“Is Oz Konar Scam?” – How Lawrence Went From $0 To $14,000 in 3 Weeks Working From Home

Oz:
So hey, Lawrence, great. Thanks for joining. Appreciate it.

Lawrence:
I’m really happy you have me. Thank you.

Oz:
Yeah, so let’s get started. So I want to go back to what it was like when you first started out. I know that you knew about the industry when you came in, so let’s go back there. How did you get introduced to the industry, what you were doing before and how things were working out.

Lawrence:
Previously, I was a stockbroker, Series 7. I had a ton of success working for different firms on Wall Street. Got good enough to where I was able to have my own office, run my own branch in New York, from a Florida-based company. I was alone in New York. I had a few partners, did really well. High intense, really, really immediate gratification business to where I can be on the phone with someone and when I’m hanging that phone up I know I just made X amount and it’s done and it’s trade purchase, done.

Lawrence:
One thing led to another where I had to leave that industry, and more so out of desperation, I got connected to someone who knew someone who knew someone in the merchant cash advance industry. I’d heard of it before, never really knew much about it, had really little knowledge in regards to what it entailed. Jumped in at an office because again, I had really no choice. I’m in Long Island, I have a ton of expenses and I had no job, no career. My whole career was pretty much cut short. So 30 years old and I need to make a move. I had to go back to working for someone in this industry and that’s what I did. Someone who runs an office, a merchant cash advance office.

Lawrence:
It was really slow. It was really not what I was used to. The salesmanship tactics and the salesmanship skills that I learned as a stockbroker really did help, as far as just keeping guys on the phone because I was doing cold calling. So I wasn’t doing anything other than reading a list, like a UCC, bunch of sheets, just going through them, talking to secretaries. Never had a problem with that, based on my previous experience. But it was something that was just slow as anything. I wasn’t getting paid anything. I had no salary, so I was just sitting there dialing my butt off and getting out app outs and getting them in.

Oz:
How many phone calls were you making, Lawrence, on an average day?

Lawrence:
I would keep track. I have a dial sheet. I was doing between 200 and 300 calls a day. Yeah, I would go in … I wanted to start really early, but they were running a ship where they would start at 10:00 AM, don’t know why. I would be forced to take a break around 12:00, take an hour, come back and go from basically one o’clock to six o’clock every day, 6:00, 6:30, as late as I wanted to.

Lawrence:
I was seeing nothing. I was seeing no results. Every deal that was getting in, as far as files with bank statements, I learned how to do it, but when I would pass it along to my manager, who would then look at it and go ahead and go forward to submitting to lenders, one thing always seem to happen. Always was something different. This file’s no good, throw that one out, this guy’s not going to get much money, blah, blah, blah. One thing after another, after another.

Lawrence:
I did that for like six months. Six months. Yeah. I felt that I was scared, honestly, because, and I’m sure a lot of people are too about the industry itself because, if you don’t feel that immediate gratification, you just wonder how is there money to be made here? And for me personally, the situation is that I’m in a position where I have a ton of expenses, I own a home, I own cars, I own a ton of things, that having zero income is a scary thing. So I felt that there was no money to really be made in the industry at all because of what I was seeing. And in six months, I only funded two deals.

Oz:
Wow.

Lawrence:
One of the most [crosstalk 00:03:55]-

Oz:
And that’s hitting the phones every single day. It’s not like you’re sitting around waiting for deals to come to you. Because there are two types of people. One, is well you’re simply lazy, you’re looking for a reason to blame the boss or the product or the industry, or you’re working your butt off, just like you did, but something was off. So I’m yet to figure out what was going on with that company, honestly, that you were funding two deals and there were declining deals right and left.

Oz:
But you’re 100% right. Usually the perception of someone who comes into this industry and they look at the commission charts and what the potential income is, well our crocodile brain immediately kicks in and says, “Is Oz Konar Scam?. There’s no way you can make this much money.” And if you combine that with your previous failures, then it becomes a fact. In fact, it’s not a fact. It’s just the way you’re feeling about it based on your mindset thing.

Oz:
So thanks for touching on that. That’s where a lot of people get stuck and they can’t get beyond that and see the real opportunity because their brain is telling them, “Well, run. There’s something here.” But in fact, that’s just being exposed to the wrong source of information with maybe the wrong people in the wrong company. Is that how you felt at the time?

Lawrence:
Yeah. And the funny thing is, when I first joined that company, it was myself and I believe it was the manager, and he had six other guys with me, and every single one of them was doing the same thing I was doing. One by one, they would fall by the wayside and they’d be gone. They would just disappear. There was no resignation, there was no this guy got fired, this guy … No. Just one Monday, this guy’s not here anymore. People were just falling by the wayside because you’re waiting and waiting for something to happen, and how long can you really do that?

