The BUILD Journey
Five steps from first coffee to giving back.
Most owners find us through a friend, a post, or a breakfast invite. Where you go from there is up to you. Every step is open, and nobody is pushed to the next one.
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1Learn
Discover BUILD through events, content, referrals, social media, or right here.
Meet the team → -
2Attend
Join us at a breakfast, lunch, happy hour, or workshop.
See the rooms → -
3Join
Become a member, get on the list, and plug into the wider community.
Membership → -
4Engage
Go deeper with workshops, mentoring, coaching, and leadership content.
The ecosystem → -
5Lead & Give
Sponsor an event, mentor another owner, or start a room in your own city.
Lead & give →
2Attend
Bring your value to the room.
Carry value away.
Owners spend most of the week alone in their own head. A BUILD room is a table of people who have been there. You hear the room, and the room hears you. Every room runs the same way.
Around the table
- Your name
- The business you own
- The main thing you sell
- What you are looking for today
One real question
One question goes in the middle of the table, something like “If you disappeared for thirty days, what would break first?” Then the facilitator asks who else has lived it and how they got out. Owners learn from each other, not from a lecture.
The nugget round
Everyone speaks before anyone leaves. Share one thing you heard that you will try, or one thing you have been through and can help with. The facilitator sends those introductions within a day.
Breakfast
First thing in the morning. The mastermind feel, opened up to more people.
Happy Hour
Pure networking. Door prizes and five-minute sponsor spotlights.
Lunch
A midday table for the owners who cannot do mornings.
Workshop
Quarterly, built on one specific need. Speaker series plus luncheon.
Mastermind Club
Five to eight owners, monthly, in depth. Vetted one at a time.
Locations
One drive from anywhere in Northeast Ohio.
Same format, different table. Pick the city closest to you, RSVP on Eventbrite, and pull up a chair.
Illustrative map, not to scale.
Every upcoming BUILD event is listed on our Eventbrite page.
Akron
Breakfast
Akron Family Restaurant
250 W Market St, Akron, OH 44303
First Tuesday of the month · 8:00 AM
RSVP on Eventbrite Room details →Independence
Breakfast
L.A. Pete's
6080 Brecksville Rd, Independence, OH 44131
Third Tuesday of the month · 8:00 AM
RSVP on Eventbrite Room details →Akron
Lunch
Akron Family Restaurant
250 W Market St, Akron, OH 44303
Third Tuesday of the month · 11:30 AM
RSVP on Eventbrite Room details →Avon
Venue and schedule still being finalized. Check back soon for details.
Medina
Venue and schedule still being finalized. Check back soon for details.
Your city?
We are scouting the next room now. If you want BUILD near you, help us start it.
4Engage
The BUILD ecosystem.
Go as deep as you need.
BUILD starts with trust and a good table. From there, each level adds more structure and more help. Owners move down the levels when they are ready, not before.
Foundation
Find your people
Lower the barriers and build trust.
- Breakfasts
- Happy hours
- Events
- Social media
Connection
Grow relationships
Create belonging and a reason to come back.
- Lunch roundtables
- Quarterly workshops
- Mastermind Club
- Member directory
Development
Grow the business owner
Move from networking into real change.
- Leadership training
- Mentoring
- Resource library
- Online learning
Implementation
Do the work
Help companies execute.
- Maple Creek Coaching
- Strategic planning
- Retreat to Advance
Expansion
Multiply BUILD
Create impact that scales past one table.
- New rooms
- Facilitator licensing
- New chapters
The BUILD 52 Framework
Every business is somewhere on one journey.
There is no shame in where you stand. A Startup is not a failed Scale Up, any more than a seed is a failed tree. The goal is to know your stage and work on what it needs.
Startup
Build the foundation and get traction.
The owner does everything, and for now that is correct. Prove that strangers will pay a fair price for what you do, again and again.
Graduates whenDemand is steady, your price holds, and the biggest thing slowing the company down is you.
Grow Up
Strengthen systems, team, and offers.
The business gets organized. First hires land, cash finds a floor, and the machine gets built piece by piece.
Graduates whenYour best crew lead could run daily operations for two weeks without calling you.
Scale Up
Increase impact, revenue, and reach.
A leadership team runs the company and you lead the leaders. The goal gets big enough that the old way obviously cannot reach it.
Graduates whenThe company grows while you take real time away, and nobody has to cover for you.
Hand Off
A business that runs without you.
The owner is optional and the exit is a choice, not a rescue. Sell it, keep it as an asset that pays you, or hand it down.
