Challenges Of A Land Investor Feel The Fear And Keep Taking Action"

Hey, it's Mark Podolski, the Land Geek, with your favorite niche real estate website, www.thelandgeek.com. we've got the usual suspects. Today on this week's roundtable, we've got the dude buddy, the nightcap meister, Scott Bossman. Scott, how are you?

Great, Mark, how are you?

Good, good. Bearland. Aaron Williams. Bearland, how are you?

Doing great.

Good to see you. The technician, Eric Peterson. Eric, how are you? I'm good. And of course, the most feared woman on the planet, the terrorist hunter, Mimi Schmidt. Mimi, how are you?

I'm great. I'm happy to be here. How are you doing today?

Pulse is still normal. Respiration is fine. I love it when you call me Big Papa Tate Litchfield. Hey, guys.

What's going on?

By the way, I don't know if everybody knows, but you can look over Tate's shoulder. Just go to thelandgeek.com lots, which stands for look over Tate's shoulder. And last but not least, the brain, the professor, the land Geek, Flight school Sherpa. Scott Todd from scotttodd.net landmodo.com investor ninjas. And if you're not automating your Craigslist and your Facebook postings, posting domination.com thelandgeek Scott Todd. How are you?

Mark? I'm great. Like, I've, like, recovered from flight school live. It's been like I wasn't here last week because, like, I was like, out, I think.

You know what? Let's talk about that. Because you are an entrepreneur. You just started a new startup, Investor Ninjas, and you went to a seminar with kind of a big deal in his world, kind of give us the lowdown, and that's going to lead us into our roundtable discussion.

So last week I went to a seminar, and it was a three day seminar, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And it was for entrepreneurs, right? Like, it was an entrepreneurial seminar. And it was really talking about, you know, kind of access shift, shifting businesses and everything. It was really cool seminar. I really, really enjoyed it. The weird thing, though, like, the thing that really I felt out of place in is I think I was the only real estate investor. Let's stop it there. I think I was the only real estate investor in the room. And every afternoon there were these guest speakers, and they were people from this guy's community. And he'd get up there and he'd talk, and they would get up there and they would tell their stories. And remember, Mark, these are hardcore entrepreneurs. These are not people that are taking what I would call the easy route, which is real estate investing, or better yet, land investing. They're out there and they're trying to like change the world. I mean, they are really talking about changing the world. Stuff like the unicorns of the world, right? That's what they want to be. That's what they envision. And look, there's a mix of like roofing companies out there and nutritional supplement companies and one company where they're trying to change the education system. Think about that. Like, they're trying to change the public school education system. It's a very big mission, but it's just they're bootstrapping it. And I'm sitting there and I'm talking to other entrepreneurs and it was amazing because they're talking about like all these hours they work, you know, 60, 70, 80 hours, how much money they've invested in their businesses. Like, one guy told me that he has spent more than like a million and a half dollars to automate his warehouse, okay? And like he was dependent on Google and he was dependent on Amazon. He was doing great. The Google se, Amazon vendor orders, not even a seller central, the vendor orders. And then like literally within a couple months of each other, Google pulls back their algorithm, changes it, he drops. His SEO business goes from like a million dollars a month down to about $300,000 a month. 70% gone just from Google changing. Then the next punch came from Amazon because Amazon changed their algorithm.

And.

And boom, guess what? He goes from like 300,000 down to like 250. 200 to 250amonth. Like 80% of his business gone. He started all over again. And you know, then there was another couple up there and they're the ones trying to change the education system. And they're talking about this 15 year journey where like they were on the brink of bankruptcy. They literally. The co founder, the female co founder was on the stage crying because she was saying that one year ago at this time she was giving up. Like, it was over. They were getting ready to shut down the business. And then like out of the blue, one big order came in and it righted the ship. And next thing you know, they're buying their competitor. Like, really cool stories. But I'm sitting there thinking, like, man, these are like the hardcore entrepreneurs getting punched in the teeth all day long trying to create this business. And when someone thinks about creating their own business, these are the stories they think about. And I'm sitting there going, man, we have it easy. Like, this is it. I want to stand up and say, stop. Everybody stop. Come with me. Let me. Let me tell you about a different plan that won't drive you insane. And you'll keep all your hair and keep all your money, and actually, you'll make money. And it really got me thinking, like, as land investors, what's been the biggest challenge that you have faced? And have you ever. Like, I've never seen at one of our boot camps, someone in the front on grill, the geeks up there crying that they were losing it all. And then, like, one big deal came in. In fact, the people that I see that have tears in their eyes have it because of how better their life is after entering the program. So I'm just curious, like, who's had the. What's your biggest land investing nightmare? And I guess, how did you overcome it?

