Principles That Build Business

This year, Paragon 360 celebrated 25 years in business. A quarter century. One score and five years of projects, partnerships, travel, victories, mistakes, tight budgets, late nights and breakthroughs. When I look back, I don’t see a straight line of growth, but a series of decisions – some small and some defining – that have all helped shape where we are today. What we are doing today may have little to do with what we were doing 25 years ago, but here are a few lessons I’ve learned over this time for anyone building something of their own now.

Be careful who you build with

People like to say, “business is business,” but that’s not entirely true. Business is relationships. It’s alignment. It’s chemistry. It’s trust when the numbers don’t look great and you choose to stay in the boat anyway.

I’ve learned that partnerships aren’t successful because someone is talented or well-connected – many people have those qualities. Partnerships succeed because values match, communication stays honest and expectations don’t remain unspoken. The best partners show up consistently. They protect relationships. They honor commitments when it’s inconvenient. They say “we,” not “I.” You don’t have to keep score because everyone already understands the score.

Choose those people. Then protect those relationships relentlessly.

Choose clients you want to work with

When you first start, you’ll take almost any job from anyone, and that’s understandable. But over time, one truth becomes very clear: Who you work for is just as important as the work itself.

A client who values partnership, process and communication will fuel growth for years. A client who views you as a commodity will burn your team out and quickly erode culture. If you want sustainability, not just revenue, get very clear on just who your ideal client is. And have the discipline to say no when something isn’t a fit. Projects just turn out better for everyone when you are working with people who value the relationship.

Take calculated risks

We’ve made investments that kept me up at night. But successful risk-taking isn’t gambling; it’s preparation.

• Calculated risk means the following:
• Knowing your downside and accepting it
• Building contingency plans
• Timing moves with cash, not hope
• Being opportunistic when conditions align

Some of our biggest successes came from bold decisions – expanding services, making big hires, investing in fabrication, leaning into turnkey solutions – but they were never blind leaps. They were strategic bets grounded in experience and data.

Protect culture like an asset

One of the most surprising lessons of the last 25 years is that culture is not a soft, human resources term. It’s a revenue driver.

Culture is how you recruit and retain good people in a competitive market. It’s how you keep quality consistent across hundreds of small decisions. It’s how you ensure your brand promise gets delivered by someone other than you.

A culture of accountability, clarity, collaboration and respect is not built by accident. It requires ongoing communication, celebration of wins, correction of drift and leadership modeling the behavior they expect.

Scaling is building bigger and smarter

Growth is exciting, but unstructured growth can destroy good companies. Scaling is more about systemization than expansion. It’s process, training, technology and making sure everyone understands the standard.

Our success came not just from doing more work, but from doing good work in the same way, every time, with the right people in the right seats.

After 25 years of business ownership, I’m more convinced than ever of this: Business longevity comes from consistency – in relationships, culture, process and values. Trends change, technologies shift, markets move, but people who build something they’re proud of, with people they respect, tend to survive.

Donnie Brawner, Partner, Colligo Holdings
CEO/Owner, Paragon 360 & Paragon Fabrication

Originally Featured in Springfield Business Journal: The Principles That Build Business