Chasing Financial Freedom

Business Automation, Real Estate & Life with Daniel Martinez

July 20, 2022 Ryan DeMent Season 4 Episode 18
Chasing Financial Freedom
Business Automation, Real Estate & Life with Daniel Martinez
Show Notes Transcript

Are you looking to automate your business? Are you interested in creative real estate and land investing? Well, this is the podcast for you! Daniel Martinez is the co-founder of hivemind CRM, a Business Automation Platform, and the Host of the hive with us podcast with 190+ episodes in 9 months. Daniel does creative real estate and land investing. He purchased 107 acres in 2021 and is looking to purchase 1200 acres in 2022. 

This podcast provides great tips for automating your business so you can focus on creative real estate investing strategies. Daniel's story is inspiring, as he started his entrepreneurial journey as a truck driver to now owning multiple companies.

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Business Automation, Real Estate & Life


[00:00:00] Ryan: Hey guys, Ryan DeMent from Chasing Financial Freedom Podcast. I hope you guys are having a great day on the podcast. Today is Daniel Martinez. He is an entrepreneur. He's a podcaster, he's a real estate investor. He also has a real estate platform that he does some tech with Daniel. Welcome to the show.

[00:00:21] Daniel: And it's exciting to be here, man. I love podcasting. It's really opened up my eyes to it and I've enjoyed it ever since. So it's my little passion project. 

[00:00:29] Ryan: Cool. Tell listeners a little bit about yourself and we'll get into your journey. Man. 

[00:00:34] Daniel: I love telling people this because I'm originally a truck driver, so I'm a product of podcasting.

[00:00:39] Daniel: That's why I contribute back to the content side of it. I, truck drove for four years, drove for ice to load trucks, too. When I was younger I'm I just turned 30 this year, but I to load tricks, load trucks. Drove for two years, ended up starting my own company. I was my first endeavor on entrepreneurship was starting my own company.

[00:00:55] Daniel: I got to five trucks, ended up pivot into real estate and software and podcast, and [00:01:00] that's all I do now. It's really been a journey and a lot of people think over overnight, success can take five, 10 years, man. That's how it is, man. It's got put in the work and something will happen along the 

[00:01:10] Ryan: way. And you know what, it's I always joke I'm an eight year overnight success because that's just how it happens.

[00:01:16] Ryan: It doesn't happen. Yeah. It doesn't happen, two days from Tuesday or whatever the case is. People don't realize hard work gets you somewhere, but you've gotta grind it out. 

[00:01:25] Daniel: Oh yeah, for sure. It's and it's hard work too, man. It's a lot of struggling, a lot of patience with your family, patience with yourself.

[00:01:33] Daniel: You have to come through a lot of ups and downs personally. Through a lot of different things. So it's an exciting trip, but I really wouldn't change it for the 

[00:01:40] Ryan: world. And my mom asked me this question every year, without a doubt, would I go back to my w two job? And I always tell her no, because the struggles I've gone through and the learnings that I've gone through are priceless.

[00:01:52] Ryan: And corporate America never taught me how to fish. It taught me how to be fed every two weeks. And that's it never taught me how to grow as a. [00:02:00]

[00:02:01] Daniel: Yeah. Entrepreneurship man it's been a, it's been a journey. Like I've struggled a lot in the beginning just cuz you it's a whole new, it's a whole new endeavor.

[00:02:09] Daniel: But I think the one thing that separates a lot of entrepreneurs from everybody else is a consistency. There's people that are they have the entrepreneurship bug, but they never one, they never start two, the never consistent. And that's what separates everybody else 

[00:02:23] Ryan: and that's, and that is what separates.

[00:02:26] Ryan: Yeah, you're right. If you're working a w two job versus you being an entrepreneur, if you're not consistent, persistent and get back up every time you get knocked down, you're gonna eat your lunch and you're gonna be done. 

[00:02:37] Daniel: I've seen. I go ahead. No problem. I went into trucking first and I've seen so many people go into trucking and like entrepreneurship side of trucking and they get wiped out within 30 to 60 days and it's just, it's a rough.

[00:02:49] Daniel: So you always got you always gotta choose what direction you go into. If you're going down this down entrepreneurship path, because whatever direction you can take sometimes is more money intensive. It can wipe you out [00:03:00] quicker. 

[00:03:01] Ryan: So what drew you to trucking initial. 

[00:03:04] Daniel: I was I was doing, I was loading trucks at the time for my W2 and I ended up, my wife wanted, I was in Chicago at the time, originally from Chicago.

[00:03:12] Daniel: I used to work outside loading trucks to the forklift and stuff like that. So weather is terrible. And my wife's you wanna move to Atlanta? I'm like, let's go. I'm ready. Cause I, I lived my whole life in Chicago. I'm like, I'm looking for better weather, be a new start. And for EV every, all the young people listening out there leaving home is a hack because it puts you in an environment to grow.

[00:03:33] Daniel: And some. And when you do that earlier, it pushes you to grow into the adult. You wanna be because in my mid, my lower twenties, I don't know what I was gonna do. You live in life and by seed your parents, you get a job, pay the bills and you've move along some something, but leaving home early, It forces you an environment to grow.

[00:03:52] Daniel: And I recommend that to all young people, but and then moving into Atlanta and I, and when I got to Atlanta, I'm like, there's no snow down here on me. I'm I can drive. And that was one of my [00:04:00] biggest fear of truck driving was snow. So I'm like trekstar truck driving went down that path. And then I enjoy truck driving.

