About Us

25-year track record of growing small businesses and maximizing returns on real property investments…

Formed in 1993, Unique Investment Corporation is an investment firm with a focus on private companies and income-producing real estate.

At Unique, we treat business as a scalable platform from which we can have a positive impact on our society. We believe a company’s culture determines the magnitude of the impact its people and products can have. At the core of our culture is the understanding that each of us is responsible for giving back to society, for having a positive impact on those around us. For over 25 years, exceptional financial returns have been a byproduct of this philosophy.
We have a proven track record of achieving returns above industry averages because we focus on the most important principle of all — IMPACT. Each of our investments adheres to a culture of positively impacting society. When we are successful in improving the lives of others, financial returns follow.

We operate as a family office on behalf of our investment partners, adding value in the investment process, overseeing the management of our investments via our proprietary management system and handling the administrative processes requisite with these activities.

We specialize in small to medium sized businesses and income producing real property in the western United States. We excel at growing and developing small businesses and maximizing returns on real property investments. The results are excellent returns for our select group of partners who include high net worth individuals and families.

Our Family

John Makoff

John G. Makoff

Managing Director

John was the founding force behind Unique Investment Corporation. As one of its Managing Directors, he has been responsible for equity funding, financings, acquisitions, mergers, and divestitures. He also has served many operational roles, including full profit and loss responsibility, chairmanships, and advisory board membership.   John’s passion is the outdoors and he works hard to ensure he can spend part of each day either in the ocean or in the mountains. John developed the IMPACT culture at Unique and measures his success based on the number of lives he is able to positively impact.
Joe Phillips

Joseph G. Phillips

Managing Director

Joe joined Unique in 1997 after working as a certified public accountant for several years. As one of its Managing Directors, Joe has been responsible for directing equity placements, third party financings, acquisitions, mergers and divestitures in both operating companies and real estate properties. Joe has held board level positions in several businesses and has been responsible for the day-to-day operations for multiple small and medium sized companies. Joe enjoys mentoring young adults and coaching youth sports where he feels his impact is immediate and meaningful.
Burke Plummer

Burke Plummer

Managing Director

Burke has been in the Unique family for almost 20 years as an operator and partner. For many years, Burke served as the Chief Executive Officer of Qqest Software Systems located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Burke has also successfully acquired and managed multiple transactions during his Unique tenure and currently holds several advisory board positions.  Burke loves tennis and golf and his new grandson and uses his many strengths to positively impact youths through his church affiliation.
Justine Makoff

Justine Makoff

Director of Giving

Justine leads our community outreach efforts. She identifies opportunities for Unique to give back to our local community, and also serves as a liaison for each of our companies to pursue their philanthropic goals. Over the past 5 years, Justine has fostered connections between Unique and local charities focused on education, at-risk youth intervention, and environmental conservation. She serves as a board member for Sunburst Youth Academy, Free Rein Foundation, and PAAL of 77th precinct.   Justine’s passion to positively impact her community and environment inspires and motivates Unique’s stakeholders to be active in their own communities.

Investment Approach

Unique Management System

Over our 25 year history, we have developed a proprietary management system that allows us to assist management teams in the development and implementation of their strategic plans. The results have been increased top lines, improved profitability and the creation of real value for our investors. Included in our system are periodic reporting processes that allow all stakeholders to communicate with accuracy and transparency. We assist management teams, we don’t direct them, and we believe our ability to work alongside and in partnership with strong and talented individuals is the primary reason for our long-term success.

At Unique, we often gather our entire family of leaders to discuss real-time issues and opportunities within the portfolio of companies which allows the leadership group to best leverage the collective knowledge and experience of their colleagues for the improvement of all.

Investment Criteria

We are opportunistic investors with broad interests and we focus on majority and control situations. Our most common operating company investments are in businesses with between $1,000,000 and $10,000,000 in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). Unique is industry agnostic and will consider an investment in any industry if it fits within our cultural and return parameters.   We prefer investments that have management in place, however, we are experienced in identifying and attracting talented managers to assist our partners in achieving their goals.   Unique also invests in income producing real estate properties. Our target real estate valuation is between $1,000,000 and $10,000,000.   For all investments, our geographic preference is the western United States.

Guiding Principles

Unique, and in turn each of its portfolio companies and all of our coworkers live by the following principles:

  • Integrity – To communicate and act with truth and sincerity.
  • Value Creation – To generate economic benefits by improving the lives of others.
  • Customer Dedication – To put the customer first in every action or decision.
  • Compliance – To completely adhere to the company’s business philosophy and personal conduct standards.
  • Accuracy – To understand, give, and receive information with clarity and precision.
  • Humility – To act without ego while working with others.
  • Courage – Having the strength to do what is right.
  • Curiosity – The desire to learn about and improve yourself, others, and your surroundings.

Portfolio

Case Studies

Click on the buttons below to learn more about some of Unique Investment Corporation’s recent business investments.

 

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Operating Businesses
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Real Estate Investments
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Past Investments

Partner Feedback

Bernie Zimmer, Founder and Board Member, CHME, Inc.

I have developed lifelong friends and business partners through my relationship with Unique Investment Corporation. I sold my company to the Unique group with the intention of retiring within two years. After closing on our deal, we were doing such great things and growing the business together so not only did I decide to stay on, I decided to reinvest back into the company! With all the support that Unique was providing and the exciting company we were creating I ended up staying on as the CEO of our company for over 7 years! I am still on the Board of Directors of our company and I continue to learn and grow as a person and a professional through my interactions with the Unique family.

Troy Crosland, Founder and CEO, Diamond Wireless, LLC

The guys at Unique were awesome partners. They provided invaluable insight and feedback from a different perspective that challenged me and my team and benefited us tremendously in terms of our strategic thinking. My management team and I were able to apply our industry expertise in running the company each day knowing we had a great sounding board available to us. John and Joe were constantly pushing us to dream bigger and to push harder toward our goals. We were able to grow our business dramatically and provide opportunities for countless young people to join our family and build a career in the wireless industry.

Contact Us

Unique Investment Inc.
950 South Coast Dr Suite 200
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Phone: 714-848-5900
Fax: 714-848-5959

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