Latest Episode • January 19, 2021

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 91: How Businesses Get Sold for Millions with Chris Younger

If you’re a new entrepreneur, it may seem like a dream to sell a business for millions of dollars. People like Chris Younger, make that dream a reality. Chris founded Class VI Partners, an investment bank that helps entrepreneurs plan and prepare businesses for sale. Chris will be the first to admitthat selling isn’t an easy process, it takes time, patience, and a lot of documentation. Chris compares selling your business to running a marathon: you need to be in it for the long haul to finish strong. He helps owners reach a price point that works for their future, and helps create the processes around selling that enable a new owner to carry the business to new heights. For many owners, success in selling comes from doing the hard work upfront, not putting it off for your future self (and employees) to deal with. So why would an entrepreneur want to sell? Maybe it's personal timing and they feel like they’ve given the business as much as they possibly can. It also could be business timing, the business may be seeking a new change in direction. Or it could be buying timing, a buyer comes in with the right offer, the right ability, and makes the sale. Whatever a reason for selling a business, a business owner needs to be prepared for their business to sell at some point. So even if you’re just starting out, hearing words of wisdom from Chris may net you a few more million dollars! ... show more

A real-world MBA for entrepreneurs

What does it take to start, scale, and sell your own business? Every Tuesday, J and Carol Scott ask this question to entrepreneurs of all stripes and delve into stories that go beyond the launch. From hiring and firing to marketing and raising capital, this podcast takes an honest look at the triumphs and stumbles of entrepreneurship. Whether you’re looking to sustain a startup or bring an idea to life, you’ll come away inspired. Tune in—and learn how to treat your business like a business.

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Previous Episodes

January 12, 2021

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 90: How Solo Entrepreneurs Can Improve Their Products and Businesses with Ben Foster

You may own a small business, some rental properties, or are just tinkering with a new idea. Regardless of where you’re at in your entrepreneurial journey, you’re most likely trying to make something that will not only resonate with customers, but allow them to solve a problem in their life. So how do you make a product that accomplishes this to the fullest extent? Today we talk to Ben Foster, founder of Prodify and Chief Product Officer at WHOOP. Ben has been in this space for a long time, working with big names like eBay and Opower. After his initial success at corporate he founded his consulting firm, Prodify and has since then worked with 70+ different companies all tackling a common goal: make a great product. If you’re just starting out in your business, you may think the best course of action is to tack on as many useful features as possible into one product, but Ben warns against this. Companies that tend to do well with products are the companies that have a core competency and then build out from it. Great products also take market input from the customers that matter most. That doesn’t mean only the top 10% of users for an app, that means the bulk majority of customers who use the app. This is where many product teams get it wrong, and as you’ll see in the interview, there are a lot more caveats in product management than originally meets the eye. If you’re interested in product marketing, engineering, management or anything else related to building a great product, check out Ben’s book Build What Matters and of course, listen to this episode! ... show more

January 5, 2021

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 89: How David Greene Plans to Sell $150 Million of Real Estate in 2021

For the first episode of 2021 we have David Greene from the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast! We’ve heard from David before on a couple of past episodes, but today he goes over something a bit differ ent: how he successfully scaled his real estate business from being a sole agent to a team doing $90,000,000+ in transactions a year! This didn’t happen overnight. It took David years of trial and error to find out what really works in real estate, why most agents fizzle out in the first 5 years, and how to bounce his team members off of each other to generate more sales and higher commissions. David has strategies and advice not only for real estate agents, but also for business owners that want to build a business that has the ability to scale. In 2019 David’s team did $26,000,000 in transactions, in 2020 they did $90,000,000 and in 2021 they’re planning to hit $150,000,000. We’re sure David will fly past that milestone as well! You’ll hear why David became an agent in the first place, why marketing is key to real estate (and almost every other business), how to gauge motivation from clients and prioritize accordingly, and some lead generation strategies David’s team uses. Real estate agent or not, this is some great information that big and small businesses can take to heart and put into practice right away! ... show more

December 29, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 88: What’s Your Special “Cut”? Why Brandon Turner and David Greene Doubled Down on Theirs in 2020