Scott Bossman, let's start with you. You're on mute, Scott. There you go.

First of all, hearing about that just really puts things in perspective because did I work hard to get my land business up and going? Yes. Did I. Was it a side hustle for me? Was I getting up early and staying up late? Yes. But really, when you think about it, the barrier for entry for this business is so low when it comes to cash flow, when it comes to time. Cause you just need a few hours here and there and you can start moving the needle in your life. That, I mean, it just makes me thankful hearing what Scott just said. As far as my biggest challenges, I mean, I have a different background than a lot of folks. I have no business. Back getting into this, I had no business background at all. No experience in sales, no experience in accounting or really using the computer all that much. So for me, you know, biggest challenges were just some of those logistics and learning how to get things up and running. But again, very simple compared to the things Scott is describing. And then I guess the next biggest challenge for me was just learning how to leverage my time because it was a side hustle for me. So how can I most effectively gain traction? Sales, land, you know, land purchases and use other people to help leverage my time. And that's been, you know, it's been a work in progress. It still is, but, you know, still looking at where I was a few years ago to now, it's just an unbelievable change. So I guess for me, that's been. That was the biggest challenge.

Nice.

Nice. Bearland. Aaron, how about you?

You know, I guess I did have another business. I was one of those getting kicked in the teeth every day kind of entrepreneurs. And that business is still Around I've turned it into a side hustle for my son while he's in college. But when I shifted over to land, one of my biggest struggles, and I still struggle with it, was letting go of things and getting other people to do them for me and wrapping my head around it's okay to spend that money to do that. Because in my previous iteration, you know, it was brick and mortar. It was a service company, and it was me doing everything. You know, eventually I did hire somebody to do do work too, but then. Then I actually had, you know, traditional payroll. And that's a pain. You know, even just one employee, like, doubles the workload in the office side of it, you know. So I came into the land business still thinking about that, still with that kind of experience. And it made it very hard for me to let go of things because, you know, I'm the only way one that's gonna do it the way I want to do it. You know, I had to learn that I could, you know, just record myself doing it, and then somebody else would do it the way I want to do it. And, you know, through our business, I was able to learn that there's very affordable ways to hire work for this kind of business, workers for this kind of businesses. I don't have to have a payroll. You know, we have virtual assistants. There's great automation tools that can help let go of things. And honestly, if you. Tate talks about this when we talk about VAs and stuff, and I think Eric does and everybody does, really is like, you know, think of those couple things like, will this person make me money or will they free me up? Will they, you know, will I gain time from it? You know, and those kind of things are the amount of money that we pay for those is a very high value to expense ratio, Something that I wasn't used to before. So that's letting go of those things. I still struggle a little bit, but, you know, every day is an improvement. And that was. That was my biggest struggle. And this business is just amazing because of the way it can free you up to be able to live life and have time and in that passive income to allow you to do that.

Yeah, absolutely. Letting go. How about you, Mimi? Biggest struggle?

Well, I am definitely my greatest obstacle. Right. If I could just get out of my own way, I'd be a heck of a lot farther along. It's not just with automation and delegation. For me, it's really fear. Oh, gosh, is this county going to be a good county? Oh, my gosh. I'M so worried, right? And until you get in there and you figure it out, and then you realize, oh, this is no big deal because you figured it out. But then let's say again, county with particular size property. And as I scaled my business, I bought some, took more risk, and bought some bigger properties. Oh, my gosh, I've never bought a property this expensive before. It's going to work out in my favor. You know, I get all nervous and. But then after done it a couple times, right? I just. Through execution, I learned to not be so fearful. But I still feel it with every new step I take in my business. I still have. I still question myself, right? So that's just who I am, right? And I just have to push myself to move forward. And the way I deal with it.

I guess, I mean, do you. Do you subscribe to the philosophy, feel the fear, and then just keep taking action?

