00;00;06;16 - 00;00;31;22

David Richter

Welcome to the Profit First for Real Estate Investing podcast. Every week we bring you top investors and experts sharing how they create clarity, cash flow and consistent profit. This episode is brought to you by simple CFO. Profit first. Profit always. Let's go. Hey, it's even richer. The first guy I cast have Jason Lavender on today and he dives into his journey of profit first.

00;00;31;22 - 00;00;51;19

David Richter

He's been an entrepreneur for several decades, and he's even had what he calls some false starts with Profit First, where he started to implement it, then didn't really. And then eight months ago everything changed and he goes into life before profit first, what it felt like afterwards, where he is now versus where he was, businesses he's had to shut down in the past and where he wish he would have had profit first in place.

00;00;51;21 - 00;01;13;12

David Richter

He really dives into what I believe that can help you and give you hope. Thank you for listening to the podcast and enjoy the episode. Hey everyone! It is David Richter of the Profit First Rate podcast. I have a special guest today, Jason Lavender, which super excited to be on because he was telling me before of how he loves profit first and since it well, he said a love hate relationship.

00;01;13;12 - 00;01;28;10

David Richter

So we're definitely going to dive into that. But he also sends this out to the people he works with. He's been in real estate since 2016 here. So it's like he's got a lot of experience. Super excited to have you on, Jason, thanks for being on the podcast today. Thanks for having me, man. Yeah, yeah for sure.

00;01;28;10 - 00;01;44;27

Jason Lavender

Well, I want to dive into this. Give people a brief overview who you are. Then we're just going to hit the ground running with, you know, your introduction to profit first, why you send it to people you know, and all that stuff. So yeah. Jason Lavender I'm in Wichita, Kansas market, small market, here in the Midwest.

00;01;44;27 - 00;02;22;03

Jason Lavender

So, started out as a house flipper, as you said, at 2016, and dove full force in 2017. And, yeah, I caught the bug. Real estate bug was was my new addiction. From there, continue to flip houses, building a team, learning the process, getting coaching and good training. Started wholesaling and then acquiring rentals. So kind of the, the, the trends, you know, the, the evolution of an investor and, but the whole time I was, you know, I had broken processes and systems and the finances were always a big part of that.

00;02;22;03 - 00;02;39;23

Unknown

So, yeah, fast forward to now, you know, we're flipping and and wholesaling. We've got some mentoring, coaching. And as you said, you alluded to I have a love hate relationship with this, but this is I told you, one of the one of the books I give out the most. And so I'm so thankful that the principles and stuff in here and.

00;02;39;26 - 00;02;59;18

Unknown

Yeah, excited to talk about it. Well, okay, so let's dive into that. You said the finances are a big part of it. Like, were you in your real estate company and were you seeing a lot of what I talk about in there, the up and down cash flow roller coaster, big time. I mean, I was I was a victim of my own decisions.

00;02;59;20 - 00;03;17;03

Unknown

Did the bank balance accounting method that was my my go to I. Yeah. Log in. If I had some money in the bank, I'd go buy something. Go buy an investment property. Go. You know, say hey. Oh, well, we can throw a little bit more, icing on the cake on that remodel, because, hey, guess what?

00;03;17;04 - 00;03;39;19

Unknown

We had a good month. It was terrible. It's flawed from the beginning, and it didn't it? We just fumbled forward, and so, Yeah. And putting some good boundaries and parameters honestly saved my business. Without a doubt. Okay, so let's talk about that. Like, when were you? What got you interested in profit first? At the beginning.

00;03;39;21 - 00;03;58;03

Unknown

So I had actually so I had read Michael's book. Okay. The, Mike Michael was Michael, what's his book? And it was an eye opener. And so I had a few false starts. I mean, I got to be honest, I had a few false starts on implementing profit first. Yeah. So early on, it was it was shortly after it came out.

