Cedric Francis:
On today’s podcast, Oz discusses entrepreneurship, building a seven figure business, credit building, and lending. Please help me welcome Oz with Building Business Credit. You said you had a bunch of failing businesses before you got to the success. So if you can go back, those times those businesses failed, what went wrong and what did you learn from it?
Oz Konar:
I think we can sum it up under one reason, I was focused on making money.
Cedric Francis:
Ah.
Oz Konar:
That’s what I failed. My entire purpose was, “I’ve got to make more money. I’ve got to make more money.” So whatever you chase, runs away from you. So, that’s just how it works. If you just do something just to make a ton of money, it just does not work. And that’s most people out there. So we talked to hundreds of people at our company. The main thing is, “Yeah, dude, I’ve got to make money.” Well, that’s everyone. There’s no one I know that doesn’t want to make money. When I shifted from that to a mindset of, what is it that we want to solve? What problems are people having? That took me years to figure out, honestly. It sounds simple, but when you’re lacking something, you want to fill that gap. I was lacking money. I wanted to make it big. I thought I was going to be a millionaire. Now, I’m thinking I’m a total failure and I don’t know what to do.
Oz Konar:
Then your mind only thinks about, like when you’re lacking oxygen, all I can think of, “I’ve got to get money. I’ve got to get money.” Well, that’s not a good way to think about it. Now, once I fixed that, things shifted 180 altogether ever since that day that I noticed that.
Cedric Francis:
A knowledge bump for that, because, I mean, I think this just starting off the bat can be a really big help, just that idea to not just starting a business just for the sake of making money, but solving a problem. And that is so awesome. And so now as we shift to, okay, so you go from working, business failure, and then you finally get to the success. Let’s talk about this because this may help someone in, what kind of business do I start? So what would you say is the most exciting part about what you do?
Oz Konar:
Yeah, so I remember the first time I got a big paycheck from a commission. I was working as a business loan broker, so I was pretty much cold calling and telemarketing. I was pulling on doors in New York City, dialing 300 people a day. That was what I was supposed to do. And the first deal I closed, I helped this restaurant get access to, I think, $40,000 in funding. I’m like, “Wow, that’s awesome.” Scott is really happy he’s able to invest into his kitchen and all that. And the lender I’m working with, they cut me a check, and back then they gave you paper checks. I go pick it up in New York City. The amount is $4,000. I’d never seen an amount on a check before with my name on it. I was like, “Whoa.” I remember freezing there, and the guy, he totally misunderstood my pause. He was like, “No, no, no. We double-checked. The amount is right. It’s $4,000.”
Oz Konar:
And I’m almost tearing up there because that’s the money I used to make in a month. Sometimes you work, you put in 40 hours, 40 hours, 40 hours, 40 hours, then someone gives you $4,000, you’re like, “Yeah, I made it.” This is just from just one deal. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I took a picture and I took it back to my wife. I’m like, “Look at this.” It was like we find a treasure chest. I’m like, “We found out a way out.” She was like, “Wow, is it really $4,000?” And that was the beginning of that. One thing that stops people, people usually, they don’t know the potential of something. I talk to people a lot and they’re like, “Yeah, I want to make a $5,000 a month,” because in their mind, that’s their ceiling. But there are certain things in a person’s life that happens that destroys that ceiling and you see what’s potential. That was my moment that it clicked. I noticed, wow, what if I can get this 4,000 once a week every single week?
Oz Konar:
I never thought that, that was even a mere possibility in the environment that I was in. So, at that moment, I noticed that this business loan brokerage is the sexiest thing you can do because you’re literally selling money. You’re offering money to small businesses. I don’t know anything that’s better than that. So that was the beginning of my journey becoming a business loan broker and working with businesses and noticing that. They’d just call me a month from now and say, “Hey, Oz, I need another 40 grand. Can you make that happen?” Well, I knew that that was another 4K for me, or 3K, whatever the commission is. So, that was a turning moment. Many people miss opportunities like that, noticing it. But I think anyone listening it’s really, really important that when you see something like this, do not write it off as a one-time thing. “Oh, it happened. That never happens. I just got lucky.” No, that was a sign. You want to see that sign and see through that. You won’t be able to earn a million dollars to invest, but you can borrow $1 million to create a seven figure company.
