On today's episode of Gathering the Kings. If the value of your business revolves around your involvement, then the value of the business is based completely on you. And so that's not a it's not a business that's a job. And It's not a business matter. Right. Also, if you are gonna sell that business, unless you're up for sale, you don't have a marketable You are listening to Gathering the Kings with Chaz Wolfe featuring fellow 78 and even 9 figure business owners who have real battle scars.
From business and life, but have prevailed as the king that they are designed to be. We welcome high performing entrepreneurs to the stage in order to reveal the real of the real on what it takes to build a successful business today.
We dissect the good and bad to they've made along the way Chaz give a true and accurate picture of the journey of success and how you too can get their Through this dialogue, you will learn the value of growing your network and surrounding yourself with power players and keys like today's guest. Grab your pen and notebook because we're about to dive in. Alright, everybody. I'm Chaz Wolfe back at you this week gathering the Kings Joey Martin at the king's table, my brother. How are you?
Doing fantastic. Fantastic. Yes. Thanks for thanks for having me. Absolutely, man. It's my pleasure. I love obviously, all of our guests are are pressing in and and going to the next level, and and that's valuable for our listeners. But you specifically, man, we've connected a couple of times. And each time we talk, you have so much passion and so much just everything you say is so heartfelt.
And, I'm super jazzed for for the listener today to be able to, to walk away with a changed mindset because I feel like that's what is your is your superpower, whether you realize it or not yet. So, Joey, I know you're in multiple businesses. Tell us what brings you to the King stage. What businesses are you in? Okay. Oh, j w Martin Real Estate. That's my my primary business. That's where representing buyers and sellers. I also do some investment properties.
Do some little bit of house flipping here and there. And I have some rental properties, that acquired over the years. And, more recently, you got into some real estate development. All things real estate. All things real estate. Yeah. I I forgot about the all eggs in one basket thing. But, Yeah. Well, I love I love actually what you're doing because It's not all one basket.
They all the baskets might be the same weaving type or the same color or the same material maple, but but they're not the same basket. You Chaz. Everybody else may may or may not, but I love too because it's not just real estate. What you're building actually are multiple business is. And and that's mostly our conversations have been offline of the team and strategies and processes and structure and leadership and all of the cool things.
And so I don't even see necessarily this conversation around real estate today. I see it as you being ex Uber successful in multiple. Businesses, and and that's what I'm a pick your brain. But before we get into your story and kinda how you've gotten to where you are, the fact that you are where you are is ridiculously awesome.
You've you've made some some moves that you probably never even thought possible when you were younger, just like me simple simple beginnings, but my question to you is this. Even after all the success that you've had, Joey, you still push Our conversations before this podcast have been about you going to the next level. K. That's a that's a good question. It's it's never enough. You know what I mean? I'm never satisfied.
And so I would imagine you could probably relate to that too, but, oh, yeah. Just just you hit a goal and achieve it and or or you You reach a milestone that you you thought might not be possible, but then it's just it's just not enough. I wanna keep on growing and and not not just for me, but I've got some some guys on my team here, all my team is very important to me. And so I want these guys to to grow with me. I want these guys to be just successful and more so than I am.
So so a lot of it a lot of it is just fine. It's never ending just passion for it's just never enough, I guess. And And then another part of it is my team's my family. And and so I wanna take care of my family. Yeah. I love how that comes through. Even just a few seconds ago when you were talking about that's never enough. It wasn't just enough for Joey. It was never enough for my team and never enough for their families.
And And when your team is your family, like you just said, it it takes your desire for their success, as well as then their commitment to the overall picture of where the ship is headed to a whole another level. And so I think that I think that that's a a piece that maybe you and I realized that maybe some of the the listeners haven't gotten to yet. So I wanna dive into that a little bit, but I love that perspective and you sharing about Chaz.
I I can I can feel the passion that you have for people every time we talk? It's incredible. So let's go back into your story just a little bit. Let's talk about how you guys started. How how did entrepreneurship start for you? Well, really, the the career in real estate was was really unexpected. I was I I was very young when I got started in real estate, twenty one years old. So I've been working since I was fourteen. One funny story.
When I was I didn't realize this, but in 3rd grade, I was getting the latest hip hop cassettes. I would dub them. I would dub them and try to sell them to my friends. That's awesome. Chaz was I didn't realize that was illegal. But right. In 3rd grade, I was trying to make cassettes and sell them. But and then Chaz a teenager, I was always building speaker boxes and things like that for my friends and selling, yeah, stereo equipment.