00;03;58;03 - 00;04;16;19

Unknown

I, somebody had recommended it to me. And, you know, I'm a education junkie. I'm always wanting to learn something. And that was, a huge hole in my business, in my life and my personal life. And, you know, I had I'd gotten into trouble with finances, so I'd, you know, I'd read that book and had a false start on implementing it.

00;04;16;21 - 00;04;35;27

Unknown

It's so funny. I, you know, did all the opened all the accounts and everything and, and had the best intentions and just never implemented it. So that was false start number one. Then when your book came out I had false start number two. But I, I knew the concepts were they were idiot proof. I mean, they were exactly what I needed.

00;04;35;27 - 00;05;09;13

Unknown

They were, you know, exactly what my business needed. You know what I needed personally? Because I'm, you know, a typical A.D.D. type of entrepreneur. And I'm my own worst enemy. And so I had to put in to practice and stick to it. And actually, I've got a funny story because, like, I don't even I'm not actually the one that implements this, you know, I've, I've delegated because I would sabotage it time and time again, as I said, you know, some of my false starts, I would sabotage this, this process if left to my own devices.

00;05;09;13 - 00;05;33;14

Unknown

So I had to delegate it to my assistant. And it's worked perfect since then. Okay. How long ago did you delegate it to your. So we're we're about eight months in on this now okay. And this is after reading your book twice. Yeah. It's, you know, I'm, I'm kind of thick. Thick headed, but, yeah, we're eight months in and seeing the, you know, seeing the process work.

00;05;33;17 - 00;06;00;12

Unknown

So I want to dive it then a little bit there, if you'll let me, because I feel like a lot of people will resonate with that. The false starts, the I'm A.D.D., you know, like I'm going down this road. It's like, I, I don't know if I could do this. So talk about that because you've been in business since 2000, you know, 16, 17 if you read Mike's book, did you have the concept even back then when you first started real estate investing or know of it then?

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Unknown

So, I mean, I've been in business, I've been an entrepreneur for a long time, or my whole life. I mean, the last real job I had was in high school that I worked for somebody else. So, I mean, I knew the concepts, but no, I didn't. You know, it's like anything I explain this to people, business in general.

00;06;15;16 - 00;06;30;22

Unknown

You know, you've got you've got to be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together. And I knew that there were pieces on the table. I need to know how to put it all together. And so, you know, we bandage things together as an entrepreneur and we just move forward and, yeah, know, it's like, the walking wounded.

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Unknown

I mean, it was a dumpster fire for to me, if I'm being honest. But then what was a dumpster fire? Was it the real estate or what you were doing before real estate? Both. Both. Well, you know, I appreciate your honesty. Yeah. No. And and again, being a serial entrepreneur, and, you know, I had done several different businesses, and, you know, I've always been taken care of.

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Unknown

You know, we've always had food on the table. And it's been fortunate to, you know, cut my own path. But as far as, like, building a legacy and, and doing things the right way and, you know, actually owning a business, I mean, the I didn't own a business. The business owned me. And, you know, that paycheck to paycheck mentality that and real estate can give you that.

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Unknown

I mean, real estate can give you those big hits. And so you think you're, you know, you got the Midas touch. Well, guess what. You don't if you're not doing you're not planning and prodding ahead and implementing a system. I mean, that's the system works for you. I mean, it's your safeguard. It's your you know, it's your bumpers and the bowling alley.

00;07;34;10 - 00;07;56;13

Unknown

I mean, this is your safety net to protect you in my case, from my own stupidity and lack of foresight. And again, this is why I delegated it out. Because I'm still, you know, I'm still sometimes my own worst enemy. Well, let me ask you, do you mind me asking, what did you do before real estate as an entrepreneur?

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Unknown

Like what businesses were involved in? Yeah. So I had a painting and remodeling company for the majority of our life. We also owned a, bookstore. So use bookstore. No, no, it's a fun gig. But it's not much money and use books. Yeah, we did some e-commerce and some Amazon, some FBA stuff. I mean, as far back when I was a kid, I mean, I was always cutting grass and door to door selling something.