Lawrence:
So for me, I felt that pressure because I literally had no way to cover a ton of expenses, and now my credit, which was [inaudible 00:05:40]. When I got this house in Long Island, now my credit’s getting hammered because I’m missing every bill and I’m feeling all these pressures and I’m getting threats. This is not a life I ever wanted. So I was literally standing there because my desk … I was literally standing because I had one of those Varidesks that you actually can stand at the desk, so I would literally stand all day, work as hard as I could, I’d get a ton of app outs, and everything that would come in …

Lawrence:
What I found out later, now coming from this perspective, is that everything that needed any type of leg work, if the merchant that was submitting the file wasn’t just a supremely A-paper, flawless, online checkout OnDeck kind of client, that they would take two seconds to get funded, just submitting the paperwork, this guy, my manager would not want to touch it. It was, “Oh, that’s a shitty deal. Throw that out. That’s a shitty deal. Throw that out. Yeah, you’re not going to make any money on that.”

Lawrence:
This is what I figured too, the reason I wasn’t, those are shitty deals that I’m not going to make money on and pass them up is because I was only getting 25% of that commission that would come through and he was splitting it with his partner 75%, they would split. So if a deal would come through where the commission was only a few hundred dollars he would just say no. Or a few thousand dollars, forget about it. So the two deals that I ended up funding, one was 80,000 and one was 100,000. It stinks because the commission that I saw come through was $12,000 for the $100,000 merchant. And I got I think 20 something hundred dollars or whatever it was. It was just rough. It was rough.

Oz:
Wow. That’s hard to swallow. Yeah.

Lawrence:
And one more thing I’ll tell you, is from January up until just July, when I was really there full-time, I made a grand total grand total of $8000 in seven months. So where I previously had been working as a broker, I made $500,000 in ’15, ’16 and ’17, and then to have $8000 in for seven months, my parents are coming to help me out. It’s a place I don’t want to be as a 30 year old. [inaudible 00:07:32].

Oz:
Yeah, yeah. Plus, you’re not used to. You never been there before. So when was the point that you said enough is enough, and the what did you start doing then at that point?

Lawrence:
I’ll never forget it. It was July 4th to be exact, and I needed something to give me a spark, in my opinion, for there. I mean, I was dialing, I’m getting app outs, I’m looking how many applications are going out and what’s coming in. I’m like, “What more can I do?” And I would ask him, “What more can I do?” And he’s like, “Nope, you’re doing great. Just search for the whales. Just search for those whales out there. The guys that need a few million or need a few hundred grand.” For me, with respect, I would tell him, “I don’t give a shit if I have to fund 20 deals that are 10,000 a piece. I have real expenses.” But all he would tell me is, “Just out of the phone, man. It’s going to be great.” Then I found out later his expenses were nothing. He lived at home with his family. I don’t have that luxury. I have a [inaudible 00:08:18].

Lawrence:
So he couldn’t really relate. But on July 4th I went on YouTube, and I was just looking for some information really on how to, not so much hook the guy, because I was fine with that, it was more so just am I missing something with follow ups, am I losing it? Because I would get the apps out, I’d get some contact and then the guys would vanish on me. Over and over. I’m hitting my head against the wall like, “What am I doing?” I found you and you were the one person or one YouTube channel that I found that it wasn’t just some merchant cash advance company advertising, “Oh, this is what’s good about a merchant cash advance and it’s a great thing,” and the video is like 12 years old and it’s a guy in a suit and his big video background.

Lawrence:
You were the one person that seemed to hit every single thing that I was hitting, all the resistance that I was feeling. And the sucky part is, by the end of June, I was the only one man left in that office. The other six guys just quit in that office, and exactly to what you’re saying because you’re either going to tough it out because you know already from whatever, my past taught me that you have to go through a lot of shit sometimes to get things to go, so just stick with the process.

Oz:
Right.

Lawrence:
But a lot of people can trust it, especially when they’re in a desperate mode and they don’t have any history in a commission only business like this. So I understand why guys that you’re talking about, people sometimes give up on this just right before the thing’s going to break through. I know just push through that, but not everyone does. So I would advise anyone listening, you’re always going to hit that big resistance and you’re going to want to just turn around and say, “This is just too much for me,” but if you can just weather that big punch that you’re taking, there’s another side to it.

Lawrence:
And so I found you. I didn’t have any money either. I had nothing. I mean, I had to break up the payments to you of $475 in two payments, and I didn’t have that. I think I just barely had 475 in the bank. But I said to myself, “You know what? I know better. I’ve been at zero before. I’m at zero now, but I’m going to invest in myself. I don’t care if it’s 475, that 475 is going to go towards me. I’m going to make something with that.” And one of your presentations had something about doing something today that your future self will thank you for. It said it on there. It was like, “Do something today that your future-

Oz:
Yeah, I have a canvas in my room. I read that every day. Because as you know, there’s no yesterday, and tomorrow is not here, we only have it today. Five years from now when you look back, the decisions you make today will shape where you’re going to be five years from now. I think we all have experienced that.

