Leveraging Systems & Automations – Max Friar

Branch Out - A Podcast from Connection Builders

Automated systems free your team up to focus on the best uses of their time, but these systems could not be developed if one did not take the time to reflect on how to improve. Today we invite Max Friar onto the show to speak about the reflections he made about his industry, how they allowed him to automate the mundane sides of his business, and the huge benefits this has offered. Max is the Managing Partner at Calder Capital, a full-service M&A firm focused on lower middle-market companies within the Midwest. Calder was successful in closing 40 transactions in 2020, and it was the most successful year the firm ever had, despite all of the challenges the pandemic presented. Max takes us through the various positions he occupied in the M&A industry and how he figured out how to solve different pain points using automation before starting Calder. He then gets into the weeds of exactly which parts of the business brokerage process he has automated using software and other systems. We talk about how these jobs, when done manually, are incredibly draining for business brokers, leading to burnout and poor service. The plus for Max is that since implementing his automation systems, his team does not struggle with these issues anymore, and this, in turn, has allowed him to scale and broaden the range of high-quality services he can now offer. We talk about what these are before wrapping our conversation up on the topic of reflection once more. Without these valuable moments of contemplation, Max would never have been able to scale his business and refine his services in the way he had. Tune in for all this and more today!
Key Points From This Episode:

• Max's experience in M&A and how automation helped him scale Calder.
• Automation processes Max put in place using software to vet potential buyers.
• Three ways business brokers get burned out and how automation can help.
• How Max's attitude about the value of rest for productive work has changed.
• The way automation can free up staff for more key roles and treating clients better.
• Attachment sellers have to their businesses and how important the right buyer is.
• The need to market a business widely for finding the right buyer.
• How much emotional bandwidth is needed to take a buyer through the selling process.
• The role of reflection in helping Max come up with his automation systems.
• Evolution in the business; prospecting for new sellers, data analytics, and more.
• Max's ideas around whether a concrete business plan is necessary for success.

Max Friar on LinkedIn
Max Friar Email
Calder Capital
Infusionsoft
Alex Drost LinkedIn
Branch Out Podcast LinkedIn
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