If you’re a fan of the BiggerPockets Business Podcast, you’re probably also a fan of the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast. Lucky for you, we’ve got a combo of these two shows on today’s episode! J oining us from Maui are the co-hosts of the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast, Brandon Turner and David Greene. Both Brandon and David are known for their persistence and ingenuity in business, this is cemented in the fact that both of them made huge leaps forward in 2020, while many other businesses fell by the wayside Both Brandon and David realized earlier this year what their “special cut” was, and how to use it to scale their businesses faster, and with less effort from themselves. Both of them started adjacent businesses to what they were currently doing, only to find that their success grew even faster when they bounced businesses off of one another. They also got more comfortable with hiring, making executive decisions, and as Brandon likes to put it “being the general of your own life”. But how do business owners persist to strive for success, even when the odds are stacked against them? Brand and David also have an answer for this as well, and it comes in the form of morning rituals, community, coaching, and perseverance. This isn’t an episode about real estate. This is an episode about how you can take the losses or wins from 2020, and turn them into something bigger and better than you ever imagined... ... show more

December 22, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 87: The Benefits of Franchising vs. Starting a Business from Scratch with Jon Ostenson

You hear the word “franchising”, what’s the first thing you think of? For many people, they think of selling hamburgers, sandwiches, or opening up convenient stores. To franchise matchmaker and consul tant Jon Ostenson, that’s just the surface level. There is a whole world of franchising that many entrepreneurs and business professionals don’t know about. Jon started out working in consulting for Fortune 1000 companies and was slowly introduced to the concept of franchising. Jon found franchising incredibly interesting, as a cross between new business ownership and existing systems/infrastructure. The business model purely made sense. Now as the CEO of Franbridge Capital, he works with entrepreneurs and franchise owners as a matchmaker, seeing who would work best with which franchise, and vice versa. Jon walks through some of the key benefits of franchising that other business models don’t have, and some of the dangers for interested entrepreneurs. He also goes through the different franchise business models and some franchise examples that you may have never thought of. How much risk is in franchising? Does franchising produce better ROI than other businesses (even real estate)? What are the opportunities in 2021 for franchising? Hearing Jon’s answers may present a whole new world you never knew about, and might even get the ball rolling for you to become a partner in a franchise yourself! ... show more

December 15, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 86: Becoming a Real Estate Angel Investor with Jonathan Wasserstrum

Jonathan Wasserstrum, founder of SquareFoot likes to say that he was working in PropTech before PropTech was a thing, and he’s right! For the past few decades, many industries were seeing expansive gr owth, new ideas, and upgraded technology. One of the industries that didn’t see that tech growth was real estate. Jonathan found that many commercial real estate customers were looking for a consumer-facing option to view commercial spaces from the comfort of their own homes. Why were there so many residential real estate sites, but no commercial real estate sites? That’s where Jonathan’s company SquareFoot came in! SquareFoot took off and over time was becoming a staple product for those looking for commercial real estate spaces. Due to its success, Jonathan was in a great position, which allowed him to become an angel investor for real estate deals and different startups, passing on his knowledge and capital to other new businesses! Jonathan talks syndications, funds, and investing as a whole. For any investor who wants to see their industry grow and advance forward, Jonathan is a great success story showing you have the power to change your industry for the better! ... show more

December 8, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 85: Building More Income Streams During COVID-19 Shutdowns with Ralphie Martinez

No business has had a tougher time this year than physical-based businesses, and that is certainly the case for our guest, Ralphie Martinez. Ralphie owns Martinez Elite Fitness in Northern California, and was just reaching his business’s peak when COVID-19 started to spread, rendering his business closed until further notice. Ralphie is the definition of someone with an entrepreneur’s mentality. He was working a 9-5 job when he opened up his garage gym for friends to work out in. Friends would invite other friends, and before he knew it, he was teaching a class before going to his full time job, then coming home and teaching two more classes. Like so many entrepreneurs, Ralphie turned his passion into something that not only helped other people, but made money. For the past 6 years, Martinez Elite Fitness has been a local success, gaining more and more members every year. Even in an unprecedented time like 2020, Ralphie has found ways to keep his business going, regardless of shutdowns, curfews, and other roadblocks. Having a positive attitude, the support of his partner and family, and a strong community has helped him and his business stay fighting. ... show more

December 1, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 84: Becoming the Most Successful Version of You With Dre Baldwin

