Oz Konar:
Hey everyone. Oz Konar here with Business Lending Blueprint. I have a member from the Blueprint community and a good friend, Josh. How are you doing buddy?
Josh:
What’s going on, Oz?
Oz Konar:
Good, man. We’ve been chatting for like 10 minutes right now. We’re going to stop talking, but I said it’s about time that we actually do it so we can keep talking and people can still listen in, right? As to what’s going on. So Josh, you’ve been in the community since May of ’20?
Josh:
That’s correct. Yeah. May 1st.
Oz Konar:
Yeah. So it’s been a couple of months. Wow. What a couple of months, right?
Josh:
Yeah, it’s been good.
Oz Konar:
It’s been really well. So let’s talk about, let’s start with the end then kind of break it down.
Josh:
Okay.
Oz Konar:
So your business right now is doing really well. You’re a bachelor, like you said, you’re working from home and you’re doing really, really great things. How much revenue have you generated since you started the Blueprint?
Josh:
So revenue generated, it’s been awesome. So when I started up in May, I went through all the classes, and I made sure that I finished. And that was important to me because I wanted to make sure, as much help as I have from the colleagues in the Facebook group and friends that I’ve created along the time, I wanted to make sure I had finished everything. So I had finished my first deal. It was pretty nice. It was a million dollar merchant cash advance through a friend that runs a big healthcare company, and that was great. And so I started there and then I kind of… What me and Oz were talking about is I went through my niche, and my niche is restaurants, and like Oz had said I’m a bachelor so I go out to eat quite a bit.
Josh:
And I wanted to take advantage of people, friends, and places that know me. And being new, once I learned everything, it made my comfort level a little bit better. So I ran through. I probably did another five or six deals. So in my first month I did about 45,000, which was pretty solid. And then I tried to just make it too is I’m not one of those where I want to have one month then have zero the next month. And that’s important. It’s very important to create steady income, create income that will turn over and over. In June and July, it slowed down a little bit. I’m out of New York City, so it was the really tough part of COVID, but I was able to utilize what I learned in the Blueprint in May. And I was really able to put that into action in June and July.
Josh:
I ran different term loans, line of credits. I want to say, I think May I did 24 in May. I’m sorry, in June. And then in July, I was like at 19, which was still fine. But it was still utilizing my partnerships that I had created in my restaurants because restaurants were starting to start this street dining in New York, and they had been closed for a few months. They hurt when you’re closed for two months. A line of credit and a term loan for a business that had great financials that you pre-qualified for those. It was time to take that light speed ahead.
Oz Konar:
Absolutely. So it’s been going well. You have the June, July, August. So overall what’s the total? Is it-
Josh:
Overall, I wrote it down. I’ve hit just over like 111.
Oz Konar:
That’s awesome, man.
Josh:
Yeah, so it’s been pretty good. Yeah.
Oz Konar:
A lot of businesses, like when you think about brick and mortar, they start, and they can’t even think about making a profit within the first year, right? Whereas as a business loan broker, you just barely started in May and over six figures already. And I mean, we still have a couple of months before the end of the year, which is going to be really profitable for you.
Josh:
Yeah. That’s for October too. I had written down a couple of numbers that I figured [crosstalk 00:00:03:53].
Oz Konar:
Yeah. It’s going to add up for sure. What do you like about this? What keeps you going?
Josh:
What keeps you going is I’m a people person. So I like to talk. I’m originally from Southern California, so yes, laid back but also now in New York, I’m a talker. I move fast, and I like working with people. And I like giving somebody a chance to go to the next level, and that’s what all of us as a family are doing. We’re allowing that business to take it to the next level. A couple of my friends, Daniel and Brent, that I’ve talked to many times and said, as much as you want to get continual loans either be a term loan, a line of credit when it expires, the best thing I could ever give is when I get somebody say a line of credit and then in 12 months it’s up and obviously keeping in contact. And they don’t need my services, it hurts but it’s also great to know that what I did made them move to the next level. They don’t need to borrow money anymore. They’re doing well. And that’s something that makes me really, really love my job and what I do.
Josh:
I get to work from home. I was in retail sales for 10, 11 years, so I have been very… I’ve done very well in sales. I worked for a really big corporation and did very well, and it was nice to see that turnover. So when I come to sales, but I’m really getting excited for this year that I’m not going to have to work on Thanksgiving Eve, day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, day after Christmas, New Years. So it’s giving me freedom that I could do what I want with my family. My family’s coming in for Christmas.
Oz Konar:
That’s beautiful.
Josh:
10 days. I don’t have to say, “Go do what you want. I’m going to be at work all day during holidays.” So yeah.