That's it. I have to take action or I won't do it. All right? I'll be too afraid to ever do it, Right? And I know once I get on the other side, for instance, when I move into a new county, oh, gosh, I'm so scared. But the more I learned about the county, the fear goes away, right? So. So now I just need to enter, like, five more. Well, not that I want to be in there at the same time. I just have to not be so afraid. And the more I experiment, the more I learn which counties I really like. Right? So it's just a matter of doing nice.

Nice. The technician. Eric Peterson. How about you? Biggest challenge?

Well, first of all, I think, you know, after hearing Scott talk and kind of think about, you know, what other entrepreneurs go through, I mean, we are just so fortunate that the nature of our business allows us to essentially work from wherever we want to work and also work with the people we want to work with. So being that our business is pretty much all online, we have the ability to. To hire VAs in the Philippines or wherever and help them or allow them to help us grow our business and do different tasks along the way. So not every business can do that. I mean, if you're in a service business and, you know, you're local and you're a roofer or whatever, I mean, you can't hire virtual assistants in the Philippines or wherever to. To come put shingles on a roof. I mean, maybe you can hire out the accounting or something like that, but the nature of our business, I mean, we can really outsource almost all of it, so. So that's really cool. I guess, in terms of my challenges, when I first got started, I think it was probably in the sales arena and accounting. Never have I ever felt comfortable in the accounting world. So for Scott's accounting courses proved to be very helpful along the way. And just bringing in the right people to help with those problems and educate me has been very helpful on the sales side. I just. It was a challenge for me when I got started, but I got more and more comfortable over time. The more I stuck with it and. And just did it. And then I think just something that always is kind of in my nature is just this element of wanting things to be right or perfect. So the ability to outsource certain tasks can be a challenge. But I tell you, like, once you get to the point where you're fed up with it and you finally let it go, it always feels so much better. So, yeah, that's. That's kind of my story.

I love it. I love it. Big Papa Tate, Litchfield.

So I think my biggest challenge going back a couple years was kind of organization, right? I. Before the days of LGPass, it was an Excel spreadsheet nightmare. I mean, we didn't have automation. It was trying to keep track of your data and your purchase price and your. Your offer prices. And there was just so much information to track. And that caused me to make a few mistakes, you know, maybe overpay for a property or sell the property two or three times, maybe. And that was because I just didn't take good records. But now LGPASS has kind of made that issue disappear entirely. So people that are getting into this, they really don't realize how powerful that was or that the introduction of that tool was for me personally. It allowed us to scale quicker, to do more deals, to do a greater volume of deals, to not make simple mistakes. And it all started with the elimination of being disorganized. So organization was always a huge headache for me. And I like to say that, you know, from where I started to where I'm at now, it's a night and day difference. There's still room for improvement, obviously, and I think there always will be. But for the most part, we're not having the same mistakes or issues any longer. So that's one of the biggest pain points that I first experienced and kind of disappeared.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I know, Scott, like, my biggest pain point in my entrepreneurial journey, it kind of makes me think of Ego's the Enemy, the book by Ryan Holiday. Like, I like anything that would feed my ego. I was all in on it, right? So, you know, I wanted to be a deal junkie. I wanted to get the sales. I wanted to feel that, oh, look at me, right? Especially when I first started out. Then as I started to, you know, very little dip my toe into delegation with Janie in South Carolina doing the mailings, like, I wanted her to ask me questions so I could solve problems, right? And it wasn't until I had my business mentor kind of look at me and kick me in the head and knock some sense in me. Like, Mark, you don't. You're not in business. He's like, you're playing business, but you're not really in business. You're doing everything. And he's like, that's not a business. So step by step, I started building that and letting go. Like, what Eric and Aaron were saying. Like, that for me was such a challenge in just letting go, Kind of having that humility. Like, I'm not that good at all this stuff. Like, there's people who, once they get their reps in, they're going to be better than me. And I can spend time doing things that really are going to move the needle and help grow the business in various ways that I can enjoy doing. And it took five years to get to that point. It was not easy. And even to this day, like, I'll check vox. Like, does anybody have a question? Can I solve something? What about you, Scott? Maybe you're on mute.

