Today we’d like to introduce you to Judge Graham.
Judge, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up during the dotcom era, and the degree I earned in college was the first degree offered for e-business. My experience in those formative years was a core compilation of computer science, marketing, finance and business management. So, in a way, my career path from a college perspective actually chose me. It forced me to head in the digital marketing direction. I’ve always had a fascination with wanting to make money by getting into marketing. In digital, specifically, I was able to touch multiple sectors of businesses and help them generate revenue.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I had just finalized the deal to sell my company for a high eight-figure price. My largest client at the time accounted for 34% of my customer concentration and had 6:30 am breakfast meetings twice a month with us, which my partner and I switched off running. I was in the shower that morning, planning out everything I was going to do with my new money, what I was going to splurge on, buy my parents, in-laws, kids, when I get a call from my partner, who was known for being a jokester, telling me this client has just fired us. I was sure he was messing with me. He was not.
Obviously, the deal was off. They said it was too risky, even if they tried to recut the whole deal. I gave myself ten minutes to fall apart but then had to come back and explain to the leadership team why they would no longer be making the money they were promised. Even more difficult, we had to let go of most of the people who worked on that account. I didn’t let this keep us down. Six months later, we replaced that account and then some. Taught me a valuable lesson to always diversify our clients, no matter how big our company may get, so we would never be dependent on one account again. The original company did end up buying us, but this time at a higher price.
Another big lesson I took from this was that never feel like anything is guaranteed because the second you let your guard down you get soft and you will lose and will be punished; the bigger you get, the harder the punishment.
Please tell us more about your work. What should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
In business, the term “Burn the Ships” means different things to different people. For some it means, burn your business to the ground and rebuild it. We know that feeling because we have had to start over…from scratch. But to us, “burn the ships” means, remove your plan B. No more starting and stopping. It’s time to get your business to the next level… NOW!
You may have a good business; we think it can be better. You may have success, but we think you can more of it. You may have some freedom, but we know you can have more of it. It’s time to go to the next level. It’s time to “burn the ships”, the Attack and Conquer way. We help entrepreneurs look at their businesses like chess vs. checkers as great businesses require a new level of thinking. It is important to learn how to set goals properly and tie them back to people, metrics and specific timelines. At AC BOOTCAMP, we force you to build out your 12-month roadmap. The next 12 months of the entrepreneur’s business will determine your success or failure. That is what we do at AC Bootcamp. We create, review and hold you accountable to the actions that maximize your focus for the next 12 months.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.burntheships.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/judgegraham/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judgegrahambusiness
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