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Unknown

I mean, it's just, you know, I've always kind of carved my own path, but, Yeah, primarily a painting and remodeling company, which was my segue into real estate investing. That's what I was going to ask. What made you make that segue from painting and Romana into real estate? I was 42 years old. Is probably my midlife crisis, but I saw that, you know, there's no 60 and 70 year old painters on a ladder.

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Unknown

Right. My story is I had to get off the ladder. I was on my job sites every day. I had a great crew. We had a good company. We had great clients. You know, I did, you know I had, you know, I had a good thing going, but you know, every day I was still up on a ladder and running my job sites.

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Unknown

I had to get off the ladder, man. I mean, that was. That's as honest as I can get. I just saw the writing on the wall. I had to get off the ladder. So then you went into real estate? Into your own company. Like, did you shut down the painting and remodeling, or did you keep that as an arm of your real estate?

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Unknown

So yeah, I, I kept them both afloat. I mean, because, okay, when you're first starting I wasn't making anything. So two years, for two years I was flipping houses nights and weekends, you know, trying to figure it out. You know, I'd have, you know, I was working my job sites. I'd have my guys come over if we were slow.

00;09;34;20 - 00;09;59;25

Unknown

But no, I ran them both consecutively, through 2019, right up into 2020. I burned the ships and and let it all go, and then Covid hit. And so that was quite interesting. Yeah. It worked out. Nobody saw the, unprecedented Covid real estate rise in the market. Right. But yeah, that was my story.

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Unknown

I didn't consecutively for a, for a couple of years, before I literally my burn the ships moment was I sold all my equipment. I put it all in a drag, it all out of the shop, took a picture of it, put it on marketplace, and the first guy that came and gave me 2500 bucks took it all, and that was it.

00;10;17;19 - 00;10;41;26

Unknown

Oh, wow. So how long had you been doing that? The painting remodeling company? 25 years. Wow. So 25 years. So it was you were young then when you first started and are doing. Yeah, I was around. It was I was 19 years old, you know, again, just it was something easy. I didn't know I was set myself up for a 25 year career in painting, but.

00;10;41;26 - 00;11;09;09

Unknown

Yeah, you know, it's if if you know anything about construction, you know, that, you know, sometimes the, painters aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. You know, it's kind of the low totem pole and the construction, vine. And, that was anyway, I jumped in. I landed, a few jobs and a few people, and they just kept me busy, and, I accidentally started a painting company that I kept going for 25 years.

00;11;09;17 - 00;11;28;24

Unknown

Yeah. Well, then looking back now, if you would have had profit first introduced to you back in the painting company, do you think you'd still have that painting company, or do you think you would have sold it for more than 2500? Yeah, absolutely. 100%, because I would I had a systemized, you know, accounts receivable and the whole thing.

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Unknown

I mean, I was the painting company. I was the arm, the the face and everything of it. So when I shut down, all I had was the equipment to sell. Yeah. Honestly. Yeah. If you if I had implemented these principles, you know, I wouldn't have been, you know, I would have been able to sell a profit because I had a great, you know, I had a great clientele.

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Unknown

But the moment I said, I'm not going to show up and, you know, I'm not, I'm getting off a ladder. I'm not going to show up. That was the end of my painting company. And I had, you know, and equipment isn't that expensive. So I essentially had that, yeah. Hindsight 2020 I, you know, I wish I could still be running that I, I've since then, you know, I love multiple revenue streams.

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Unknown

Hindsight being 2020, I wish I had kept that. I could have kept that as a let me because now I'm we're flipping a lot of houses. I hire a lot of painters. Right. It would have been great to have my own arm. Yeah, yeah. But, Okay. All right. I have to pause the episode real quick. If you're a real estate investor who's tired of wondering where your money is going or why you're closing deals, but still feeling broke, you need to talk to a simple CFO.

00;12;37;16 - 00;12;58;15

Unknown

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00;12;58;19 - 00;13;25;20

Unknown

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00;13;25;26 - 00;13;49;08

Unknown

Now back to the episode. Yeah, that leads me to the next question. What was the watershed moment? Eight months ago that made you start profit first? Finally, after knowing about it for so long, reading originally Mike's book and then my book twice, what was that you know, why did you say it's it's time? Yeah. Well, again, this is my my third start, so I, I always knew it was time.

