Hey Contrarians,

When was the last time you paid close attention to a stick?

After today’s story, the truth is you may not be able to STOP thinking about them.

Today his goal is to buy a business, but for more than a decade, James Pader has worked hard to leverage sticks — yes, sticks — to build financial freedom.

Wondering what it takes?

Today in 5 minutes or less:

✔️ Peeling back the bark on this story

✔️ Want riches? Find the right N.I.C.H.E.S.

✔️ 1 way to think about buying vs. building

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Let’s peel back the bark on this story

For James Pader and his business Mountain Laurel Handrail, before there was sawdust, there was… not.

Back in the day, James worked in tech for a university and at a public school for mentally disabled children.

“These kids,” he explained, “were measured over years on their ability to bring a fork to the mouth. It gave me a unique perspective on how valuable life is.”

In the early 2000s, James took those experiences with him in a move to Franklin, North Carolina.

“It’s about 2 hours north of Atlanta, 1 hour southwest of Asheville, 3 hours west of Charlotte, 2 hours from Knoxville, and 45 minutes from Great Smoky Mountain National Park,” he told us.

“Very specifically in the middle of nothing.”

There, he made a pivot to construction

“I just enjoyed being outside. I enjoyed the camaraderie of the job sites. The interaction. It’s just an entirely different atmosphere than being in a corporate environment,” he told us.

In 2004, James started fulfilling one-off client requests to build handrails.

At the time, he didn’t think much of it.

He continued working in construction, and around 2008 he got a contractor’s license… RIGHT as the market was crashing.

“Great idea, great timing,” James said ironically. “But it actually worked out okay.”

You see, the way James sold his first house? He posted a YouTube video about it.

The buyer saw it, and they came ready to buy. Lucky, perhaps. But for James, it was a glimpse into the future.

“It was at that point,” he told us, when he realized, “Wow, this internet thing is really powerful.”

And THAT’S where things started to get interesting…

Want riches? Find the right N.I.C.H.E.S.

Here’s an acronym you’ll never forget:

• Niches
• Ignite
• Capital
• Harnessing
• Expertise
• for Services

There may not be a huge market for something like custom wooden handrails in your small town.

But open up sales to the entire country, and NOW we’re talking.

“If I had to depend on my county alone to make my living, I wouldn’t be able to,” James explained.

“It’s only by using the power of the internet to bring cash from other places that I’ve been able to build the life that I wanted to have.”

Around 2010, James was fortunate to still be working on good federal construction contracts.

In the meantime, though, he made himself a website just to see if it could drive some additional business his way.

And in time, it did.

One day, James got an inquiry from a lady in Washington state. She wanted to buy his signature handrails.

“So, I shipped 80 feet of handrails to Washington state,” he says.

And then about 2 or 3 months later, the same thing happened but with a person in Missouri.

James began to realize he might have found a niche that worked — and he doubled down on it.

He began teaching himself search engine optimization… Digital marketing… Email marketing… There were many years where his websites were ranked first for the term “wood railing,” he says.

Aside from buying and renting out some properties to help support his income, James has been almost entirely focused on his signature custom handrails since 2013.

To date, the business has shipped products to customers across all 50 states, Canada, and the Bahamas.

James now delegates most daily operations to a small team.

The team includes his daughter, Ella, who’s played a massive role in leading marketing for the business.

Today, James is primarily focused on people management, sales, and his next big thing (which we’ll get to).

But know that it was NOT always like this…

“There was a time — a decade — when I did every single thing,” James told us.

“Going in the forest, cutting the sticks out of the forest, hauling them, loading them up onto the truck, preparing them, processing them, shipping them, selling them. Building the website, doing the marketing.”

“I had no idea what I was doing,” he says. “Like, how am I going to ship handrails ACROSS the country?”

But here’s the truth.

If you’re smart and responsible, when you spend a decade on a business — obsessing over it, working night and day — you can figure out these kinds of problems.

1 way to think about buying vs. building

So, which tree is James climbing next?

To answer that, you’ll have to hear James in his own words:

“So there was this guy, probably about 8 or 10 miles from me. He had storage units on the side of the road. One day I saw he added these metal buildings with RVs parked underneath. And then I see him buy the lot next door, and build more of this…”

“And I was like, man, I love that.”

“But then I start running through the scenarios in my mind, and I’m like, ‘Wait — why start a business? I’ve already done this. There’s nothing glamorous about it.’”

“I now have this very diverse background in running a business.”

“I’m not a mathematician.”

“I’m not an astrophysicist.”

“But I’m good with numbers.”

“I know how to organize data.”

“I know how to organize my time.”

“And I know how to organize people.”

And THIS is how we met James...

With his daughter Ella, he decided to begin learning about business buying. Together, we’ve been helping them learn the ropes of the acquisition process.

“It’s not like buying real estate,” he says.

“It’s way harder. You can’t turn and flip a business like you can a piece of real estate. If you buy a house, and you don’t like it, you could probably turn around and sell it. With a business, you can’t just do that. Businesses are a BIG deal.”

At this point on our call with James, he pointed to a picture behind him.

“That’s me and my then 84-year-old father after we crossed the Grand Canyon,” he explained.

“Those are the kinds of things that my father and mother did for me and that I want to do for my family. My wife and I have been together for 22 years. We’ve got 4 super competent children.”

“One day, they’ll need somewhere to work. Learning about acquisitions isn’t just for me as an investment vehicle. It’s about building my future and my family’s future.”

“It’s about investing in my children.”

And ain’t that the truth.

SO not boring...

🎧 Listen: On the latest Big Deal pod, Codie goes solo to talk about what to do if you HATE your job in 2024...

▶️ Watch: Our latest video equips you with 5 actionable ideas for high-potential cleaning businesses you could launch (relatively fast)

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