I would say that for me, my biggest challenge was when I got going. And what made it a big challenge was my time is I didn't have a lot of time. And I know that's a problem that a lot of people have is this whole concept of time. And, you know, I think that what happens is, you know, like, I had time, was. Time was my worst enemy in two ways. One, I didn't have it to give to the business. And then two is I knew at some point in the future, I didn't know when that the pink slip was coming. Like, I could just see it. I could feel it. I felt the shift in the forces, if you will. I just. Your hunch, your gut tells you, like, this is coming. So I was competing against two times. One is I didn't know when I was going to be out, but I knew it was coming. And then the second was I didn't have the time to dedicate to the business. Those were the two pieces. And so when I looked at it, I said, okay, I got to do this. There's no option. This Is it? My ship is burned. I can't get off the beach at this point. So what am I going to do? I realized, like, okay, listen, I've got to get rid of this work that is not going to move the needle in my life. Essentially, I looked very closely at everything that I did. So if it did not get me to the mission, which was to add money to the passive income, I didn't do it. So the only thing that I can identify that would add to the passive income was sales. That's it. Everything else is a supporting role to that one thing. And so in that case, what I did was I took on the sales piece of it. And every day I committed, like, every day I'm going to get something else off my plate. It could be one little step. It doesn't need to be the whole list scrubbing thing, but can I get someone to at least give me a list and I'll still price it? Okay, so like, and then I did it for a few days, they gave me the list. Next thing you know, I'm like, okay, here's how you price it. So if you start to think like, I cannot do this anymore, I didn't like it either, but I can't do this anymore. Or due diligence, I can't do this anymore. I've got to get rid of it. Because the number one mission is to build a passive income. There was a sense of urgency around it. And so building that passive income became the number one job. And so if it was not feeding to a sales call, I was out. So I still did my marketing because that led to the sales calls, right? Like, I got rid of the low, lowest important stuff and then I took on the most important stuff. And that's really, you know, I think at some point you have to. If you want this thing to work for yourself, I think what you have to do is you really have to one, you have to commit. Like, look, I'm going to do this come hell or high water. I'm doing this thing. And then what is my most important role? And everything else has got to go. Everything. In my Sunday video, just a couple days ago, I talked about how in Great Britain there was a rowing team, like a boat rowing team. And every year they finished sixth, seventh, eighth place. And they did this for years and years and years. And then one day they were tired of it. They're like, this cannot continue. So then they went back and they said, if what we're going to do does not make the boat go faster, it's off the table. So that became their central question. Everything that they did answer that one question. Does this make the boat go faster? If the answer is no, it's off the table. Will this add to my passive income? If that's your goal, Will this add to my passive income? Yes, I'm going to do it. No, somebody else has got to do it. Who's going to go do it? And then I had to get rid of it. And so I think that's really. That was a hard shift for me, is because I had to like, throw everything off the boat to make the boat lighter so that I could actually go and do the work.

No, it totally makes sense. And you know, it's so funny is I think if you're an entrepreneur listening to this and you have any kind of physical inventory, that sucks, what a pain it is to deal with physical things. Like, my son became executive director of a nonprofit, and it's called Games for Kids. And it's giving, you know, taking recycled electronics and, you know, fixing it and giving it to kids whom are underprivileged. And he took. He takes over this nonprofit. And I've got like dropboxes in my garage and all these envelope things in my garage. I'm like, this is terrible. Like, you gotta have space for stuff. And just made me, like, just so grateful that we just shuffle paper and make money and don't have to have any space. Really, it's great. It's amazing. I don't know. Just kind of made me think of that.

So, Mark, I saw an email from someone the other day, and they're saying, will you drive neighborhoods, take pictures of houses to make $10,000? And I'm like, yeah, that'd be pretty good. But, man, do I really want to be in a car for that long, you know, I can have people shuffling paper and I'm not doing nothing. I don't even want to be in a car for make $10,000.

I won't even park anymore. I just valley park. I can't look for a spot anymore. I'm like, this is. Life's too short. I'm going to, you know, do that. Like, even, even, like, like my son's got graduation. I always said to my wife, like, we're not parking. It's at asu. I'm like, let's just take an Uber down there. Not parking. You start thinking differently when, like, you see how like, time, time versus money can always make more money. I can't get more time.

You know, if you have A horse you can park right up at the front, right?

That's right.

