On today's episode of Gathering the Kings. What's the most important asset in the entire world? The most important thing in the entire world is time. Right? Yeah. That's right. Time is the most important asset in the world. And wealth. Wealth is how much time can one sustain their quality of life without physically working. Right? That's right. Yeah. And so wealth is generated through cash flow. Cash flow is generated through operating business systems.
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 decisions they've made along way to give a true and accurate picture of the journey of success and how you too can get there. 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. What's up, everybody? I'm Chaz Wolfe, gathering the Kings podcast. I'm your host. Today, I'm bringing to you another fellow Kansas City in.
I don't even know how I didn't know this. How do I not know this guy? But I know him now. We're already talking about doing dinner and hunts and all kinds of fun stuff together. Aaron Ford. Welcome to King State, my brother. Man, it's a pleasure to be here, Chaz. Hanging out with the big dogs.
Yeah. Well, when you said you were trying to bust into the network, I didn't realize you were talking about, like, busting actually in, you know, here in Kansas City, but, man, I'm excited that another Kansas City is here on the stage. We've got several that have been here on the stage over the course of our show, but lots of people here in Kansas say I need to introduce to. Excited for that. What type of business do you run, my man? Yeah. So I've got a concrete company.
I got a house flipping company, and then I got several apartment building investing companies. So The goal here is to take any extra income from the concrete company, flipping company, and buy as many apartments as possible. Right? So so that's the gig. But let's go way back just real quick because, you know, I I started off as just an employee just just stuck in in in a dead end role. Man, just just stuck there. Right? I got a family, you know, household kids and a Wolfe.
And, you know, I have to make it freaking happen. So I stuck in this dead end job where I have to trade my time for money. Like, a lot of people are familiar with, You know? And and in turn, I miss all these important moments with my family, all these experiences that I that I've never get back. Right? And that was the most important why my life is to be able to experience life fully with them. But then I'm stuck here trading my time for money because there's no other way out. Right?
Yeah. And I've always looked at this business. Oh, man. If I could own my own business, you know, I know how to do this line of work or I know how to do this line of work. If I could just start my own business, then I could be free to have the life I wanted to travel on things with my kids. And my loveless. So, you know, that really was what started it. And and and I finally made this leap to start my own business. It was a huge, you know, huge move in my life. Right?
But I had no idea what business was. I started my own job. So I went from one job working 40, 60 hours a week for somebody else to a job that I just happen to own. Right? Working 80 plus. And then I had this overwhelming desire and drive to make it freakin' happen because I put everybody's life on the line basically to make this move So with that misguided drive, it I inadvertently began to wear every hat in the company. Right? So I just I had to make it happen. How many times have you heard?
Oh, you just can't find any good help out here. You know, everybody's just screws it up. If I leave, they screwed up. I gotta just do it myself. Right? That's right. Yep. You know, there's just no no workers. No. No. The problem is I had no system. I carried the system in my head and I expected them to follow it. And when they didn't, I was like, you, you know, what are you doing? I didn't know anything about business. Right? And so thank goodness. I was a lifelong.
I I committed to learning and I ran into I ran across Robert Kiyosaki's cash flow quadrant. Right? Obviously, we all start rich dad poor dad, but then the follow-up book is cashflow quadrant. And I remember it was like an moment. Like, this is it. I am stuck on the left side of this quadrant. I gotta get to the right side. And That's right. You know, the only way to do Chaz, you know, the left side is trade your time for money. You're an employee or self employed or sole proprietor.
The right side, business owners, with a business system owner and an investor. And the goal is to get to the right. And so you know, I was like, well, I gotta get to that side and and, you know, started looking at these systems and how do I maybe hire myself out of the company? But, you know, had to commit to learning that portion. That's a whole that's a whole beast here that most people don't jump in. They don't know about. Right?
So what's Chaz, what's the most important asset in the entire world? The most important thing in the entire world is time. Right? Yeah. That's right. Time is the most important asset in the world. And wealth. Wealth is how much time can one sustain their quality of life without physically working. Right? Yeah. And wealth is generated through cash flow. Cash flow is generated through operating business systems.
So today, now I'm trying to operate business systems from kinda high level, but that's the goal. Right? Yeah. I love it, man. There's so many, man, you hit us, like, right at the beginning, just dump truck coming through with all kinds of good golden nuggets. We we see business very similar here Chaz well as then obviously the eventual accumulation of assets on the real estate side. So wanna talk about this a little bit more.
