119: [BUSINESS] Business Coaches, Hiring, and Branding

Flipping Junkie Podcast with Danny Johnson

Darren Smith has been into real estate investing since 2003, and throughout that time his business has been through a series of dramatic changes via the help of a solid team and business coach. After spending many years in the army and later in IT, Smith became attracted to the idea of real estate investing through a good friend. However, not long after taking action he realized he was in over his head and his business shortly crashed. After deciding to go back to school to get his masters, Smith shifted his focus back to his job in computers, but he found that his love for real estate never left so he decided to jump back in about 5 years ago. After signing up for every wholesalers website he could find, including LeadPropeller, he got a call from someone in the market who took Smith under his wing. While he made next to nothing, he was able to learn things like rehabbing, contracts, and more without any of the financial risk of losing his own money in the process. Smith and his wife moved to Colorado shortly after and he began his own business there- Sell My House To Smith. At the time, he was running the entire business himself as he always felt like he just wasn’t there yet and was concerned about the added stress that came with being responsible for others and their livelihoods. With the help of the Mastermind group that both he and Danny are apart of, he finally found the courage and within 30 days had hired 3 new team members to work for him. He found himself surprised at the talent that came in to apply for him and the experience helped him to realize the, “huge difference between having someone who’s good at their job and having someone who is just so much better than you at what they do.” Aside from a strong team, Smith and Danny also discuss the guidance and the peace of mind that a business coach provides for their real estate businesses. “I wouldn’t be here today without him,” says Smith in regards to his own business coach whom he met at via The Alternative Board, which offers business coaching and advisory board services. All it took was one session for Smith to realize what his business coach had to offer him, his real estate business, and his team. In fact, Smith is so confident in the help that his coach provides him that he meets with him himself every two weeks, and his operations manager meets with him monthly, as well as a team session that Smith says helped to really bring his team together and form a stronger unit. Smith also discusses his excitement for the upcoming release of FlipPilot, and mentions how his own team was blown away after the chance to sit in on an hour-long demo with Danny. “We love all your other products you’re doing for us, so we can’t wait to get FlipPilot going.”