Oz Konar:
That’s an important point, man. Someone with your skillset, you’re a people’s person and you love talking. You love selling. You’re highly trained on that one because of your past endeavors, right? So why be a business loan broker out of all the things you could be doing? Because you could pretty much get a good paying job for six figures and still be okay. Right? Because a lot of people are afraid of sales and there are not many people who are really good at it. And you’re good at it. So when you’ve done the comparison mentally when you’re starting this, what kept you here and, I don’t know, doing pharmaceutical sales or some other business?
Josh:
The biggest thing is number one, it’s my favorite thing, talking to one of my best friends is I have my own company. It’s mine. I don’t work for anybody. I work myself. One day, like I’d said, I had mentioned Brent and Daniel before. Brent I know has hired a couple of people from his team. Daniel has a team. I want people to work for me. I haven’t got to that stage yet. It’s going to come, I believe, but that was one thing that I work for nobody else but me. And then also the other big second thing is I consider… It’s recession proof, and it’s a testimonial of me being in New York City, let alone anywhere in the United States or the world during COVID, even for our fellow colleagues in Canada and if we do have anybody in the UK or Australia.
Josh:
It shows that the business didn’t go backwards. It’s recession proof, and this was… I’m 35 so other than probably the stock market, real estate thing in 2008, 2009, other than Y2K, et cetera, I haven’t or I guess… 9/11. This was probably the worst thing I’ve been through. I wasn’t in the housing business in 2008, so I didn’t really lose out there, but it was definitely something that I looked at as a recession proof business.
Oz Konar:
100% man. The entire economy was forced to shut down when you think about it, right? It’s not like a local event or like a tornado or anything like that. The US economy, which was doing great, was forced to shut down. So it’s not a small thing. I think that’s the biggest test to [inaudible 00:07:57] recession proof because it’s like a buzzword that every industry uses. Our business is recession proof. Well, not really. It hasn’t been through every other recession, right?
Oz Konar:
I was in this industry when the 2008 hit, right? Even less people knew about it back then, but right now there is still not many people knowing about this, but even back then, it survived and thrived through that. Now we’re going through another one, and it’s not a recession but it could be worse than that. Who knows? We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next couple of months, but then it’s still thriving because you have options. And alternative lending is almost opposite of bank lending. Banks are these massive entities. They restrict their funding, even on the slight chance of things going wrong. Whereas us, we can just get creative as brokers and consultants to help a business, either start a business, grow, or survive and thrive. So I think that’s the great part that you definitely hit the nail on the head. That’s awesome.
Josh:
Yeah. I feel like when it comes to alternative lending, the reason why you go to the bank literally… Obviously I could be wrong, but the only reason I would go to the bank right now is if I’m buying a home that I’m going to live in. That’s it. You’re buying a commercial property or residential property that you’re going to rent out, yes, there’s different alternative lending options. But if you want to pay anywhere from six to 12% depending on your financial background, but you go to the bank and you’re buying your first home. That’s the only place you’re going to get… That’s very low. And that’s it. And that’s important to know.
Oz Konar:
100%. And you’re someone that I admire because not only you’re running a six figure business, your launch was like a rocket launch, right? Straight up. You didn’t have this learning curve or all that stuff, and you started in May and boom, over 10K, but you’re still helping a ton of people in the community. Like everyone knows you. That’s awesome. I especially admire those people because you can just do this yourself and disappear behind the scenes and build it. Why do you do that? Why do you care?
Josh:
When I joined the BLB, Business Lending Blueprint, I joined it because I realized it was like a family. It’s like a second family to me, and that’s why I want to help people. I want people to do well. My information, my knowledge, my things I’ve learned, all it’s going to do is benefit them. Either be from somebody asking, “Where do I pull that dollar credit? Where can I pull a 3-bureau credit?” It takes me a couple minutes. I run multi screens, so I got it open because I wanted to help. I don’t have nothing else open when it comes to Facebook. I have the Blueprint open, so I see every notification. I want them to prosper. Why wouldn’t you? Because also the thing is I’m helping them. That could be helping their family. It can help them make that ends. That’s not me. Along with their client. And it really works more than just for myself. It works kind of like a threefold.
Oz Konar:
So you don’t believe in the scarcity. “Oh, if I help that person, there’s going to be less deals for me” and whatnot.
Josh:
Yeah. Sorry, I’m bringing it up again. I know I had brought this up in one of the Thursday meetings. Like Brent, he funded a pizza place. They’re everywhere. I did a great Mexican restaurant right down the street from me, and it was just like… I mean there’s Mexican restaurants in every other corner. It just reminds me, for me, helping them number one, I’m happy that they went through the Blueprint, learned how to connect with a client, got them into their pipeline, and they’re asking for help because they got a good chance of funding the deal if they’re asking for help. And it looks good for all of us. Like I said, I want other people to do well. That means a lot to me.