[00:04:08] Daniel: The only part I did not enjoy was being away from my wife and my kids. And that's why I ended up quitting. But I really enjoyed truck driving. I miss it a little bit sometimes, but it's one of those things where I'll never go back to it just because I found a better way. 

[00:04:21] Ryan: And you found something that sounds like you're really passionate about and that's you monetized it and that's the biggest thing is you find something you're good at, or you're passionate about or both, and you monetize it and it sounds like that's what you did and that's where you're supposed to be.

[00:04:36] Daniel: And that's it, man. If you find your passion. and it doesn't long become to work anymore. It becomes almost like fun. There's some set of enjoyment about what you do. And I really didn't have that in trucking as a whole. It was just a thing that I had a CDL.

[00:04:50] Daniel: Let me go check drive. And I was just one of those things, but real estate, trucking softwares, a real estate software, and podcasting I've really changed my passion now. And I really [00:05:00] devote a lot of time towards it just because I'm a product of it. So I like giving back to the community. 

[00:05:05] Ryan: That's awesome.

[00:05:06] Ryan: So with trucking and you got out, what springboard did you, so how did that transition look like? Did you just cold Turkey give up trucking or did you have a side hustle or something going on while you were still trucking? 

[00:05:19] Daniel: While I was trucking, trucking is, and this is when you learn, when you get into business, there's different profit margins.

[00:05:25] Daniel: Trucking is very money intensive. The biggest companies that are publicly traded on the stock market, they operate on a 1% margin. Wow. 

[00:05:36] Ryan: Which is crazy. I didn't even know that I had no clue. 

[00:05:40] Daniel: It's crazy. And like the good checking companies, they operate off a 3% margin. But most of 'em are 1% or less.

[00:05:48] Daniel: And it's crazy. Like it's nuts to me. What, like how does that even a bus qualify as a business, but they're publicly traded, they're worth billions of dollars and they're literally operating off 1% profit margin. So when I got in the [00:06:00] trucking, I didn't know that. And I realized really quick that it was a lot of it was money.

[00:06:05] Daniel: I. As a small company, you start at 10, eight to 10% profit margin, and then it goes down from there. I ended up I did that for two years. We grossed over half million dollars and I lost a hundred grand . Wow. And it was a lesson, it was lesson. So in that time, like I was talking to one of my partners and he was like, You have in entrepreneurship, you have to go all in or else you'll you'll have that regret that you didn't go all in.

[00:06:34] Daniel: So I took trucking till the very, very end got wiped. Just like a lot of people did a lot of people doing trucking. So many trucking companies get wiped out in 30, 60 days. It's two years to get wiped out. I finally got wiped out. And during that end times I was trying to pivot and there's no such thing as pivoting.

[00:06:50] Daniel: It's like transitioning. It's not like a hard pivot. It's always like a, it's always a transition. So I was doing real estate at the same time. I was doing trucking and pivoted [00:07:00] into real estate. And that's how I kind. Softened out a trucking and started doing real 

[00:07:05] Ryan: estate stuff.

[00:07:06] Ryan: What were you doing in real estate during the time? 

[00:07:09] Daniel: So anybody and anybody's new to real estate, you can actually get into real estate with no cash, no credit just gotta go negotiate your own deals. So there's gray areas. Not necessarily that they're bad, but there's gray areas. So everybody thinks every real estate transaction goes through real estate agents.

[00:07:27] Daniel: And that's just not true. There's investors that go directly to homeowners to get negotiate their own deals. And that's how they make money. So a lot of you always hear about investors not making money and Robert Kiosaki and all this stuff. The reason how they do that is they go directly to homeowners.

[00:07:43] Daniel: And in most case, or they hunt for deals. So if you hunt for deals and you're always hunting for good deals, you're not gonna lose money. And you're always able. Find a good deal, no matter what. Whereas in trucking, you're capped out by the hours you work and you're still like an employee real estate is open because you're on [00:08:00] you're.

[00:08:00] Daniel: You can get one good deal. That'll make you six figures just by negotiating with it or finding somebody at the right time and you'll make a ton of money. 

[00:08:07] Ryan: So were you fixing and flipping? Were you? 

[00:08:11] Daniel: No, this is so real basic, everybody that wants to get into real estate look up wholesale real estate. Oh, you're you're you're assigning paperwork.

[00:08:19] Daniel: So you find Ryan here, you have a property for a hundred grand. Hey, would you sell it to me for 75 signed for 75? You assign that paperwork to another buyer for 80, 85 and you make your. It's a it's assignment contracts, all contracts are assignable in the United States, unless they say they're not, if you didn't know that.

[00:08:38] Daniel: So it's one of those things where you get property in the contract and you assign it to end buyers or investors, and then they buy it and you make some money. 

[00:08:46] Ryan: So then you, how long did you do that? 

[00:08:49] Daniel: I still do it now. That's something I do. I do on the side right now. So I invest in, I have a property in Atlanta.

[00:08:55] Daniel: I do stuff in Texas and I live in California. 

[00:08:59] Ryan: [00:09:00] That's just, I do how is that? and how's the market going? 

[00:09:05] Daniel: So us as investors, just like the people, just like traders in the market. If you understand the information, understand the knowledge, you can make money in every. turn up down sideways. You can find ways to make money.

