Signs You Can’t Manage Your Cash Machine-of-a-Business Alone (CFFL 0095)
Signs You Can’t Manage Your Cash Machine-of-a-Business Alone
Jack Butala: Signs You Can’t Manage Your Cash Machine-of-a-Business Alone. Every Single month we give away a property for free. It’s super simple to qualify. Two simple steps. Leave us your feedback for this podcast on iTunes and number two, get the free ebook at landacademy.com, you don’t even have to read it. Thanks for listening.
Jack Butala: Jack Butala from Land Academy. Welcome to our Cash Flow from Land Show. In this episode Jill and I talk about the science … What signs are you experiencing that show you can’t manage your business alone any longer? Jill, this is about the best problem you could have. It’s very topical because I know we’re super busy right now. As always, I can’t wait to talk about this, but let’s take a quick question.
Jill DeWit: Okay, Victoria from California called in and what she did is she called the 888-735-5045 number and asked this question. Which tax sales do you regularly buy property at? Good question.
Jack Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWit: I wonder if she means California or all over. I’m going to let you answer that.
Jack Butala: I don’t either. That’s a short. It’s dangerous to ask such a vague question.
Jill DeWit: I know.
Jack Butala: Because we could take two hours to answer this.
Jill DeWit: You know what? Here’s my answer. The good ones.
Jack Butala: Wouldn’t it be great if all the data [inaudible 00:01:03] was based on stuff like that?
Jill DeWit: That’s right because I only go to, Victoria, the profitable ones, the ones that nobody else is at.
Jack Butala: You should go to the same tax sales that you go to and use the same methodology as the way that you choose men. They should only be handsome and rich and a lot of fun to be around and entertaining 98 percent of the time.
Jill DeWit: I’m going to add to that. I agree because here’s what I think. You should go to a tax sale like you choose a man. They need to look good on paper first. No, but seriously most tax sales you can get a list ahead of time of all the properties. That would be my first thing. I would look at the properties and the valuations and what the starting bids are and all that before I even show up.
Jack Butala: Jill and I were at a dinner party a week ago. We were with four other couples, and there was a super good looking handsome guy there and he was just sitting at the end of the table. He was totally with … I don’t know if it was his wife. I don’t remember. About halfway through he started talking, and Jill just leaned over and said it was so much better when he doesn’t talk at all.
Jill DeWit: That’s true. I remember that. That was really funny. Everybody’s dated a person where they just kind of wish they didn’t talk. They look great standing there, but they’re not any fun to talk to. They don’t really last very long because you’re like it’s painful.
Jack Butala: Really appreciate your low standards in men.
Jill DeWit: Oh, thanks. Thanks a lot. Oh, gosh. I have three things to say about this.
Jack Butala: Yeah, go ahead.
Jill DeWit: You want to hear my three? Okay, as I was taking notes and thinking before we did this show about all right, what are the signs that you can’t manage your business alone?
Jack Butala: Wait, that’s the end of it?
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: Like that caller on the tax sales?
Jill DeWit: Oh, I’m sorry. Was there more to that?
Jack Butala: Yeah, I mean I don’t know. There has to be more. Of course there’s more. You know what the real answer to this question is?
Jill DeWit: Uh huh.
Jack Butala: If you’re new at this cut it out with the tax sales. Send some letters out. Learn how to do this. Tax sales are just a crutch. You can do great. It’s a high-risk thing. You could show up, there could be nobody. You could show up, there could be everybody. You might get lucky online. California holds almost all of their tax sales online through bid4assets.com. It’s bid, the number 4, assets.com. Jill and I have knocked it out of the park just screwing around in the office buying stuff on auction there, tax property right from the county.
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jack Butala: We’ve also, way more times than that, completely wasted two hours. We could have spent those two hours sending out a mailer to 10,000 people.
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative). And then just sat back.
Jack Butala: Now we’re buying property for sure at great prices. The answer is, Victoria from California, assuming you’re early on in your career, there’s no good tax sales to go to regularly.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Jack Butala: When you’re a little bit more experienced we’ll talk.
Jill DeWit: I love it.
Jack Butala: I’ll tell you when you’re older.
Jill DeWit: All right.
Jack Butala: Ever hear someone say that?
Jill DeWit: No, but you have. That’s true.
Jack Butala: That’s how I’m going to answer every question. You’re not ready for that. I’ll tell you when you’re older.
Jill DeWit: You do that all the time. What are you talking about?
Jack Butala: Not to numbers.
Jill DeWit: That’s true. He did it to me.
Jack Butala: You and other members of our family I do.