But as far as, like, 17 through 17 through 21, I was just job hopping. I was I went after high school. I went and worked in the mill with my mom because, you know, that's what she knew as success. You gotta you gotta you just go get that steady paycheck at the mill and and and come home, and and that's a good life. And and I tried it, and I was miserable. Yeah. Working swing shifts and You get a buzzer to go take a break and a buzzer to go back to work. It's basically felt like a robot.
Yeah. And so tried working at the mill, chemical plant, drove a beer truck for a year. Took a big rig cross country. One trip. That was enough. Wow. Just the one. One trip. Yeah. The the the the guy was trading me, and he was like, hey, man. I gotta take a pit stop here, man. He pulls a jar out from under his seat and says, here. Here you go. Here's your pit stuff. It's like, no. Thanks, man. No. Thanks. But, yeah, that was that was an for me there.
When I got into sales, I was doing door to door sales when I was eighteen, nineteen years old, knocking on doors, looking for donations for local volunteer fire departments, If they made a donation, they had a family photograph up at the fire station. And, then, also, final siding sales, just all kind of stuff. But all along the way, I was I was doing side jobs. I was out doing a little side hustle with with one of my best friends, his dad, at a farm, sixty acre farm.
We're out there at Bayland hay. That's from some rough labor. After the after the day, we were discount. I was propped up against the barn, sweating, And and Mister Davis's name is Jeff Davis. He he said he said, Julie, you do really well in real estate. And, honestly, I didn't have a clue what that meant. At the time. Literally, I thought I thought that meant this. Yeah. I saw them. So I saw a real estate agent sign in front of a house. I meant that that he owned that house.
That's what I thought he was trying to sell it at that point in time. That's how I really wanna do. And so from that point, he took me altering opportunity as a real estate assistant in Charleston, South Carolina And so from there, I had about a 9 year, 10 year career with, again, resorts and clubs, selling really high end golf course real estate. Right. 2nd home kinda kinda stuff. And then 2008 hit, and people were not not buying a second home real estate anymore.
But I was by that time, I'd with the gym company, I worked with them in Charleston, Orlando, Florida, and Laco County, Georgia. Laco County, I was trying to kinda running from the market. Orlando got hit worse and first. Sure. Destination areas like that got hit first. And so headed to Lincoln County trying to run from it finally called up.
So I came back back home to Clinton, South Carolina and was decided I'm gonna get involved in a more modest price point Chaz and, and also, the market hadn't been that affected in Clemson at that point in time. So I came back to head up real estate sales at at a community here in in Clinton. And which is where I am now. I was had a real estate there for about 3 years. And, and, in 2011, I decided to start my own brokerage.
Yeah. So that's when, I guess, I officially the real estate's entrepreneurial as it is, but, I've worked for developers at that point in time. Right. Which there's a little bit of a safety net there. Yeah. 2011's when the safety net was gone, and it was it was me on my own sink or swim. Yeah. I love it. I love I love how that all of Chaz, the the work history, the figuring it out through the different markets that you were going through. All of it culminated to sink or swim Chaz.
Okay. And I think we all have to face ourselves at some point. Right? Like, we can we can be entrepreneurs. We can do little side hustles. We can go from here to here. We can kinda make things work. We can kinda hodgepodge patch things along the way. But in order to really have what you have today, you had to kinda look yourself in the mirror and be able to be willing to take a risk that you hadn't really sized up yet and and really go all in. And so I wanna know about those things, obviously.
But tell me tell me specifically in that moment. Like, okay. So you decided to go do your own brokerage. Was it Was it out of spite of, like, these people don't think I can do this, or is it because the market was so crazy? Was it out of survival? Like, what made you finally have that conversation with yourself in the mirror, take the risk and, like, go all in. Well, honestly, that at that time, it wasn't spiteful.
I wouldn't say I definitely I've always had a little bit of a chip on the shoulder. Kinda got something to prove. Gotcha. But but I would say at that time, they had brought on an additional salesperson to the to the team. I was the the lone wolf there for a while, and they brought in an additional one, which was gonna trim my not commissions down. So it it wasn't necessarily, a welcome addition to the team. I guess you could say for me. Right.
Probably looking back at it now from a business perspective. It was probably a smart one because I was I was there 6 7 days a week. Yeah. It was probably more to my benefit, but everything happens the way it's supposed to. You know what I mean? So Right. The we were having discussions at that point in time about the new addition and and honestly Chaz a it was kind of mutual that me me leaving the company. It wasn't necessary. So it was almost a forced entrepreneurial thing.
