Ep. #49 - Let's Talk... Business, Finances & Wealth

Hey, I'm ready to start some in-person discussions... So how about we meet next month (and once every month) to discuss various aspects of creating wealth - generational wealth!

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Intro...

Welcome to Episode #49 - Let's Talk… Business, Finances & Wealth - (and of course, Real Estate)

So for a LONG time I've been wanting to start a monthly local meet-up, at which I wanted to talk about matters of wealth creation and finances, creating and running businesses, and my new passion - Real Estate Investing (owning Rental Properties) and being a Landlord,

But I had a bunch of excuses as to why I haven't done it before now - the top two of which was that I didn't really have a good place to do it; and second - I didn't much care for public speaking. Thankfully I'm much more comfortable with public speaking now than ever before - and I know that doing it more often (as this will force me to do) - will only make me even better and more comfortable with it as I go.

As for the location... I considered doing it at a local restaurant or at the public library; however, I now have the perfect place to do it! My business partner (Professional Barber, Khedron Mims) and I - just opened a sports themed Barbershop in Downtown Durham - named Rivals Barbershop. It's a pretty cool place - you've got to come check it out and get a cut.

And this will be the monthly meet-up spot. Going forward every 1st Monday of each month we'll have a meetup at 6:30 in the evening. It will become more formal as we get a few sessions under our belt (we'll even video tape them at some point) - but initially it will be me, Khedron Mim's, and Garrett White (my business partner on the new build we spoke about back on Episode #17) - so the 3 of us speaking on certain topics of creating and running businesses, handling finances (growing financial intelligence), creating wealth and of course - Rental Real Estate Investing and being a Landlord.

And also other aspects of Real Estate - be it Flipping, Wholesaling, Short-term Rentals - anything and everything (business wise, real estate wise, financial wise) that can create income, greater income (both active income and passive income). With the ultimate goal being to become financially free and generate enough wealth that you have a legacy to leave to future generations.

As we move forward my hope is that we'll have guest speakers and eventually progress to the point of having a mastermind group of local small business owners who help each other grow their businesses - and as I said - improve finances, create wealth and obtain Real Estate. And since no one is born knowing any of this stuff... We all had to learn it somewhere.

We all acquired our knowledge from some person, some book, some class, some combination of these and experiences - so I want to share what I have - knowing that this will bring me into contact with people who can share their knowledge with me and help me progress and make connections that will aid me getting further along in my journal towards financial freedom and wealth creation. And what fun is it to go on a journey all alone?

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So the location for these meetings will be Rivals Barbershop, which is a joint venture between me and Khedron Mims. The grand opening was just a week or so back - and it's located in Downtown Durham, North Carolina - at: 727 N. Mangum Street - Suite #100.

At 6:30 on the 1st Monday of each month we'll be meeting at Rivals Barbershop - and things should wrap up at approximately 8PM - keep it quick. All are welcome, but we're specifically looking for those individuals who have a spark of entrepreneurial-ism - that the right information, the right associations and connections could fan that spark into a flame.

We seek to influence those who themselves seek to obtain information that (along with taking actions as directed) will improve their financial condition - and they're ready to apply that information and take those actions to change their financial situation for the better.

That's what this Podcast is about... It has a focus on Rental Real Estate Investing and being a Landlord. But you can't do that if your finances are jacked up. So we'll be teaching how to manage finances, improve credit, save money, start investing in both yourself and your future.

It doesn't matter what you do for a living. But in addition to that, you should also have some passive income that's generated from a Business or Rental Property (Rental Real Estate) that you own. And we'll also speak about maximizing your income on whatever is that primary job or endeavor - and then leveraging those additional funds to create passive income. With the ultimate goal of having your passive income reach a level where it's able to fully cover your bills and pay for your desired lifestyle.

At that point you've become financially free - when your passive income covers your bills and lifestyle - so we'll speak on making that happen as quickly as possible. FIRE - Financial Independence Retire Early. FIRE is the acronym - that's what we're striving for.

Do you really want to wait until you're 65 or 70 years old and all you have to look forward to is a Social Security check. If that even still exists by then. NO! You want to create passive income, that will be there when you retire - and for the rest of your life, and for the rest of your children's life and their children's life.

Rental Real Estate is the way that I'm choosing to do that, but there are other ways. But I think you should do all of it. I think you should do multiple things. I think everybody should have some sort of business. And everybody should own rental property - and you should have multiple businesses.

That's why I partnered with Khedron Mims to open a Barbershop. Because I wanted another means of passive income. And I assure you - I'm not cutting anybodies hair. But I have a stake in a business that will create passive income for me. That's a great thing.

I have Rental Properties that will create passive income for me. I own multiple businesses - and in every case I'm trying to create a situation where that business runs, even when I'm not there. And so that's what we're going to be talking about at these meetings every month.

And it will be an ongoing process. A lot of it will be mindset related. Some of the books that I've read that changed the way I looked at money; changed the way I look at finances; change the way I look at business and income; change the way I look at people in general.