Are you lacking in motivation? Don’t have the focus on you want/need to succeed? Not sure how to define who you want to be and how to get there? If so, today’s episode is for you! Dre Baldwin -- former professional basketball player and current motivational entrepreneur -- has worked hard to get where he is today. He went from sitting on his high school basketball team’s bench to walking on at an NCAA D3 school to building a 9-year professional basketball career AND building a brand online at the same time in 2005. This all led to the foundation for the Work On Your Game business Dre runs today, having reached over 73 million people over the last 15 years through 27 books, 4 TEDxTalks and more content than any human on earth. In this episode, Dre gives us his strategies for building motivation and taking yourself to the next level through discipline, confidence, mental toughness and mental conditioning. Dre talks about his entrepreneurial growth -- including the consistency to have created over 7,000 educational videos in past 15 years, generating over 73 million views! And he provides a framework for how we can do it to… Make sure you listen all the way into the Four More segment for Dre’s amazing tip on how you can be more successful at building an audience from scratch the first time you try! Check him out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! ... show more

November 24, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 83: Build Your 7 Figure Amazon Business Step-by-Step With Mike Begg

Did you know that over 200,000 entrepreneurs currently sell over $100K per year on Amazon? Sales continue to skyrocket with no indication of slowing down anytime soon… and this week, our guest is here to help you get in on the action! Mike Begg -- co-founder of AMZ Advisers -- started a side-hustle business selling on Amazon with three buddies while they all worked corporate jobs. Making mistakes and learning lessons the hard way in the early days, the team never gave up, continuing to learn and tweak their business model until they achieved massive success on the platform. Fast forward five years and tens of millions of dollars in sales, Mike and the team now run their business from the sandy white beaches of sunny Mexico, also helping other business owners generate over $1M in sales each while carving out their piece of the Amazon pie. Mike lays out a step-by-step roadmap for identifying product needs on the platform, sourcing inventory, and building a stellar brand that speaks to buyers and generates sales. He talks about the right way to work with vendors overseas, achieving the right mix of pricing and volume, and determining when it makes sense to create additional sales funnels across multiple channels. And most importantly, he reminds us that anyone-- with focus, dedication and a bit of expert assistance-- has the opportunity to generate significant additional streams of income online. Make sure you listen all the way to the end, when Mike gives us some excellent resources to learn more, right NOW. Check him out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! ... show more

November 17, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 82: Putting Your Business on Auto-Pilot With Justin Silverio

Do you want to get your business to the point where you can simply leave for several months without worrying about things continuing to operate and grow? Do you want to get there quickly and with lit tle risk? If so, today’s episode is for you! Justin Silverio - real estate investor and founder/owner of the real estate marketing company, Open Letter Marketing -- is here to tell us how he he was able to position his company to run on its own in just a couple years. Justin talks to us about key hiring, setting up processes and organizing operations in a way that will allow you, the CEO, to put your team in charge and free you up to focus on other pursuits. In this episode, we talk about pricing strategy (and mistakes), how to massively reduce your expenses, and how to hire the perfect employees who you can trust to manage and run your business. And, for you real estate investors, Justin provides his expertise on how to best handle acquisition marketing for your deals in today’s crazy real estate world! Make sure you listen for Justin’s tip on how to ensure you hire the right person THE FIRST TIME, and don’t end up making a bad hire because you didn’t have all the information you needed about the candidate. This may be one of the best hiring tips we’ve ever heard! Check him out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! ... show more

November 10, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 81: Using Your Strengths to Find Opportunity With Dustin Reichman

Do you have strengths that can help other business owners? Do you have skills that can be used to help elevate someone else’s business to new heights? Do you have expertise that makes you the perfec t partner for someone else’s business? If so, starting a business isn’t the only way to become a successful business owner! Dustin Reichmann -- partner and co-owner of FireCreek Snacks -- was able to take his marketing expertise and turn it into an opportunity that has propelled his and his partner’s business to new heights. In this episode, Dustin provides us a blueprint for using your strengths and expertise to find opportunities to help other business owners, and ultimately create new opportunities for yourself as well. Dustin talks about how to analyze your abilities and use them to start generating income for you TODAY. And also use them to generate opportunity for tomorrow. Specifically, Dustin provides us two great ways to turn anything that you’re good at into a potential new income stream! We also dig into the nitty-gritty of product marketing, including how Dustin was able to get his product into some of the largest retailers in the world, including Walmart. Make sure you listen til the end to hear Dustin’s amazing piece of wisdom for those scared to take massive action. Check him out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! ... show more

