and take all 4 CPA Exams, it was a tough two years.
I decided to move to College Station, TX in 2017 where to get out of New York and my college roommate had found his way to College Station, TX where he was GM of an apartment/townhouse complex. I started working at a CPA Firm in College Station. I founded and lead the business solutions department for two years there. Focusing on small to medium-sized businesses where I helped clients with their accounting, operational programs, and business processes. I met a woman, now my wife, and we got married and moved to Dallas, TX for her to start her career. I started working for the Hunt family in their family office in Dallas.
At that time, I was no longer performing client-based work, but out of the blue, I had a friend reach out who needed help with their business. That business engagement turned into two, then turned into four, and kept growing without any advertising, just referrals, until next thing I knew I was making more money doing that than I was at the family office. In the interest of the flexible schedule for my future with my wife and our future kids, we decided to take a leap of faith and go all-in with my CPA Firm.
From there, I have met many great business professionals who help my clients, I have met amazing business owners, and through those connections entered into the M&A world with Graystone International. The CEO of Graystone being a client of mine for one of his other companies. After 6 months of working together, improving their operations and financials, he asked me to join him in the brokers’ founders’ group for Graystone which I of course accepted. It is now the CEO, the COO, three senior brokers (two attorneys and myself), a sales & marketing team, and a business development team. We focus on small to medium-sized companies looking to exit and sell their business. We also assist large buyers as their representatives looking to acquire small to medium-sized companies and offer consultations to companies who wish to improve their operations and accounting in order to be ready to exit.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Looking back, it seems like a tremendous amount has been accomplished. I would have never have imagined I would be where I am now, especially just 8 months ago. It is important to have a long-term goal/plan, with steps to accomplish that plan. It will help guide you in the right direction, but you must also come to terms that things will probably look much different than you anticipated.
There have been struggles, sleepless nights as I worry myself about my clients and preparing for the future, but I have had my wife and God to lean on who have helped me and continue to do so. Without a doubt, I could not have done this on my own. I also have many amazing business partners who have support me on this journey as well.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Graystone International focuses on small to medium sized companies whose owners are looking to exit the business world and sell their company. A company does not have to make hundreds of thousands of dollars in net income to attract a buyer, we have many buyers who are always looking to acquire solid companies, regardless of the size of the company.
We have many skilled people on the team, allowing us to know and focus on legal aspects (two attorneys), operations (myself and two successful business owners), accounting (myself), sales & marketing (a whole team), website design, business processes, program integrations, financial statements, taxes, the list goes on. We know companies and how they operate and can put a very supported listing value behind a company to sell it.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Go to a lot of entrepreneur gatherings, and if you have the opportunity to give your time or your experience to someone, give without expecting anything in return. Give to give. Having that mentality has led to so much more deep-rooted success than any other strategy I have come across.
Contact Info:
- Email: joe@graystoencorpoate.com
- Website: https://graystonecorporate.net/
- Instagram: graystonebusinessbrokers
