Success Requires Specialization!
Imagine listening to an orchestra or great symphony. Each musician is an expert in their own instrument and together they make incredible music. Now imagine if each of those musicians swapped instruments. They still know how to read music and they might know the basics of the new instrument, but the overall quality of the music would suffer – in fact, it would probably ruin the music altogether. Just because a musician is an expert in one instrument does not mean she is an expert in all instruments.
Similar to the musician, excellence in any industry requires specialization. Becoming a specialist involves thousands and thousands of hours of experience and training in a very narrow field of practice.
As a business strategist and entrepreneur, Jedediah had fifteen years of experience building and managing successful companies before disaster struck. He had become an expert in business strategy and development and was very aware of the constant dangers of fraud. Like many business owners, he relied on competent attorneys to structure his businesses and write contracts. He assumed that when he paid an attorney $500 an hour to write a business contract that the attorney was a specialist who understood what he needed in order to properly protect his business and interests. What Jedediah did not realize was that most attorneys have absolutely no experience running a business. Although any competent attorney knows the proper legal jargon and contract theory, at the end of the day almost all attorneys simply punch their clients information into a generic contract template, modifying clauses as necessary. What you end up with is a general contract that includes all the basic clauses but very little of it is uniquely tailored to your specific business.
Of even greater concern is the fact that because most attorneys have never run a business, they have very little experience or training in how to prevent fraud or protect your assets. The law is vast and contains countless areas that require specialization to navigate successfully. Although some law firms might specialize in one area of law such as divorce, personal injury, bankruptcy, or criminal defense, very few specialize in fraud prevention. Most law firms take a “Jack-of-all-trades” approach to law and cover a broad range of subjects. But a Jack-of-all-trades is a master of none. As Jedediah frequently says, “You don’t know what you don’t know,” and without extensive experience dealing with fraud, you cannot know how to properly prevent it. As a business owner, you cannot afford to put the fate of your company in the hands of someone who doesn’t specialize in fraud prevention.
Bridging The Gap
As an entrepreneur in multiple industries, Jedediah has seen all kinds of fraud. From consumer fraud, forged checks, and counterfeit products to employee theft, embezzlement, and illegal kickbacks, Jedediah has experienced it all. With each new occurrence safeguards were developed and put into place to prevent those problems from happening in the future. Believing he had taken all the necessary precautions, Jedediah was caught unprepared when his business partner developed an elaborate scheme to defraud his company of millions of dollars and murder his business associates (
click here for details).
Jedediah spent more than sixteen months untangling the complex web of deceit and theft to fully expose his former business partner and bring him to justice. But he never recovered any of the stolen money. After spending nearly $20,000 on attorneys, Jedediah was told there was no “collectability” and that although he would very likely win a lawsuit, he would probably never be able to get his money. And to pour salt on the wound, the criminal justice system failed to protect Jedediah’s interest by refusing to allow restitution despite the fact that they confiscated the partner’s assets.
In the end, the best money Jedediah could have spent would have been to adequately prevent the problem in the first place. But “you don’t know what you don’t know, and what you don’t know can ruin you.”
Now Jedediah is fighting back.
He knows that fraud prevention is a win or lose battle being fought every day with very high stakes, and small business owners simply cannot afford to experience fraud because most fraud victims never get their money back.
There are hundreds of companies who can help identify and stop corporate fraud, theft, and embezzlement AFTER it has happened. If you are persistent you might be able to convince law enforcement to file criminal charges (it took Jedediah eight months, hundreds of documents, tens of thousands of dollars collecting evidence – not to mention the profits lost during that time – and countless hours of hard, tedious work and constant communication to convince law enforcement to pursue charges against his former business partner). But the simple fact remains that most victims never get their money back. It is not enough to stop fraud after it happens, you want to prevent fraud BEFORE it occurs.
Jedediah is bridging the gap between a lawyer’s legal training in contract/business formation and his experience as a business owner who has seen, first-hand, the debilitating effects of not only small-scale fraud, but fraud in its most extreme forms.
Becoming An Expert
The world of fraud is constantly evolving. In order to successfully prevent fraud you need an expert who can guide you along and help you set up safeguards
BEFORE you become a victim. Otherwise, you run the risk of spending a lot of money and time creating a business only to lose it to dishonest people.
Jedediah became an expert at fraud prevention by necessity because, like all business owners, his money was on the line, and only by losing it was he able to understand how to protect it. Millions of dollars were stolen from his company through fraud, wiping away years of hard work. After spending a small fortune on attorneys, private detectives, and expert analysts, and a year and a half of his time, Jedediah became extremely familiar with investigating, recognizing and uncovering even the most complex scams.
In 2015 Jedediah was able to put his new skills to the test when a former business associate asked him to look into a $2.1 million investment deal he was considering. The investor had already spent $40,000 and was ready to fully commit to the deal. In only three days Jedediah was able to identify the red flags and ultimately expose the entire deal as a fraud. Word of Jedediah’s expertise spread quickly and he soon found himself being approached by business owners from across the country asking him to vet their investment proposals and business deals. Jedediah quickly realized that out of the ashes of his own tragedy arose an opportunity to help countless others avoid the same disaster.