November 3, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 80: Turning Problems Into New Income Streams With Stephanie Betters

Being a business owner is exceptionally rewarding in so many ways… but as all successful entrepreneurs know, it’s certainly not all glitz and glamour! We ALL experience problems, and the way we naviga te those problems can make or break our business. But what happens when we take it a step further, creating new opportunities by choosing to not only navigate, but instead TACKLE complex problems head on? Check out Stephanie Betters, founder and owner/operator of SocialMediaREI, Left Main Real Estate Investment Lifeline and Better Path Homes. Mastering the skills of managing it all, Stephanie talks with us about how she started two new income streams that originated from complex problems she solved to help her own business. Realizing many other business owners faced the same challenges, she began offering her product solutions on a broader scale -- all while raising three young children and continuing to practice medicine full-time as a cardiac surgery nurse practitioner. Stephanie tells us about her creative approach to self-solving a problem that would have otherwise cost nearly $100K to outsource, which ultimately led the world’s #1 CRM, Salesforce.com, to come knocking at her door. She serves up a valuable roadmap of the right way to go about finding help (including that first daunting hire of a personal assistant); the critical importance of creating measurable, time-sensitive goals to move your business forward, and avoiding the all-too-common entrepreneurial trap of “starting to drive the bus without knowing where you’re going.” And make sure you listen for Stephanie’s tips on working with your spouse, significant other, or partner… a challenge we all face when growing a business while keeping family front and center. Check her out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! ... show more

October 27, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 79: Originating $500m in Real Estate Loans With Matt Rodak

Growing a business isn’t easy. But, it gets much easier when you understand the growth process and how you should be navigating that growth as your company’s CEO. Matt Rodak -- founder of Fund Tha t Flip, a real estate crowdfunding company and #647 on this year’s Inc 5000 list -- is with us to talk about how he both started his company and then grew it, with over $500M in total investor loans originated since 2015. Fund That Flip both lends to real estate investors and provides opportunities for lenders looking for passive returns -- Matt discusses his strategy serving two very different customers in your business. Then, in the second half of the episode, Matt walks us through his roadmap for company founders, including the 5 distinct phases of growth every successful founder must follow to take their business from concept to world domination. When should you “go to war?” When should you “focus on peace?” And how to traverse the point in many business owners lives when they start to find themselves getting complacent. Make sure you listen for Matt’s absolutely best tip for how you can stay focused on your business and not get sidetracked by others who don’t necessarily have your best interests at heart! Check him out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! ... show more

October 20, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 78: Building and Scaling a Massive Real Estate Business With Nathan Brooks

We have a very special episode for all of you real estate investors this week. But, even if you’re not a real estate investor, you’re going to get a TON of great tips out of this show! Nathan Broo ks -- founder of Bridge Turnkey Investments and #1304 on this years INC 5000 list -- has built a turn-key real estate investment firm that has bought, renovated and sold over 500 houses in the past 5 years. While we talk a lot about real estate in this episode, we focus on growing and scaling a business, whatever industry it might be in. Just some of topics we cover in this jam-packed episode: Using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in your business to track and optimize. Creating processes to scale your business, including when NOT to create processes. Building an amazing culture within your organization, whether you have one employee or 100 employees. And don’t miss the part of the episode where Nathan gives some absolutely fantastic tips on how to find employees, how to interview them, and how to make successful hiring decisions. Make sure you listen for Nathan’s unconventional -- but absolutely spot-on -- tip about that one things we tend to avoid when hiring, but that we should instead be focused on! Plus, Nathan gives nearly a dozen of his favorite book recommendations, many that I promise you’ve never even heard of. Check him out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! ... show more

October 13, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 77: Buying 7-Figure Businesses With Minimal Risk With Elliott Holland