[00:09:17] Daniel: So there's strategies you can use depending on it's up strategy. You can use. If it's level strategy you can use if it's down. So right now we're trying to get out of everything that we have especially like flips and stuff like that. It's more of just, I think the downturn's coming, so we're trying to get cash heavy so we can capitalize on stuff.

[00:09:38] Ryan: It it's correcting, especially in the hotter markets. Out here in Arizona. Some of the new home builders, like toll brothers, just in my neighborhood, close to my neighborhood, released some of their houses and they had a hundred thousand dollars price reduction. That's pretty big.

[00:09:52] Ryan: That just tells you, but you've got, I do this with my videos, but you have this X here, you got price demand, and then [00:10:00] you've got interest demand or mortgage demand. And those two have to meet and they're not meeting right now. So that's why. If I remember, I saw an article that the new home builders association CEO came out and said 25 or 24% of contracts are being canceled right now.

[00:10:14] Ryan: That's I think he said it was three times higher than what it normally is. Yeah. And that's because they have escalator clauses in there and they're jacking up the prices even further, even though materials and lumber are down and settled in may they're still jacking up prices.

[00:10:26] Ryan: So they're just taking the greed on and going. now you've got, now you've got people slowing down out here. You couldn't get trades to come do anything for you. Now, all of a sudden they're knocking on your door saying, Hey we're starting to slow down. We want business. It's this. It's cyclical.

[00:10:42] Daniel: It's the ebb and flow of business and capitalism. And it's not saying capitalism is a bad thing. It's just that ebbs and flows. There's ups and downs and people, when it's up, they're just there to capitalize and they know the downturn's coming. So they're gonna capitalize as much as they can in that downtime.

[00:10:56] Daniel: Yeah. 

[00:10:57] Ryan: Yeah, just out here, at least in Arizona, it got pretty [00:11:00] bad to where it's just greedy. Everything went up. If you breathe the wrong way, it went up. It just, it was crazy. I joke about it, but it is, pavers, concrete, everything doubled and tripled overnight and it's.

[00:11:12] Ryan: For what reason? No one can really tell you why. The, 

[00:11:17] Daniel: the inflation has gone high up too. So everybody's dealing with inflation. I'm sure you felt it at the gas pump, you filter it at the grocery store. You're feeling it everywhere now as even as a consumer by regular everyday goods.

[00:11:28] Daniel: So it's coming across every, in one of different directions. Oh, 

[00:11:32] Ryan: yeah. And, but part of this was, unfortunately there's some greed in this. If you look at margins looks at numbers, it's, that's just what it is. Yeah. And I get it. Yeah. But it's the end of the day it's business. And I get it and that's either I choose to do business with 'em or I don't, and that's just life.

[00:11:46] Ryan: Some trades that I do business with, they almost doubled in price overnight, and I said, I'm not gonna pay double just because you wanna raise your prices for no reason, it was. I asked them for a justifiable reason and they said, oh, I can just raise my [00:12:00] prices cuz it just costs more. Okay. I can do no business with you then.

[00:12:04] Ryan: And that's where we went and it's just. I gets like you I've gotta make money. Everyone's gotta make money, but at what expense do you decide that you're going to make money? Are you gonna do it with a greed factor in there or are you actually gonna, okay. I gotta raise my prices to cover my costs and keep my margin, but then when it swings back around like you said, ebb and flow.

[00:12:29] Ryan: There's certain places in the United States that we do business right now to where the ebb is already in place. And people are begging for work. And all of a sudden their prices have come down 30, 40, and 50% out here. We haven't seen it in Arizona yet, but you're starting to see people slow down to where they're starting to reach out and say, Hey, I can come out and do that work for you now.

[00:12:49] Ryan: Oh, I've already got it done by somebody else. So it's just, it's different markets, different things, but it's business. And that's what I really want to get to is like business of how do you treat your customers? How do you do your pricing? [00:13:00] Those type of things. Those are healthy conversations to have, cuz you have to watch the bottom line.

[00:13:04] Ryan: Yeah. 

[00:13:05] Daniel: Yeah. It's a struggle. It's a struggle for a lot of businesses and not saying everybody's in it for the wrong reasons. It's just that They're let's say a concrete company. They probably have to pay more for all their materials. So it's just it's oh, I get it. It's come. It's coming through in a lot of different ways and a lot of people Aren.

[00:13:27] Daniel: Excited about it, but it's just it's hard. I think there's definitely people capitalizing, but I don't think it's the small businesses in most time. Most people, 

[00:13:33] Ryan: no, it is. Most of these guys that we do business with across the country are unfortunately larger. And I've gotten to the point where I'm getting, trying to get to a smaller, but those smaller guys can't scale with me when I need to have to scale.

[00:13:46] Ryan: When I need to have four, four foundations poured at a time, they can't do. So I have to be able to find a mixture of the two and be able to make it work. And it's business. I get it. It's just, I like to ask the question, [00:14:00] Hey, why did your prices double overnight? What happened? Did I miss something?

[00:14:04] Ryan: And people take that personally, but it would be like me saying I have to double my prices of my houses that I'm selling. I haven't, I've only passed along those costs that have. Thrown at me from lumber from one point materials when it came to plumbing or HVAC stuff that I had to pay extra for, I did that.

[00:14:24] Ryan: I'm not going to eat the cost. I'm a for profit. I get that, but I didn't double my prices. So that's where I like to have the business conversation or philosophical, why double. 