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Unknown

It was, you know, it was a matter of whether this was going to stick, and I was going to take it serious. So, you know, what it was is, you know, just looking at my balance sheet in my, you know, financials and, you know, know that I was acquiring property. We were, you know, flipping tons of houses.

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Unknown

You know, we had a healthy years, you know, I, you know, doing really well, but much like I've heard you say, and others like, if you're, you know, if you look back on your year and you're like, well, where did I made a lot of money, where did it go? I was like, oh, say that every year. Well, since 2020, I mean, I was we had a great year.

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Unknown

Where did it go? So I knew that I couldn't, you know, do it again. The third time the way that I had tried before. And so we implemented it. My assistant is actually my daughter. And she is, she's she's so great. She runs the whole thing like, she I see some of our accounts, but I don't even have access to the other accounts, and I'm okay with that.

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Unknown

I'm totally okay. Yeah. She tells me what what's going where? You know, we we link, everything to our tax account. I just I just don't see it. Now. I could ask for it, and she would tell me, and I have, you know, periodically just to make sure we're we're still good. And she'll send me a screenshot.

00;15;07;26 - 00;15;29;10

Unknown

But that's what works for me, man, because I can tell you, if any of you know anybody listening is your own worst enemy and you're going to sabotage it, and you know, I mean, it's the same reason I can't keep freaking Oreos in the kitchen, dude. Like, if I had Oreos in the kitchen, I'd be in them. And so I just know, you know, if we got Oreos, they're going to somebody is going to put them away.

00;15;29;13 - 00;15;49;01

Unknown

And it's the same thing with the finances. It works for me. I mean, it may sound like, you know, ridiculous to some people, but, I can tell you this was worse for me because and, you know, I literally just had her read it and explained everything, and I was like, you understand? She's like, okay. Yeah, it makes, you know, simple, like, what's the big deal?

00;15;49;01 - 00;16;11;08

Unknown

And I was like, exactly what's the big deal? And she takes and runs with it. Yeah. Our business has never been healthier. And, you know, I attribute much of it to, you know, just playing smart and doing the doing the blocking and tackling of the business and the simple stuff. So then but, because we'll go back. I like what you said there, you know, healthier than I want to.

00;16;11;08 - 00;16;34;23

Unknown

I want to definitely talk about that. But before we go there, just oh, at least 1 or 2 more questions about life beforehand. So before that, when there were false starts and stuff, have you ever thought during that time that you wanted to throw in the towel in real estate investing, because it sounds like the last few years before this, it was like up and down still like, why, you know, like, where did all that money go?

00;16;34;25 - 00;16;54;18

Unknown

Yeah. I don't know if I ever want to throw in the towel, but, I mean, I definitely had many phases in my investing career where, you know, I was like, you know, this is terrible. I mean, I don't I may not want to throw in the towel, but I might be done for. Yeah. So again, just, you know, not doing things wisely.

00;16;54;21 - 00;17;25;06

Unknown

You know, I'm doggedly determined. I, you know, I would still be fumbling forward in a very patchwork type of system. So throw in the towel. No, but, you know, paycheck to paycheck. We're good when we close this house. Then we'll pay the bills on that one. And if we this, you know, if that wholesale deal comes in and, you know, we're going to, double down on some marketing and, you know, whatever, I would have still been in that in that boat, which is it's a lot of anxiety, man.

00;17;25;06 - 00;17;47;06

Unknown

I tell you, those are some of the thoughts and feelings I had previously. It's just under unnecessary anxiety and it's not needed. I'm I'm not turning 50 this year, man. I'm I'm to get too old for this stuff. I just needed this. The stupid easy. You know what is the kiss? Keep it, keep it simple, stupid. Yeah, yeah, that's what we do now.