Cedric Francis:
There’s a knowledge bomb. Knowledge bomb, leverage, leverage, leverage OPM, other people’s money. We definitely have to think, when you’re thinking business, you definitely have to turn the tables and pivot your mind on the way you go by doing business. You mentioned being consistent. You talked about the email. You talked about a lot of different things, problems. What are some mistakes that a small business or a mid-sized business make when you’re working with the clients, your clients?
Oz Konar:
Yeah. So the biggest mistake is they don’t know their options. They think they’re in a dead end, they want to just close the shop, and leave without understanding what options there are. I mean, thousands of businesses are being saved by brokers every single day, honestly, because there is an option out there. The second thing is, like you said in the beginning, the main mistake is made when they first got into the business because they get into the business for the wrong reason and they set up the wrong expectations. And then they don’t know how to measure those expectations, and when they get the results, it’s not in line with what they thought because what they thought was flawed. Their whole logic was flawed. It’s like someone saying, “Hey, man, I heard about this great opportunity that I can be a millionaire tomorrow.” No, it doesn’t work that way.
Oz Konar:
For an entrepreneur to become a millionaire United States, it takes about six years. It took me five and a half years, but that’s usually how long it takes. So they buy into the wrong opportunity. They start the wrong business. They don’t have any measurement of success. They don’t know what success looks like. If you don’t know that, how are we going to know if you get there? Another biggest thing is not understanding the customer acquisition process. How am I going to get customers for this business? That’s the million dollar question. It literally is a million dollar question, because if you resolve that, you make millions of dollars. But most businesses just focus on, “I’ve got to make this work. I’m doing this for the family.” Sure. You’ve got to have all the whys in there. But as a business, to succeed, you’ve got to answer a couple of fundamental questions, like I mentioned.
Cedric Francis:
I want the Lead To Greatness community to really get this. I wrote it down, and this is so important. But you said, “Take care of your immediate needs,” and I think that’s very important, because it’s basically, how can I fix my problem? The saying about, you get on the airplane, put your mask on first. How can I fix my problem? And then, how can I fix others’ problems? What do I need right now? And then start focusing on, how can I take care of the needs of others?
Oz Konar:
It doesn’t work any other way, honestly. So it’s you’re drowning. Meanwhile, you’re trying to grab something. No, no. You’re fricking drowning. You’re going to die. So first, just swim up, get some oxygen in your lungs. So I talked with literally thousands of people on the Zoom calls when we’re talking about our program. Everyone’s like, “Hey man, Oz, I want to be like you. I want to make a lot of money.” I’m like, “All right. How much?” They’re like, “What do you mean how much?” “How much is a lot?” “I don’t know. I mean a lot of money.” “No, no. You’ve got to know. How much do you need right?” “Oh, I’m broke right now.” And I’m like, “Okay, so how much do you need?” And I would say 70% of the people, more than that, they don’t know how much they need. That is scary if you don’t know how much you need to survive. You’ve got to know that.
Oz Konar:
And I take them through the process. I’m like, “Let’s break it down. How much is your rent?” “$750.” “Okay. So where do you buying your groceries from?” “ShopRite.” “Okay. How much do you spend on them?” “I don’t know, man.” “All right. If you knew, what would you say? Break it down. What else?” “Car. Car payment. $300.” “Okay. Insurance? Add them all up. All right. So you need about $2,500.” “No way. I need more than that.” “No. Based on what you told me, this is for us to help you get to max this level and you’re making 4K from your job, so if I help you make 4K, you can quit your job.” Because we set that goal of quitting your job so high up there, we think it’s impossible. You have to be able to measure something. If you know that it’s going to take 4,000 a month, you have something to work towards.
Oz Konar:
If you think that it’s this impossible lifetime goal to quit your job, of course, it’ll take you 20 years to quit it. But if you bring it down to a level, “All I need to do is figure out a way to make 5K per month. Once I do that, I don’t have to go back to this miserable position that I’m in.” That’s mind blowing for most people. They’ve never even thought about it because they’ve bought into this “social media” buzzword of, “I’ve got to make a lot of money.” But how much is a lot? We’ve got to define that first.
Cedric Francis:
And there’s a knowledge bomb. Oz, I’m telling you, I believe you just solve an issue-