Oz:
Either you have two options. You can say, “Oh shit, life is not treating me well. It’s not my fault,” or whoever, whatever you believe in is punishing you. Or you can say, “Well, I’m the product of my decisions.” You make certain decisions and they have certain outcomes. I’m a firm believer of that, and I know whatever will happen to me in the future, as a result of me thinking right now at deciding at that moment-

Lawrence:
Never be a victim, so to speak. Don’t ever be a victim.

Oz:
Oh, don’t. Do not. Do not. Because it doesn’t help anyone.

Lawrence:
Nope.

Oz:
Have you ever seen a case that becoming a victim helps you? It just does not. Right?

Lawrence:
It makes it a lot worse, actually.

Oz:
Right.

Lawrence:
And believe me, I can tell you, anyone again listening, I was in the bottom of the bottom because I lost my entire career, and I was literally spending days where I’d be on the couch until one o’clock just laying around. I stopped going to the gym. I just hit this awful down swooping thing, and now I’m in a new industry that I can sell guys on the phone.

Lawrence:
I’ve been cold calling my whole career, I have a lot of fun with that, and I have a lot of success with it, but it wasn’t translating to money in my pocket. I funded two deals. I made five or six grand on those two deals and I got a couple extra dollars from other things to make up eight grand. I sold some stuff on eBay. I made eight grand in seven months. For me, that was hell because my expenses in my home at the time were as high as 17,000 a month. I got them all the way down to 10,000 a month. But I mean, I’m making nothing.

Lawrence:
So that resistance that everyone feels, where they want to turn back or maybe it’s not right, this business is 1000% real. It’s 1000% not a scam. It is exactly what you make it. It’s exactly what you put into it. If you give 100%, you’re going to get it. It just, it doesn’t happen like that. You can’t expect things like that to happen like that. When you run your own office, you own your own business, man, I’ve heard of guys going a year without being profitable or two years without being profitable. But if it’s yours and you’re working for yourself, you give yourself that respect and you tough out those waves.

Lawrence:
That 475 that I sent you that day was the best, best money I’ve ever spent in my entire life. That put me to $0, and I had no fear after that because I was watching, and I was going through your modules and I was flying. I was so immersed in it, and I knew that if I can be that way in the whole business, and just get myself to know all these aspects, which by the way, to this second, I still don’t have it all down, there’s so many different pieces.

Oz:
Yeah. Oh, yes. There’s so many. It’s an entire business model. People see it as a one product deal, “I’m going to sell merchant cash advance.” No. Yes, you will sell products, but this is a comprehensive business model with many products, and that’s the beauty of this. You never want to put your eggs in one basket and rely on one product, right? You want to be a consultant because as you know, I’m big on being a consultant, not just a salesperson just pushing products down your client’s throat because you want to make recurring revenue from each client. And that will only happen if your clients like you. If they hate your guts, well guess what? They’re not going to come back to you.

Oz:
So let’s get to that point where you … All right, you decided to join the program. And I tell everyone here, thanks for being a testament to that, when people tell me about the pricing and the investment, I’m like, “Listen, you’re not doing this for myself. This is just for you.” If you feel like you’re worth it, make the investment.

Lawrence:
That’s right.

Oz:
If you think you’re not worth it, and this is not going to work out, well, I’m not a magician and this is not a get rich quick scheme. You’re going to have to put into work, and this is just you giving yourself a little bit of commitment that you’re going to make it happen. That’s why you’re paying for this.

Lawrence:
100%.

Oz:
So you took that major step. I mean, I know you’re very passionate about our program and what you’re doing here, so I want to hear from you, what was different than what you heard for the past six, seven months that you’ve been calling, calling and trying to transform everything? What’s been happening?

Lawrence:
So many things. I mean, number one, the fact that money can’t be made in this business, I’ve made more this month than I’ve made in … I mean, August is brand new. I’ve made more in the month of August, than I made in eight months combined. All it takes is you to put … You’ve got to respect yourself, first and foremost, because your name is on this business and you’re the one running this show. There’s no one that’s going to come save you and no one’s going to bail you out of anything. So if you’ve got to put the extra work in, the extra nights in … Become a student, I would say, more than anything because there’s a time where there’s something you can’t learn in this.

Lawrence:
So as far as the things that I was steered wrong with, number one, I would say that all you can do is much in cash advance in this. All you can do is MCAs. If the guy wants that daily or weekly payback, that’s the only way to make money. It’s nonsense. I passed up and I was told to throw away so many guys that are over-qualified because I couldn’t bring them anything but a merchant cash advance. I’m on the phone with these guys and the conversation’s going, great, I’m intelligent, I know what I’m talking about, then they get to a point where it’s like, “Well, if it’s a merchant cash advance, I’m not doing it. I’m looking for an LLC. I’m looking for a line of credit. I’m looking for an equipment lease.” And I’m like, “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve got to let you go.” And I feel like an idiot.

Lawrence:
These are guys I’m now calling back today because there’s actually lenders that you can work with this.

Oz:
Oh, absolutely.

