Stop Running Your Business Alone: Brandon Bagley on Peers and Trust

Nov 20, 2025

5 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

Ownership can feel like a solo pursuit. At one conference, a speaker asked a group of AlphaGraphics owners who they were accountable to, and someone answered nobody. Brandon Bagley thinks that is exactly the wrong feeling. Eighteen years after buying his first AlphaGraphics franchise in Phoenix, he runs four locations with 13 employees, takes more vacations than most of his peers, and recently spent six weeks mostly out of the office with no worry. His napkin explains how. We is greater than me. Stronger together. It starts with an I, he says, because someone has to start the business. Owners who stay stuck there buy themselves a job. The way out is a team you trust to make decisions, and a network of peers who will hold you accountable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG9FzZExA6U

Inspired by Paper Napkin Wisdom Episode 315 with Brandon Bagley.

Who is a business owner really accountable to?

When Brandon heard an owner say he was accountable to nobody, he pushed back. Leaders need people to be accountable to, probably even more so because they lead the organization.

That was my reaction too in my early years. People told me I had no boss. I felt I had more bosses than ever. The bank, every client, every team member.

Brandon also has a twist on the old line that there's no I in team. There are lots of I's in a team, he says. They are the skills and personalities each person brings. The key is when those I's become a we, rowing in the same direction.

Why peer groups work only when you bring your problems

Brandon has opted into an AlphaGraphics owner focus group three times in a row. Each is a two year commitment, and he calls it a de facto board of directors. Members open up everything about their businesses. As part of the process, you host the other owners at your location and they interview your staff. Brandon calls it nerve wracking, and also the most valuable thing he does.

The value comes from honesty. Owners who show up with a happy face and an everything is fine story don't grow. The benefit arrives when you say, here is where I'm struggling, how did you get through it?

Newer owners have something to offer too. A fresh point of view can question habits. Brandon tells his team there is one wrong answer to the question of why they do something a certain way. Because we've always done it. The only acceptable answer is that it's the best way they know how to do it today.

I pointed out that every town has places to find peers, from Entrepreneurs' Organization, YPO and Vistage to the local chamber of commerce. Joining isn't enough, though. Brandon is clear that you have to engage, and you have to give before you get.

How learning from competitors became Brandon's advantage

Brandon came into the business knowing nothing about printing. He had a science degree, couldn't find work in that field, and helped his in-laws in their business for what was supposed to be six months and became four years. He still uses what he learned in the lab every day. Test a process, try for a better outcome.

When they sold that business, he sat down with the owners of the AlphaGraphics location they had been buying from. They spoke so highly of the network that he joined.

There were 15 locations in the Phoenix area when he started. He learned everything he could from those owners. Others who came later chose to do it their own way and not ask for help. Brandon notes that some of them are no longer around. The owners who treat each other as peers rather than competitors end up the most successful.

Today he figures there are around 50 franchisees he could call who would drop everything to help him. He jokes that he could have opened Brandon's Print Shop. He is glad he didn't.

Why growing sales can keep you stuck in the office

Everyone has blind spots. A sales minded owner might celebrate growing sales by 30%, then discover they didn't make any more money. It looks good on an award. It doesn't help you or your team take anything home.

I added that sales growth with no profit eats at an owner, because you are only getting busier, and you can't leave the office when you can feel something isn't working.

Brandon once asked another owner, running one of the top centers in the network, whether he was coming to the annual conference. The owner said he couldn't even get away for lunch. Brandon sees that as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Stuck in the business, you might as well wear a firefighter's hat. And often you start more fires than you put out.

How to trust your team enough to step away

Even with one location and three people, Brandon went to the national conference. A week out of the office, learning from peers, gave him back his energy.

The first time he stepped away, he came back to a realization. Everything was going to be OK. His team solved problems as well as he would have, maybe not perfectly, and they learned they could do it too.

He believes the hardest part of moving from I to we is letting go of ego. Asking for help is a sign of wisdom. He could still run most equipment in the shop, but he is not the best person to do it anymore. So he trusts his team, lets them own decisions and lets them make mistakes. Nobody gets in trouble for a mistake. The conversation only happens when the same mistake repeats.

I asked whether trust has to be given before it is received. Brandon agreed completely. You can't expect it on day one, and if you don't give it, you won't get it back.

That trust is how he grew. About nine years after opening his first location, he opened a neighboring territory from scratch. A year later he told someone he would never open more. Three weeks after that, he acquired two existing locations. Two managers he trusts hold down the fort when he is away.

How to move from me to we in your business this week

A few steps drawn from Brandon's approach:

Name who you are accountable to. If the answer is nobody, find a peer group and commit to it.
At your next peer meeting, bring the problem you'd rather hide.
Ask your team why one process works the way it does. Listen for because we've always done it.
Check your numbers for sales growth that isn't turning into profit.
Schedule real time away, set an out of office, and let the team handle what comes up.
When someone makes a mistake, talk about what they learned rather than the mistake itself.

Brandon's shout out went to every peer who has picked up the phone and had a hard conversation with him. I offered a reframe from a friend. Call it a powerful conversation instead.