00;17;47;08 - 00;18;10;28

Unknown

Okay, well, I appreciate you opening up about that, because I feel like that's where a lot of people live, you know, in that state of anxiety. And like you said it, they you don't have to live there. You know, that's not where you have to live. And for you, it sounds like a big solution was bringing someone into your life that would help you take it to the next level, even if it was just implementing it and and hiding stuff from you, you know?

00;18;10;28 - 00;18;27;23

Unknown

Which is great. I love that because Mike Mike references that a lot in his book, and I mention it in my book as well too, where you might have a bank account or something at a different bank, you know, and it is that added level of discipline. It sounds like you've built your own system for that in your business 100%.

00;18;27;23 - 00;18;49;28

Unknown

I mean, some safeguards. Again, for the entrepreneur that's listening and your, you if you resonate with I'm my own worst enemy, you know, I'm the kid in the cookie jar, then. Yeah. If you've got false starts in the system, then delegated to somebody else, I mean it as an investor. I mean, much of what I've learned is find the right person, put the right person in the seat.

00;18;50;00 - 00;19;09;00

Unknown

I just need to understand what the heck it is, and then I can, you know, delegate it and oversee it. And that's exactly what we did. Somebody else is, you know, I don't I don't have access to the cookie jar. That's right. That's great. And it sounds like you feel like you're in a healthier place than you've ever been in your business.

00;19;09;02 - 00;19;29;17

Unknown

100%. Without a doubt. Unequivocally, because the safeguards are there. Yeah. And, you know, they're necessary for me. And, you know, I understand that's enough. Not for everybody. I know plenty of investors that are, you know, own the whole process, and they're the ones setting it and the just they're the driving force of the whole thing.

00;19;29;20 - 00;19;51;01

Unknown

You know, I do what I'm good at. I'm allergic to spreadsheets, I hate numbers, math. I suck at math. All of that, I, I, I double down on my strengths and this is necessary, but was never a strength. And I had to, like, own that, like, I, you know, and I'm okay with that. Yeah.

00;19;51;03 - 00;20;10;13

Unknown

You know, I'll just keep I'll go do things that I'm good at. And, you know, I'll make sure that people are doing the, you know, doing the things well that I'm not good at. Well, now, I commend you for that because I feel like, honestly, you're in the majority of people that feel like that a whole lot. But you said allergic to spreadsheets as the entrepreneur, that was great.

00;20;10;21 - 00;20;27;14

Unknown

And I so I feel you're like in the majority there. But I also feel like you're in the minority of, the courage to say, I'm not good at this, and I and I need someone else to help me with this, or should. And I know the numbers, you know, because a lot of people feel ashamed, like, oh, should I know this stuff?

00;20;27;14 - 00;20;46;23

Unknown

Should I have more money? I'm a business owner. Should I should take the reins here. And it sounds like you had the courage to step out and say I need help. Like it? Here, read this book. And please, for the love of God, hide this money from me. You know, it's like I need that here. So I want to commend you for that, because I feel like you took a step that a lot of people don't.

00;20;46;23 - 00;21;06;19

Unknown

You even have false starts. You're like, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this. We're going to get it done. And then it's like, okay, fallen off the tracks. I've heard that so many times before, but you found what worked for you and what sticks and what really keeps you. I did want to say, too, because when I brought up the word healthy, you brought up safeguards as what healthy means to you.

00;21;06;19 - 00;21;24;12

Unknown

Meaning that you've got someone there and they're helping you and keeping those safeguards around your money. Is there any other word or anything else when you think of that, your business is healthy because you had mentioned, you know, like before, where you were living deal to deal, paycheck to paycheck or like, you know, not paying yourself as much or whatever.

00;21;24;17 - 00;21;42;27

Unknown

Is there anything else you associate with the businesses healthier? Or is it just those safeguards? Because that's a big one too. Well, yeah. The safeguard, you know, protects the finances. But yeah, it's healthier because I'm healthier. It's healthier because I've got more clarity. I mean, that's I did an audit. I did an audit in my business. Yeah. Last year that led to a lot of this.