Personal Background
Born in poverty in southern Indiana and raised in Florida, Jedediah’s formative years were influenced by two very different lifestyles and cultures. The second oldest of five children in a single parent home, he learned early on that everything in life was earned and recognition required excellence. At the age of ten he started his first job as a newspaper carrier. Jedediah made a decision to provide the best customer service possible, to always be on time and respectful, and to grow his customers by routinely knocking on doors and selling subscriptions. Over the course of two years he won Carrier of the Month four times and Outstanding Carrier of the Year. In the process something magical happened. Tips. Often doubling what he was paid by the newspaper company. He learned that excellent performance and going beyond what was expected produced extraordinary results!
When Jedediah was twelve he decided to attend Boy Scout camp, but his family could not afford the registration fees. Committed to raising the money he needed, Jedediah convinced his Scout leader to buy boxes of Charms Blow Pop suckers in bulk (at seven cents each). He then sold those suckers for a quarter a piece to his fellow students at school. Within two months he raised enough money to pay for Scout camp and buy all the equipment he needed. At an early age Jedediah developed an understanding of the complex dynamics between supply and demand, the benefits of creating a niche market by custom tailoring his services to specific market needs, and the immeasurable importance of a “people-first” business approach combined with superior performance.
Becoming a Millionaire
Jedediah attended DePauw University where he completed a degree in economics and political science. He graduated with “Honors with Distinction” in the prestigious
Honor Scholar program. After college he teamed up with a small investment firm and became a real estate acquisition specialist. In under two years he accumulated more than $10 million in assets for the firm and was a millionaire by the age of 25. Adding to his “people + performance” business formula, Jedediah learned the power of developing strategic relationships, win-win negotiating skills, and how to leverage out-of-the-box strategies in order to maximize value.
Jedediah took those skills to the next level when he created a manufacturing and distribution company that operated across the United States and employed more than one hundred employees. His win-win formula for success ensured that everyone who did business with him financially benefited, resulting in stronger alliances and relationships of trust as well as increased opportunities. Jedediah further tested his skills when he started an oil field services company in North Dakota’s oil boom. After careful analysis of the industry, Jedediah developed a unique business strategy that allowed his company to identify and capitalize on an underutilized, and often ignored, niche in the industry. As a result, his company became one of the largest transportation companies in the region, operating more than a hundred trucks on a daily basis, and bringing in more than $5 million a month.
But all that success came crashing down at the hands of a con-man. Now, at the age of 38, Jedediah is starting over with a renewed appreciation for life and a passion to protect others from the life-altering fraud he experienced. In his current endeavors, Jedediah continues to emphasize the same core principals he learned in his youth, but has added vital skills and technical know-how in preventing fraud in order to create success and opportunities for prosperity for anyone with the desire and courage to pursue it as well as protect that success.
Award-Winning Author and Scholar
Jedediah’s sharp intellect and thirst for knowledge are not limited to the world of business. He is also an accomplished author and prolific writer. Growing up in a Christian home, Jedediah learned from his youth the value of serving others. He also developed a passion for unraveling Christianity’s origins and complex history. Blessed with an endlessly inquisitive mind, Jedediah’s desire to discover the “governing dynamics of God” has led him on a life-long quest to understand God, the evolution of our Christian heritage, and ultimately to live a life consistent with those beliefs, principles and values. His 2014 Bestselling book, The Myths of Christianity, won several awards and praise from scholars and laymen alike. Francisco Ayala, the recipient of the prestigious 2010 Templeton Prize, praised the book as
“extremely impressive, well written, and well documented.” Former professor Barbara Peterson stated,
“If I was not retired, this would be my first choice in text books for my students on comparative religion, mythology, and even critical thinking.” And former Bishop Kevin Kloosterman stated,
“McClure adeptly synthesized cutting edge biblical scholarship and world history, distilling it and making it accessible to a wide audience of readers.” Jedediah applies the same analytical, forensic approach he uses in his writing to his business, often able to simultaneously identify potential problems as well as find novel, out-of-the-box solutions.
Currently:
Jedediah resides in the suburbs of Chicago with his wife, Jessica, and their three children. Jedediah attends Northern Illinois University’s College of Law (where he is earning a Juris Doctor) and the College of Business (where he is earning a Masters in Business Administration). A family man with deeply held convictions, he is passionate about business, learning, helping people, and a weekly game of soccer to stay in shape. Jedediah is committed to always improving, lifting up those around him, and developing an exemplary character.
In his various business endeavors, Jedediah accumulated more than $10 million in assets in under two years, created a manufacturing and distribution company with more than 100 employees and more than $4 million in revenue in the first year, and an oil field services company that operated more than 115 oil tankers on a daily basis and generated $5 million in revenue a month. Jedediah’s talents for strategic planning, risk evaluation, business organization, and leadership were key factors in his ability to lead these organizations to explosive growth and success. But a single business mistake allowed a conman to destroy everything he had built. Rather than defeating him, Jedediah learned from his experiences and created invaluable tools for preventing business fraud in the future. Today, one of Jedediah’s greatest passions is using what he learned to teach other people how to avoid the same mistakes he made and help them prevent fraud in their own business and investment endeavors.