Lawrence:
You just have to open your eyeballs to it. So that’s one thing that was really misleading, that merchant cash advance is the only way. You can have, and you touched on this too, that struck a cord, you have to have, I should say, multiple streams of income in this because you can’t just fall back on one thing. You can be a specialist when it comes to merchant cash advance, sure, but you’re going to be passing up on so many opportunities. Whether it’s just even credit repair … Most candidates for these MCAs, I mean, I’m talking to them, they’re in the five or 600 credit. If you tell them you can get them to a credit repair program, you’re going to get maybe $50 for a referral. Who cares?

Oz:
[inaudible 00:16:01].

Lawrence:
You just do something to always … Every day you got to move the chain, as I like to say. So every day you got to add to your business because every day you don’t add to your business, it goes backwards. So that’s one thing. This has so many different aspects.

Lawrence:
Be a student, immerse yourself in it. Literally, the word immerse. This not a part-time thing, as far as I’m concerned anyway. This is not a part-time job. If you want to do it part-time, that’s great. You’re going to get the part-time results. Remember, when you give 100% you get back 50%. It’s just how it works and these kind of commission things. So if you give 10% you’re going to be applying for a job somewhere else or looking to work for someone else. You can’t do that when it’s your business and your name’s on it. Give yourself that respect.

Lawrence:
It’s not a scam. Okay? So I was in a business before. I know what scamming is. I talk to a client, I’m telling them, “Look, I guarantee you the stock is going up.” Well, if it goes down, I’m fraudulent. I’m going to be in some big trouble. I didn’t do that, by the way. But I’m just saying. In this world, everything’s out on paper. The merchant knows what he’s going with, what he’s getting from you, what he’s paying back, on what structure. And all these contracts are so intricate and so detailed.

Lawrence:
There’s no secrets, there’s no back doors, there’s no trickery. You can’t lie to the guy because the guy’s going to get it on paper and he’s going to have it in front of him before you guys proceed. So there’s no tricking, there’s no scam. And if you’re cold calling and the guy’s like, “Oh, it’s a big scam,” they just had a bad experience. So just tell him, “I know you had a bad experience, but this is different.” You paint the picture different about how you’re different. That’s all.

Lawrence:
I am barred from the stock industry, and when this happened, I was afraid, I was sad, I was really upset because I felt like that was my calling, that was my thing. I had a whole career ahead of me. I’m only 30 years old, I’ve been doing it for five years, I had immense success, built my whole life out in Long Island on it. I was dead wrong. This is the business that I am in love with. I’m in love with this thing and there’s not enough hours in a day really, in this business because I just want to learn. I’m seeing the results and I don’t mind talking about anything you want to talk about. I will disclose any information that … I’d be happy to disclose-

Oz:
Yeah, that’s fine. I think people who want to know, where do you see yourself by the end of August, as far as the commissions are concerned, the way things are going so far?

Lawrence:
Sure. So as of now, what I did do, was one of those deals that I funded at my previous employer, of the two of them, one of them was 100% going to fall through because the merchant did not like speaking to my manager. He told me so, “I don’t like the guy, I’m not going to talk to him any more. Can I speak to LJ?” They called me … My name is Lawrence, but they call me LJ. My manager went as far to write me this long email, which I have on my desk upstairs as a nice thing I look at, and he’s like, “LJ, don’t waste your time with this guy. He’s not coming in. He’s messing around with the contracts. He’s going to not come through. He’s just fucking around. I don’t want to deal with this bullshit. If you want to call him and waste your time, by all mean, go ahead.”

Lawrence:
I have the email upstairs. The next morning I called this merchant, I got the contracts in, I got all of his truck leases that I needed to get in. My manager was so angry at me out of just, I don’t know what it was, just maybe jealousy or envy. By the end of that day, the merchant was funded $80,000-

Oz:
Oh, my god.

Lawrence:
… through, it wasn’t OnDeck, through … And not a top tier company because I think he had some issues, but it wasn’t one of the top lenders. It wasn’t Yellowstone. But he ended up getting $80,000 by the end of that day. I have this whole email upstairs and a breakdown of all these notes that he was writing to me, telling me how it’s never going to happen. I just look at that and I’m like …

Lawrence:
That’s when I knew. That day actually I opened my S corporation and I said, “I know I’m going to do this for myself.” The second merchant got $100,000 through OnDeck. That’s a name you definitely want to be associated with if you can. They’re fantastic. He was funded a hundred grand. This month, I got him funded in a second position for 61,000 through Pearl.

Oz:
Nice.

Lawrence:
Pearl allows you, if you’re going to go ahead, and in my opinion anyway, and look through these lenders and try to partner up, Pearl Capital gives you a calculator where they’ll show you, “Okay, this merchant, you can get him 75,000 and you’re going to charge 0%,” but they show you a scale, and you can charge up to 16%, 16 points on this thing, but the merchant will only gets 60,000. I know the merchant, he likes me a lot. I pitched him the idea of 60,000 to see where he stands. He wanted contracts. He was ready to go, 16 points, and then Pearl says as a brand new member or affiliate, they’ll give you three extra points. So on a $60,000 second position, I ended up making $12,000. They wired it into my account the day after he makes his first payment.

