Oz Konar:
Let’s get started.
Oz Konar:
Hey, everyone. Oz Konar here with Business Lending Blueprint. I am today interviewing another guest of mine. She’s a member of the Business Lending Blueprint, fairly recently, she started recently, and we’re going to get into her experience. But I wanted to bring her on because a lot of the members we interview usually have been in Blueprint for a while. Some of them six months, a year, two years. But Luisa is a relatively new member, and she’s having great success. So, I wanted to personally get to know her a little myself too, because this is my opportunity to have one-on-one with my members. So Luisa, great to have you here. Thanks for your time.
Luisa:
Thank you. Thank you Oz for having me, and I’m happy to be part of this community, honestly.
Oz Konar:
Well, I can see that you’re getting pretty popular within our Facebook group, and not only you’re active in the sense of asking questions, which we highly suggest that you do. But, while you’re learning, you’re helping others as well, which is a two-way street. That’s how communities are built, right? You don’t just ask to take, but you have to give back sometimes, and you’re a prime example of that. That’s one of the reasons that we wanted to do this, because you’re making a spot for yourself within an even already tight community. People are getting to know you, and you’re taking this very seriously.
Oz Konar:
So, I want to just talk about a couple of things, that you recently funded your first deal, which is awesome. We were briefly chatting prior to this recording. So, can you give me a little about your history or background?
Luisa:
Yes. So, my background actually, as you mentioned before, is not in the loan broker industry or finance industry in any which way. I actually started off years ago as a business owner for a e-Com boutique and just a retail. Because of just the fast moving boutique industry and constantly having a lot of upfront fees, I decided to let it go and I actually pursued a degree in technical design and fashion design.
Luisa:
With those savings, I did that for four years. I worked in the industry. And then, in the middle of the epidemic in 2020, around March, late March or beginning April, I was let go from my career position in the industry. And I went ahead and I went home and I was deciding if I either look for a new position in my industry, or if I look at something of working from home, working for myself, getting back into that kind of entrepreneur spirit. And that’s when I found Oz’s course on YouTube, and I liked it. What I really liked as far as I didn’t really know a lot, but I liked loan broker part of it. I did a little bit of research on that end and I actually got to know that you don’t need really a degree for this kind of industry. It’s really just as much as knowledge as you put it forth is what you can get back. And that intrigued me a lot.
Oz Konar:
I mean, you put it very nicely because you’ve been… A lot of people that have been going through what you’ve just gone through; they’ve been getting furloughed or let go. They might even own a small business, but maybe they were forced to shut down and they can’t generate revenue. Instead of just going back and starting again to look for a job in the middle of all of this, it’s a great choice to think, “Hey, maybe I can start a business from home and actually run it.” And the main challenge, like some of the questions I get, I have, “Hey Oz. This is all great, but I have zero experience in the field. Can I do this?”
Oz Konar:
You’re a prime example of this. Your interest was in totally different areas, like fashion, and you had your own business before. It was still a business ownership, but it wasn’t home-based business. It required you to be out there. And obviously you had experienced the high cost of having a brick and mortar business. So, sometimes you get that comparison, should I start this restaurant business and this online business? Well, I mean, it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish, but any brick and mortar business has fees that you haven’t thought about, like fees and the costs, and that’s kind of nonstop, which is a threat to any business’s existence out there today, would you agree?
Luisa:
Yes, 100%. Though it’s crazy, the payback you receive actually from your industry and barely any upfront costs, I should say, because it’s the only one, really, where what you need most to get started is just dedicating your time and your knowledge and focusing in. And the income that you receive from that, is ridiculous. It’s really the only industry… A few of the only industries I can say that you’re able to get such a large income from such a small amount that you put up front.
Oz Konar:
Sure. Yeah, the ROI is really high. I mean, when I think I’ve owned different businesses before. In some industries, it’s almost impossible to make money within the first 12 months, right? It’s not built into the business much. It just doesn’t work that way. You have to invest a ton of time, resources, money, and hope you make a profit maybe year two, year three, which was okay for a lot of people until online businesses, especially business loan brokerage came up. But like you said, the leverage is so high, because you’re offering very much the sexiest product on earth; you’re offering money to small businesses, regardless of your background. There’s a misconception out there that all this requires some kind of degree, licensing and certification. None of that is true. So, at the end of the day, you’re brokering deals with access to direct lenders who are funding these deals for you. Pretty much and you’re the one who’s getting in front of your business owners and helping them out.
Oz Konar:
So, you’ve been through that process pretty much. You had your own prior experience. Then you said, “Hey, I got to do something from home,” because of what we’re going through. And you found me and the program online. Did you compare this to anything else out there? Because obviously, there are a lot of online businesses out there. So, have you done that kind of comparison or when you saw this it just made sense and clicked?