Thinking about buying a business, but worried about getting taken advantage of by the seller? Not sure how to finance the business and purchase with the least amount of your own cash? Want some assu rances that the seller will stick around to help in the case where you have an issue or problem? If so, this episode is for you! Elliott Holland -- Harvard MBA and founder of Guardian Due Diligence -- spends his life helping entrepreneurs select businesses, underwrite them, and then perform the due diligence process that will keep those entrepreneurs from getting taken advantage of by sellers. And he is here this week to walk us through how we should be approaching due diligence, how long it really takes, what’s involved, and how it’s different than the DD process we might be accustomed to as real estate investors. In this episode, we also talk about getting seller financing when buying a business, and how we can get a whole lot more seller financing than we might expect. In fact, combined with bank or SBA financing, seller financing a deal may allow us to put little -- if any -- of our own cash in the purchase. Make sure you listen for Elliott’s explanation of why the typical seller has a 4 times greater incentive to lie about the income being generated by the business than you might think. At the same time, he also provides an amazing tip on what we can do upfront during the purchase process to ensure that the seller picks up the phone and helps us when we run into a question or issue after the purchase! Check him out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! ... show more

October 6, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 76: Using Intellectual Property in Your Business to Protect and Profit With Devin Miller

Ever wondered what it took to get a patent? A trademark? A copyright? Or even the difference between the three of these things? Ever wondered how they could be used to protect your business, as we ll as be used as an income stream for your business? If so, this episode is for you! Devin Miller -- engineer, MBA and attorney, and founder of Miller IP Law -- is an expert on both intellectual property (IP) and business. And he is here with us this week to dispel a ton of myths about IP, as well as provide the information you need to start using IP to protect and enhance your business. In this episode, Devin tells us how each of these different forms of intellectual property can -- and should be used -- how much it costs to register each of them, how long it takes, and when we should (and shouldn’t) consider doing it. And make sure you listen to the end, when Devin tells us about two books that have changed his perspective on entrepreneurship, and will likely do the same for you! Check him out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! ... show more

September 29, 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 75: Acquiring Businesses Using Other People’s Money With Shawn McCoy, Tom Szold & Charlie Szold

Are you interested in entrepreneurship through acquisition (basically, buying existing businesses), but aren’t sure where to start? Want to buy a business but don’t know where the money will come fro m? Always wondered whether it was possible to buy a business with no money down? If so, this episode is for you! Sean McCoy, Tom Szold & Charlie Szold -- co-owners of Precision Safe Sidewalks -- walk us step-by-step through the acquisition of their company. From the acquisition channels they use to find potential purchase targets, through underwriting, due diligence, purchase and transition -- they detail each piece of the process, both in terms of how it worked for their purchase and how you should be approaching it for yours. Most interestingly, they walk us through the “capital stack” of the business -- how they used a combination of an SBA loan, private money from outside investors and seller financing from the owner of the business to essentially purchase with no money out of their own pockets. They even detail how they connected with outside investors, and how they structured the investments. Make sure you listen to our discussion about how it’s not only possible to get the seller of the business to provide part of the financing for the purchase, but why it’s often in the seller’s best interest to do so! Check them out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! ... show more

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BiggerPockets Business Podcast 91: How Businesses Get Sold for Millions with Chris Younger

A real-world MBA for entrepreneurs

Previous Episodes

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 90: How Solo Entrepreneurs Can Improve Their Products and Businesses with Ben Foster

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 89: How David Greene Plans to Sell $150 Million of Real Estate in 2021

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 88: What’s Your Special “Cut”? Why Brandon Turner and David Greene Doubled Down on Theirs in 2020

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 87: The Benefits of Franchising vs. Starting a Business from Scratch with Jon Ostenson

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 86: Becoming a Real Estate Angel Investor with Jonathan Wasserstrum

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 85: Building More Income Streams During COVID-19 Shutdowns with Ralphie Martinez

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 84: Becoming the Most Successful Version of You With Dre Baldwin

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 83: Build Your 7 Figure Amazon Business Step-by-Step With Mike Begg

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 82: Putting Your Business on Auto-Pilot With Justin Silverio

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 81: Using Your Strengths to Find Opportunity With Dustin Reichman

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 80: Turning Problems Into New Income Streams With Stephanie Betters

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 79: Originating $500m in Real Estate Loans With Matt Rodak

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 78: Building and Scaling a Massive Real Estate Business With Nathan Brooks

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 77: Buying 7-Figure Businesses With Minimal Risk With Elliott Holland

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 76: Using Intellectual Property in Your Business to Protect and Profit With Devin Miller

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 75: Acquiring Businesses Using Other People’s Money With Shawn McCoy, Tom Szold & Charlie Szold

A real-world MBA for entrepreneurs

Previous Episodes

BiggerPockets Business Podcast

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