Lawrence:
So within two days of the funding, I wake up in the morning and I’m like, “Holy crap, $12,000 for that guy.” And then you tie that together with another small, not my … Oh, sorry. I’m sorry. The merchant with Pearl, you look at the days on this thing, I think there’s 140 days of daily payments. You already know, “Since I roped him in, I brought him in, he’s going to come back for more and he’s coming to me when the time is right.”

Oz:
Of course.

Lawrence:
He seems to reach to me. He went ahead and reached out to me today and said, “Listen, is there anything else we can do?” And sure enough, I submitted his file to Yellowstone Capital and they approved him for $40,000 and they’ll give me 9%. And he’s going to accept, he requested the contracts. You build a rapport with the right people, and you become their money guy. They’re happy to talk to you. The one thing I learned that was different, is that you don’t have to be so professional. Don’t be so uptight with these guys.

Oz:
No, no.

Lawrence:
They’re regular guys. These are construction workers, these are the guys that are digging in, contractors and truckers. These guys, you can just shoot the shit with these guys and talk to them. Remember, you’re not Wells Fargo. And you can tell them that, and they’ll appreciate that because they can’t go to Wells Fargo. Some of these guys, they can’t get into a bank and get a bank loan. So that alone was 12,000.

Lawrence:
A file that I was told to throw out in the garbage, I submitted, and he was funded 12,500 through Yellowstone Capital on Friday. That got me an additional, what was it, $1000, and they wired that the same day. So that was 13,000 so far. And then another merchant was $5000, which got me $400. Now, listen, you add those up, you put them together, in one week’s time, it’s 13,000 and change. This is coming from someone who made 2600 and 3000 on two fundings in seven months. So this has been amazing. I’m retreading through things I was told were not worth it because I built such a good rapport with those guys initially and they remember me. You got to do that.

Oz:
That’s how you build recurring revenue as well, right? You don’t need a ton of clients. If you have a good 20, 30 clients who like you, and they’re going to come back for more and more, and you’re going to make up your month. I mean, look at this, this is the 7th of August and I think you’re beyond $15,000 in commission so far, and you have three more weeks to go with the pipeline and things like that. So that’s why being a consultant is important.

Oz:
Just that you hit the nail on the head. People are not looking for a corporate guy who’s following the [inaudible 00:22:43] rules, they don’t want to call the 1-800 number. They want to talk to human being. Because just like you said, most of the fundings you’ll do will be small mom-and-pop businesses. As long as you show them that you understand what they go through everyday, their fridge breaks, the employee doesn’t show up, they have no money in the bank account, they wake up and someone pulled because they don’t know 100% how to manage their money, if you ever know a small business in your life, you know the problems they go through. Be the guy, show them, or lady, show them you understand what they go through and people just do appreciate it. That’s what it takes.

Lawrence:
Yes. You have to work smart. One thing I told myself I needed to do, was to learn what each business really spends their money specifically on. So as I get better rapports with these guys, I’ve learned … You have a trucking guy on the phone, you say, “How many trucks do you have?” And he tells you how many he has, maybe has one. You ask him how much he’s making a week on that, and then all of a sudden you put the numbers to them because these guys, they’re workers, they’re not corporate guys, they’re not behind a desk with calculators. They’re on the road. They don’t even think about that stuff until you actually put it out there.

Oz:
Correct.

Lawrence:
If you sound smart to guys, you actually give them something like, “Hey, wait a minute, I’m making 10,000 a week on these trucks. I know I can buy another truck. I do have an employee lined up for it, but how much is the truck going to cost?” And he’s like, “Oh, it’s 40,000.” I’m like, “Look at what you’re making on that over a year, if you work smart …” They’re like, “Oh, shit. I didn’t realize that. Yeah, that is true.” And it’s like, “Oh, if you went down there, 40,000, well what if you went down there with 35,000 cash? Would they give it to you?” You still have to put the numbers in their head and get them spending it.

Lawrence:
Construction, you talk about their works in progress report, the things they have upcoming and they start thinking, “Well yeah, I do. I’m owed this money,” their future receivables in construction, “I know in 30 to 60 days I’m supposed to get this and this, but I could really use it now to start this other project.” Startup money. You’d be smart instead of just being a salesman with this, you’ve got to push the money down their throat. I mean, it doesn’t work-

Oz:
No, you got to be an active listener. Things like that, you’ve got to catch it only if you’re actively listening somebody. Or if you’re thinking of what you’re going to say next, that means you’re not listening. You’re just going to keep pushing the product. I mean, you do that, people are not stupid. I think people in finance have this idea that, “Oh, small businesses don’t get it. They don’t understand money.” So they treat them lesser than they are, which is a bad idea because that person controls our income. Don’t be stupid. Show them the respect, they are experts at their business. They don’t know finance 100%. It’s your job to be a consulting expert and show them how it can be done. Right?

Lawrence:
Yeah.

