2025 Dynamic Dozen No. 6: Valiant Management Group LLC

SBJ: Talk to me about your company’s portfolio. What and where are your holdings?
Josh Manning: Currently, 100% of our portfolio is in Springfield. We own and operate probably right around 350 to 400 doors, but then we manage another 300 or so for outside investors. We’ve got about 700 units in our total portfolio. Most of it is multifamily, and then there is some single-family properties from outside owners that we manage as well.

SBJ: Are you expanding outside of Springfield?
Manning: I bought 34 acres in Nixa east from North Point Church. We’ve got a facility that we’re going to build down there that is about 11 or 12 buildings with a clubhouse and gym and swimming pool. It’ll be our biggest development to date. It’s about 360 units. We’ve got that currently in the design phase. We own the land. We plan to break ground probably early fourth quarter this year. I’m very excited about it.

SBJ: In Springfield, Valiant has become known, in part, for work on distressed houses. Why that focus, and do you see that being a part of your long-term strategy?
Manning: 100%, yeah. We will always do heavily distressed single-family properties. We probably do 50 a year, I would say, on average. We always sell them with seller concessions and typically are working with first-time homebuyers that are using some sort of government aid. That’s how I cut my teeth in this industry. That’s how I got started, and I love it.

SBJ: What are your top issues when it comes to managing growth?
Manning: Scaling culture is probably the hardest part. It’s pretty easy to add systems, but you can’t automate mindsets. We’ve been very intentional about who we hire and how we train and how we lead. The other part with managing growth is trying to not outgrow our current infrastructure. If we’re taking on more properties and more projects, I want to be very confident that our team can deliver the same standard that we’ve always delivered.

SBJ: What is the best business advice you’ve received?
Manning: I had this other investor/developer that would always tell me that “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” When I think of that, it just reminds me to be methodical, to really look at every deal, do our due diligence.

SBJ: Have your goals changed as business has taken off?
Manning: I think the biggest thing for me is my wife and I had our first kid 10 months ago. That obviously changed a lot for me. I named (the business) Valiant Group and didn’t put my last name in it because I wanted to have that ability of an exit strategy to potentially sell. I want to build this thing into something that’s sustainable after I’m gone, but I also want to use it as a vehicle to where I can potentially work with my family.