Oz Konar:
It certainly means a lot to me because we have you and a bunch of other key members in the community, and you guys are not working for us. You’re not being compensated. You’re kind of running this community, and a lot of people owe a lot directly and indirectly to you guys leading the community. And you haven’t been here for the past three years or so. You just joined in May and you just became a part of the family. And obviously I know you personally, and should we be able to be meeting in person, if it wasn’t because of what’s happening. We’re going to do the masterminding and whatnot. So I feel certainly fortunate.
Oz Konar:
So when you did join the Blueprint, what… I mean, there’s a lot in the Blueprint, right? As far as building. So what caused you to build this fast, besides your own skillset? You have no fear. You just made it happen, but obviously you utilized and you were telling me before we started this, you went through the Blueprint like five times. And I think the record is like 13 times someone is doing it. And this person is currently doing like $300,000 a month, Adam. I thought he was going crazy. I’m like, “Dude, slow down. I think you did enough.” He was like, “No, I got to go through and do it again.” So what’s causing you to go back and check it out, and what has been the big help?
Josh:
I am one of those people. I get this from my retail background. I used to sell suits for a living. When you’re selling a Giorgio Armani suit, you got to have product knowledge. So that’s my biggest reason is product knowledge and you can always learn something, so I don’t know how many times I go through it. And we were talking before, the recording that when it comes to something like the equipment, I go through. I learn something new every time that… It may not have been super substantial or big, but I learn it. And it’s crazy because every time… And it gives me this motivation.
Josh:
Every time I go through, it reminds me of the first time I watched… I was going through and I was taking my 100 pages of notes, and it was like when I was prepping for my first deals. So I think that gives me that little extra push too because I’m like, “Oh, I’m new again, and I’m going through it.” I finish a segment or a module, either it be through one of the trainings or be through one of the marketing avenues. And it’s like I jump right into it. I either got the LinkedIn screen up. If I got Facebook up, and I’m still listening. I’ll put my headphones on, and I’ll be doing LinkedIn marketing while still just watching… Even if it’s the MCA because you always still learn something new, and that’s important.
Oz Konar:
You got to stay on the edge, right? Because your customers need it. It’s our duty to… Just like doctors, they’re forced to go through a certain training. Accountants, lawyers, they have to get certain credits, complete certain credits every single year so they stay up to date. So if you call yourself a professional, well, that’s what you got to do. Right? You can’t just assume that, “Oh, I know everything I need to know. And just let me just wing it and see how far it goes.” It will go far. You’ll make money. But if you’re playing the long game of building your broker shop, well, you better know more than anybody else that you’re [crosstalk 00:15:21].
Josh:
It’s a great point. I just like to share with the family is yes, I do have a college degree in finance. I graduated in 2008. Unfortunately I finished when it was bad, so I worked in the retail business. I was making six figures. Doing really, really well. I love the money, but I didn’t love the hours. I worked every weekend. Unfortunately I don’t have kids to this day, but it’s something that held me back on having a family. That was something when I started, I didn’t even know what MCA meant. It was all new to me, and that was why I called it the importance of going through it multiple times because there may be fellow family members. I know I say that a lot, family, that they may not know.
Josh:
I had no clue what, like I said, an MCA was. I didn’t know what a line of credit was other than you just… I thought you wrote check, let alone a Visa card. So that was great, and that just tells… It’s kind of something I want to tell to all the new members as well. Go through it. It’s okay when you start and you don’t know. There’s a lot of people in the industry that have started, like I said, and didn’t know one single thing. We were joking about it before. I didn’t know what Yellow Iron meant. I’m intelligent. I know what a backhoe, I know what a tractor, et cetera. But it was just something every time to learn. And it’s okay when you don’t know when you start.
Josh:
The Business Lending Blueprint, it’s like you say in the workshop before you join, it will build you for success. It’s building you for residual income. It’s building you for sometimes life changing money, but it’s also building relationships. That’s the most important part, to not take it from day one like this is going to be a get rich scheme. Don’t make it look like you do a $50,000 MCA and you’re automatically going to make $15,000 bucks. Think of it as a way to build a clientele base. And it’s not a get rich scheme. Build it as your own business that’s going to prosper for years and years. I know you mentioned in the Blueprint a couple times, hey, there is time where you can sell your book. That’s important.
Oz Konar:
A lot of people have done it. I’ve done it for my credit card processing portfolio. I’ve done it twice already. I know a lot of people sold their merchant cash advance, and other… You can sell your entire company. That happens all the time. Like companies, I think two years ago, a company privately sold to another company and [inaudible 00:18:06] $36 million. So it took them five years to build it. And in the greater scheme of things, the five years is nothing. It’s nothing. Like to walk away with over $30 million, I think anyone would do it. I think that’s definitely-
Josh:
Pretty solid.