Oz:
So 100% on that. So that just makes a ton of difference when you show them that you’re really there to help them out with the products and the portfolio, and the things that you have in your arsenal pretty much.

Lawrence:
Yeah. Yeah. You have to be … Don’t just be superficial or on the surface of things. Don’t just be a typical salesman, “Okay, this is what I’m going to do. Can you use a hundred grand today? Yeah? Okay, good. Take down my application …” And they’ll yes you to death to get you off the phone because they just don’t want that conversation. And then you’re never going to hear from the guy, and he’s going to know that your phone call is coming, and they’re going to block you forever.

Lawrence:
If you can show them like, “Hey, listen, I know you’re in construction, you have a project that you’re working on you said. How much you have to start off with? How much money you have to lay out to start that project? That’s coming out of your own money, right? Oh, 30 grand. Well, you need 30 grand to start off that project. Instead of using it out of your own operating capital …” Then the guy starts to think like, “Huh, that’s true.” “You can use my capital. It’s going to come at a fee. I’m not Wells Fargo, but at the same time you use my money, you roll my money over and over, and you don’t ever have to touch your money. You’re sleeping well at night. Money you put to the side, you keep that in your account.”

Lawrence:
They start to put that in their head and you sound different than these other hundred people that are calling them or speaking to them. Especially when you get in these UCC leads and things like that, which I’ve gone through and it’s hard, but they’re in there. But at the same time, you have to sound different. You have to give … You have to bring something different to the table other than the same thing, because just like a car dealership, yeah you can buy ASMA Mercedes-Benz at the dealership over there and maybe your payment’s going to be 1500 a month, and then the dealership across the street, it’s going to be $1499, there’s not a big difference in price.

Lawrence:
So basically, we’re all going to be offering somewhere in the same ballpark. So who is going to give them that warm fuzzy feeling like, “This guy’s actually different. He actually has something different.” That’s the difference because we’re all going to be bringing them the same numbers, going through the same lenders, bringing them the same ballpark rates. They know their own skeletons or how their credit is. They know these things. They went through this before. Why are they going to choose you over the other 20 people that call them today? Those kind of things. Because it’s all going to be the same going rates. It’s the person that has to bring something different to the table. It can’t just be a salesman kind of thing, you know?

Oz:
Absolutely. Absolutely. So, so far, you’ve been through the program and you’re been really active. What is your biggest takeaway from the program since you joined? What would you say the biggest thing that shifted things for you?

Lawrence:
The biggest thing for me, was working with lenders and learning … You gave a really good list of the rec lenders to work with and I was apprehensive because I thought, or at least I was led to believe, that you have to have a long list of credentials and a lot of connections in order to get these lenders to partner up with you. I have a landing page, thanks to you. I have an email, I have my name, I have a registered S corporation in New York as of March 22nd, I think it is, and they just have you fill out a simple form. You fill out a form.

Lawrence:
They tell you what you’re thinking, pardon me, they ask you what you’re projecting to do for this year or this month or how much have you done. I was very honest with them. What have you done in the last whatever, year in this business? Zero. This business is just starting. I am partnered with OnDeck. I am partnered with Yellowstone. I am partnered with Everest. I’m partnered with a ton of these names that people are are very familiar with and it didn’t take much. So that was surprising to me. I thought it’d be a lot harder to partner with lenders and start submitting the files. It was a same day kind of thing for the most part.

Oz:
Yep.

Lawrence:
That was amazing.

Oz:
A lot of lenders scare you that way or the companies you work at. I hear that a lot from people who used to work for another lender. They come on the phone and they’re like, “Yeah, I want to do my own business. I want to be an ISO, but I know that it’ll take me six months to build a relationship.” I’m like, “Six months? Six months for what?” “Well yeah, they don’t accept the application. I heard the application for this …” That’s all bullshit.

Lawrence:
100%.

Oz:
There’s no application process most of the time. They are looking for honest ISOs to work with most of the time. So if you are that one, they’re going to jump on it. That’s how they do business, that’s how they make their money. Right?

Lawrence:
That’s right.

Oz:
But you don’t know what you don’t know. That’s just what it comes down to it.

Lawrence:
I was told it was really hard and you have to have connections. So that pulled me back a little bit, and that’s why I was very nervous that day. But when I spent that money with you, the first $475 part, I had a list of lenders, I went and emailed them all the same day. By the next morning I had a bunch of ISO agreements in my email, just sign this, sign this and tell us basically your address and that was it. It was that quick. There’s not one lender that I can think of that I had any real trouble with. It was a same day thing for the most part. And they are right away, “Thank you for wanting to work with us. Please fill this out. But in the meanwhile you can still submit to this thing.” They’re right in the mix, and you keep a nice relationship with them.

Lawrence:
I have lenders that I deal with and submit to, they’re texting my phone, “Hey, how’s this file doing? What’s going on with this one? We have this, what do you think you’ll do? Do you think …” They’re really, just like you, they’re out there. It’s not what you think. So that was really surprising because that was the biggest piece of this puzzle. That’s the thing that excited me the most, getting that information back from them like, “Oh my God, my business is going to be partnered up with these people. I can really do this.”