Luisa:
Yes, I did compare it to other general online businesses and different niches for online that you could do. I know there’s Amazon stores that are doing great out there, but that one itself is huge upfront fees and you don’t really get paid back until three months later. And it’s so clustered, the industry, with multiple people trying to get into it and multiple… You sell one item, even sell a niche item. There’s probably at least three or four other predators on Amazon trying to sell the same item. There’s numerous things going on and nonetheless, you have to probably spend a couple of 50,000 up front to just get things moving, and then wait three months.
Luisa:
So, I definitely did my research on all the different industries, and this one for me fit the best just because the upper fees were so low. It’s also a business based on yourself and the effort that you put in. At the end of the day, there’s business owners out there that need funding. That really, the truly thing that you’re doing is you’re convincing them to trust you and to help them receive funds for their business. So, that’s all you’re doing. They’re not paying anything upfront. You’re actually giving them money, which is a great alternative to most times when you’re called and whatnot, you’re actually trying to get the credit card. This time, you’re actually just trying to get to know the person. the more better you build the relationship, the more you’re able to help them.
Luisa:
So, that’s why I say in this industry, it’s particular because it’s really the more you know your product, and that’s what your course teaches, the more money you’re going to make. And the more you going to be able to help people. So, that’s great.
Oz Konar:
Yeah, it’s the true sense of helping somebody, because you interacted with businesses before. A lot of them don’t even know their options. That’s very unfortunate, right? They have no clue. Their understanding of getting a business loan is maybe through a banker that they know and their local credit union, and maybe they might’ve received a telemarketing call from a merchant cash advance company. And that’s pretty much it. So, no one is really taking time to explain to them their options and asking the right questions so we can put them in the right bucket and truly help them out. Because small businesses are so prone to being taken advantage of. That’s not because they’re less intelligent. It’s just they have very finite amount of time divided into so many different things. So, they’ve got to think of inventory, payroll, employees, and competition, the locality and the products and services.
Oz Konar:
When it comes to doing their due diligence, it’s really not that easy for them. You can’t just tell them, “Just go do your research.” But yeah, they have limited time. Some of them are working 18-20 hours a day and they need the money and where are they going to go? And your point is really important; there’s no hard selling involved in the realm of what we’re teaching. It’s just being friendly and consultative and teaching, showing them the options. They’re pretty smart people. They understand what you’re trying to do. And that’s how you get repeat customers as well. That’s the snowball effect.
Oz Konar:
Other than that, there’s really no complicated terminology and whatnot. At the end of the day, you’re telling somebody, “Hey, do you want to get funding? What are you going to do with the money? How fast do you need it?” Based on a couple of additional questions, you decide which way they’re going to go. And the great thing about your story is that in a short amount of time, not only you went through the content, you just followed the Blueprint, but you also started partnering with other people in the community too. So, how did that work? So tell me, I don’t know how you did that, so I would love to know that too.
Luisa:
So, pretty much, yeah. When you purchase your course, you not only get the course, but you also get this community. And the community is really honestly, if you had just offered me the community itself, I think it’s just worth it because it’s really open. It really has people there willing to help you. It’s super responsive. If you’re just open and introduce yourself, people are going to help you right there. Every day in the community, we have someone ask, “Hey, I’m new. I have a new loan.” I have this and that. And everyone’s there commenting, helping everyone out. So, it was really how it just happened. I just introduced myself and people were kind enough to respond to me. And throughout all the response, I was able to choose who I wanted to work with as my mentor, because at the end of the day, this industry is new to me.
Luisa:
Like I said, the more you know the industry, the better you can provide services to your clients. So, I chose to go with a mentor and that was the best thing I could do. He really guided me from A to Z. And that was provided all within your community. He helped me from A to Z and he really helped me just grow this up. If it’s okay, I could shout him out.
Oz Konar:
Please.
Luisa:
His name is Brent [Aquilon 00:11:14]. So, if you are interested in this product, he’s a great mentor. I recommend anybody getting in this industry and exactly, he’s been in it so long. He found you guys, he was able to branch out to me through the community and yeah.
Oz Konar:
Yeah, Brent is an amazing guy. He’s actually in our seven figure program currently and building his company as a broker shop. So, where your level is where most of our members are, you’re building a home-based business, but certain members choose to build pretty much a broker shop with multiple employees, multiple sources of revenue within lending community, access to specific lenders and different products and different ways of marketing, is definitely growing as a company to seven figure level, and we’re definitely proud of his progress.
Oz Konar:
That’s the beauty of this. And I say this every time, I don’t know how we managed to pull this off, but the community is becoming more important than just the raw content. Content is great, you’re learning a lot about the business. But, without other human beings, it might get boring after a while. But building those tight relationships and friends, it becomes more like a family every single day, and I truly do appreciate that. You’re becoming more apart of that, and I’m glad to have known you and you pulled the trigger. So, that’s really, really important for me.
