We recently connected with Chad Johnson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chad, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think what it takes to be successful is the drive to succeed or achieve your specific goal. For me my goal was freedom from punching a clock, I wanted to make money but it was more important to me not to have to punch a clock or answer to anyone. I wanted the flexibility of golfing on a Wednesday if the opportunity was there. That being said when you are starting a small business there is not much free time to do those things. I think it absolutely helped me to write my goals down where I could see them everyday, I think those goals seep into your subconscious and your brain finds a way to achieve them. My uncle taught me this trick when I was in my late teens as he was very successful and his house was full of post it notes with one or two words written on each, they were all small little reminders of his goals, and remarkably he reached all of them. I started that trick when I started my first company and wrote $50,000 on a post it note and stuck it on the fridge. That was my profit goal for my first year, at the end of the year I made $49,900. It was game on from there, I started writing goals on post its and looking at them every day, night, and remarkably they all started coming true. The lesson here is the power of the mind is incredible and if you can convince yourself or just let your subconscious mind know of them daily, your mind goes to work and positive things start to happen.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started at 22 by moving to Colorado, getting a paper route to pay the rent and cold calling out of the yellow pages in 1996. I was taught that selling is a numbers game and if I made 50 calls a day, I should get 5 quotes a day, one appointment a day and one order a week. I just stuck to that formula and it worked, I slowly started getting more and more customers until 1998 when my dad had a heart attack back in MN. He lived but I thought I better move back or I was never going to move back. So I moved back in 1999 and started a Label company with my first boss Gene Hickman. He helped finance a press and we were off and running, after a few years of growth I bought him out and hired my sister Amber and my dad. They helped me grow the business until I brought in a partner in 2005, we really started to grow then and made the Inc 500 list twice between 2005 and 2010. I bought Plateworks in 2009 (they make flexible printing plates for the print market), they had a great GM in Mike Kasel who ran the business while I was running the label company. We sold the label company in 2011, then I came to Plateworks and started to focus on growing them. I brought my sister in Amber as a partner as she helped me throughout. We then bought Adhue graphics (a film distributor to the print market) in 2015, then we bought Medalyst(film converter) in late 2015. We had tremendous growth with our new slitting capabilities at Adhue. We then bought a twin of Plateworks in Chicago by the name of Sharper Image Engravers in 2019, got back into the label market in 2021 and bought Pro Label. This was getting to be a bit much so I sold a portion of Plateworks, Adhue and Sharper to a financial partner by the name of Mill City Capital. They have been a great partner and we just closed on our first acquisition in Memphis with Allied Graphics. We now have over 125 employees and are looking to become a real player nationally. I think what sets us apart is the team we have put together, we are like family, everyone knows their role and contributes. Its been a fun ride and looking forward to continuing.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

So I was cold calling in MN in 2001 or so and was getting a lot of NO’s! I was struggling to make any money and started to question what I was doing. I had a recruiter reach out and offer me a nice paying sales job with a company car, etc. I called my best friend and told him what I was thinking and he told me ” absolutely do not take that sales job, you are going to make it , just stick to it, remember the reason your in this is for the Freedom”. He was right , I turned down the job and literally the next day I got a huge order, that fired me up and I was off and running, never looked back.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

yes,

As you think by James Allen is really what started my positive thinking habits. It’s a great book that reminds us that positive thoughts attract positive results. Its my favorite book.

Also, honestly starting your day with a prayer, being thankful for what I have, asking for help to solve problems, be healthy, be humble, learn from the past, stay positive, forgive myself and others, be thankful for nature and all it gives us.

Starting your day with this really helps set the tone and prepares me for whatever it is I’ll face. Try it, you’ll see..

Contact Info:

• Website: adhue.com, plateworksplus.com, sharperi.net, prolabelmn.com