Oz Konar:
Hey everyone. Oz Konar here. As you know, in this channel, we talk a lot about how to become a business loan broker and build your own business from home and build a recession proof business without having to do crazy things and pull on doors and telemarket day and night. So today we have a member from my community, Business Lending Blueprint. He joined a while ago, Greg was working with our support team. We provide lifetime support to every member in the community, and then as they were chatting, the numbers came up and we noticed that he’s been killing it. So we have a lot of silent players like Greg –
Greg:
I have been silent. I know I’ve been silent.
Oz Konar:
That’s okay. Different personalities, people take what they need and apply. So we thought it would be a good idea to put some spotlights and put him on the spot a little bit, to see how things are going. How are you doing, buddy?
Greg:
I’m doing well. Thank you all for giving me the time to be on here. I’ve been watching you this whole time and you’ve been a great mentor, even from a distance. The resources that we’ve had on this platform has been great and it’s made me take my business to the next level.
Oz Konar:
Appreciate it. Yeah, great to have you join the Blueprint and follow through and still be a part of the community. As you know, ours started out like a training. Now it became a universe in itself. So not only the online training portal, we have the live calls, and we also have the coaching element. You get one-on-one coaching, and also to live customer support. So we were trying to bring it full circle, and it’s paying off in dividends. So we’re making a lot of good friends and people are having massive success. So let’s talk about your background. So before the Business Lending Blueprint, what were you doing? Can you walk me through that?
Greg:
Sure. What I was doing was I was working at a private, small firm there called Wide Merchant Group. I worked there for a couple months. So that was what I was doing prior to Blueprint. I was funding some deals, but I was working under another broker, and then I kind of branched off, wanted to do my own thing, and then I just kind of –
Oz Konar:
Why?
Greg:
As far as … and there’s no bad blood between the person I was working with, it was just I wanted to experience, one, talking to the lender directly. Once I understood how the format of the business works, you want to be able to get in contact with these lenders directly, you want to build a relationship with them and know exactly what type of files they’re looking for.
Oz Konar:
So not only you’ve seen the opportunity with how much you can make, but –
Greg:
Oh, that too. I saw it before. That’s the thing, I saw the numbers before I even knew about the Blueprint. So I knew the potential of what kind of money you can make in this, and I’ve even made commission prior to the Blueprint and I was like, “What? Imagine if I can get all of this.” So that’s kind of what that’s been for me.
Oz Konar:
Yeah. So that’s the primary motive. The second there, which is really important is getting access to lenders directly, direct access to the lenders.
Greg:
Exactly, exactly.
Oz Konar:
Really in this industry, what I don’t like is having a middle guy in between. So you don’t really know … I’m not saying about your past company that you worked for, but in general, whenever there is someone in between the lender and you, there are always things that could go wrong. So you want to have full access to them. That’s why in the Blueprint, we take great pride in not being the middle guy and everyone has access to them.
Greg:
Exactly.
Oz Konar:
And we have connections … you were talking about Rick during our pre discussion –
Greg:
Yes.
Oz Konar:
– one of the lenders we provide and you have your own representative directly from them. So we get that question a lot. Some people say, “Hey, do we send our files through you?” None of that. So we don’t have a portal that we take your deals. It doesn’t come through us. We want that independent business owners, in the sense of ISO, what ISO stands for, individual [inaudible 00:03:53] organization. So that’s great. So two things, one is the size of the opportunity, obviously, that lets you chase your own dream. The second is getting access to the lenders, and that brought you quite a way. I mean your best month was 80,000. You would average, $30,000-$40,000 per month. That’s pretty amazing. So you’ve been in the community, you’ve been watching us do a lot of things to reward our members and whatnot, and we should definitely get you that gong masters award, by the way. I didn’t see your name.
Greg:
Oh, I know. I mean yes, I’ll definitely … and I know about the gong even before Blueprint. They rang the gong too. So I don’t have a gong, I kind of just pump myself up in my room when I close a deal by myself. But other than that, I mean the resources, anybody that’s serious about getting into this business, I mean you really lay down the foundation on the Blueprint. I mean, just going through the modules, and for me kind of already having my experience, it aligned it perfectly for me. So it’s been great.
Oz Konar:
Got it. So yeah, a lot of people definitely love building that foundation because in business … when you first started out, it’s all about building a foundation. So you don’t want to build your house on a shaky ground. So you want to know what programs you can offer. How much difference did it made for you to have access to more than one program? Because usually, traditionally speaking, alternative lending industry has connotation with merchant cash advance only. Back when I first started out, when someone saw alternative lending, it was kind of almost equal to merchant cash advance. But now in the Blueprint, we have more than 10 different products. How much did it help you for you to diversify your options to [inaudible 00:05:43]?