All three are winsThe trap was never the business. The trap was having no choice.
Ten chapters.
Sixty-five tools.
One method.
Written for the owner who still knows where the shovels are. Every tool in the same six lines: what it is, when to run it, how to run it, what you end up holding, what to watch out for, and where it came from.
- 1Awareness Gathering. Get the truth on the table.
- 2Analyze. Sort what matters from what is noise.
- 3Alignment. Put it on a timeline everyone can see.
- 4Action. One owner, one date, one definition of done.
- 5Accountability. Keep score in the open.
A business you could sell tomorrow is the healthiest one to keep.
3Join
Pick the level of involvement that fits.
Start free. Step up when the room is earning its place on your calendar. Sponsors keep the tables full and get seen by the owners in them.
Community
For owners who want to see what BUILD is about.
- Access to open events
- Email updates on upcoming rooms
- A place in the BUILD community
Member
For owners ready to work on the business, not just in it.
Everything in Community, plus
- Exclusive member events
- Mentoring access
- Leadership training
- Resource library and recorded sessions
- Member directory listing
- Member discounts
Membership pricing is being finalized.
Get on the listSponsor
For companies that serve business owners and want to be known by them.
- Brand visibility at events
- Recognition in the room and in email updates
- Five-minute sponsor spotlights
- Preferred partnerships with members
- Vendor access
1Learn
Built by owners, for owners.
Not another business operating system. BUILD is a room, a method, and a guide. In that order.
Josh Muller
Founder and Visionary
Josh founded Maple Creek Coaching and created BUILD after building and selling a large, successful construction business of his own. He brings firsthand experience to the room, helping owners ask better questions, tackle the issues holding them back, and lead with greater purpose.
Matt LaFleur
Integrator-in-Chief
Matt is a business adviser, leadership coach, experienced CFO/CPA and BUILD facilitator who helps owners turn big ideas into clear priorities and practical next steps. He brings financial and operational experience to the team, helping BUILD deliver a useful experience, powered by valuable peer-to-peer sharing, in every room.
5Lead & Give
A great business doesn't just happen.
You build it.
We are not trying to become big and unmanageable. We are trying to be in as many rooms as possible, blessing as many business people as possible, and giving value back to the people who bring their value to the room.
Back a room.
Put your company in front of the owners at the table and help a room grow in your community.
Talk sponsorshipGive back what you learned.
You have been through it. Help the owner who is standing where you stood a few years ago.
Offer to mentorStart a room in your city.
Run BUILD on material that already works, with training, the full toolbox, and the whole BUILD community behind you. You keep every relationship you make.
Start a conversation- HostOpens the door
- VenueA table and a menu
- SponsorBacks the room
- FacilitatorGuides the table
- RhythmSame time, every time
- Follow-upIntros within a day
Can't make the next room?
Every room feeds the next one.
The questions, stories, and lessons from each table come back to the community, so the value keeps going after the coffee is gone.
- Photos
- Member stories
- Quotes
- Breakfast topics
- Email updates
Get the next dates and topics before they fill up.
Questions
New to BUILD?
What is BUILD?
BUILD (Business United In Leadership Development) is a community of business owners and business leaders in Northeast Ohio. Members meet at monthly breakfasts and lunches, plus workshops and happy hours, to help each other build stronger businesses and become stronger leaders.
Who is BUILD for?
Business owners and business leaders at any stage, from a first-year startup to an owner getting ready to hand the business off. If you carry the weight of a business, there is a seat for you.
Where do BUILD rooms meet?
Right now: the Akron Breakfast (first Tuesday, 8:00 AM) and the Akron Lunch (third Tuesday, 11:30 AM), both at Akron Family Restaurant, and the Independence Breakfast (third Tuesday, 8:00 AM) at L.A. Pete's. Avon and Medina are coming soon.
What happens at a BUILD room?
Everyone introduces themselves with four quick answers: name, business, what you sell, and what you are looking for today. Then one real question goes in the middle of the table and the owners work through it together. It ends with a nugget round where every person shares one takeaway or one offer to help, and the facilitator follows up with introductions.
Do I have to be a member to attend?
No. Business owners and leaders can RSVP for any room on Eventbrite, where the current ticket details are listed.
How is BUILD different from other networking groups?
A BUILD room is not a room full of pitches. It is built around one honest question, peer-to-peer help from owners who have been there, and introductions that get made after the room ends.
Can I start a BUILD room in my city?
Yes. BUILD trains facilitators and supports new rooms with the full toolbox. See how to get involved.