It was like, am I to search for another developer to work for, or do I just do I just do this on my own. And and so so I would say it was a mutual time for me to to to part ways because I didn't agree with what they were doing. And so so, yeah, almost almost kind of forced that I that I jump out there. Yeah. I love I love those moments because it's like either we run back like, all the way back Yep. Or we jump. And the the moment that you jump you have Chaz.
But then you realize, oh, this is gonna be incredible. And not easy. Not easy, but incredible. Like, the jump's gonna be incredible. So let's talk about the jump. Tell me about a good decision you made along the way, obviously, other than jumping, but What have you done along the way Chaz was just so instrumental to your success that you've had today? What can you share with us? I would say when I when I finally realized that that I need systems in place, to to go to the next level.
For the 1st few years, of of ownership. It was just me. And then it was me and an assistant. Yep. And which which was Chaz was also a key decision right there that is is admitting that I can't do this alone. I can't get to where I'm going to by myself. Did you genuinely think that you could before? Was it like an ego thing? Like, I genuinely think I can do it all. Like, I'm superman. No. No. I I think trusting trusting someone else to the ability to trust someone.
And care about my baby as much as as I do. That's right. How did you get over Yeah. Or do you just have so much going on that you literally said, holy moly. If I'm gonna survive, I need somebody else. I remember the day. I remember the day that I made the decision to move forward, and I was out showing property all day long. It was I mean, dust toolbox showings. And I get and I don't answer my phone while I'm with clients because I think it's rude.
Yeah. And, and so I get back to my back to the car and be exhausted from showing all day. I looked down at my phone 75 missed calls. Wow. And At that time, people left voice mails. It's just about and just a ton of voice mails. I was like, good lord. I'm gonna be here for hours just going back through these voice mails. I was like, I gotta get some help.
And so from that point forward, anytime I was able to provide a higher level of service right away because I set it up where my phone, if I can't answer, it automatically went to my system. My phone was getting answered all the time. Yeah. And then eventually Chaz resulted in. I was on my own doing probably 70 plus sales a year, and just gets exhausting. You know? And so That's right.
Never really intended on on growing from there, but then I had a couple younger guys had approached me about becoming to work with me and me teaching them, showing them the ropes. And so, yeah, I mean, I was excited to do Chaz. And it's just kinda grown from there. Yeah. I think that the the two pieces that you that you highlighted, I think, are super applicable for everybody listening.
Number 1, I almost guarantee that everybody listening at some degree or level has quote, unquote, per Joey Martin. So much going on that I gotta get some help. Right? And so I think that that step 1 is when you have that moment where you're like, Oof. Right? Cause I think a lot of people feel the oomph, but they don't have the wreck the the the the the, right, that I need help. They they just they just go through the voicemails. They call people back, and then they do it all over again tomorrow.
And and and which is fine. But there there's just no way to grow. And in fact, in that process, not only are you losing new clients, but you're losing current clients because like you said, you can't offer the same amount of service, whatever business that you're in.
And so, literally, that person that you're gonna bring on to help you is gonna pay for themselves instantly from the fact that that you're not gonna be missing certain new business and the fact that you're gonna be providing a higher level of service, which will keep your current clients and get you referrals. I think that's even what he just said, just, like, fast forward to the, please, right now, stop everything, write down what you're currently doing.
I guarantee you there's at least ten things on your list that you do that you shouldn't be, and go find somebody. And because immediately, they're gonna pay for themselves. So Joey, I appreciate you sharing that. What do you feel like in that moment? Like, you said it was trust. And so did you have to find, like, the absolute perfect right fit or tell us about buying that first assistant? Like, what was the mindset behind it of just, like, just anybody? Help help us help us go there.
No. At the at at the time, it was a it was a pretty easy decision. It was someone that was that was close to me. And and so it was just pretty easy to bring them on. And because I wanted to help mold them into a into an agent as well. So So, yeah, that was a pretty easy decision there as far as who and and no. That's that's a good question Chaz you get my getting my wheels turning a little bit on that one.
Yeah. So that was I didn't I didn't I have also made the mistake of since then of if I'd I got lucky. You know what I mean? It turned out to be a great hire. She turned out to be incredible. And so I have also done the opposite. I didn't take the time to interview people and really and really Chaz had an issue.
