ST. LOUIS, MO / ACCESS Newswire / June 20, 2025 / Brad W. Burns, owner and operator of five diverse companies spanning construction, signage, hospitality, and seafood industries, has emerged as a leading voice on the critical balance between visionary thinking and hands-on execution in today's rapidly evolving business landscape. Through his unique holdings company model and shared services approach, Burns has demonstrated that successful leadership in high-growth environments requires leaders who can seamlessly toggle between big-picture strategy and ground-level implementation.
Embracing Grit in Business Operations
The work ethic that drives this unconventional approach traces back to rural roots and manual labor. "I grew up in a farming community, so you're always used to getting your hands dirty and doing what you have to do to make it successful," Burns explains. His farm background is reflected in the way he operates. When most CEOs are sitting in corner offices reviewing reports, he's out there doing the work alongside his crews. His contracting business offers a perfect example, despite having no carpentry background, he made himself a fixture on every job site early on when building the company.
His commitment goes far beyond normal business hours. "I was always the one that was typically first to site, last to stay. You know, the guys who work a 10 hour day, I would work a 12 or 14 hour day on the site." But the real work often started after his crew called it quits. While employees headed back to their Airbnb after long days on out-of-town projects, he stayed up handling the business side - invoicing, billing, sales calls, project management. His teams noticed this dedication, and it earned him credibility that no amount of motivational speeches could match. "When you're having these conversations with guys out in the field, they realize that you've been out there doing it as well and they can respect that. And they've seen that you're willing to work longer hours than they would ever imagine working."
Why Vision Without Execution is Just Daydreaming
The business world is full of people who fall into two camps: visionaries who can't execute and execution experts who lack bigger picture thinking. Both approaches have fatal flaws. Pure execution without vision creates what he sees as a common trap for ambitious people. "You can have a vision, but if you don't have the ability to make the vision a reality, then it's just something in your head that you can't really hold."
On the flip side, Burns has watched skilled operators limit themselves by thinking too small. They become masters of their craft but never build anything scalable. The sweet spot requires something different entirely. "I think being able to see it and also make it happen is a rare skill." This philosophy shaped his approach to the restaurant franchise group. Instead of picking concepts based on gut feelings or financial projections alone, he's planning to open four or five different franchise concepts specifically to understand how franchising actually works before potentially developing his own concept. It's strategic learning disguised as business expansion.
How to Actually Manage Five Companies at Once
Managing multiple businesses simultaneously sounds almost impossible until you see his systematic approach. The secret isn't sophisticated software or complex organizational charts - it's disciplined communication and brutal honesty about what's actually happening. Weekly meetings form the backbone of his oversight strategy, but these aren't typical status updates. They dig into everything that affects business performance. "We have weekly meetings where we run through the entire workflow of the company, which really gives me insight because as you grow, it's challenging to keep your thumb on every single aspect of the organization."
These sessions cover sales pipeline updates, operational bottlenecks, client relationship issues, cash flow concerns, and collection problems. The goal is maintaining complete visibility across all moving parts. "This allows me to understand from a sales perspective what's going on and then how that will impact our operational side of things." Organization at the personal level matters just as much as systematic meetings. Digital to-do lists accessible from anywhere keep priorities aligned with daily execution. "I add stuff as we go and make sure that I allocate some time each day in the morning and towards the end of the day to knock some of the more critical things off."
Training Wheels Off Leadership
Delegation presents unique challenges when you're used to doing everything yourself. The temptation is either to maintain too much control or abandon people without proper preparation. His solution splits the difference through what he calls "training wheels off" leadership. People get sufficient time to understand workflows, processes, and expectations, then they're expected to operate independently. "You give them some time to understand the workflow, understand the processes, the expectations, get a feel for their job description and then take the training wheels off and just push them on the road."
This approach requires hiring people capable of autonomous decision-making rather than those who need constant supervision. The fast-paced nature of managing multiple businesses makes micromanagement impossible anyway. "We look for people who have the ability to really grasp the concepts and work autonomously. Everyone's crazy busy here, so delegation and accountability are huge things."
Adapting to Change with Confidence
While competitors worry about artificial intelligence displacing human workers, Burns sees technological advancement as an efficiency multiplier for organizations willing to adapt. The real threat isn't technology itself but resistance to learning new capabilities. "I think you look at technology as a way that we get more efficient. I think a lot of people are probably concerned because they're not willing to put in the effort to upskill themselves and improve what they can offer to a company." This perspective aligns with his broader philosophy about challenges creating opportunities for those willing to do the work others avoid.
The approach proves something increasingly rare in modern business: leaders who understand their operations from the ground up make better strategic decisions. When you've spent a year installing graphics, managed concrete pours, and handled restaurant operations personally, strategic planning is grounded in operational reality rather than theoretical assumptions. "If you're able to execute but you have no vision, then you're a solopreneur. You've bought yourself a job, essentially. I think the ability to marry those two things is critical for being able to really grow and scale something."
Media Contact:
Brad W. Burns
St. Louis, Missouri
Brad@theburnscos.com
www.theburnscos.com
www.bradwburns.com
SOURCE: Brad W. Burns
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