I didn't know that.

Tate, what's that song, that rap song that's got like, little country something about the horse?

Old Town Road.

I think it is Old Town Road.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's Marilyn Aaron.

I was just thinking I was gonna pull it up and play it for him, but.

Yeah, isn't Breaky Heart Guy's on that, right?

Yeah, I think.

Yeah.

What's Billy Ray Cyrus? Yeah, there you go. Zaino should be on this call. He would know. He's a big country fan. Not so much with rap, though. All right, so the tip of the week. I hope everybody got a lot of the entrepreneurial discussion, but now it's time for us to haze Mimi and ask her for the tip of the week. A website, a resource, a book, maybe even a quote, something actionable for the art of passive income listeners. Go improve their businesses, improve their lives. What have you got? While you're thinking of it, I do want to just mention that today's podcast is sponsored by Flight School and Flight School Live. So if you are kind of shaking your head and thinking, yeah, time is really way more important than money, then you owe it to yourself. To learn more about how flight school can launch you into your own land business, go to thelandgeek.com training schedule, a call with the nightcap meister Scott Bossman or the zen master Mike Zato. So thelandgeek.com training Mimi, what do you got?

So it's a website, it's called finelaw. And I just use it for general questions about the law with dealing with deeds and that kind of thing. So just for instance, the site that I sent just explains the difference between tenancy income and joint tenancy rights of survivorship. And I also sent a link on easements. So we have so many coaching students that ask us these legal questions and we're not attorneys, but there are places out there that are great resources for that kind of information. I've had a rocket Lawyer account to for three years that I asked tricky questions and they've always been super helpful. But generally if I have a question, I just go out there and look on this site, Fine Law. So they have a special. A special section just for real estate.

I love it. I love it. I know we have a bunch of attorneys in the community. I just wish, you know. Well, actually, I don't wish. I know Roberto Chavez could retire tomorrow from law and just become like full time land investor. And then like our side Real estate attorney. That'd be kind of cool, Tate. Should we talk to Roberto about it?

Yeah, that'd be pretty sweet. I mean, we just gotta convince him.

He still likes practicing, though. He's not gonna.

Yeah, I mean, he enjoys it. He's having fun with it now because it's not, like, his only gig, right? He's got this.

Yeah. All right, this is a good one. So realestate.findlaw.com we'll have a link to it. All right, so I thought this was a great podcast. Great roundtable discussion. Eric Peterson. Are we good?

We're great.

We're great. Bearland. Excellent. Good. Scott. Bossman.

Dude, Buddy, Party on.

All right, speaking of, I assume you and Aaron are going to go drinking right now? It's like, afternoon.

Yes, it is 2:30 on a Tuesday, so we'll be hitting half.

2:30 on a Tuesday. Yeah. Okay. Mimi, are we good?

We're great.

Good. Okay. Tate.

Yeah. Solid.

Scott. Todd.

We're good, Mark.

All right, well, I think all the listeners, just remind them, you know, if you're enjoying the podcast, share it with a friend, go on the interwebs, forward it to a friend, Certainly just give us three little favors. We really appreciate it. You got to subscribe, you got to rate, you got to review the podcast, Send us a screenshot of that review. To support TheLangic.com we're going to send you for free the $97 passive income launch kit. All right. Are we doing this?

We are, Mark.

One, two, three. Land Freedom ring. Not bad.

Sound like a good one over here.

So what'd you guys think of that picture where Tate was actually going to the Cheesecake Factory?

We already discussed this, Scott, since you bailed on us last week. We discussed it. We laid it to rest. I know it was you being creepy looking over my shoulder. Everybody knows. It's been settled. On to the next one.

What can I say? I will tell you. And you know, Tate, that restaurant that we went to was. So I was craving it again, and I dragged my wife all the way back down there on Sunday. I'm like, we're going here.

She's like, can we go to Columbia?

No, no, no. This is a new one.

No, no, it's different, Mark. You're. You're outside the loop now. So, you know, it was good. It was really good. We went back. I got a brisket taco.

Next time, you got to get the El Pastor tacos.

It's only on Friday, though. Only on Friday.

Well, I know where you'll be Friday.

Then maybe look at Mark.

He looks visually upset about this.

I am upset.

He was.