Yep. And it wound up wound up being a bottleneck in the company at one point in time, which But but I Wolfe say if you're if advising someone looking to get to the next next level, I I would say I got lucky on on on my first one. It wasn't it was a hurry, but it turned out to be fantastic. Yeah. But I would say But, I mean, what's the worst case scenario if it's a bad decision? Like, you said, you made one of those. A bad hire?
Like, what what is the worst case scenario for the person listening, Joy? They hire the wrong person and then what? Yeah. Even I get even if I hire the wrong person, at least it does take some pressure off. But but hiring the wrong person for me just it can be detrimental because that person has has a key position in in the company Chaz that's the that's the face of the business every day. Sorry. Right. That's the the face of the business day in and day out.
And so when the team comes in and they the face of the business just has a negative attitude, then Yeah. The whole culture of the team can be affected by it. And so Gotcha. So then in our case, it it was detrimental, and I I've had complaints about this person from from several of the agents. And and then, you know, I'm a big I'm loyal to a fault, and so I'm very loyal. And and so I'd I probably held on a little bit too long.
And I haven't I've probably lost I maybe lost an agent or 2 because of him. So so I I don't say take the time to to make sure you got Chaz that right person if if you've if you have the time to really dedicate an interview process. Yeah. A 100%. I love I love putting the perspective of what's the best and worst case scenario.
And I think to your point, the best case scenario is if you're able to take the time, you're able to process through personalities and specific key Wolfe and how they fit into that that that specific seat on the bus. And I think that all of that makes a huge difference. Actually. I think that you're spot on. I think that the worst case scenario, yeah, you you hit some of that as well at culture. You can lose other people. You can lose clients.
Like, lot of fear there potentially, not enough fear to ruin you. Right? Like, even if even if they they got of everything. You had no clients, no agents, no nothing. You still have you, and you can still go on about you. You get rid of them, and you move on. And so I guess thinking about that from from the person who's listening right now going, okay, I'm I'm nervous about making my first hire or about the next hire because I've had bad scenarios or whatever.
Wolfe, get better at the process, get better at at learning people, be be become a better leader. And and then worst case scenario, you get rid of the bad ones and you keep moving because I'm going to hire someone who isn't gonna be a great fit. I guarantee Chaz. As much as I know about personalities and the right fit and the team building and and I'm a great leader in X Y Z, there's still gonna be somebody that I hire that I'm gonna have to figure out a different a different path for them.
One of the thing I heard you say that I think is just super important that I wanna point out for the listener is you said you had people approach you. To work for you, work with you. And that speaks to character. That speaks to leadership. That speaks to just the things that you're doing in the marketplace when nobody is looking or at least that you don't think is is looking. But they were. They were looking. They were watching you from a distance, and they wanted to be part of the movement.
And so I think Chaz, that's applicable for every entrepreneur, whether whether you're in the trades, whether you're in marketing, whether you're in real estate, whether you're in retail like me at some of my businesses, it's like, people are watching how you make decisions, how you treat people, and they're either gonna wanna follow you at a deeper level because of that or not. Okay. Let's talk about a bad decision, Joey.
You kinda mentioned the the flip coin of of not hiring properly, but give me a give me a juicy just terrible thing that that you can share with us to help keep us far, far away from your mistakes. Probably probably for the 1st year, 2011, but I opened up J David Martinville State. I also started a restaurant the same year. Oh my dear goodness. Bought it or bought into a restaurant. It was Now now I know we're put we're cut from the same cloth. I I knew we were cut from the same cloth.
I knew we were both Chaz. But now I know that we're both crazy. Oh, goodness. And it was, you know, never never been in service industry in my life. Well, maybe. 15. I worked in Long John Silver's, I think. The the confidence, the gumption that you have to have, man, to to open up a restaurant the same year that you opened up your your real estate business and have no experience. I I I just my head is off to your confidence. Level. Holy geez.
So I had a pretty good run with it, kind of, Chaz it was It was never it was never right. I mean, the whole time, it was just, Yeah. Less. But, I was basically, the end of it Chaz why I wound up closing the doors on on that one. That's but, you know, I learned a lot from it. You know what I mean? Definitely Oh, I'm sure. About me. Yeah. You're still here. And so, like, tell me about that process. Like, you said you learn from it.
What first off, before you tell me what you learned, why was it a bad decision? I mean, obviously, I can infer that doing both of these things at the same time was not a good decision, but but why? Just too much. Just, just way too much going on. I was already busy is I could be with real estate. So I would finish a full real estate day, which for me, I was also flipping homes at the time as well.