Greg:
Man, it was huge. Because at the end of the day, we just have to qualify these candidates, these clients that come in, these prospects that come in. So if they don’t fit in MCA model, then it’s like, okay, well what else can you fit in? Maybe they have good credit and they don’t have any revenue. So, okay, let’s talk to Toro and let’s see if we can get you a line of credit. So that’s been … I was always trying to fit somebody in an MCA box and that’s just not the case at all. So being able to have those diversified resources, I mean, there’s no price on that.
Oz Konar:
Absolutely, man. Yeah, I mean currently we have the invoice factoring, equipment leasing, startup financing, revenue based, non revenue based, real estate is huge. A lot of members are doing real estate.
Greg:
Yeah, I’ve seen the pictures. I’ve seen the pictures in the message group and I’m like, “Wow, that’s amazing.”
Oz Konar:
Yeah, more and more people are doing that through our community. Now let’s talk about the marketing, one-offs. If someone is considering becoming a business loan broker, one of the things that they’re concerned about, “Hey, how do I do the marketing? How do I get the leads?” Traditionally speaking, most companies out there have the boiler room mentality. So I have to get an office and put a bunch of human beings in there and dial your heart out. Before we started recording, you said that you’re using two marketing channels primarily. So can you tell me which ones does bring in the most amount of leads to you?
Greg:
I would say the email marketing brings in the most leads for me. I do use LinkedIn. As far as the email marketing, I do believe that’s the most efficient one to me. I probably get about maybe 10 prospects from email marketing. So obviously with me and my … we’re just trying … what we did in the beginning, it was kind of a trial and error, and then we kind of focused the market and then we kind of just kept getting more emails to just blast. And that’s kind of how it’s been working. So we just work together on the email marketing. As far as the LinkedIn, I get more target markets. They do come in, and usually those are even actually sometimes the bigger files, the people that come through LinkedIn. It doesn’t come as frequently, but they’re still rich, because now you have a good relationship, good rapport with the prospect.
Greg:
And then I also … and I still do cold calls too, and I get some there too. Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with giving people a cold call. I work with this company called Business Direct. Anybody can use them and the list is pretty cheap. So you can get some good deals from there too. So I kind of mix it up. I mix it up, and then anybody that’s warm, I kind of focus on them and then we try to see if we can get something done.
Oz Konar:
Perfect. So Greg, what’s next for you? What are you trying to accomplish? Where do you want to take your business to?
Greg:
I mean, ideally … so I mean currently right now I am in Los Angeles, so that’s where I … so I’m actually planning on moving to Nevada. I want to move to Las Vegas. So that’s kind of where I’m at mentally right now. I’m trying to switch over. So I’m trying to relocate right now. Realistically, creative financing, that’s the name of my business. I mean I definitely want to keep taking my business to the next level. I mean I definitely want to be able to have a team eventually, maybe a couple of guys that are serious about the business. But as far as lead production, definitely want to get up to closer to a hundred thousand, get more bigger deals to work on. I’ve kind of been in this 30-40 range. So to take it to a 200K, 250K, get those types of deals, that’s kind of what I’m focusing on. That’s what I really want to focus on next year, getting bigger deals.
Oz Konar:
Wow, that’s awesome, man. [crosstalk 00:09:52]
Greg:
Yeah, so that’s kind of where I’m at, and just focusing on the market. It’s a great deal. I mean, again, I told you, I love selling … I mean I love just servicing a client in general. That’s just me in general, but there’s just nothing like selling funding and funding deals and that pressure, just getting a deal done. If you’re anybody that’s an athlete, that comes from the athlete world, you would love to do something like this. I mean you would. You love the adrenaline. I love watching football. It’s all about timing and just getting things done at a certain time. And I think that’s what lending does, and that’s what gives me a little joy too, obviously, and then your hard work comes after when you get rewarded with the compensation as well.
Oz Konar:
Absolutely. And also you’re helping a lot of people get what they want.
Greg:
Absolutely, absolutely. You’re definitely helping, because they didn’t have options. They didn’t even know about –
Oz Konar:
They didn’t even know about the options.
Greg:
They don’t even know, and now especially with corona, they’re thinking, “Oh, no one’s giving out money after the PPP.” They don’t even think people are giving money anymore. So you tell them, “No, that’s not the case at all.”
Oz Konar:
I’m glad you brought that up, because through what we’re going through right now, a lot of people think the funding is gone.
Greg:
Right, right, right.
