Chuck Crumpton asked me the hard questions on the Build Better Business Podcast
- Harry T. Jones
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
On his podcast, Build Better Business, Chuck Crumpton asked me about my career pivot—why I walked away from a successful food manufacturing business to do what I do now. And I told him the truth:
“I came back and talked to my pastor. And said, ‘I have squandered 41 years of being in business by failing to live my faith.’”
That’s not easy to admit.
If you’ve got 45 minutes, you can hear the whole conversation (CLICK HERE).
Here’s what we talked about:
The Blackberry Patch Story
When my partner, Randy Harvey, and I bought Blackberry Patch, it was a tiny seed of a business.
On day one, we cut 90% of the product line—from 400 items down to 40. That decision defined everything that came after.
But the real story of Blackberry Patch was never about the products.
Randy grew up tough. And he often hired people nobody else would hire. Out of jail. Out of drug rehab. People who just needed a chance.
It took a trip to Central Asia—watching entrepreneurs demonstrate their faith through the way they did business in places where they couldn’t pray or quote scripture—for me to finally see what we’d been doing all along.
We weren’t just making specialty food products.
We were providing livelihoods to people who had been rejected by others.
We had been living our purpose for years without ever naming it.
The Day I Walked Away
After a two-week sabbatical with my wife, I sat down with my partners and said: “Guys, I love you, but I’m leaving. And I don’t know what I’m going to be doing.”
They may have thought I was crazy.
We already had a buy-sell agreement in place. Six months later, I was gone—on my own terms, with a competent successor.
Five Years of Figuring It Out
The next chapter didn’t come easily. Buying neglected land and fixing it up. That lasted about a week.
After writing and sharing stories for a couple of years, it was the content on succession planning that got the most engagement.
The engagement with followers was unlike anything else posted. That was my signal.
What I’m Doing Now
Today, I’m on a mission to help 100 founders execute a succession plan and finish well. Through our Breakthrough Groups—virtual, confidential, and international—founders are saying things out loud they’ve never said before. Not even to their families.
Last month, I was on a Zoom call with two brothers. When I mentioned the possibility of selling the business, the older brother left the call. Just disappeared.
The idea made him physically ill.
He came back. We kept talking. And by the end, we were having the most important conversation that family had ever had about their business.
These aren’t just business conversations. They’re life conversations.
Three things from this conversation you can apply today:
Define your niche—then defend it ruthlessly. We cut 90% of our product line on day one. What would happen if you did the same?
Know your exit before you need it. We had a buy-sell agreement in place long before I was ready to leave. Do you?
Ask yourself: Profit → Bless → Advance. Are you making a profit, blessing the people around you, and advancing a purpose worth continuing for another generation?
The book is out. The workbook just dropped.
Succession Planning for Impact: How to Build a Significant Life and a Company That Will Outlast You is available now wherever books are sold.
The companion workbook—Succession Planning for Impact (The Workbook)—adds discussion questions and implementation checklists to every chapter. Both are on Amazon.
Ready to listen?
Click here: Build Better Business Podcast
Hit subscribe while you’re there. Leave a five-star review if it moves you.
And if you’re a founder who’s ready to stop avoiding the conversation—reach out. Two spots remain in our next Succession Planning Breakthrough Group.
Let’s finish well—together.
— Harry T. Jones harryt@Cultivatingimpact.biz
Ready to take your next step?
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