So Wow. I would start my day at checking on the flip house at 7, and then go into the office and 9, get get all my my work stuff for for my appointments and take appointments in the afternoon in the evening. I would come home, and I would come meet and greet people at the at the restaurant and even hosted trivia nights, and they like that. So Wow. It was literally just never ending. Yeah. Never ending just work sleep work sleep. And you'll just you you will eventually burn out.
And if you ever get to the point where, like, your phone's your lifeline and and real estate and many other businesses too, if if you get to the point where you hate to hear your phone ring, It's real bad, and it's real bad to to to get that fire back. So Yeah. Yeah. So what did you learn through the process of too much because I think there's a lot of entrepreneurs who are doing too much, but then there's also entrepreneurs who aren't they're just they're content.
They're not really doing enough. They're probably not the ones listening right now because they're listening to get things from you and I to go to the next level. So I don't think these guys probably are doing enough, but, like, what did you learn through the process of, like, too much? It's physically exhausting. The the wear and tear on the on on the body physically, mentally draining. You're not Yeah. You you you're not giving, you know, you're not giving a 100% to either to either business.
And so what would if I Chaz continued with the restaurant, would have ended up taking down 2 businesses instead of 1. I would have taken out my passion, which is, which is real estate, and a restaurant also. So I learned that you gotta learn when it's It's time to just cut it loose and and move it on. Yep. Yep. Even move, I hate to I hate to lose anything. I'm super competitive. So Chaz cannot stand to lose in at anything.
And but it you know, it it even though it feels like you're losing you're you're really not you're you're gaining your life back and and Yeah. It's a it's a net positive. You gotta you gotta you gotta take it all back to the the equation of what it is that you want. And I don't share a whole lot of my of my personal journey on here, but I can remember a time where in the same, like, 6 week period. I was opening up my 5th, 6th, and 7th franchises.
And 4 months before that, I had I had 4 franchises, but I had gone back to work full time as a salesperson so I'd had a sales job before I got into franchising. And so I had left built 4 franchises and purchased a few, but had four locations and had put systems in place, felt great about it, came back to work because I wanted to invest in real estate. And so here I am working a full time job while managing my 4 businesses.
And then all at the same time within the same 6 weeks, I opened up three locations in 3 different cities, 3 different states, actually, while working, while still managing my 4 other locations, and I'll tell you what, my my schedule looked at very similar to what you just said. I was up at 5. 5 to 7:38 o'clock was me working on producing all of the things necessary for that day in my business. Then I would go to work literally at my job until 5, 5:30.
And then from 5 until midnight, I was paperwork and preparing for 3 hiring, preparing for 3 new locations in 3 different cities, it was absolutely nuts. I learned a ton, So thankful I did it. But everything that you just said, I had no I had no balance there. And that was still when I was married. I I had I had I had 1. I had 11. I had my first child, but it was, like, that first recognition. And when you Chaz you just said is This isn't sustainable.
It's okay for a period of time, but it's not sustainable. So I need to create better systems so that I can I can last the long haul? Plus, I wanted to be with my kids. Yeah. So okay. Well, let let's flip the let's flipped the script here. You've given us the the the good and the bad. Help us understand now now that you've gone through this history, How do you make decisions now? Is there a certain process that you take or anything that you kinda, like, step by step?
Anything like that that you follow? I usually like to incorporate when it's a, when it's an important decision that is gonna involve the, the whole team, I, I think, like, to incorporate my leadership team, which is Amy, who's administrative assistant here and then a couple team members, Justin and I like I like to get some input from my guys. So we can just look at the look at the overhead view of the of a of a decision. Yeah. 100%. K. And what do you think from, like, a decision perspective?
Like, mean, obviously, we're making decisions all day long. You've, like, right now, you've got development. You've got real estate deals. You've got flips happening. Like, you've got so many things happening. And inside of each one of those things, are multiple decisions every day. Is it like a muscle that you're still building? Do you feel pretty confident at this point in your decision making? Like, How do you feel now about kinda just decision making in general?
Overall, I I've still been pretty confident with the decisions I make, but I'm still not ashamed to admit that, when there's growth, when I wanna grow, I'm licensed in 4 states. I'm currently operating out of 1. So why am I licensed in 4 states? I need to to I'm operating out of, but I want to I wanna expand on those states. And in order to do that, I've got to get were organized.