I don't like this. I'll tell you what, we ate so well. Vegas boot camp, Tate. Like we really got to take it to a new level.

We ate so well and I mean I had. We had Cubans like they were going out of style number one. And we went to this one restaurant that Scott took me to for lunch one day and like I'm checking out, I got a Cuban and there's. I don't even know what it was to this day, but the guy was like. I was like, what's that? He's like just mumbled and it's like double crab.

Double crab?

Yeah, it was something. It was something crab. And I couldn't understand. I was like, huh? He's like. I was like, alright, just give it to me. And it was amazing. Best decision ever. I think I'm just gonna allow, like them to decide what I eat from here on out because the restaurant was fantastic. The Cuban I ordered, the small, only ate half of it. It was so massive.

I would. I'm gonna get my revenge. You know, I'm do. I'm gonna call the Columbia, I'm gonna have them ship me on dry ice, bunch of Cubans, dirty rice. It's gonna get here and then I'm gonna do a Facebook live and I'm just gonna be eating it in slow motion and then like you're gonna see scrolling through the screen, Tate, this bites for you. Scott. Todd, this bites for you.

I'll be there. I'll just be there.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

And then I'm gonna, I'm gonna call the manager. I'm like, this guy, if he comes in. Yeah, 86 him.

86.

You know, you can't. Like, that place was good.

We had a lot of great food there. Mark, like, and my wife is now searching for our next restaurant for the flight school live.

Nice.

What's this picture? Oh, the horse and bike. Is that Bearland?

Me, me.

Is that Mimi Aaron in the cart? We just gotta. Maybe just send us a picture of Bear Land in the. In the horse and buggy. That's cool. Very cool. All right, so Scott Bossman, are we excited for the next Star wars movie or is it the last movie? Is this it?

It's. Well, it's the last movie in the Skywalker Saga. Episode 9, December 2019. There are more trilogies to come and.

They just sign on for six new ones or something.

Two more trilogies, I think, in the future.

Yes, That's Crazy.

Yeah. Speaking of bad trilogies, don't go see John Wick.

Was it bad?

I like John Wick.

Who doesn't like a nice, vicious, you know, gratuitous violence of body counts? Everyone does, but after a while, it just becomes okay. Same thing over and over.

You know what I'm watching on Hulu, which is fantastic? A new series. It's called Killing Eve. Seen that one?

Love Killing Eve.

Oh, it was fantastic. Mimi, download it.

Season one, though, I think, is better than season two.

I just started season one, like, this last.

Mimi, you're on mute.

Did you watch Lucifer?

No.

You have to watch Lucifer. Season four just came out. It's great. And we spent yesterday watching John Wick 1 and 2 to prepare for 3, and you're telling me it's not even worth going?

Well, I mean, I would watch on cable, but, like, to spend money on it. I don't know. I'd like to get those two hours back, honestly.

Did your kids like it?

No. He's like, yeah, yeah, you know, I got it. He's like, it was okay. One of those. Those theaters, like, they serve him food. So I think he liked the food. That was cool.

That's cool.

You know, it's fun. We went. It was like a guy's night out. Like, his buddy and my buddy. And it's like, after a while, it's like, okay, another dead guy. That's cool. Very good. All right, well, everybody, have a great rest of your day and see everyone in a little bit. See ya, Scott. Bossman, vox me.

I got you. I'll. I'll fly down there and eat those Cubans with you. That'll make Scott Todd jealous.

Honestly, everyone except Scott Todd is welcome. Like, we should have, like. Yeah, I can.

I can form my own posse. It's okay.

Here we go again.

Here we go again. You know what I can tell you right now? My next call is. Is the. Danielle. We're catering Indian the whole weekend at boot camp.

Hey, listen, good news. I got money.

Yeah, but at boot camp, you don't have time.

Oh, I can make time. Don't you worry. Listen, date is proof that I can make time to eat.

Yeah.

Let's go.

Uber eats, man.

Uber eats. Trust me.

Trust me.

And it's Vegas, too. It's not like you're gonna be starving. There's so much good food here.

They'll bring me food on a silver platter just for the right price.

Mm. But I do like the idea of Indian. I got a new restaurant for us.

Oh, nice Go for it.

All right.

All right. See you, guys.

More of the orange stuff.

Orange Stu.