| Building Companies by Solving Problems
Serial entrepreneur Lawrence Duthler doesn't just start businesses — he creates solutions. Before co-founding Sun Title in Grand Rapids, Mich., with his law school buddy Tom Cronkright, Duthler had already launched multiple ventures including a luxury used car dealership and a property development company.
 The birth of Sun Title happened in a flash. After experiencing a frustrating property closing, Lawrence and Tom made a bold decision: “We can do better.” Within two weeks, they were licensed title insurance agents.
While working full time at law firms and running Sun Title on the side, Lawrence as president and Tom as CEO, they found another problem that had to be solved. Lawrence was seeing high staff turnover and low repeat clients. He decided to resign from the firm, work as an independent contractor for another firm, and focus on the operations at Sun Title.
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“We’re not chasing dollars. We’re chasing experiences. Focus on creating exceptional experiences — for employees and clients — and success naturally follows.”
Lawrence Duthler
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“We were really good at bringing in clients,” he says. “We didn’t establish a really good operating process and procedures and things like that. ... And, to be honest with you, I was probably not a good person to work for. We experienced some turnover of some really key employees that surprised us. When we really started to dig into it, we found out we had a really ugly baby.”
The solution? A dramatic culture overhaul. Lawrence crafted a meticulous 250-page operations manual, creating a precise roadmap for every transaction. The transformation was immediate.
“We've grown every year since,” Lawrence beams. “Staff longevity skyrocketed. Clients returned repeatedly. This January marked our 20th anniversary — what a thrilling ride!”
In keeping with his desire to solve real problems in the title industry, Lawrence co-founded CertifID, a wire fraud prevention solution for real estate transactions, along with Tom and Tyler Adams, now CEO of the company.
“We went through an unimaginable wire fraud experience at Sun Title that transformed us and lead to the creation of CertifID,” Lawrence explains. “I’m incredibly proud of Tyler and the team he has assembled to fight fraud on the industry’s behalf each and every hour of the day.”
The secret to their enduring partnership? Lawrence and Tom — best friends for 26 years, business partners for 23 — have never exchanged harsh words or had a single argument, even when Lawrence nabbed the No. 2 spot in their law school class while Tom landed at No. 4.
 “We’re not chasing dollars,” Lawrence explains. “We’re chasing experiences. Focus on creating exceptional experiences — for employees and clients — and success naturally follows.”
When Lawrence isn’t leading his team at Sun Title, you may find him leading his parish at Mass on Sunday as an ordained Catholic deacon. While he was overhauling its operations, he and his wife, Jennifer, were converting to Catholicism. He says his faith, his partnership and his drive to solve problems are what helps him succeed.
“Shared faith. Identical morals. Matching work ethic. That’s our formula,” Lawrence says. “We’ll never stop improving or seeking new opportunities to disrupt systems and elevate standards.
“When we sit across from each other in our offices, it’s like a playground where one of us will say: ‘You know what would be fun ...’”
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