From Real Estate to Business Acquisitions: How This Shift Changed Everything!

You know, the thing that really hits me hard is so I come from the real estate community, and my real estate people are amazing. You know, like, it's like I'm best friends with some of the people that I, I have known through real estate. But here it's, you know, there's a. The commonality, the common ground, common denominator is everyone's looking to do something. Like, what's the next. What's the next thing to do? What's the next thing to kind of just elevate themselves, do better for themselves, do better for their families, do better for their people, their community. And so the commonality here, the common denominator is everyone's. The vehicle to get there is business acquisitions.

Yeah.

But for me, what's really cool is it's not. I'm just not networking with real estate people. There's a lot of real estate people here that have done amazing things, but there's people from all walks of life. Every industry that's educated, uneducated, have been through things, haven't been through things. And so every conversation is different. Like, the commonality, what we have in common, what we're looking to do is the same. But I learned so much in the process with this community. Learning, learning from each, learning from everybody that's here. So that, for me, that's been very special.

And you're right about the wider range of industries. I mean, business acquisition. What, what we're learning over these, these three days is it applies in almost any industry, almost any type of business, almost anywhere. What, what industry? So you in real estate now? Is that, Is that what you invested in for business acquisition? Or did you, did you branch out?

Yeah, you know, so I, I first got my license in 2000. Right after college, 2002, I got my real estate license, got my real estate license in Arizona, Nevada, California, Hawaii. Did really good, you know, made that a hundred thousand the first year. What. That was 22 years ago now, though. So everything's been good. I've done just about everything, everything in real estate that possible. But for me, it was really hard to, to scale real estate. I've had friends that have scaled everything in real estate, property management companies, brokerage teams, wholesale flip apartments, all of that. But I did really well. But I did not scale it into the business that if you're smart and in it that long that, you know, some people do, I'd say a small fraction of people in real estate are able to do that. Right, right.

And that's one of those areas that with People think of wealth, they think instantly. Real estate. Yeah, but a massive vehicle. Yeah, but yet compare that a little for us, for to business acquisition. What's, what are some, what did you find in some of the differences?

Well, for me it's, it was, it was very similar. I had a, I had a homebusters franchise. I had a lot of appointments. You know, I had a lot. I was talking with home sellers, right? Homeowners that wanted to sell oftentimes motivated sellers for whatever reason, you know, they were looking to sell for, you know, just an onslaught of different reasons. But the conversation was this. I find it very similar. Talking with a homeowner is not much different than talking to a business owner. You know, it's very little to do with the house or in our, what we're talking about, Don, is the company. Right, right. So it's more about where are they at, you know, and how can we help them. And a lot of them, it's just real basic. They would just like to retire. They're burned out, they'd like to move, maybe they'd like to move closer to their kids, they'd like to travel. But you know, they've, this is, this company that they have has been their baby for what, 5, 10, 20, 30. I got an LOI accepted for a 52 year old custom pool builder company. So you know, they're just, they're tapped out, they've done really well and they're just, they want to pass the torch to someone that they know trust like understand that's going to take care of their employees, take care of their clients and just, that's just going to be a win, win situation. So for me the conversation is very similar, but I just learned so much more from it. Like it's, you know, from the, from, from the community here. Each seller that I talk to, I've talked to sellers that are selling H vac companies, electric companies, plumbing companies, pest control, property management, brokerage firms. And for me it's not the same conversation I have at the kitchen table with someone that's trying to sell their house. The goal's the same, to create a win win situation. But I learned so much more in the process because it's, I'm learning about a little, you know, a little bit here, a little bit there from, from business owners that come from all different walks of life in different situations and industries and locations. And for me that's, it's a, I love it, it's enjoyable, you know, and it keeps, it keeps me on my toes. That's awesome. Yeah.

And what are you getting out of coming back to Kyle's event like this? Because, I mean, you're implementing this. You're doing this. But what, why, what are you getting out of these, These additional three dos that you've carved out time for?

It's a good question, dog. You know, it really, it's, it's changed a little bit. You know, at first it was to get a company and to, you know, to, to get that first acquisition, but now, and I got that, we're, you know, we're moving along pretty, pretty well, but it's kind of turned into finding like, minded friends in the community that are doing all the same things because it's hard to, it's hard to talk about business acquisitions from the, the kids or the, my best friends that I grew up with anybody else. It's challenging, you know, it's like, you know, and I don't, I don't want to watch the, the Laker game. You know, I don't want to watch FIFA. I don't, I don't any type of entertainment type stuff. It's, it's. I'm like, you know, I, I probably look this. When I start talking about business. You know, they're looking off and trying to like, I don't know, like what's going on. That's the same way I feel if, when they want to talk about sports and. Right. You know, all, anything that's in the media, the mainstream media and everything, I'm just, I, it's.