And so, recently, I've enlisted the some coaching services, for myself and and my team to just, get a clear, clear picture of where the company's going, get a clear vision. And so not only I have a clear, clear vision, but everybody on team Chaz a a clear vision of what we're what our goal is, what we're all shooting for. And so everybody's on the same page. Yeah. I love that, man.
I think that not only just for yourself, the clarity, but then also being able to communicate that into your team is what the next level looks like. I think Chaz, there are plenty of people listening here today that already have good systems. Maybe they're already even at seven figures like us or above. And I think that that being able to have, like, a deep, deep, clear conviction of what the vision future looks like.
And then being able to create a road map with your team to be able to get there is the game changer. So I'm okay. You ready for the speed round? Yeah. Yeah. I'm ready. Speed round. One one word answers, although I'm notorious for digging in.
So I wanna know Joey, in in each of your different businesses, collectively, as a unit, as all of your businesses together, what would be the one metric that you would choose to track if you could only pick 1. I would I would say sales slash slash lead sources. Yeah, definitely. K. And why do you think that that would be your go to? Obviously, I I want I want my sales. If my sales are ever down, I wanna know why. And I wanna know where my business is coming from. So lead sources.
And, one thing with with lead sources, One of part of my business model is internet based leads. And, and the reason I like internet based leads is it's consistent. And once you have a consistent lead source, and you can start doing math to predict the future. Yeah. You can you can predict how well your team is taking those Chaz that consistent lead source and converting it into sales.
And if you wanna increase your sales, you you need to take on more leads means taking on more team members or purchasing more leads or whatever the case may be, you can adjust accordingly. What you just said is to guys like you and I so simple because we do these things all the time, but it's so profound. So I'm gonna slow the track just a bit. I'm gonna reverse back just 45 seconds ago when you said if you can find a good lead source and you know the result of that lead source.
You know the math on it. You can predict the future. Absolutely. K. And so for a guy that's listening right now, that maybe he's all word-of-mouth, or maybe he he gets clients in a certain way based on referrals from his other clients or or whatever. Right? Like, he has no paid leads or he has no lead. Let's just call it that. It doesn't really matter if it's paid or not. He has no consistent lead source.
What would you tell that guy who doesn't understand what you just said about being able to predict the future? Oh, your life's gonna get so much easier when you when you have a consistent lead source because I was very much the same way. I was I I would go out to different places, bars, restaurants. I was involved in civic organizations, which are all wonderful lead sources.
And I would advise anyone to to get involved in civic organizations and be very active in this organization so you can meet people. And I'll I'll explain a little bit more on that. But but it's just there's no real way to track that unless unless you're, like, taking the business card at home every night and put them into the and people aren't doing Chaz. Let's be honest. Nobody's doing it then. You're just flying by the senior pants.
If you're that's what I was doing, and I was hoping hoping for the next deal. And and just I would get fortunate because I was out there enough just meeting enough people to where it worked out, but It's still your business is gonna be up and down, up and down. That's gonna be highs and lows, and you're gonna be drinking a lot of bourbon if you if you if you got that that that kind of business.
Yeah. I mean, the reality of what you're saying is for an individual, for you as the owner, for the person listening as the owner. You've got skill sets, meaning you could walk into a room, you can shake some hands, you can create some relationships, which you should. But right now, you're most likely using that to create new deals, which is fine. That's okay.
But in order for you as the owner to ever be able to step away or to have consistent enough revenue where you're not drinking bourbon every other night like Joey just said, You've got to have a system. And the system, what's magical about it, is that it's repeatable. That's why it's called a system. And so for you to be able to not be in the sales process or dealing with every single client, aka to 7 figures and above, you have got to figure out a repeatable process.
And in this case, Joey's given you, like, if there if there are 17 keys to success, This is one of the top 3. It's like, if you don't have a lead source, a consistent lead source, because right now, you have a lead source because you got a business. I'm I'm with you. Joey said, you're meeting people, you're doing this. Someone's always referring you, and all that's great. All that's great. But the reality of it is is that you're not to seven figures yet because it's not a system.
And when you think system or scaling, you need to think, how can I get someone else to do this repeatedly? How and how can I track them? So that's what Joey has just gifted you with. He said, you go find a lead source, and it and it may not be as good as word-of-mouth. It may not be as good as creating ships in the in the in the in the community, which that's why he said, don't stop those.
He just said in order to be able to teach someone else, in order for someone else to step in and say, what are the steps? 1, 2, 3. There has to be a consistently source given to them. They gotta know what to do with it, and they gotta know how to close. So, Joe, anything to add there? Yeah. I mean, if the if the value of your of your business revolves around your involvement, then then the the value of the business is play based completely on you.