00;21;42;27 - 00;22;03;16

Unknown

And I, I hired a coach, and she helped me find. And the word for me was clarity. Yeah. I found so much clarity because the finances are just, you know, they're the, you know, they're one of the barometers that you can test things by. But it's not the only barometer. I mean, I think we make a huge mistake as entrepreneurs if if that's our only litmus test.

00;22;03;16 - 00;22;25;20

Unknown

So that's our only measuring stick. I mean, my gosh, I'm buying back time, you know? Right. I got grandkids on the way, man. I'm I'm like I'm so I'm so over the the finances being the only measuring stick. And they weren't for a long time because I was failing at it. So I felt the pain every time because I was I was failing at it.

00;22;25;22 - 00;22;44;12

Unknown

Yeah. You know, but yeah. Now healthy rhythm is, you know, I live on my terms and, and my wife and I have started traveling a ton, you know, finding good systems and processes, not just with our finances, but with our teams and our projects and, yeah, you know, everything. It just it's like an evolution of an investor like you.

00;22;44;14 - 00;23;02;02

Unknown

You start out, you're me. Anyway, I start out with the bull headed idea and figured I could, you know, work it out and, you know, kept for, you know, failing forward, fail forward, fail forward. And, you know, after a while, you just get so many bruises, you're like, all right, there's got to be a smarter way to do this.

00;23;02;05 - 00;23;29;14

Unknown

And I was I had enough foresight to know that, you know, like your book was the way to do it. Even if I couldn't be the, you know, the, captain of the ship. Yeah. That's okay. I'll sit on the deck. You know, somebody else can captain the ship. I'll just. I'm just along for the ride. Yeah, well, when it comes to the finances and it's like you needed to do what you were good at, what you're allergic to spreadsheets, but you're not allergic to deals and making the money and bringing it in.

00;23;29;14 - 00;23;45;00

Unknown

So it's like, that's where you shine in putting the pieces together. Okay, so I asked for the watershed moment eight months ago in it, and you said two things there that didn't come up before. You said you did an audit of the business and you hired a coach. So like, I want to dive into that a little bit.

00;23;45;01 - 00;24;07;20

Unknown

Was it the coach that made you do an audit or was it vice versa? Like I'm doing an audit and I think I really need some help from someone, you know, like a coach out there to help me. It's like she made me do an audit. Okay, good. There you go. Yeah, I sat down, about a year ago is the beginning of the year 2023, and I sat down with Anita and she.

00;24;07;22 - 00;24;28;15

Unknown

I mean, laid it all out. And so, you know, and that's fine. I've worked with her before, so she called me to the mat on everything, and, you know, and it was it really? You set it right a watershed moment. It allowed me to see open everything up completely before and just be super vulnerable. I mean, and I already knew it.

00;24;28;15 - 00;24;45;26

Unknown

I mean, I, you know, I already knew I had flaws. I mean, my whole business is just, you know, it's full of flaws, and that's okay. I mean, I used to have this, you know, mindset. I was keeping up with the Joneses. So you can get investing circles, and, you know, you're like, you think you're dude, you don't stink.

00;24;45;26 - 00;25;03;15

Unknown

Well, you know everybody, you know. Right. So I knew that you know, warts and all. We had a you know, I was enjoying what I was doing and we were having a modicum of success. But yeah, she really, opened everything up. We audited everything. We audit our process and everything. We, you know, we had we had a lot of changes.

00;25;03;15 - 00;25;28;10

Unknown

And, you know, one of the biggest ones was the financial piece, and, you know, team members and, you know, streamlining some things and, you know, getting some clarity for me. Yeah, that was important because I, you know, I was kind of on this track of following what I felt like I was living somebody else's dream or trying to live through somebody else, you know, like, oh, this is what I'm supposed to do.

00;25;28;13 - 00;25;45;28

Unknown

I guess I'm supposed to, you know, grow a wholesaling company to a buku amount of money. And I was like, I hate wholesaling. So wholesaling sales and marketing, we do it because it makes good money. But, you know, I was tripling my marketing spend and it's like, hey, this is terrible. I don't want to sit on these calls and train these people.