Oz:
Yes. It’s good to hear from them and know that you’re backed up by lenders. So obviously you are very passionate about this, and this was amazing. You’re going to be such an inspiration to many, many people.

Lawrence:
Thank you.

Oz:
So what would you suggest to anyone who was kind of on the fence about joining my training and getting started with a [inaudible 00:30:09]? What would be your one suggestion to them?

Lawrence:
Firstly, you have to look at yourself, I would say. And if you’re tired of working for someone, you’re tired of being told what to do, you’re thinking that you can do better and you believe in yourself and maybe you earned your stripes in your own regard and you feel like, “You know what? I think I can do this on my own,” then take the risk. Take the risk on yourself. That’s my advice because the last thing you want to ever have as a what if or regrets. So in life, I feel that, especially when it comes to business, the biggest regrets we have are not the things that we actually do, they’re usually the things we don’t do.

Lawrence:
I would be sitting right here, probably laying down at this point and I wouldn’t know what I’d be doing, if I did not go forward and say, “You know what?” I might’ve had $500 in the bank. How much is it going to cost? I see the numbers on the screen, and it’s worth this, and I’m like, “Oh.” It could be this, and it’s going to be this though. I’m like, “Where do I sign for this?” Because you know what? If you’re not going to take a chance on yourself, then who else are you going to take a chance on? Nobody else is going to take a chance on you either.

Lawrence:
So my advice would be to jump in with two feet all the way, ask questions because it’s silly not to ask questions. Be knowledgeable. Don’t take it lightly. Do not take it like it’s just something you’re going to kill and you’re going to nail it no matter what your past is. And if you’re going to do it, go 110% and give it all you can because this is yours. It’s yours. I would be happy to speak to anybody and give any honest, open testimonial what your program has done for me. I never thought I’d be sitting here talking to you about this at all, man. I took a chance on myself and I advise anyone else that’s-

Oz:
It hasn’t been long.

Lawrence:
No.

Oz:
I think you’re just barely a month old in the program, right? A little more than that.

Lawrence:
Yeah, it’s been a month and I got sick for one full week, so I didn’t actually work for one full week. It just kicked me in the butt. The coolest thing about this is that it’s given me a flexibility to where I take my breaks when I’m home, I can be with my dog, I can be out in the yard, I can relax, but at the same time, my business is in the house. And you’re running the show. So again, give it the respect that it deserves and give it 110%. If you’re on the fence, then you jump with two feet. If you have fears, face them. Because again, you’re only going to live one time and you’re going to regret it if you don’t. Believe me, you will. You definitely will.

Oz:
Yeah, I mean, just like you said, I think it belongs to Mark Twain that he says that when you reach the end of your life, you’re not going to regret the things that you have done, you’ll regret the things that you could have done, that you said, “Well, what if,” and that you end up not doing it. You know?

Lawrence:
That’s right. It’s [crosstalk 00:32:45]-

Oz:
That’s one of the things … That’s what makes us all entrepreneurial and successful, just believe in yourself. It’s usually not the product or things and that, it’s just your belief system that determines your success or your failure. Yeah, I mean it’s a month and you’re already here and we’re doing this interview-

Lawrence:
I know.

Oz:
… and you’re [inaudible 00:33:06] to other people.

Lawrence:
I’m so happy, man. I’m really happy and I’m really thankful. I can’t really say enough how … And also, to anyone listening, don’t ever let anyone tell you anything negative. Don’t take negativity because usually it’s the person’s reflection on their own past and their own failures. They just want to put it on you.

Lawrence:
You are different and you can be different in this. You can be something really special if you want to. You have to be able to dig it, and also, weather every storm. If it feels really heavy, like it’s too much, that means you’re getting somewhere, it means something good is going on. You got to stick it out.

Oz:
Yeah, and also, Lawrence, would you say that it’s good to get vocal? I mean, we have a tight community, Facebook group. If you’re stuck or if you’re feeling emotionally down, just reach out. We have a ton of people who are super positive and they’re killing it, like yourself.

Oz:
Sometimes it’s good to talk to someone who’s actually doing it. You can call your friends and buddies, your girlfriend, boyfriend, that’s fine, but we’re all going through the same thing every single day. It’s okay if you’re feeling not good today, just talk to one of us and I think you’ll be fine.

Oz:
What do you think about that?

Lawrence:
I would agree 100% because that’s how I found you. On July 4th, I was home, I was doing nothing all day and my family is in Queens, I’m over here, and I needed something. And it wasn’t my manager because when I call him, he’s, “Oh, just dial.” That’s not the answer. There’s more to it. Just dial sounds great when he’s not leading by example. He’s not dialing, why do I have any motivation to do that?

Lawrence:
So I found you when I looked for that help on YouTube, of all places. I was just bored. I just said, “I’ve got to take a stab, maybe something.” Found a bunch of nine year old videos of old guys just talking about some how it’s beneficial, and then I saw you and I was like … It was that, I’m telling you, man, I can’t believe it. It’s August 7th, that’s something that’s going to change my life, man. I’m deadly serious.