Jill DeWit: That’s true. We should start doing that. We’re going to do that on our next … Every Thursday we do weekly conference calls with our Land Academy members. We have a call at 3 o’clock for all of the members, and then we have a call at 4 o’clock for just our pro members, the ones that are really in it and our data to doorstep product, which I’ll let Steven explain in a minute. That would be a great thing to do. [crosstalk 00:05:08] See what they do.
Jack Butala: That’s what’s prompting these titles that we’re recording right now is because we’ve got these pro members who are taking advantage of the data to doorstep product that we have, which is access to the best database in the country for doing what we do where our licensed provider of that data from a company called Core Logic. They’re doing exactly what we’re telling them or an offshoot of what we’re saying, are asking to do and they’re getting crushed with responses. They’re begging us, like, jeez what do I do? I sent out X amount of letters, and I got all this response. Again, greatest problem you could have.
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative). I love it. I love it because between the two calls there’s a definite difference, the people that are now really in it. They’re coming up with a lot of good, solid
Jack Butala: I remember, and I don’t want to sound like somebody’s father here, but almost half the people on that call came to us and were incredibly skeptical. Does this work? This is like six, eight, ten months, a year ago.
Jill DeWit: Isn’t that so funny?
Jack Butala: I don’t believe this works. Jill, explain it to me. Why haven’t I heard about this before? I’ve heard it all, and now they’re just crushing it.
Jill DeWit: Totally.
Jack Butala: Every once in awhile when we’re on a call, I say, “Hey, XYZ, remember that call we had about nine months ago and you just thought this was a pile of malarkey?”
Jill DeWit: Yeah. It is kind of funny. I’ve seen a direct relationship, and I appreciate that because those people that were the most skeptical really are in it to do it. They’re in it, they’re serious, that’s why they were skeptical. I get it and I’m glad, and they are some of the most successful. It’s awesome. So cool.
Jack Butala: I interrupted you. You had three things to say.
Jill DeWit: I do. My three signs that you can’t manage your business alone anymore are one, you’re not getting any sleep, obviously. Two, your family as reported you as an intruder when you came home one night.
Jack Butala: This is a comedy portion.
Jill DeWit: Three, you can’t afford not to. You are probably losing deals because you aren’t completing deals. You’re leaving cash on the table. That’s the part that really bugs me when that happens to me. I’ve had deals, we’ve talked about this I think on the air, where I didn’t close a deal fast enough and then the cousin said he wanted it or they’d changed their mind. Something happened. Steven, leaving cash on the table, to me, hurts.
Jack Butala: The biggest one that we run into, or the one that gets to me for some reason, is I ran out of acquisition money. I allocated 3,000 dollars to buy property or some number, and I spent it all in the first week. It’s all being sold, and I’ve got fourteen more deals I can look at. That’s an incredible sign that this is really working, that you’re doing everything properly. You don’t have to have a ton of money to start. That’s why we created the membership program that we have, or all the people that have been doing it are in one little group. Jill put together a product called the Deal Board, which is all included with that level of membership. We all exchange … Jill and I do deals with members all the time.
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jack Butala: The number one sign I hear is, “I ran out of money already.” I’m like, “Well, that’s the greatest thing there ever was.”
Jill DeWit: Totally. You know what’s funny about that? Remember a couple of weeks ago
Jack Butala: We have a solution to that.
Jill DeWit: We had a guy that, one of our rock star members, who wanted to do a deal with you. He knows who he is, and he’s listening now probably. Anyway, he pulled a deal out from under us and said, “No, I got the cash after all.” Remember that one?
Jack Butala: Yeah, he said … Well, what happened was he’s like, “Here’s all the maps.” He did everything right.
Jill DeWit: He did.
Jack Butala: Here’s all the maps, here’s all the data. Do you guys want to do the deal? I said, it was Friday or something, “Absolutely. I’ll let you know on Monday.” Over the weekend I looked at it all and I said, “Yeah, I do want to do the deal.” He said, “I already found a buyer, and thanks anyway.” Because we both were going to make about 20,000 grand on it.
Jill DeWit: That was so funny.
Jack Butala: I said, “Then I want my 20,000 grand.” He’s like, “I don’t think so.”
Jill DeWit: It’s all good.
Jack Butala: I’ll have a good laugh about it.
Jill DeWit: It’s funny. So good.
Jack Butala: You know what this title reminds me of? Did you ever hear of Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian? He does that.
Jill DeWit: Wasn’t he in the 1980s? I don’t know. I’ve heard of him, though.
Jack Butala: He does a bit called You Know You Might Be a Redneck. Jill, you’re looking at me like a crazy person.