Like for instance, when something goes wrong in one of my businesses - that's my fault. Even if the person who actually made the mistake was an employee or colleague or business partner - it's still my fault. That's called "Extreme Ownership". That's one of the books that I've read recently.

And I have changed my mindset as to how I look at things - so that now anything that goes wrong in any business that I'm a part of - is my fault. And so I have to change the way I do things to make sure those types of problems don't happen.

Those are the types of things that we'll be taking about at these meetings. And so it will be wide ranging, lots of topics, lots of discussions, lots of different areas - Mindset, Finances, Business, Real Estate... But no Politics or Religion. Sorry, its hard enough to change the way people think about money and finances.

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Now the thing about this will be - that no meeting or person can do it for you. The information is already out there. I'll just be relating the information I've obtained and the lessens I've learned since I began this journey for myself. My qualifications to teach will be that I've been self-employed since 2002, and I've created multiple successful businesses over that time. I've also created some businesses that failed - and we learn from both success and failure.

I'll relate what I know about Business, Finances, Credit, Real Estate, and more - but it's all out their already. So at these meetings, you'll get the benefit of the books that I've read. The webinars and seminars that I've attended - the information and knowledge that I've obtained from various sources over the last 20 years or so.

But this won't mean you can avoid reading those books and attending those webinars and seminars for yourself. I can't do the work for you - but I can streamline the process and save you a lot of needless and wasted effort and wasted money.

I've bought some books, attended some seminars and paid for some education and programs that were a COMPLETE waste of money. And then there are some from which I took away one or two nuggets of great information. But some that were transformational from where I was at the time to where I am now.

I've got this all bouncing around in my head, so now this Podcast won't be my only means of getting it out. I plan to put gold into each meeting at Rivals Barbershop on the 1st Monday of each month. So the first meeting will be on April 6th at 6:30PM. Are you local? Can you join us?

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Now while its on my mind - let me speak to my involvement with and investment into Rivals Barbershop where these meetings will take place. As Rivals is EXACTLY the sort of thing its great to be a part of. My business partner (Khedron) is a professional Barbershop with over a decade of experience (maybe near 2 decades). He has owned prior shops of his own - but desired to have a high-end sports themed shop at an ideal location near Downtown Durham.

He asked me if I'd be interested to be part of this endeavor - and I was intrigued and jumped at the chance to be part of what could become multiple locations around the city and elsewhere. Khedron knows everyone, and has an established reputation and clientele in the city. He's an excellent marketer and promoter.

So here I'm able to partner with an experienced operator of a pretty recession proof business that generates largely predicable revenue. And I'm able to share in this without having to work in the business myself - as like I said, I'm not cutting anyone's hair. So while I work ON the business along with Khedron to make sure that it runs as best it can and is a smooth operation - its largely passive income for me.

That's what we all need. That's why I like businesses and rental properties. Predictable monthly income that is largely passive, without me having to work IN the business on a daily basis. The book Rich Dad Poor Dad and his other book (Cashflow Quadrant) - speak of the B-Quadrant for income from big businesses. And a business is considered one that does not require the owner's daily involvement.

So while it may not be all that "big" of a business (yet) - it's certainly a business that has the potential to generate decent passive income. And since the goal is financial independence - meaning passive monthly income that exceeds monthly expenses at my desired lifestyle.

A business like Rivals Barbershop is right on target. Couple that with a target number of rental properties over the next 10 years. Open some number of additional locations. My tech business and other online businesses - plus anything else I decide to get into between now and then... And I think I'll be good with my FIRE. Again, FIRE being an acronym for Financial Independence Retire Early.

And if it doesn't work out that way, well at least I had a plan. But I think it should work out exactly as I plan - because my lifestyle needs are not much. I'm not trying to buy any Ferrari's or Lamborghini's. there are no Bentley's sitting in my driveway. I want a nice house or two (on water). I want to travel somewhere a few times per year - so some nice vacations. Neither my wife nor myself are big spenders on cloths or jewelry or foolishness like that. No offence intended if you or your spouse spend a lot of money on such things... But stop it if you do.

So my monthly meetings at Rivals Barbershop (1st Monday of each month at 727 N Mangum Street, Suite 100 in Durham) - will be to talk about Business, Finance, Passive Income, Wealth Creation, Real Estate and anything else that improves the life condition of those who attend. And in the process, it will also improve all those things for ME as well, including my own life condition.

Zig Ziglar has the quote that "You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." - Well I want to become a better public speaker, so I'm going to start doing public speaking at these meetings. And I want to meet more people who I can partner with or who might want to fund one of my deals as a Private Lender - or even bring me some deals as a Wholesaler. Or use me as their Realtor. Or just be a reference that I provided some helpful information and maybe introduce me to some other people who I might also be able to help.

I am so looking forward to this and I know that I'll meet some intriguing people and learn a ton from those I meet and from the experience. After all - it's said that the best way to learn is to teach. That's one of the reasons I started this podcast, and these monthly meetings at Rivals Barbershop will be just another means of learning for me and all who attend. See you on April 6th at Rivals Barbershop.

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Outro...

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