Lawrence:
I’d be willing to talk to anybody that would ask any questions or anything they want to know, I’m more than happy to talk about it too. I’d be happy to. I think it’s a great idea to have a place where everyone can come together on a forum because someone, somewhere, in this group I’m sure has been through all of this already. So whatever someone’s facing, there’s someone in there that has been through that before.

Oz:
That’s what I love about our community, the Facebook group. We’re a bunch of positive people and people helping each other out. Like [inaudible 00:35:13] in the merchant cash advance industry, people steal each other’s deal and backdooring it, in our community, people always jump in and help each other.

Lawrence:
[crosstalk 00:35:22]-

Oz:
That’s unheard of. That’s very unheard of.

Lawrence:
Yeah, I think it’s a wonderful thing. I’m telling you, you’re making such a path that has not been traveled. I can tell you because this, I’m lucky I found you because I didn’t see anything or find anything like you before you. And I have looked before. I just got lucky to find your channel. I’m telling you, it’s without a question, one of the best things that has ever happened to my life. And I’m [crosstalk 00:35:44]-

Oz:
I’m humbled. These are great compliments, man. Thank you so much.

Lawrence:
It’s so awesome. Yeah, it’s been great.

Oz:
I know you’re busy. I don’t want to take a lot of your time, but I truly do appreciate it, it does mean a lot to me and I hope people are listening. Even if they get a bit of inspiration out of this and that spark sometimes turns into a wildfire and you got to watch out for those things and just once you see it, don’t miss the opportunity. That’s the spark that changes things.

Oz:
Usually things that transform our lives are not seen to us as obvious as maybe it should, but they’re just small sparks and the person who catches that, just like yourself, it doesn’t even take 30 days to change it because you already had it in you. You didn’t need more sales training, you didn’t need this. It was just that mindset switch that would allow, open the route for you.

Oz:
And that’s, I think, what I try to do at best as much as possible, not just teach product, but show people, “Hey, there is a way if you’re serious and if you’re committed-

Lawrence:
That’s right.

Oz:
“… you can just jump in and make that happen.”

Lawrence:
100%.

Oz:
So with that, any other last thoughts before we wrap up?

Lawrence:
Besides the fact that I’m extremely gracious and thankful that I found your program, I would advise anyone out there, besides weathering storms, again, I can’t stress that part enough because there’s times when even though I had experience, I wanted to give up on this. I was like, “This can’t be right. I’m making nothing and there’s no way.” You can change your perception, but you are the person that’s ultimately going to be in control of that. And like you said, you have those sparks.

Lawrence:
What I like to say, is you cling to the positives. If it’s a small positive, you cling to that and you start going from there. You cling to every single plus. You don’t got to sit there and worry about the bad stuff, “Oh, this deal fell through. Oh, boy.” Don’t hang on one deal either. If you got a bunch of merchants out there, but you got a few in or you got a merchant to submit your deal, documentation, and you submit it to a lender, don’t just sit there, go after new guys.

Lawrence:
I believe big time in business karma. So it’s like you have something big on the hopper, if you go lay down and you know it’s a big deal and it’s going to go through and you’re so sure that it’s perfect, I feel if you just go relax, it’s going to fall through. It’s just the way things have [inaudible 00:37:45]. What I like to say, is go dial it in. Because I’d do a lot of cold calling, however you prospect your business, but go do that and go after new people and put that current deal out of your mind. It’s already on the back of your mind. It’s in process.

Lawrence:
Don’t harp on anything. Just go after new stuff and keep that fire going and you now will build on that. And cling to those positives. Don’t rest. Because it’s your business. This is your business, so give it 110% while you still can. You don’t want to be 60 years old and looking back with regret. You don’t want to do that.

Oz:
You’re 100% right. You want to give it a hard push for a short while so you can just take advantage of the fruits of your labor because in this business, you can take off for a while. You can work from any place you want. You can be down by the beach and still close deals. We haven’t members who do that.

Lawrence:
That’s right.

Oz:
So it doesn’t matter. You’re not going to have customers knocking on the door of your office. This is not how it works. And once you have a client base, they’re the ones who are going to come back to you and you’re going to close the easiest deals you ever do.

Lawrence:
That’s right.

Oz:
Because it’s just going to be a phone call, “Hey Lawrence, signing on 100,000.” Boom, done, and your commission is paid. You might be all the way in California, different areas, wherever you are, overseas, so it gives you the flexibility and it doesn’t take a ton of clients.

Oz:
But yeah, with that, I want to thank you again, man. Great to know, you’re a great individual, so I am humbled to have you as a member of the community. But yeah, we’ll definitely stay in touch. So, yeah, great. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Lawrence:
Anytime. Good luck to everybody and just keep at it. That’s it. Thank you.

Oz:
All right, man. Thanks so much.

Lawrence:
Bye.