Oz Konar:
Yeah, pretty solid, right? So it’s definitely important. So Josh, a lot of people are going to be watching this and they’re watching it and they’re trying to figure out if Blueprint is for them. And obviously it’s not for everybody, right? I say it all the time. I’m not saying anyone can do it this. Not really. So knowing our audience and knowing our members and knowing yourself, who should consider joining?
Josh:
Number one, you should join the Blueprint if, like you said, you want to just begin entrepreneurship. That’s a big reason, number one. Because it isn’t for everybody. There may be an entrepreneur that doesn’t want to. I think you should also get into it when you’re good with relationship building. That’s another. Entrepreneurship, relationship building because you have to. You have to build relationship building because you have to. You have to build relationships. If you don’t, it’s… like you said, as much as everyone wants to join, it’s probably not for you. And you got to be able to work hard. People think it’s easy. “Oh, Josh, you made a lot of money.” Okay, I made some money. I worked hard though. But it’s also you got to be willing to do it, and you got to be willing to put in the work. And the work pays off, always pays off. It really will… It can make a life changing and can put you onto a path to success.
Oz Konar:
Amen. That’s certainly true. I don’t have anything more to add to that. Do you have any questions for me?
Josh:
No. No questions at all. I just thank you for throwing me on here and saying hi to everyone. I know I comment quite a bit and people know by probably the comments. They know and send me a message anytime. I don’t care.
Oz Konar:
I know. You’re one of the few people who’s just looking forward to that, right? Just chat with everyone, build relationships. And yeah, guys, like if you’re in the community… Well, you already know who Josh is probably. Just say hi in the comment below the video. If you’re not, I think it gives you a good sense as to what we have going on in the Blueprint. So it’s not just an online course where you get access to a bunch of videos. It’s a way of life, and also a way for you to build a real business that will survive through whatever else comes so far that we haven’t expected. And I don’t want to know what else is going to come out way. So if you’re looking for a truly real business that you want to build, you can, just like Josh.
Oz Konar:
He’s in his kitchen right now. You can be building it from your home. You don’t really need a fancy office. Like when I first started in like early 2000s, you needed to have a fancy office to even meet clients in person. So we’ve gone through that phase, and no one wants to meet you in person. You can work from home. You don’t need to go get an office for the sake of getting an office. You can talk to your clients through a Zoom, phone, whatever you want to do, right? People have changed, and they are… One thing that hasn’t changed is their need for money, right? That’s the sexiest product you’re selling out there, offering them capital to start to grow, to survive, thrive, hire, fire, whatever they need to do. They need a consultant. And can they not do it through like computer systems or software or websites? Sure.
Oz Konar:
But it’s not Josh. They need someone who’s going to explain them the difference, why an option is a good option. Just like going to a doctor, can you not go look up some alternative medicine on amazon.com and order a bunch of stuff? Yeah, but it’s not going to replace the freaking CAT scan or your blood work or your doctor’s evaluation of that if you’re having a serious problem. I see it the same way, honestly. Right? So a wrong decision in finance and, Josh, you have background in finance, it can freaking ruin your business. Sometimes there’s no coming back. So it’s really important that you think of this that way instead of, “Hey, I’ll join and I’ll make a bunch of money.” Sure, you’ll make money, but it’s just what are you trying to build for yourself? Usually a lot of times it’s a legacy, right? It’s your company. You have your name on it. And so I think that makes it special for many people, including myself.
Josh:
Every day, like I was saying earlier, I don’t know if it was on the recording or before when we were chatting. Every day, I get up and I sit at my desk and I see my card. Obviously I have my funding consultant cards that go out, but I made sure I made a couple that say CEO that sit on my desk. And it’s like the best thing ever. Every day I sit down in front of my computer. I fire up a coffee, and it’s like the first thing I see. And it’s just every day. Yeah. Like you said, if people are watching the video. Definitely make sure it’s for you, but it is definitely…
Josh:
I always wanted to bring this up is the value that you get into the course. It’s ridiculous. I looked into it. I thought about it. Even to this day, it costs you a couple thousand dollars just to get a website, and you get a website for free. That’s less than what the course costs. No disrespect, the course content is way better than the website. It’s so important and so valued that you get this free website, but the content is 10 to 20 times the value of the website. It’s crazy.
Oz Konar:
I appreciate it, man. Thanks for coming on. I know you’re really, really busy. Thanks for doing this. So I’ll see you in the community then.
Josh:
Okay. Sounds good.
Oz Konar:
Thank you.
Josh:
All right, Oz. Later.