So 

[00:14:35] Daniel: Here's where the here's where the line comes is that somebody who's it's supply and demand.

[00:14:40] Daniel: So when supply is high, Everybody's fighting for the fighting for business. When demand is high, they can raise their prices because now they might be able to, let's say it's a four man team. They can handle 160 hours of work. If they keep their prices where they're at, they're gonna be built up long out for six months, whatever three months, [00:15:00] whatever that timeframe is depending on their trade.

[00:15:01] Daniel: But if they raise their prices, it keeps them busy, but not so busy where they can actually supply. They can actually support. High paying customers first and still make a lot a larger profit margin because of the demands there. 

[00:15:16] Ryan: Yeah that's his basic economics 1 0 1, but there's a certain point in time where you have too much in price increase and your demand's gonna do this.

[00:15:25] Ryan: And that's where we're at right now because you don't from the businesses I run. I can never pass double my costs onto anybody and expect myself to stay in business. That's where I'm trying to get at is because ultimately let's say I'm, let's say I'm a plumber. I double my prices overnight. Why?

[00:15:46] Ryan: Okay. You've got some additional costs. We're back to that same thing. Is this guy just being, is he or she being greedy or is it just because they know that they're in demand, they're just gonna raise the prices and then see what happens. But then when [00:16:00] things slow down, guess what you're gonna have to do.

[00:16:02] Ryan: You gotta come back and eat Crow and change your price. Because you're not gonna get, you're not gonna get customers at that double the price. I 

[00:16:09] Daniel: think, I think it's a, it's gonna be different on every niche specifically. I think it's, I think it's gonna be different on every niche specifically, but the other side of it is if you're in a specialized niche, if you double your prices, you can do less the work, half list, the work for whatever.

[00:16:22] Daniel: Oh 

[00:16:23] Ryan: yeah. I got it. 

[00:16:25] Daniel: I don't know. It's just it's a hard conversation because every D every business is different and every business demand is locally based at, there are local trades like that, so it's gonna 

[00:16:34] Ryan: be completely different. Totally. I totally agree. But it is a, it's micro versus macro economics.

[00:16:41] Ryan: It boils down to is you said it's supply and demand, but. There's only so much demand you're gonna get when you double and triple your prices, it doesn't matter how hot a market is. People will not continue to pay until, double and triple your prices. Just for the simple fact, they know they're getting ripped off.

[00:16:59] Ryan: So [00:17:00] you have to BA it's a balancing act with the business. And when I say ripped off I shouldn't probably go that far. I should probably say it's more in the realm of you're overpay. It's close. Let's get outta, let's get out of houses. Let's get into another thing that I love cars.

[00:17:16] Ryan: Use cars in the last 24 months are up 38%. I have people that come to me in my private coaching group that are paying 40 and 50% above MSRP. P do you know what the difference between sticker and MSRP on a car? 

[00:17:31] Daniel: Yeah, it's the build on the dealer's putting in because they 

[00:17:34] Ryan: MSRP is manufacturer suggested retail price, and then sticker is what the actual dealer's trying to sell it for.

[00:17:41] Ryan: And then there's a Delta in between, and then there's back abook and there's back of sticker. There's a lot of different levels at that. And these people are paying above MSRP. So that means you're paying anywhere between 120 and 140%. Above what the car is actually worth. So guess what's happened.

[00:17:57] Ryan: They've created a secondary market. Now there's [00:18:00] a secondary market for seconds on cars and it's just past two and a half billion dollars in assets. So people can't get financing for their first, so they get financing for their first, but they're short. So you have gap. So then what do they have to do?

[00:18:16] Ryan: They either have to come up the extra money down payment, or they gotta get a second on their car. So they're out 60 months on their car. On that payment and now they get a second on their car. So some of these guys are walking away, guys and girls, I keep on saying that walking away with $1,500 a month in car payments.

[00:18:35] Ryan: Wow. On a Toyota and I'm not downplay. Yeah. I'm not downplaying Toyotas in the most common one that comes to me is the 4runner or a Tacoma. Those are 50 between 50 and $60,000 units. And they're paying $1,500 a month, more than my mortgage on a monthly basis for a depreciating asset that if you get it, [00:19:00] Reposessed, you're in the whole significant amount of money and it's gonna hurt you for a long time.

[00:19:06] Ryan: And it just doesn't make sense because we're, it's FOMO, fear of missing. I 

[00:19:14] Daniel: man I'm I don't man. That's insane to me. That's literally insane to me that people are getting seconds on cars, but 

[00:19:21] Ryan: that's, and the funny thing is in my other life prior to this, I bought defaulted credit cards.

[00:19:27] Ryan: So they'd be charged off. I buy 'em and then I would attach an asset to 'em and then I would Sue them. Yeah. And I, when I sued them, I attached against their property real property. So they couldn't sell that house until they paid me. and now individuals are starting to buy these secondary notes on these cars so they can lean the car itself and then try to move into first position like you would do in real estate.

[00:19:52] Ryan: I'm starting to see this trend and I hear people talking about it and I'm like, man, you guys are either crazy or crazy smart. And I just don't know [00:20:00] which one it is because ultimately in a car, just a, just like a real estate or a hard. They have to call the first do it works similarly. So guess what they're gonna have to do.

[00:20:10] Ryan: They're gonna have to pony up to get that car so they can get first position and get the car. And I'm thinking, what are you trying to do? And I haven't got that answer yet. It's just, it's a very interesting concept. I. 