Shut it off.

Yeah, it's. I'm not interested. I'm just not interested. So for me, that's, that's, that's really special, you know, but it's also like, along the process, the transformations people have made. You know, like when, when, when they get it, you know, it's the, everything changes. At first, it's the acquisition, but all of a sudden they're a leader for a company. They're a leader for their employees, their community and friends. And it's kind of who, who you become in the process. For me, which I've really, I've just kind of started to realize that. So, you know, it's the community for me and you know, the acquisitions is great. That's part of it. But it's a small piece that fits into the whole puzzle of the whole reason why I'm here and would like to continue.

And that goes right along with what we talked about really on day one and continue to talk about is imposter syndrome.

Okay.

That's not something that's necessarily intuitive to the process as well. Now you're responsible for like providing for people's families, but that was the main motivation in most sellers to even talk to you about a deal.

Yeah.

So talk a little bit about what, what that. Were you ready for that? Did you. When did it hit you sideways? Was there something that, like, what was it that. Really. Which was profound. Where did. How'd you come to that?

Sure. So I never really felt the. And I'd say that's super common. Right. That's a common theme. You know, it's. But for me, the, the imposter syndrome. Excuse me, wasn't necessarily talking with the, the business sellers, but it was talking. It was being in the room for the first time, you know, and going through what I was going through and trying to, you know, trying just trying to keep my eye on the prize, you know, learn what I need to learn, meet the people I need to do, meet the people I need to meet to, to get to the finish line for the first acquisition. But you know, like a lot of the people that are here today, you're in the room for the first time and you don't know who you, you think everyone else is. Have million dollar companies. You know, some of the leaders have multi million dollar companies. Some of the guests that come in are close to billionaire billionaire companies. And so you can't. At first you kind of feel out of place. Right. It's like you look around, it's like, I don't belong here. I, you know, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy to be in this room with these people and know. But it's really, it's not even, it's not that big a deal. It's. Once you meet everybody, it's, you know, everyone's just real regular folks. You know, they're, you know, it's no matter what, there's levels to everything. So, you know, the conversations with people that are, you know, dealing with certain things, getting started, it might look a little different than someone working on scaling or the next acquisition or you know, whatever it is that they're working on. But at the end of the day, they're really just people that are. At first, business acquisition sounds really intimidating, you know, and it's, it's just not, it's just not.

Well. And that speaks again to the. There aren't egos in the room. And yeah, that's got to be Kyle. That's got to be the design. Because it doesn't happen. You get Most rooms like this, in most events, there's all kinds of standoffs and at me and showboating and boasting.

And I have contest. Yeah.

I mean, crazy.

Yeah, crazy.

None of that here.

No, it's, it's, it's enjoyable, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Talk to me a little bit about growing up. Was money something that your family talked about? Was it discussed? Was it kind of hidden? Was it.

So this is something that I just really. And am starting to grab a hold of. But so, you know, kind of, kind of sharing the last eight. I. So when I purchased the first company, I had a. What do we call it? Buy box. Shame because it was a little smaller than the buy box that Kyle recommends. So I bought it, and I did not tell him. I bought it because I didn't want to tell. I didn't want to be talked out of it, and I didn't want to. If it failed. I didn't want to be. I didn't want to hear that I told you so. So I, I, I think I reached out with like a, Like a little summary of like, the last 18 months, like little mile markers, and then the, that was really the. I think it was a little post or something. I'm not sure. But the, the kicker was like, yesterday or today, I had a conversation. I have an LOI. A letter of intent accepted on a. A1 $1.85 million custom pool builder company. Custom pool builder. So I just thought it was a good time to share. I found some in the buy box, but, you know, with the land, the landscaping company I purchased, we. We really 10 xed in the, in 18 months. So. And then the, the, the pool company is, Is going to fit really well with that. So I'm, I'm really excited about that. I kind of got off subject with what you asked, but.

No, no, that, that's actually a great thing to bring up because I. Yeah. You know, you have that sort of success, you walk into that room regardless whether it's. If there's any employees there at all. Even if below the buy box, there's still people involved.