00;25;45;28 - 00;26;13;08

Unknown

And. All right. So yeah, just just clarity and then, yeah, that that auditing process is really a part of it. But it was, it was Anita Greenwood. She is like a firecracker of a British lady. And she's five foot tall, you know, pack of dynamite. And she, you know, kicked my business, into shape. Well, then did you ever do an audit like that before in your past of the business finances?

00;26;13;10 - 00;26;35;17

Unknown

I mean, much like my, you know, false start, implementation profit first. So, yeah. Quasi audit. I mean, it wasn't a serious deal. I didn't, you know, changes and change until you change. So, yeah, I had audits of, you know, things and changes that I was going to make. But, you know, they didn't get implemented so I wouldn't call them an audit because nothing happened.

00;26;35;20 - 00;26;57;28

Unknown

Was you always say that was it's like what you said. People think that they're, you know, your stuff doesn't stink or whatever. Did you think that I don't want to do this because it would be painful to dive into that? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, 100%. I mean, we're I think I'm a, I'm wired as aversion to pain, painful processes is probably just about as anybody.

00;26;57;29 - 00;27;19;13

Unknown

Yeah. You know I'm I'm growing in that understanding that the, the painful process is where growth happens most. But, if I'm being honest. Yeah, I mean, I still hate it and avoid it oftentimes. Yeah. Well, then I love that you hired a coach. She made you a cover. Like what? Really needed to go on. And this is what this is what set you on?

00;27;19;13 - 00;27;34;27

Unknown

It sounds like the first path that has stuck because you were like, not only do we need to change and make things so we don't feel like we're you know, making money, feel it, but feeling broke here, we also need to make sure it's recurring. And how do I do that? Oh, you can you can help me set this up.

00;27;34;27 - 00;27;55;17

Unknown

Great. Get that set up. And then just it will allow me access to these accounts. Well, I love your journey. I think your journey is very typical, but people don't understand that they don't understand that there's a lot to chase. It's after, like, just like them, where if they would just look at it or have someone guide them, they could be in a much better place.

00;27;55;17 - 00;28;12;19

Unknown

Because I love what you said. You said you feel better. It's like you're able to take the trips, you're able to do the thing. Do you have someone that's there safeguarding you as well to making sure you're on the right path so you can see, you know, if something's coming down the pipeline and it's not that great. So this has been awesome.

00;28;12;19 - 00;28;30;07

Unknown

This I think this is the perfect episode of what I'm looking for because you give people hope. You know why this is perfect? You give people hope that no matter where you've been, you've been you've been an entrepreneur for years and years. And it's like you've you took the dive. You took the dive into this. So I want to say thank you.

00;28;30;14 - 00;28;56;08

Unknown

Thank you for sharing and being open. Because some of this stuff, I'm sure it's not always fun to open up the care. You know, the cookie jar too, you know, I see like, oh shoot, there's just crumbs in there, you know, and going into the past. So I really appreciate that. And, you know, to land the plane here is there anything you would suggest to people looking to implement profit first or any last minute advice here as we wrap up.

00;28;56;11 - 00;29;19;12

Unknown

Yeah. So you know, one thing that my coach would tell me is like, ask yourself hard questions and give yourself honest answers. And so that's a good sober self-assessment. If you are the person that can, you know, buckle down and implement the safeguards and the the practices that your business needs, that's great. If you're not, find somebody that can yeah, find somebody can't I mean, I always say real estate's a team sport.

00;29;19;14 - 00;29;38;22

Unknown

You know, there's I think there's something to be said for solopreneurs. That's great. You know, we're sometimes we carved our own path and the whole, you know, if I want it done right, I'm going to do it myself. I mean, that's fine. I am of the opinion. Real estate's a team sport, so find somebody that can help you do it.