[00:20:21] Daniel: They're better off doing that in real estate. If they understand that in cars, they're better off doing that in real estate.

[00:20:25] Daniel: I, I literally did a podcast with a guest last week and he was talking about buying judgements and liens and positions and all that stuff. So there's definitely, it works the same way in real estate. But it's just know having the knowledge and information, not to not necessarily capitalize, but.

[00:20:41] Daniel: Knowing where it's gonna make money, cuz people are gonna do what they're gonna do. And there's millions of people out there. And sometimes you can help prevent them going through situations. So like a lot of what we, a lot of what we do as investors is we prevent people from going through foreclosures because foreclosure can mess 'em up for some of the 10 years, just a repo can, they, [00:21:00] don're not gonna be able to get a car if they got a repo on them.

[00:21:02] Daniel: Probably three to five years, and it's just one of those things where if people are gonna do what they're gonna do and you can help prevent some sort of that action, there's always money to be made. 

[00:21:12] Ryan: Yeah. And that's the secondary market we play in on the real estate side, instead of them going to foreclosure the lender or credit union, whoever they sell it in the secondary market.

[00:21:22] Ryan: And we buy the mortgages and they're in their bot for pennies on the dollar. That's interesting cuz you're dealing with the front end and I don't. I can't say I really like dealing with the homeowner, just for the simple facts, an emotional transaction form. And I'm not looking to make an emotional transaction.

[00:21:38] Ryan: I'd rather just make dollars and cents out of it. And then come back through on the back end and work through our servicing company to be able to. Work with them to stay in the home because at that point we're the lender. So we get to be able to make all those decisions that a lender would be. And there's 12 different exit strategies we can get out of these properties.

[00:21:56] Ryan: And it's so much easier to work with them just to tell 'em, [00:22:00] Hey, we're family owned and operated. We're veteran owned. We're here to work with you, but if you can't work with us, there's two options. Unfortunately, foreclosure or deed, and. Let's figure it out and then go from there. It just makes life so much easier.

[00:22:13] Ryan: But that business is for us is slowing down because the pandemic has changed everything. Pre pandemic, 80% of people we could keep in the house, help them get through, sell it out in the tertiary market. Once we rehab the loan after 12 months, now it's a crapshoot. It's 50, 50. Most of these loans that are coming through.

[00:22:33] Ryan: Haven't paid in 18 to 24 months, sometimes longer. And they live a lifestyle that is high on the hog and don't feel like they need to pay their mortgage. And they're waiting for uncle Sam to pay it. So you have a 50, 50 shot and more than likely. It's gonna be foreclosure and we're not in the business of foreclosure, cuz it just eats up time, effort and money.

[00:22:53] Ryan: So we're slowing down on that and seeing where it goes. But right now what's coming through the pipe from all the major players [00:23:00] are the leftovers from the forbearance and what did they call it? Oh my gosh. It'll come to me. Yeah, they're just, 

[00:23:08] Daniel: they're just finances and the forbearances. Yeah, 

[00:23:11] Ryan: just all it's it's all the forbearances that have been sitting out there for 24 months that are left over.

[00:23:16] Ryan: There's still a half million that are sitting there and a major chunk of those will go to foreclosure and then some will be sold in the secondary market, but that market has been turned upside down. 

[00:23:28] Daniel: That's crazy. I didn't know you were, I didn't know. You were in the note space. That's interesting. Yeah, we're we're on the front line.

[00:23:33] Daniel: We're on the front line of the other side. 

[00:23:37] Ryan: I'm the guy in the back. I don't like the front line. It's just, it's never been that way. We do private lending also. So we do private mortgages. So there's all types of stuff we do on the back end, but I like non-performing notes. But it's just hard to find some good ones nowadays, and it's taken up so much time and effort because what today in the market is not what the market has been for the last 10 years that we've [00:24:00] been doing that.

[00:24:00] Ryan: So it's been it's changing. It's tough. 

[00:24:05] Daniel: So you're on. Yeah we do a lot of we'll take over the, we'll take over the property subject too. And then. On a rap or something like that. So that's what I think 

[00:24:16] Ryan: I gotta ask. Have you been sued yet? No, I haven't. It's a it's exhilarating experience.

[00:24:22] Ryan: Been there, done that. Oh, 

[00:24:24] Daniel: I haven't, I've been sued for other things, but not for that. 

[00:24:29] Ryan: if you're not, if you're doing enough of 'em, I hate to break the bad news. You'll get sued by a. 

[00:24:34] Daniel: Oh, yeah. Yeah. And that's just, that's the nature of the business, man. When you get in businessman especially lately you're gonna get sued by somebody's gonna Sue you.

[00:24:41] Daniel: Somebody will no matter what you're doing, just be ready for it. And that's one thing we're at like, there's always gonna be somebody out there. I've been sued once and I'm like, now that I've been sued, I'm like a little bit more. I'm prepared for it, but after that, when that first one comes, you're like, you get served something I'm like, eh this sucks.[00:25:00]

[00:25:00] Ryan: yeah. It definitely sucks and it changes, but you just have to be prepared and all you can do is the right thing. And then you just, you move forward. That's, there's nothing else you can do, but the subject twos and the wraparounds, I don't know how many lenders are calling them due nowadays, but.