Yeah.

If it's above the buy box, there's more people involved.

Right. Gotcha. So that's what I was getting out. So the. Just kind of my timeline of the last 18 months, you know, and I had gone through a lot. You know, there was, there's divorce. The real estate market kind of shifted. I mean, I think I came in here with I barely had the $5,000 to get in the door, and it was it was a. I was not in a good place. I was a total disaster, you know, and I, I, I probably got through. I got through it. But telling that story really resonated with a lot of people. And I've gotten calls and text messages and Facebook posts and DMS and twats and tweets and all the social media. Just, hey, like, your story really inspires me. And, and it wasn't really my intention. It was just. It was, it was to just reach out to my friends. Hey, I'm doing good. This is what I'm doing. Hey, those that have kind of been with me along the way, thank you. But, yeah, I'm kind of realizing that there I have a bit of a story to tell, and people resonate with it. So that's been amazing, you know, because I was not in that position two years ago. You know, I was, I was at the, you know, I was at the bottom of the barrel. Right. You know, like, just trying to figure it out, you know, and it was, you know, divorce, probably like everyone else. It's some of the most challenging times that people go through. You know, we have three beautiful kids, and it was tough, you know, but, like, on the other side now, all the challenges that I've been through, like hell is, Is a reason why I got to the finish line, you know, so it's. It was, it was, it was really nice to, to hear people's response and questions and answers and, and just their, Their encouragement, but also, like, hey, that meant something to me, like, maybe they could do it too. Was. Was really cool. Yeah. You know, well, especially you were able.

To get through that and contain what was going on, because you're meeting these employees for the first time as the owner.

Sure.

And if they see something wrong with you, they're going to automatically wrong with the company or wrong with their job or wrong with their future. Talk a little bit about how were you able to kind of contain that and get through that and present the front? I mean, that had to be a challenge and a struggle.

No, that was pretty easy.

That was easy.

Yeah. I really, I really resonated with, with two of the employees that had been with the company for, like, over 20 years. They were missing a lot. They had the old owner that. The old owner passed away.

Okay.

And there was just a total lack of leadership. There was no direction. You know, the. It was a. It was the owner's wife or the sister trustee. She's been really greedy with everything, you know, and, you know, rightfully so. She's Gone through a lot, lost her husband. But, you know, she. She wasn't given the bonuses. She wasn't. She wasn't sending out the estimates for the work. So even if they got the estimates in, they weren't making any more money. So after talking with him, I was like, I. Okay, I. I understand what the problem is, and I can fix that. Real. I can fix that.

I got that.

Yeah, I can. I can do that. You know, so it's. It went from, you know, the. My little win and passing that down to the people that are really doing all the. Doing the. Doing the work and that have really. They've been with the company for 20. Over 20 years. I'm the one that's new. So it's like, what do they need? What do they need from me to get back? And at that one time, they had 50 employees. They were. They were huge.

Wow.

So what do we. So I know they're capable of it. What's missing? What do we. What do I need? What pieces do I need to put in place to get back to where they were?

Gotcha.

So once I understood that it was. It was quick. It was like, let's. Let's go. You know, and then, boom, it all.

Just falls into place like that.

Yeah.

Fill the holes.

Yeah, yeah.

Let me. Let me back you up to when you were growing up. So I'm talking pre college now.

Yeah, yeah.

Growing up, where was. Were you educated with money? Did you come from money? Like, what was. What was that. What was that childhood situation?

