Bauträger skaliert sein Unternehmen

0:00Unternehmer/Gast 4 years, 2 months, and about 6 days, you told me to stop running my real estate lead generation agency cuz I sucked at it. I took your advice. I listened. >> I was feeling sassy. Uh >> It was It was good advice because since that time I've sold about 125 million in real estate. Now

0:24>> Yeah. >> You You told me to come back and then figure out the small but you know, media agency again. Have no interest in doing that. I actually found that I'm a lot better at selling real estate than running the agency. >> Yeah. >> [laughter] >> So now what I've done, I've kind of found a niche cuz it's another piece of advice that you told me to figure out. And then the third thing is you told me to go find rich people, figure out their problems, and solve them cuz they pay a whole lot better.

0:52>> Yeah. >> So I started specializing in figuring out how I can leverage the tax code >> Uh-huh. >> while helping them acquire real estate. >> Mhm. >> Figuring all the different loopholes by leveraging real estate to offset their taxes. So I specialize with high income W uh workers or you know, business owners. Get them real estate. Now the business has kind of evolved and has been doubling every year. We're on pace to do about 55, almost 60 million this year.

1:19>> Kind of crazy. To put things into perspective, 2 and 1/2, 3% that's what the revenue would be. So division one is the acquisition. It's about a million, 2 million 3. >> Then we have a setup business where we set up the the investment properties for them, Airbnbs. >> Either I got to raise prices or do something else cuz I have like a 90, almost 95% closing rate. Um so we are doing about another 2, 300k there.

1:46>> And then we have the full done for you management on the back end and that's packaged on as an offer. >> Mhm. >> After speaking with Ed and a few other things, I'm trying to figure out am I killing off the baby here and keeping the main thing the main thing like you told me back 4 years ago or trying to figure out how to pivot because the continuation I know some of my really high income earners the people that have the million 2 million dollars in taxes to offload. >> Yeah. >> They don't want to set up the properties they don't want to manage them they don't want to do anything so they definitely do buy because of that turnkey method.

2:19So I'm at this crossroads of do we double down or I'm capped like how do I go from 60 to 100 when I have other people in my office working with Sir Hand doing 300 400 million just selling a higher ticket item right 5 10 million dollar properties as opposed to million 2 3 4 million dollar properties like I am right now. >> Mhm. >> So trying to figure out where to go next. >> So just to give context on this uh when Alan was our our software company uh we served white label for you know social media marketing agencies. So Peter was helping realtors get leads to sell houses and for like 6 months he would hop on I'd do like a call every week or whatever [snorts] and he would hop on and he'd be like God these realtors suck they don't work their leads you know all of all of this stuff and 6 months he was basically flat with revenue. Um and I was like have you ever worked your own leads?

3:10And like actually seen cuz you're not a realtor so I was like have you ever worked your own leads and seen if they're actually any good at all? Um and he ended up having a partner there that you know fell off who was the realtor who was going to be like the expert in the space and he was just going to run the ads and then it was just him. And so we had a little bit of a heart to heart moment where I was like listen man it's been 6 months like nothing has changed because something has to change and so why don't you just like actually get good at real estate and then if you want to visit this back once you go and crush it in real estate this door will always be open cuz you you still have the skills right you can always come back and so that is the the full of the other side of I'm almost getting emotional about it but like very cool man very cool.

3:48Um okay so let's let's scale this thing. So, um big picture we have you have this Airbnb thing, right? So, is that like how many of the people that you're selling right now need this Airbnb as the as the way as the reason that they're they're buying from you? >> So, out of the 70-some deals that we'll do cuz nothing is set in stone cuz I'm still closing deals literally as sitting at this event. >> Okay.

4:12Alex >> Um I would say probably about 90% are buying it for tax purposes. So, out of the 55 million, probably like 35 almost 40 is quarter four numbers. >> Yeah. >> So, like my business is so heavily stacked in the back end of the year, it's kind of crazy. Yeah. So, if I can do that volume in one quarter, like what can I do in four? >> Yeah. So, but so you have this Okay, so a couple considerations is like I'm seeing path one is you could say I want to build a compounding vehicle around this Airbnb thing.

4:43You could just straight raise money and do it. That is that is a path. Be like, I'm going to raise a fund, we're going to do Airbnbs, and this is the arbitrage we're playing with. That's an option. Another option would be um for these people like you could obviously raise the prices cuz if you're closing 95% then like the off like the offer is great. So, like we need to go like way up. And the price would probably just be the percentage of, you know, the the management fees and whatnot. >> Yeah, the the done for you is 10 grand, but it should be really like 20. Where I really make the money is the commission on the actual deal.