[00:25:16] Ryan: I know it's out there just in different states and I've heard people, some horror stories about 'em and it's Hey man, that's part of doing business. If you decide to do that, God bless you. It's a risk you gotta take. 

[00:25:27] Daniel: Yeah. I've heard there's even like insurance now that you can get that. As long as you cash flow positive, they'll refinance you out.

[00:25:35] Ryan: Yeah. It's just, it's so hard when I say so hard, it's just rates are, the 10 year treasury note, just past 3.3 while we were talking, it's man, it's it's coming. It's coming. So there's gonna be a lot of change in the market and you're gonna see a lot of people try to liquidate or try to.

[00:25:52] Ryan: Stack the market. I don't know if you're seeing listings in your area above norms, but out here, I think we've saw a 25 or [00:26:00] 28% increase in house listings. And majority of them are, unfortunately from what I thought. Are the hedge funds listening their rental properties, cuz they're not gonna get those ROIs anymore.

[00:26:10] Ryan: Cuz rents are not gonna be what they are. So they're dumping those properties while they can at the, what they think is the top of the market, which out here is starting to peak. And now we got too many houses sitting. So now you got an influx of houses. 

[00:26:24] Daniel: It's it's real estate thing is an interesting space to be in just by, and it varies in market, but it's always interesting to see how people respond to different.

[00:26:34] Daniel: I, I think the stock market tank this morning, still is, it's just one of those things. It's just one of those things where we're like you always have to feel what's going on, but always have an exit plan have funds of subsid already get sued. Have. There's hardship in every business. There's no perfect business that doesn't have any issues.

[00:26:54] Daniel: no, 

[00:26:54] Ryan: not at all. And it's all about how you take it and where you go. I guess that could be a really good [00:27:00] topic to talk to you about next and let's get into that is, what are some major heartburns that you've done in that you've experienced in business and how have you overcome them?

[00:27:09] Daniel: Oh, man, that is a loaded question. That is a loaded question. Man. I've recently, I've been dealing with cheap customers. So I've been wanting to charge more because it's been a heartache, fighting people with tooth and nail over a dollar when there's people there's high paying clients that are willing to pay for your services that appreciate them.

[00:27:30] Daniel: So that's one of the businesses I've been fighting storage, coming out with new pricing. To provide more value for our price point and that's the angle we're pushing. And I've had to deal with that recently. Another one was just finding your niche and who your target audience is. I feel it's always a struggle for some businesses because you don't know exactly who you.

[00:27:56] Daniel: So it's hard. It's hard to find your avatar when you first start off. Cause you don't know [00:28:00] exactly who your customer is. So you're just out there and finding your customer is very important. And serving that customer is more important too, because once you find serve that customer, then you can, you're in the zone at that point.

[00:28:14] Daniel: So finding your customer, finding the right customer has definitely been a struggle cause finding customer finding customers can be easy, but finding the right customer. That's another difficult. 

[00:28:25] Ryan: And I guess this is maybe this is universal, cuz I talked to a lot of people and it seems like it is, but it's when you first start acquiring those customers you feel like you need those customers more than they need you.

[00:28:37] Ryan: And once you get to the point of they need you before, or they need you more than you need them is when you start finding the right customer. 

[00:28:45] Daniel: And I will definitely agree with that. I would definitely agree with that because now I'm like, I don't even fight customers that lead because I'm like, it wasn't a fit either way so they can gone.

[00:28:53] Daniel: And I know that it gives me capacity to handle the right customer. So I'm not fighting customers. 

[00:28:59] Ryan: And [00:29:00] again, you're right. If you need to raise your prices and make you start working smarter, not hard. All for it. I agree. I just, you wanna match the right people or the right customers with your brand in what you're doing.

[00:29:11] Ryan: Totally agree. I just, me personally, I always struggle when someone says I'm raising my price two or threefold, and can't tell you why. And that, and I, when I say, why is okay, I've got overhead costs, whatever the case is, I'm not looking for an ex explanation and knowing your numbers, but that's to me is greed.

[00:29:28] Ryan: And that's where I draw the line is if I have to go out and tell my coaching clients that I'm charging another $75 an hour, but I tell 'em why. Okay. I'm good. But I don't just charge it because I charge it. That's where I'm at. 

[00:29:43] Daniel: No, definitely. With our price charging.

[00:29:46] Daniel: Increasing, we're definitely providing more value and it's the peop it's the part where people struggle with the most. So by charging for it up front, we can increase that, that trend of getting customers into traction quicker. 

[00:29:59] Ryan: And [00:30:00] does that allow you, does that allow you also to find better people or retain better talent?

[00:30:05] Daniel: Yes. Yes. The, I think the CEO of Airbnb, he's we're switching to, cause everybody's trying to get their employees back in the office and Airbnb is we're not gonna do that. He made, they made a, those article read recently is we're going abroad.

[00:30:18] Daniel: And the reason why we're going abroad is because people don't have to work locally anymore. And there's talent out there. And the talent's abroad. Not saying there's not talent locally, but you can find more talent abroad than you can locally or making people move locally to your company. So they're going to a model where they can find outside talent.

[00:30:39] Daniel: And the reason why is because they can pay 'em more and people you can pay 'em pay. 'em what they, if you pay people what they're worth, they're gonna do the job that they're gonna do the job. Way more than what they're worth what they're actually doing. So the whole thing about hiring employees is that usually if you pay an employee 50,000, they should be bringing in revenue 150, $200,000 in revenue.