Oz Konar:
That’s definitely not even close to that. If they were in our community, they would be seeing that almost daily people are just posting right and left just nonstop because of the fact that you do have options. We do even have lenders that are funding people impacted and whatnot. And as I always say, you’re selling the sexiest product on earth, money. So no matter what’s happening, someone is going to need it, someone is still trying to build their business, someone is still making money, someone still wants to grow, they want to buy their competition, they want to buy their neighbor, they want to add more locations. So that cycle will not end. That will continue. And as a business loan broker, you can be in an industry that takes advantage of that instead of thinking, “Oh, we’re doomed and there’s nothing to do.”
Greg:
Exactly.
Oz Konar:
So that’s why starting from the past couple of years and the next couple of years will be really exciting for long term lending, and I think it’s going to skyrocket, and that benefits everybody who wants to be a part of that. So someone who might not even know who we are, what Blueprint does, what would you tell that person who’s kind of considering a way out of what they’re doing right now? Maybe they’re at a job, would this be a good fit for someone who’s –
Greg:
Absolutely. I mean I would tell anybody that’s in any type of customer service, telemarketing, you like talking to people, you like solving problems, definitely you like to engage with people, I mean this is definitely something you should try, especially, as far as how big the market is going to get. There’s thousands of businesses being created every day, they’re going to need money, they’re going to need resources. So we’re just out there to service them. So anybody that’s really serious, they want to get out there and start engaging with people and giving people solutions, I mean I would definitely try to get into Blueprint. And you have the foundation. I mean, the foundation is there. So anybody that doesn’t know anything about this industry, you don’t have to have a story like mine, where I kind of had an idea and then I can find it easier, but even somebody that has no idea what this is and they want to be educated on it, and you like talking to people, go for it.
Oz Konar:
And what would you say they’re getting with the Blueprint? If someone is like, “Oh, should I get Blueprint or not? Should I join the Blueprint or should I try to do it on my own?” How would you compare the –
Greg:
I would definitely tell somebody to get the Blueprint, because trying to do it on your own … I mean, obviously there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just the results you’re going to get. You know what I’m saying? If you don’t have some type of structure, I think it gets a little difficult. You definitely want to talk to people that are one, more experienced, especially just the foundation then you get, and then the community, the community in itself. I talked to Daniel when I first started. I was talking to him a lot. He’s very experienced and he was telling me, “Hey, this is what you got to do.” So just even getting that in itself, now you get to talk to a bunch of people that are part of this Blueprint community.
Greg:
You can just get … some guy just asked me the other day how to set up an LLC. I didn’t think posting my deals on the Blueprint would even make such an impact and it has. Now I’m helping people. So I was like, man, I need to start posting, because I want these people to think that … I’ve been watching, I’ve just been sitting back, but I’m so glad that I’ve been more engaged in the group chat, and so somebody that’s new that’s coming in, they’re like, “Hey, I really appreciate that.” So I’m glad some of the … when Daniel helped me, now I’m helping somebody else. It’s kind of cool.
Oz Konar:
It’s amazing that we started out with just one person providing mentorship. Now we have countless in our community, people holding each other’s hands and they’re having their own calls sometimes. I’m hearing that they’re having weekly calls in our community, they’re holding each other accountable. Can you do it on your own? Sure. People can figure things out, but how much time are you going to lose?
Greg:
Exactly.
Oz Konar:
Figuring things out is a painful process. You did it, you had the background, you’ve seen the opportunity. If someone was not exposed to the opportunity and they didn’t have the mentors in place, trying to Google your way around alternative lending is going to be extremely difficult.
Greg:
Right, right, it is going to be difficult. It is going to be difficult, because … it would be hard. I’m so glad I found you guys. It’s just having that structure, even for somebody that came from experience, it would have been tough, especially those access to the lenders that you have, we have a great list of lenders to work with. Really just having those resources to be able to, okay, I have each film for different aspects of the business that you have laid out in the Blueprint. I mean that was great for me, for sure. As far as marketing, I definitely use you for marketing and I definitely used you for the access to lenders, because that’s really what I needed when I first started.
Oz Konar:
Awesome, man. This was really invaluable. Thank you for taking your time out of your busy day.
Greg:
Oh, no problem. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Happy holidays to you, Oz, and I really appreciate you for the foundation you gave for us, for us to be successful.
Oz Konar:
My pleasure. Happy holidays, man. Thanks so much, Greg.
Greg:
Okay.
Oz Konar:
We’re happy to have you in the community. Take care.
Greg:
Okay, thank you. Have a good one.
Oz Konar:
Thank you.