And so that's not a it's not a business Chaz a job. And It's not a business matter. Right? Also, if you were gonna sell that business, unless you're up for sale, and you don't you don't have a marketable product. 100%. Chaz as a struggle for me because I'm I'm a I struggle with this because anytime my guys have a problem, I just wanna jump in and solve it and be done with it.
But but I'm crippling their ability to problem solve on their own if I do that and hindering them from growing as a person, involving as an agent, and growing as a leader. So I purposely even stopped myself and allow them to to solve problems on their own. Yeah. 100%. I've got a guy inside the guy in the king's 7 figure mastermind group who was looking at another business, a competitor to purchase. And he brought it to the table.
And so some of the guys were analyzing it with him and helping him kinda understand the different nuances that he might be thinking about or maybe he wasn't thinking about. And that one of the key factors was this guy was basically solo. He had a couple of folks, but not really. And so at that point, you're not buying a business. You're buying goodwill. You're buying phone number? You're buying oh, like, what what are you buying? Yeah. The fact that he's not gonna compete with you anymore.
Okay. There's some price. There's some value there, but you're not buying a business. And so the price has to reflect what it is. And so some of you might be listening to right now thinking, well, I'm never gonna sell my business. Okay. Fine. I would challenge you on on Chaz. But even if even if you're not going to, why would you wanna build something that couldn't be sold in the scenario where you needed it to be sold.
Because that's usually when the time that I have found Whether I've sold 1 when I've sold 1 of my own or when other people that I've known I've wanted to sell, it's usually out of, like, oh, I wanna make a move or desperation. And then and now you're left with no systems, no process, no people, and and and all you're gonna be able to sell it for is pennies. So it doesn't there's no value there.
Yeah. I have no intention of selling my business, but, you know, There's no the people are are in business for freedom. Right. I'm I'm enjoying. Yeah. I I would like to have a few more vacation, see the world a little bit. Yeah. Not just not just consistently work from from the time I'm able to work till the time I die. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. You hit it you hit the nail on the head. It's freedom. And to just back up what we've been talking about, you can't have freedom, real freedom.
If the business of all, what'd you say revolves around your involvement? I think that that's key. So great, man. Okay. So, that was all off first speed round question. Holy moly. Wow. I kinda forgot where we were. Alright. Second question. What book Joey, would you recommend a 6 figure owner read to try to scale to 7? Oh, man. So so many of them, but I I think You probably already read rich dad, poor dad, by by that point. That's and who moved my cheese.
I like those two books because they're just really simple to read, and they just have so much just meat and potatoes in there. Just really good. Those are ones that you can come back to. Yeah. Absolute. Absolutely. Beyond that, I would I would say I I can't name a specific book with anything around scaling scaling or business. Yeah. I think the mindset in both of those is plenty good. Even if the Chaz read them, it would probably be a good time to circle back. Okay?
Do you intentionally network or mastermind with other entrepreneurs? Yes. Absolutely. K. And why? Wanna get better. I always wanna get better. And you you never know. I've recently I'm I'm trying to put together, a group of mine here locally of, like minded people to possibly invest together on multi family properties, things like that. There's, Yeah. And then there's there's value in in other people's knowledge, for sure. That's right. That's right.
K. And last question, Joey. If you lost it all. What would you do, man? What would you do? I'll be right back at it again, but that person question. Now the listener the listener can't see the ginormous smile on your face. And such an odd time to smile like Chaz, Joe. If you lost it all, you'd be back at it smiling. Actually, there's some beauty in in young hungry and reckless. I miss that.
I do I do miss when I when I first got started as an entrepreneur and that just reckless bad decision making. Well, I've got to see your pets. It it's exciting. Definitely reckless. But but, yeah, I would I would go right back to it. That's awesome, man. I appreciate your passion. The the the thing that comes to my mind is even after your years, decades of experience.
If that's your choice after all that you've seen, man, The listener should know that they're doing the right things, that they should just keep making good decisions or remove the things that are hindering them from good decisions. And and even like you, decades in, go be willing to risk it. Be willing to press it all in. Be willing to go after it because That's what it sounds like you've got. And then you would do it all over again. Right? I have question. I have question.