[00:30:59] Daniel: Yep. That's [00:31:00] what an employee should do. They should be making a profit in your business. So if they're not making a profit, they're not the right employee for that position. 

[00:31:08] Ryan: It's just 100%. We'd always joke about it. When I had an agency, a collection agency, you got a two or threefold your salary.

[00:31:16] Ryan: So if you're making, if you're making $30,000 a year, you need to be ma bringing in 90 to a hundred thousand dollars in revenue and yep. That's just straight up covering all the costs and having profit in there. And that's, you'd be amazed how many. Small business owners, entrepreneurs don't look at that and they wonder why their bottom line is what it is.

[00:31:37] Daniel: And it's something that I didn't realize as an employee, either as an employee, you're supposed to bring in that much revenue too, because that's what sustains a business. If you don't do that, you're the hindrance. That'ss gonna take that businesses zero eventually. And you're gonna be wondering where you're gonna work.

[00:31:52] Daniel: It's cuz you didn't work. 

[00:31:55] Ryan: If there was more individuals like yourself that thought about that way. I think that way then [00:32:00] you'd probably have a lot more successful not just businesses, but the symbiotic relationship between employer and employee and them understanding that. 

[00:32:09] Daniel: And like I said, I didn't know that.

[00:32:11] Daniel: For me, I was just a hard worker by nature and it, I always did a good job. I always did my best. I always cuz it passed the time when I was busy. That's when I was the day went by so fast. So I was already a good worker. The problem is that as when I transitioned to an ownership and boss and CEO.

[00:32:28] Daniel: Now it's hard to find somebody that works as hard as I did or works as hard as I do as general right now, just because there's passion in there. Even when I was an employee, there was still passion there that I always want to do the best work. So it's hard finding and resonating with that passion. So you almost have to.

[00:32:46] Daniel: Pay high. You have to find, you have to pay high wages, provide benefits. And that's how you're gonna find the best employees, because they might understand that part of it and they know what their worth is, but they might need a boss. Not saying not everybody can be a CEO [00:33:00] or a boss. It is not easy.

[00:33:01] Daniel: It is not easy for everybody else. Like being an employee might be the best position for you, but. You always wanna make sure your worth is. So if you find a good company that understands what your worth is, they're gonna pay you what you're worth. You bring in the revenue, they pay you what you're worth.

[00:33:14] Daniel: And it's not necessarily a agreed employee, employer, employee relationship. It's a symbiotic relationship because you found the right person for the right position. And I think that's where business accelerates and it cones in onto the next level. 

[00:33:27] Ryan: And that's where you can scale your business.

[00:33:29] Ryan: That's huge. I like that. So go ahead. 

[00:33:34] Daniel: No, I was gonna say that it I it's, I didn't learn this yesterday. I've learned this over the past, my years of growing man. It's been a journey, man. Definitely been a journey. I've learned a lot. 

[00:33:46] Ryan: And you probably had a lot of those days where you ate peanut butter and jelly.

[00:33:49] Ryan: Like I did, 

[00:33:51] Daniel: man. I'm still eating it sometimes to this day. Because I like it. 

[00:33:56] Ryan: that's me. I have no problem saying I do my [00:34:00] dog eats, like filet minion and I eat peanut butter and jelly. So I always joke. And it's when I say joke, I'm almost serious. I'm serious too. I will make sure my family is taken care of before I am period.

[00:34:12] Ryan: Cause they've already sacrificed a lot already for me. So if they, if something has to go without it's me, not them. 

[00:34:20] Daniel: That's what separates good own good CEOs and owners versus everybody else, because I think. What makes good business is the CEO because CEO is the driving force of the whole business.

[00:34:30] Daniel: And I've gone. I told my employees this, because I'm like, you don't understand, like I go without pay that way. You can eat and take care of your family. I provide benefits and there's sometimes I don't even get that same benefit for myself. So I have to sometimes have to relay that to my employees because, and this is.

[00:34:49] Daniel: I was struggling like after that's my employees, because there's things that I give you that I don't even give myself because I'm the CEO 

[00:34:58] Ryan: And that's how it should be.[00:35:00] That you're doing all the right things and that's the right thing to do is us as entrepreneurs.

[00:35:06] Ryan: Unfortunately, we're last to the party when it comes to pay because we wanna see the business grow and we're putting all of our resources into the business to grow and scale. And then. It takes off and then that's just part of our pay. And then boom, here you go. It's a great feeling.

[00:35:21] Ryan: I I know what you're talking about. I truly do. The other, 

[00:35:25] Daniel: the other thing is too, is that when you transition from employer to employee, you now have to take responsibility for that them and their family. So you have to provide the work, make sure they have work to do, to get paid and make sure they have a liveable wage to take care of their family.

[00:35:37] Daniel: And then it's the what else can I do to make. Hire more employees grow the business and then you're always reinvesting your profits. And I hate the employee side that oh, my boss makes all the money. And I'm like, he sacrificed years, tears lunches, peanut butter, and jellys for five to 10 years guaranteed.[00:36:00]

[00:36:00] Daniel: And now he has a Lambo. So I think he earned it. 

[00:36:03] Ryan: A lot of people don't realize it takes, three to five years before you really start seeing, the rewards that you've put all in and it's not overnight success. 

[00:36:12] Daniel: It's not man. I was the most businesses failed within two years and I was so pissed off because I didn't wanna be statistic.