Jill DeWit: I am looking at you like a crazy person. I don’t know, though. I don’t know that one, though.
Jack Butala: Signs that you can’t manage your cash machine of a business and just signs he might be a redneck. For instance, if you’ve ever hauled a can of paint to the top of a water tower to defend your sister’s honor, you might be a redneck. That kind of thing.
Jill DeWit: I don’t even know what that means, other than it’s a weapon in some way. You’re not going to appoint the guy, though.
Jack Butala: No, if somebody maybe said some negative stuff about your sister.
Jill DeWit: Oh, they painted something.
Jack Butala: Yeah, they painted over it.
Jill DeWit: I [inaudible 00:10:24] like you’re beating up somebody with a can of paint. Where are you going?
Jack Butala: Boy, that backfired.
Jill DeWit: We do not have that in Southern California.
Jack Butala: I think he’s from Southern California.
Jill DeWit: Is he really?
Jack Butala: I don’t know. He’s from like the deep south.
Jill DeWit: Okay. Oh my goodness.
Jack Butala: Boy, that flopped. You must really be busy at your real job.
Jill DeWit: I am sorry. Am I distracted?
Jack Butala: No.
Jill DeWit: Okay. All good.
Jack Butala: In all kidding aside, there are signs that … We’ve done several other episodes addressing how to handle this. If you’re lucky enough to not can no longer be able to manage your cash machine of a business by yourself, then what’s some good advice? What would you do? I know we’ve talked about this a lot. It’s a balance between … You can’t do it alone.
Jill DeWit: Here’s my advice. I would identify your strengths and your weaknesses. That would be my very first thing. I would look at finding solutions to solve the things that take the most of my time. Maybe that means hiring help. It might be part-time, it might be just bringing in … I don’t know. You might be a virtual assistant, or it might even be going so far as finding partner.
Jack Butala: I was just going to say that. My solution to removing all the stuff I don’t want to do in this business after doing it for fifteen years was you.
Jill DeWit: Thank you.
Jack Butala: It worked like a dream.
Jill DeWit: Thank you.
Jack Butala: Because you’re right. If you’re a great analyst, but you’re not the best on the phone person, find somebody to do that.
Jill DeWit: Yeah, you don’t need two analysts.
Jack Butala: It might be your wife. It might be one of your kids or something.
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jack Butala: Or your brother or a guy on the street. I don’t know. You don’t need two analysts. That’s for absolutely sure. Absolutely. You don’t need two salespeople. Could you imagine two salespeople just sit there and selling each other all day?
Jill DeWit: Nothing gets done. Well, you know what’s funny? This has come up with our members. We’ve had consulting calls on this, and they were talking about taking on partners and some of our important things about that. A lot of it is make sure they bring something else to the table, that’s my thing, and you want them to have skin in the game.
Jack Butala: Right.
Jill DeWit: Because we all look at deals differently when it’s your money that you’re spending as well, it’s half of yours. That’s so important.
Jack Butala: Right. Well said.
Jill DeWit: Thank you.
Jack Butala: On that note, join us at another episode where Jill and I discuss your all important success in real estate and in life. I like when you say skin in the game.
Jill DeWit: You like that? You know what’s interesting is I learned that a long time ago from my brother. A long time ago I was looking … I had just thought about doing different businesses and things I wanted to do on my own. This was years ago, back when he was in … No, because he was writing his own. He went to SC, but you learn more out of college than you do in college kind of thing.
Jack Butala: Amen, sister.
Jill DeWit: He was working on his own business plan for his own company years ago, his first company. I remember asking a lot of questions back then. That was one of his things is you want to make sure that you have the right partner who also has a piece of the action for a reason. Even if it’s an ice cream shop, they’re not going to give away ice cream all day if it’s coming out of their pockets.
Jack Butala: That’s great advice. The down shoot of that is you’re splitting equity, and when you’re very successful equity is the last thing you want to give away. You want to give equity away, all kidding aside, as a last resort unless it’s a situation like you and me where there’s just a lot more to it than that. If we were just two people never doing a podcast or just sitting in an office buying and selling land and maybe … You happen to be perfect for this position, so it’s different.
Jill DeWit: Thanks.
Jack Butala: I’ve done it by myself all by myself for a very long time, and it hurt a lot to give away equity. I had an equity partner before you did, and that hurt, but it was very successful.
Jill DeWit: That’s good. I’m glad.
Jack Butala: This [inaudible 00:14:51] way better.
Jill DeWit: Totally.
Jack Butala: Let’s go buy some property.
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