5:13>> Yeah. >> And then the management is at 15%, which is about 5 to 10% below where we should be. >> Yeah. >> But they make more money, which then gets them to transact with us again. And I have people that bought three, four, five, six properties. Like I just got a guy who bought four back to back. >> But is the is the limitation of the business that you can't handle more ops on the Airbnb? >> So, I'm I'm getting to this point where we have about 60 that are up and live. And I'll keep expanding the team. >> Yeah.

5:38>> I hate that business. Like if somebody were to willing >> reason you can't just like work with somebody who does this and just shh puts Give it to them. >> So, so that's what happened last year around November. The property manager quit, said, "I'm done. I'm out. Here's 20 properties. Do whatever you want with them." So, then I went and actually got one of my clients who bought an Airbnb with me who was doing Airbnb arbitrage. Kind of brought them in. >> I've made a deal and I'm They They take 2/3 of the revenue and I take a third. So, like for me to make 100 grand on years worth of work when I can literally close two deals, like it just makes no sense. So, I was thinking about figuring out if I can pawn it off and partner. A lot of my clients, what I'm noticing the management is always the the wild card, the weakest link. Cuz if the management doesn't do well, they don't come by again.

6:27But if everything turns, we see uptick on obviously the sales. So, I'm looking at trying to see if I can partner up without letting go of the control, but on the management side of the business, there's also we by accident built a cleaning company. >> [snorts] >> Really? Like >> Not directly, but we have cleaners who went from like 10 properties to and scaled with us and obviously I helped them build that. So, it's Now it's all decided and it's I'm

6:55>> Yeah. >> going into way too many directions. I'm trying to keep the main thing, which is what you told me, sell more real estate or sell high price take real estate. >> would so, um just because you don't have legal control doesn't mean you don't have leverage. >> Oh, yeah. I know. >> Right. And so, I I do think that what you're probably looking for is a partner, not like in your business, but basically somebody who can just manage this full time.

7:23And then just say like, "I'll give you 100%." You know what I mean? Like your 30% or whatever, like yeah, I see that as not a deal provided you don't have to do anything. So, I'm all for getting paid for not working. I don't want to get paid a small amount if I am working. >> Basically, it's the CEO. Like everything has to run through me. Even though he does like 80% of the work, I'm still the clients call me when goes wrong. >> work. So, Right, you're the one who who passed who passed on the relationship.

7:51Um I think that if you just position it as like, well, would they buy? They would still buy from you presumably, right? If they if the management goes well and it's a third party. >> I tried to Here's my partner, Ken. Here's my partner, whoever, Todd, you know. >> Yeah, yeah. >> And I but they're like, oh, well, is this all under you? So, it's kind of it's definitely easier to sell when I say it's where it's all interconnected, it's under the same roof. >> yeah.

8:17>> [sighs] >> So, then I'm trying to figure out is how much of my front-end sale >> Yeah. >> is actually attributed to us being able to set up the property and then managing. Like our property skill >> You could always just like sell properties without it and see what happens. >> So, I So, I did. The first year we did about 10, 12 million, then went to 24, then 36, now we're at 55. So, last >> But you have But you included the Airbnb in the beginning or just recently?

8:43>> No, so last year basically last November I had people asking me, can you just help us set it up? And they would just waste my time. >> Oh, so this is recent. So, you did 24 million before like per annum before adding this in. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, I think you should probably just go sell more houses. Being real. No, for real, I think you should just sell more houses and then just have an intro. Like it's like, I can make some introductions to management companies, but the core thing is they need to buy the real estate to get the depreciation or whatever, right? Whatever you know, thing you you you figure it out.

9:13Um so, that's the like the core thing is they want to get the money off the books, which is why Q4 is such a big, you know, thing they want, right? Right, and so having the management to me feels like it's gravy rather than like the core thing is like, I have to spend this money or I will pay taxes on it and I will own an asset that I cuz I'd be like, I've got a suite of five different guys that are management companies. Like, they can do this. I'm the one who gets you good properties. And I will find you a good deal on the property cuz if you buy right, it makes it gives you a lot more padding on the back.

9:42Alex >> Yeah, so like when we had the partnerships, the issue that I ran into >> Yeah. >> is that the guys would do a job and then I would get the phone call "Can you manage this?" >> think but again it's like I think all of that comes down to expectation setting. So, if you're having the conversation with them and you're like "Listen, if we buy right, you're going to save like you will you get an instant 58% increase on the money that you don't pay taxes on." >> Yeah. >> Right? So, like no matter what we get a 58% increase on free money. >> Yeah. >> That's what I can deliver. I can introduce you to some people.