Oz Konar:
So, there are a lot of people out there who might be in the same shoes that you were a couple of months ago. So, what would you recommend someone who is pretty much panicking right now? They can go back and look for a job; there are a lot of seasonal jobs out there, or they can just stop panic and make a move that could make a more long lasting effect. You would know that feeling better than anyone since you’ve been recently through that. So, what would you tell to that person?
Luisa:
I mean, I would say go for this. If this is something that you looked up and something that you’re planning on maybe leaving your 9-5 business, or starting your own business working from home and this is something that you came upon, I would say, go for it because at the end of the day, it’s open. The people are there. The clients are there. The money’s there to be made. All it really takes is the effort. It doesn’t even take so much upfront fees, because at the end of the day, what you get with the course, you also get a full list of lenders to work with. You get a full course on learning what you need to provide to these lenders to get funded. So, you not only get a full course, but you get what you need to do afterward. And you also get a community of supportive individuals willing, right there to help you, even mentors willing to help you. So, it’s all there for you. It’s just literally you taking the leap.
Oz Konar:
That’s awesome. Thank you for sharing your feedback and thoughts on this. Any questions for me? Anything I can do for you?
Luisa:
No, that was pretty much it. I think you really elaborated on… As far as the course and what it’s really done for me. I could go on and on about what I’m doing in it and as far as the benefits that I’ve received from it. Like you said, it’s not really selling any services, it’s selling yourself. And the referral base of it is great. Once you create just even a small black book, which you continue growing, and that’s with any sales industry, your black book is golden. And once you receive that, I truly believe after a year, if you choose to continue finding new leads, you will, but you wouldn’t need to, just based on the referrals and the black book that you can build through this course.
Oz Konar:
Yeah, it’s a good point that you brought up. Like this morning, I emailed one of our members. I think he’s been with us close to six months. He just signed his seventh referral contract with a referral partner. I think he’s a banker. I said, “Buddy, if you do a couple more of this, you won’t need to do any of your own lead generation. You just need to spend time with your referral partners and that will give you a full pipeline.” Because think about an accountant. The average accountant that you can see in a downtown, and does 500+ clients that they do taxes for, and small business taxation, and they have clients. If they’ve been doing this for 20, 30 years, think about the amount of connections that they have. And that’s how I grew my portfolio when I was selling business loans.
Oz Konar:
I would build solid relationships with accountants and they’ll be like, “Hey, I just thought of a Luisa. I should just stop by here and I think she can use some funding. I can make the phone call for you.” And that will be like a done deal because these are like authority figures. And as you know, we have a very detailed training on who to reach out, how to reach out to people, how to put it on contract, and how to get referrals out, all that stuff. But, that gives you a lot of power. So, you don’t need to be a stranger to other people. You can leverage the relationship they already have in place. Because when you think about these bankers and accountants and other high level authority figures that can provide referral sources, they really do not have partners like you, right?
Oz Konar:
So, they have maybe a bank relationship, but no one does alternative lending at the scale that we do with access to 10+ products and access to lenders, and pretty much knowing what you need to do instead of just winging it. So, that gives a lot of power. So, thanks for reminding; that’s so important.
Luisa:
Yes, it really is. And I think we actually had a conversation on that in the community once before. Just the power as far as alternative lending, and the fact that it’s such a small niche. I really don’t know why, but better for us who are in it, obviously. And it really offers our black book a true sense of from A to Z funding. So, if you’re looking for MCA, we can help you. If you’re looking for SBA, we can help you. If you’re looking for LLC, we can help you. Equipment financing, invoice financing. 90% of the people who are calling my leads currently are only operating either only MCA, only SBA. So, we truly are a funding specialist. I can truly help you find any type of loan that you are looking for that best benefits you.
Oz Konar:
100%. A lot of those people were hard selling it, because that’s all they got. They don’t have any other way of doing this. So, even if it’s not a good fit, they’ll try to hard sell it. I worked in Wall Street for many years. That’s what bothered and got to me because they were pushing these people to get an MCA when that’s not the best thing for them. Sometimes it is, sometimes it’s not. And that’s not really authentic when you just do that. It comes back. The people find out. People are smart. You might get them now, but they’re going to get you later. So, it’s not a good way to build a business. So, we’re definitely practicing those virtues that allows us to build a six and seven figure business. And I think I know that you’re on your way to get there, to the consistent level of funding deals with your mentors and being a part of the community.
Oz Konar:
So, I know you’re a busy lady, so I don’t want to keep you long. Thank you for joining and making this happen with me today.
Luisa:
Thank you, Oz. Thank you for your time.
Oz Konar:
All right. Perfect.