[00:36:19] Daniel: And my trucking business failed at 23 months. And I was so pissed off about that because it was one of those. It was one of those things. Like I, I ended up being part of the statistic and failing within my first two years. And it's just one of those things where like I sacrificed literally for two years trying to build that business and it, for it to Crum.

[00:36:36] Daniel: At the right below my feet. And it's just a lot of people don't want to take that risk. And that's what separates me from you. And I'm, I provide a profit and service to the community and there's a joy that I get from that. And it's not for everyone. And if you're, if you are like me, come on board.

[00:36:55] Daniel: If you're not, go elsewhere and find a [00:37:00] good employer that understands who you are and your benefits and value that you bring. Don't I always say this in truck. This is something I tell people all the time, like I used to talk to truck drivers and they'd be like, yeah, I got 20 years experience.

[00:37:13] Daniel: And I'm like, your 20 years experience is the same year over and over again for 20 years, you only have one. That's interesting. 

[00:37:21] Ryan: That's a good way to look at it. 

[00:37:24] Daniel: Cause they, they have the same. They have the same thing. They never experienced anything because they literally drove, did the same job every year after year for 20 years, you have one year experience in my opinion.

[00:37:35] Daniel: People that like, for me, like I've done something new every year. That's pretty much this I've been employed. I did sales door to door, trucking, loaded trucks, truck driving, ownership of trucks, managing trucks. Now I do real estate software. I've really grown every year that I've been in as a, as every year I've been working.

[00:37:56] Daniel: So I've really have a lot of experience. Through the [00:38:00] path that I've taken, whereas people that they go to a sales job and I've been in sales for 20 years. I'm like, no, you get the same year of sales over and over again. Use the price just 

[00:38:09] Ryan: changed. I like that. That's a good way to look at it. That'll give people to change and get outta their comfort zones.

[00:38:16] Ryan: I like that it 

[00:38:18] Daniel: is man. And you really grow as a person when you stretch. Just like working out when you stretch that muscle. That's when you get stronger, when you get stronger. So if you're at sales, try selling cars one year, try selling insurance the next year, try selling a lot of different variety.

[00:38:35] Daniel: So selling real estate, you'll see and expand your strength of sales by talking to different types of customers with different types of motivations, different types of needs, and you'll become a better salesman. That's what you're trying to do. 

[00:38:49] Ryan: Love it. Love it. I like it. I love it, Daniel. Where could the listeners get ahold of you if they wanna reach out to you?

[00:38:58] Daniel: We have a Facebook group, high mine CRM [00:39:00] on Facebook. I actually do software. I do real estate. We have a business automation software the podcast, a lot of that stuff. We're on YouTube, Instagram, we're on all the social media platforms. I just provide, I provide as much value as I can from the experience that I've learned throughout my years.

[00:39:15] Daniel: And you can take it or leave it. You can I always there's. There's something I always say is that. You build your inform off the content you produce. So if you want to make a difference, start producing content. The other thing is that if you want to make an impact, it's gonna take a lot of consistency.

[00:39:32] Daniel: A lot of, 

[00:39:32] Ryan: yes, it does lot. 

[00:39:35] Daniel: And it's just, if everybody out there trying to make a change. Let them support them and help them because there's not very many out the out there. People, there's not very many people out there trying to make a change. So find somebody to resonate that's 

[00:39:52] Ryan: and provide. That's awesome.

[00:39:54] Ryan: We'll, I'll put in the show notes, your website and your Facebook group. So we have all that in there, so we can share that [00:40:00] across the platforms

[00:40:07] Daniel: you cut out. 

[00:40:09] Ryan: Oh, sorry. I'll make sure your information is put in the show notes so we can share it across all the platforms, 

[00:40:15] Daniel: man. I appreciate the conversation, man. We talked about a lot of different stuff and I like the ver I like podcasting because it brings up varying conversations. I appreciate the conversation, man.

[00:40:23] Daniel: And I appreciate the influence and the platform you provide to your listeners. And I hope they found value in that. 

[00:40:29] Ryan: Thanks for coming on. It was a great one, great conversation. You shared some great stories and some great insight. And I hope the listeners really do listen to this more than once.

[00:40:39] Ryan: Cuz there's some good nuggets in there that you've actually shared that also I, if they're still working their 95 or w two, they can learn from and expand and grow. 

[00:40:49] Daniel: I'm really glad you said that I had one little thing. There's something that happens that sometimes you're not ready to receive a certain message.

[00:40:56] Daniel: So if you listen to it down the line, you might understand it and resonate [00:41:00] with him more because you've grown. As you progress. So sometimes if you, if it didn't resonate with you, it might not be your fault. It's just, you have to grow to a certain point to resonate with it. And it's just one of those things where I list, I have to go back and listen to sometimes conversation myself because I'm like, man, that was such a conversation that I wasn't even ready for, but I'm glad I had it because now I can replay it in my mind and I'm catching more stuff in my head that I wasn't even ready to receive, but now I'm ready to receive because I've.

[00:41:27] Ryan: It's amazing what happens right? When you open yourself up and it actually starts resonating with you or you hear it and now you're ingesting it. So now you can make those changes or learn from it 

[00:41:38] Daniel: hundred percent man, a hundred percent everybody make an impact and just be consistent, man.

[00:41:42] Daniel: Thank 

[00:41:44] Ryan: you sir. For coming on. 

[00:41:48] Daniel: You're welcome, man. Have it going you too.