Yeah, yeah. You know, I think a lot of people see me and think I probably came from something or came with the silver spoon or the trust fund or like, whatever it may be. But, Don, I. I was born at trailer park in Costa Mesa, California. My dad rode me back from the hospital on the. In the car seat, but on the back of his Harley because they did not have a car. Like, it's kind of. And these are the things I was shameful of growing up. And most of my closest friends wouldn't even know. Wouldn't. Would never know. So that's how it started. That's. That's how I came into the world. Right. So we ended up. I think it was like two moved into a little. The back of a duplex. Thank God. San Clemente, California, most beautiful place, two blocks from the beach. But you know, that just being in that location was a blessing for me growing up. Being close to the beach and San Clemente's community is. It's a special place. Special place. But my Dad's uncle lived in the garage, right? And they. He had a plumbing business for a while. So he did. He was a plumber. He had a fire sprinkler business. His. His brother, my uncle lived in the garage and worked with him, worked with him in the business. And he became my best friend, like through elementary school. And I'd come home from school, and he had this dog, Chumley. But I come home from school, we'd play five games of chess almost every day for years. We'd go. We'd go to the beach, walk the dog. But he. He. We found out he had cancer, like melanoma. So as the years went on, it was his ear. His ear was taken off, his nose was taken off. You know, this. All the skin grafts. And we're still playing chess every day, working. So I was. I never really thought about it, going through it, you know, but it was. It was. It was tough, you know, it was like going through all that stuff. And at some point my dad left, so more or less grew up with a single mom, right? And, you know, like, it was going through divorce and all that was stressful for me, but you know what single mothers go through. You know, she had her issues. And there's three different years where I had to ask people that were on my basketball team, hey, can I stay with you this season? It's like three different times I avoided. I avoided foster care three different times. Sixth grade, I lived with my aunt. Freshman year, I lived with my. With my friend Chris and his mom. I'm still in San Clemente, but, yeah, so started drinking. I was 13. Started smoking pot when I was 13. Had fake ideas when I was 14, 15. Got thrown in. Got in a fight down in Rosarita, Got thrown in jail down there. But just basketball kind of kept my. Kept my. Kept my focus, but, yeah, ended up. Didn't really know what I was doing after high school, you know, all your friends disappear. So I drove up and down the coast of California trying out for basketball team. So I ended up getting a scholarship, started my freshman year. And I think I graduated college with like a D plus. But it was. Yeah, I was the. It was good, but I really forgot about all going through it. I was just. I was ashamed of. Of it all. You know, like the dad not there, the mom that went through this, you know, what we came from. It was. I didn't share like it was, but now I think back, and it's like, it's. It's. It's definitely part of my story. Yeah, you know what?

That's all the root system, right. That's all the growth in the dirt, in the dark, by yourself alone. And everyone looks at the tree and says, wow, that's beautiful.

Yeah.

But without going through all that, you don't have the support, you don't have the character, you don't have the willpower. Kyle mentioned it yesterday. He looks for people who've gone through struggle, who know what challenge and know what zero is like and know what rock and bottom's like.

Yeah, yeah, they've been through it. You know, it's like when challenge does come, you can, I would say you usually can count on them a little bit better. Know, like if they've gone through all the adversity possible in life, like buying it, buying a, buying a 200,000, a $2 million company, that's a different, that's a different set of problems than if, if you, if you haven't dealt with everything in the past. It's, you know, there's, you just handle it better, you know. So, yeah, I find myself attracted to those. Attracted to those people that have also been through it. Because if they haven't, when they do, it's. It's kind of like a Russian roulette, you know? You know, you don't know how they're, you know, how they're going to respond to adversity, you know, so. And when you see people go through things, it's, it's inspiring. There's a lot of people like, you know, Kyle's one of them. But, you know, a lot of, A lot of friends I've met through the years have. They've gone through things and those are the people that have kind of inspired me and. Yeah. That I've worked with and shared stories with and kind of grown along the way. So. Yeah, it's a.

Incredible.

Here we are.

Yeah, no, in. Incredible because that, that's the type of, of story that people are going to relate to and then realize he went through all that. Look, what. I should be able to do this.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's my excuse? Excuse my language. But you can't tell me that you can't do it. You know what I mean? Like, like whatever it is, it's not like buying a company is not, it's not that big a deal. And it, it's, it was much more life changing for me buying the business than buying all the different real estate and things. It just, it makes a much more of an impact and it, there's. Instead of being responsible to property and contractors, you're more responsible to. To people like employees, and you need to take care of them. So kind of forces you to. To transform yourself in a way and put it. Put everyone else first. And then the byproduct is you really, You. You change and you become a better person, ideally. You know, I think Kyle said it too. It's like, if. If. If you don't have money, you're an. When you get money, you're still gonna be an. You're just being an asshole with money, you know, but if you're. If you're a good guy and you do good things for good people, and when you. When you. When you do get money, you're gonna be a good guy with money, you know, so it's. I try to surround myself with those people, you know? Awesome.

Now put you on the spot a little bit. There's nothing you want to say to Kyle? Kyle's that camera. Anything you want to tell him, Kyle?

No, I just look forward to it, man. It's. I think we're just getting started. You know, you're an inspiration to a lot of people out here, and. And I'm just getting started. I look forward to what you're creating and look forward to be a part of it now. Cheers.

Very cool. Thank you very much. I appreciate you, Dan.

You got it Here. Thank you.

Awesome story.