10:10Everything's hit or miss and like the management's up to them. Now, that's part of the like that's part of what you're getting into but if you're good to lock in the 58, let me go get you a house and I'll make sure I buy it below market, blah blah blah blah blah. I think you could still do the pitch. I think it's all about just how you set the the expectation up front. >> So, a lot of the leads that are coming in is through my strategic partners. Like I go, I speak around the country. I get on stages, right? And room full of people, typically CPAs, accountants, tax preparers.

10:36>> I've been thinking about going direct to consumers. So, instead of finding the CPAs and speaking, going directly to "Hey, are you a high income earner, W-2, whatever?" >> Yeah. >> Is that the wrong tree to bark at? Because I don't want to be dependent on those strategic partners. Like we we I definitely identify with >> I have like three or four. >> Okay, that is a little dependent. Well, I mean I think I think it was the right strategy. I think you just need to do what Wait, more.

11:03I think it's more like how do I get like 30 or 40? And so, I think part of the reason that you've been bending over backwards is because you need the deals that they give you. Rather than like if you had 30 or 40 of these CPAs, they'll send you customers and you'll be like "Listen, this guy wants a shitload of stuff. I can I will get these guys the houses they need and we'll you know, to to to get the the the the tax treatment that they are looking for." And you'll be able to turn down some business that doesn't require this back end thing in order to close the deal.

11:32So, it's like maybe you lose 25% of your business um by not having to deal with all this headache and just saying like I can make intros, but like I'm not associated, but I can do the core economic arbitrage, which is the first sale. >> Which inadvertently will help us make more money cuz I can go sell more. >> Yeah, you can focus. And I think that if you if you had all the time back from all this management and then just said, "I'm going to go from having four CPAs to 40 by the end of the year and we're going to run it the same way."

11:58Like you'll have 10x the lead flow. And assuming you close three out of four instead of 100% because instead of a a grand slam offer, it's a home run offer. Right? Um then you'll still have tripled the business. >> And then would you change all the marketing and all the >> Sorry, 8x the business. Excuse me. 7 and 1/2. >> All all the outbound to just target the CPAs or would you still have some for the direct-to-consumer? >> Well, what percentage right now is coming from the CPAs?

12:26Alex >> I would say probably like 60-70%. >> And the other third is from what? >> It's either word of mouth, coming, you know, recurring, or literally people finding me on Instagram after I haven't posted a month, right? >> Yeah, I think um I think the CPA is the is the primary channel. Like you've gotten 60% of your revenue from four people. I just think, "Great. How do we have 40 or 400?" To me, that's the entire game. >> Yeah, and then the the the customers that are coming back >> They'll come back.

12:52>> They're they're they're they're coming back or they're referring us now this because they know >> But the like I see that as the repeat business, which let's carve out for sake of like where does new business come from? 100% of new business comes from the CPAs. >> Almost. >> Besides the one or two that come from Instagram. So, if that's the case, the big point of leverage in this thing is that each CPA firm, let's say is roughly worth 500 to 700,000 a year in commissions to you. So, that's a lot of money per CPA firm, which means you can get really aggressive in attracting them um to send you business.

13:24Alex >> And my margins on that business are like 90%. >> Right. >> Technically 88 cuz I got to pay my broker. >> Right. But I think that's the I think that's the That's That's the way that I would I would do it. Like if I were to attack the business today, I'd lop this part off. If I'm confident, which I am, that you can sell houses without saying I also do the management, I think you've got the sales chops to do that. Um you'll sell way more houses cuz you'll get half your time back or more. And you can take that time to go get from four CPAs to 40 CPAs. That to me is the game plan.

13:52>> Awesome. Thank you. As always. >> Appreciate you, man. >> Congrats. 4 years ago you changed my life. >> You changed your life. If you are a business owner and you are not growing as fast as you'd like, I'd like to give you a free gift. So, my team and I put together the $100 million scaling roadmap, which is basically 200 hours of us looking over all the portfolio companies we've had and what stages of growth they went through and more importantly, where they got stuck and how they got past it. And so we broke it in these 10 stages and we made this little kind of quiz thing where if you put in your business information, it'll tell you where you're at and the most important part for you, what to do for each of the functions of the business across product, marketing, sales, customer success, recruiting, IT, human resources, and finance. And so, no matter what you're struggling with, someone else has already struggled with it and solved it. And so I'd like to give you this thing absolutely free. You can go to acquisition.com/roadmap, plug in your business information, and if you want us to actually help you deconstruct the business and you're trying to scale, we'd love to help you out. On the thank you page, you can book a call with my team and we will look at the business, see if we can help, and if we can, we'll invite you out to Vegas and we'll do this in person live.