00;29;38;25 - 00;29;59;04

Unknown

I mean, yeah, it's to be quite honest. And that's what worked for me. So that would be my recommendation. Awesome. Well I love that. So just a recap if you've been listening to this. He talked about, you know like the decades of being an entrepreneur and then, you know, even knowing that this was out there. But then those false starts, but then getting someone in his business really helped.

00;29;59;06 - 00;30;14;29

Unknown

First of all, it sounds like to help just shine the light, you know, it's like we're all scared of the dark as kids, right? It's like just she helped you shine the light on. Look at your numbers. You know, like, look at what's going on. Then from there, you took the extra step. You said this. We're going to make sure it sticks now.

00;30;15;06 - 00;30;36;10

Unknown

And we got someone in place. And then it was like, okay, going from live deal to deal to I feel healthy, which means to you safeguards in place but also you feel healthier as a business owner, taking the trips, doing the things you want to do. So I think this was great. I, I just sit here, sit back and like, this is why Mike wrote the book.

00;30;36;10 - 00;30;55;29

Unknown

This is why I wrote the profits for real estate investing, because we want to give people, you know, this hope, and we want to give people like a better chance for their business not to just be something where they're making money. But where did it all go? So I want to thank you again. I also want to say, if you're listening to this episode and you're like, what the heck, I need an engineer Greenwood in my life, or I need someone like that.

00;30;56;04 - 00;31;10;29

Unknown

You know, to whip me into shape because I want to do the hard thing and I want to go and, like, actually have a light, you know, shown on where I need to go. We do that at simple cfo.com. We can install someone like that in your business. It's really a financial coach that shines a light on you.

00;31;10;29 - 00;31;32;19

Unknown

So if you need that help, you want to get to where Jason is. Now, we can help B or Nita and we can help B the, you know, like the his daughter who's helping him with the the actual day to day of it as well too. So if we can help. Yeah simple cfo.com and then Jason, I don't know if there's a place you want people to connect with you or if you've got a website or however you want people to follow you or whatever it is that you're looking for.

00;31;32;22 - 00;31;51;21

Unknown

I'm an old guy, so I'm on Facebook. There you go. Yeah. Jason Lavender, on Facebook, Wichita, Kansas. Look for the blue check mark. There's a couple out there, but, Yeah, man, I want to thank you for having me on. I want to thank you for writing this book. I want to thank you for, you know, fulfilling the mission that you've been given and seeing it through.

00;31;51;23 - 00;32;13;24

Unknown

Because it is it's it's pretty profound. I mean, it's it's it's changed me and how I view business. And it's set me up. Anyway, I just I just want to thank you. So, keep doing, you know, doing the fighting, the good fight and do the work. And, yeah, I appreciate appreciate you having me on. I appreciate that you also have a Facebook group, don't you?

00;32;13;24 - 00;32;29;23

Unknown

That's growing and like, a community, like, how do people get access to that? Or if they're like, I need Jason to whip me into shape or help me, you know, get to where I want to be. You can go to our website, elevate mentoring dot coach. And, there's all the information there. So elevate mentoring coach.

00;32;29;25 - 00;32;50;20

Unknown

Cool. Well, then I want to give people a chance to get more Jason in their life because I like when well honestly to when people come on and are very honest and vulnerable like that and then also have the systems in place not just to make the money but keep it. I like sending people that direction because it shows your you want to be a better business owner than most people out there.

00;32;50;20 - 00;33;10;03

Unknown

So I just want to say thank you for that. So that was elevate mentoring coach. And that coach was very cool. I like that the coach. So you can find him on Facebook. You could go there for the mentoring and the coaching and then just follow Jason on the on the socials with Facebook. Then from here yeah, all of them go out there and find him.

00;33;10;06 - 00;33;28;22

Unknown

Thank you so much for being on here and for sharing your story. And thank you for listening. I hope this was encouraging to you as a listener. Remember to make profit a habit in your business. That's it for today's show. Be sure to subscribe, review and share this episode. If you're serious about financial systems and keeping more of your profit.

00;33;28;29 - 00;33;33;07

Unknown

Visit simple cfo.com to take your free discovery call today.