I I got we got time for a quick story. Yeah. Love it. Alright. Cool. Don't talk about just young and reckless. Yeah. My my first flip property. I would bought it at a foreclosure auction. Chaz no clue what I was doing. Raised my hand. Chaz that I got it. That day I had to have 5% down was $48,000. I'd have 5% down, which I had, and not much more than that, and a preapproval letter from the bank. At that time, I didn't realize that most foreclosed properties are not financeable.
This is this is a long time ago, and here I am with a house that's not financeable. The bank came out and looked at it and said, no. We're not gonna loan on it. So I had to break into this house that I did not own. Fix it up. Fix up a home that I did not own. And I had 30 days to do so. So I had to bring it to a house that did not own, fix it up. And the bank came back, looked at it again, said, okay. We'll finance it. And I got it to the got it.
Wow. So talk about being young and reckless and and this Yeah. Yeah. It was but it was what was beautiful about that is that it was it's all or nothing. You know what I mean? It's Right. Put all the chips in. There's no I'm risking it off. And so, yeah, then there's something being said for it. I wouldn't do it again. I I I wouldn't do it again doing what I do now, but, man, for you gotta you gotta stick your neck out there, man. Not not quite that risky.
Don't go that risky, but Yeah. You just gotta you gotta put it all on the line. If it's if you know what's your passion, you know, it's what you're meant to do. Yeah. She's not there and go for it now. Yeah. I think that the permission that you just gave the listener is, probably the greatest gift that they'll receive all day today. I remember making those same decisions, Bob and Weavin, but we got a fan we got families now.
We can't quite bob and we've liked that, but I still more than I probably should, Bob and weave and move things around and place bets, not like actual bets, but, you know, investments in properties and and new businesses. And but the reality of it is this is that that's that's that's the that's the game. The game the game doesn't go away. The game doesn't change. You just play you just play at a higher level.
And somewhere along the line, I feel like there's so many people who who who moved the 1st chess piece. Right? They they left their job, or they started their little side hustle, and then they moved the next next piece. And then they they grew a little bit. Maybe they got a helper or an admin assistant, and they grew a little bit more, but somewhere along the line in there, they stopped. Playing the game. They stopped really pressing in.
They stopped putting it all on the line, like you said, sticking their neck out there. And, and I think the permission that you just gave is the key to the next level for a lot of guys listening right now. It's like, no. No. No. You you need to be able to go all in. Chips all in. And even if it literally meant that I would have to take care of my family in a different way, then then that needs to be the confidence level for me at the baseline. It's I would take care of him.
It's not like I'm gonna leave my family hanging, but I'm willing to to put them all in. And and if the worst case scenario were to happen, then I'll figure that piece of it out. That's right. Yeah. That that's another thing is just becoming a master problem solver. The the bigger the problem you can solve, the bigger the paycheck that comes along with it. That's right. Yeah. That's right. How how can someone listening today connect with you?
If they wanna get to know you better, they wanna get a They wanna get a little Papa Joey love going on. How how how can they how can they how can they get a shirt like you? He's got this this incredible, almost like Paisley shirt. He's looking Fresh it over there. How can they connect with you online, bro? Alright. Well, my website is the w.jwmartinhomes.com. I'm on Facebook JW Martin Real Estate on Facebook and also my personal page is Joey Martin. So definitely definitely reach out.
I'm I'm here to answer any questions you may have. That's awesome, Joy. I I just so appreciate the friendship that we've started Chaz well as in just the pushing back in forth. The the mindset that you have is incredible. I'm better for knowing people like you, even our conversation today Chaz has inspired me. And so thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Thank you for listening to gathering the Kings today.
I hope that you were able to pull out a few nuggets to go apply into your business right away. More importantly, though, I hope that you're realizing that it takes more to be successful than just being by yourself doing it all on your own, carrying the weight all by yourself.
What I have realized, not only in my own journey from multiple business and multiple different industries and now interviewing literally over 2 or 300 other very successful 789 figure business owners is that It's tough to do it alone. And so gathering the Kings literally exists to bring together successful entrepreneurs. In fact, we are putting together 1 1000 kings, specifically who are grateful, but not done.
We're intentionally assembling kings who fight tooth and nail for their business family and communities, and here's what we believe Chaz in the pursuit of excellence in those areas, that it ignites with in us the responsibility to govern power and forge a lasting legacy. So if that relates and and resonates with you, and you know that you need people around you, sharp, qualified other very successful business owners. I want you to go to gathering the king's dot com.
I want you to take a look at what we're doing and see if it makes sense for you to be part of our pursuit to 1000 kings. Talk soon.