Closing Remarks Podcast: Keith Marshall on Opportunity & M&A

You’ve spent years building your business. But have you ever wondered what the future could hold for your company?

Keith Marshall is the Founder of Solution Matrix, and he understands what it takes to develop an enterprise from scratch. What started at home grew into a successful manufacturing company built on discipline, service, family, and opportunity.

On this week’s episode of Closing Remarks, Dara Shareef sits down with Keith to talk about his journey and the sale of Solution Matrix, facilitated by Benchmark International. They also discuss operations, entrepreneurship, M&A, and finding the right “caretaker for a legacy.”

Key Highlights

• How discipline and persistence can help you work through setbacks, adapt when plans change, and keep your business moving forward
• Why listening to the people using your product or service can uncover needs, strengthen customer relationships, and reveal new opportunities
• How greater control over key parts of your operations can help you respond when suppliers, production needs, or circumstances change
• Why looking at the capabilities you already have can uncover opportunities to expand into new products, services, or markets
• How to think about family involvement in a way that balances opportunity with accountability and gives the next generation room to grow
• Why reaching the right buyer audience matters and can create more options for your business's future
• How M&A can help you find a caretaker for a legacy who can take what you built into the next chapter

Discipline, Operations & Opportunity

Before Solution Matrix, Keith served as an infantry platoon leader and airborne ranger before working at Procter & Gamble. When Dara asked what stayed with him from the military, Keith pointed to discipline.

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“The discipline to stay with something, the discipline to see it through, the discipline to ignore the hardship and keep on going forward until the mission is finished,” said Keith.

He brought that same mindset into entrepreneurship. Solution Matrix started in his kitchen and basement before growing into a larger manufacturer. For business owners, his experience shows how persistence and problem-solving can help a company grow and adapt.

Staying Close to Your Operations

As Solution Matrix expanded, the company moved its production facility from Pennsylvania to Virginia to increase manufacturing capacity.

Keith decided to keep the manufacturing process domestic to ensure the company had greater control over production. This became especially important when a supplier change threatened access to a key material the company relied on. The company ultimately developed the ability to manufacture it in-house.

For business owners, his experience shows the importance of understanding where your operations depend on factors outside your control.

Listen to the People Using Your Product

Who knows what your customers need better than the people actually using what you provide?

Keith found that nurses offered valuable insight because they worked directly with patients using Solution Matrix products after surgery.

Solution Matrix also provided freezers, and its salespeople maintained, sanitized, and kept them stocked. Instead of focusing on just the product itself, the company considered what customers needed around it.

Listening to the people using what you provide can reveal what they value and where your business can do more.

Pay attention to how your customers use your products or services. It can tell you what they really need and where you can add more value.

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Recognizing New Opportunities

One of Keith’s next businesses started with a conversation on an airplane.

When one of Keith’s salespeople found a customer struggling to package a powder, Keith saw an opportunity to help.

This idea later became Stik-Pack Solutions, a separate business. He didn’t start the company from scratch. He saw another way to use the company's existing capabilities.

Sometimes a new opportunity starts with looking at what you already have in a different way.

When Family Becomes Part of the Business

Family is an important part of Keith's journey. His wife, Linda, stood by him through difficult times and helped him build Solution Matrix. Keith remembers the times before their success when he had lost a job, had little money, and needed to start again.

Her belief in him helped him move forward and eventually build Solution Matrix. Later, his son worked within Solution Matrix before eventually taking responsibility for Stik-Pak Solutions.

Keith expected the next generation to earn their opportunities rather than receive them. His son continued to grow Stik-Pak Solutions and expand its manufacturing capacity.

For Keith, family business meant giving the next generation a chance to build something of their own.

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M&A and Finding a Caretaker for Your Legacy

During the conversation, Dara describes part of M&A as finding a “caretaker for a legacy.” That idea fits Keith’s experience. For Keith, finding the right buyer meant finding someone who could carry the business forward.

For business owners, M&A is about more than the sale. It’s about who will carry the business forward.

Benchmark International facilitated the sale of Solution Matrix and brought the business to a broader audience of potential buyers. Going through the process showed Keith how important an audience can be.

Reaching the right buyers gave him more options to consider for the future of Solution Matrix. After taking time to think it through with his wife, Linda, he returned to the buyer and completed the transaction.

Keith says the new owner kept investing in Solution Matrix while building on what already worked. For Keith, the right buyer was someone who could keep the business moving forward.

Where to Watch

Watch host Dara Shareef talk with Keith about business operations, customer relationships, family, M&A, and the future.

Watch or listen to the full episode of Closing Remarks on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

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