You've you've given us a little bit of the the road map of how you've taken, you know, gone from the left side of the quadrant to the right specifically through a job, then owning a business, and then turning your business into systems, and then obviously taking extra money, putting it into real estate assets. And we're gonna get into all of that as far as practicality. Give me, like, the heart underneath it. You said you wanted to travel. You wanna be with your kids.
You wanna, you know, be with your family. That type of thing, but underneath the all of the the the stuff, you know, even the time Like, even underneath that, the burning desire, like, the deep down inside of Aaron, what is what is that? What makes you get up every day and, like, freaking go after it, like you said? Yeah. You know, that so that's something I kinda wrestled with because the the the switch that has to be flipped on in the beginning to get this ball rolling.
The, okay, I'm ready to do this. Let's go after it. For me, is is it's it's almost impossible to shut it back off. And why would I really want to? Right? I'll give you a, for instance, my wife and I were we were on the beach not too long ago. We were hanging out. Everything was great. You know, we're 5, 6 days in. And, you know, under them, bro. I was just sitting there. You know, life's great.
But I remember telling her, I was like, you know, this is great, babe, but we probably should have left a couple of days ago. I'm ready to get after it. You know? Like, I'm not trying to I mean, how much can I golf? I mean, I'm bored before the eighteen's hole. But I do golf. Right? But, I mean, go to the beach. The beach is great, but it's great to go there and come back. Like, I I have a life that I'd wake up. I'm ready to go. I wanna be here. I am very blessed, completely blessed.
I, you know, never thought that I could ever get I mean, anywhere close to where I am today. So reflection is a good one. I look at that, but, you know, this this motivation, this drive, I I really don't know how to put a finger on it, but I wouldn't want it any other way. But I will say, look, I'm just a normal guy trying to make it happen, really. You know? And so I I don't wanna you know, I I'm I'm not anywhere arrived. Right? I'm just doing okay. I I appreciate the the honesty there.
Because I think you're right. Like, okay. Fine. You're you're in your point. You're not done. Right? That that's what you say, but I haven't arrived. You've arrived. To maybe what the past you dreamed about. Right? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Right. You're just saying that.
So so how is it that in this moment, obviously, I know the answer, but I'm I want you to tell the the audience is how how can you be in this moment where you're literally living the life that the the the the Aaron 5 years ago was dreaming about and praying for and and working towards, but yet you're not done. And that's a great question. I mean, so I wrestle around with it. Is it financial? No. Is it freedom? No. Right? Is it it's it's almost like I I would like to help more people. Right?
So is it that? Yes. But it's it's it's really just striving for this high level balanced life. Right? Network of people that are making it freaking happen with the same kind of mentality, you know, and obviously, the financial and the freedom and all that comes along with but now that it's here, it's just let's just keep it rolling. And let's hope my hope is that I can instill some of these trades and characteristics into my kids and that they can live a good life in the future as well.
So, you know, it's just it's all around balance before there was no balance at all. It was go out, do the freaking job. I gotta do my own marketing, my own sales, my own job installation. I gotta put everything into the, the quickbooks, you know, all my ordering materials. Like, it was crazy. And now you have this balanced life where you can focus on health, right, friendships, networking, all that family. So That's the goal is, you know, the the big 5 f's, fay family fitness, finance, fun.
Yeah. I love that, man. I we're gonna have an interesting conversation here at the end around balance because I have a unique perspective on that, and I hear what you're saying, and I agree with you. Those those five areas are or what we call the the dimensions of kingship. It's like it's it's hard to see them all or how to win in all of those areas without some of the foundation being built first, which is what you're talking about.
Once I was able to put some systems, have a little bit of money to be able to hire people to create people systems and have those things that can happen so that I don't have to wear every single job. So I wanna get into some of I love the, perspective of just wanting to win. Right? So from my perspective, my answer on what you just said is, dude, God made you to be a builder. Like, a builder of things of systems of family of assets, the whole deal.
And that's why you're not done because You're gonna be building until the day you're gone. And that and that's okay. Oh, I I created this phrase a couple years ago, inside of gathering the king's pure mastermind is because I thought I was a little bit crazy that, you know, I just I know I'm gonna go all the way to the end working or building. And so once I got around this builder language, it was like, oh, okay. No. I'm super grateful for where I'm at.
Super. And that's that's what I heard you saying. Like, wow. Look at look at where we're at in comparison to the 5 years ago type thing. But we don't wanna stay here, do we? Like, no. No. No. We're grateful, but we're so far from done. For me, that wakes me up every morning like it sounds like for you. I mean, we're here Monday morning. It's 8:24, both our time. We're freaking like, you could just tell in our tone we're after it already, and it's only 8 o'clock. So excited for that, man.
I'm excited to know you because of that, but I wanna pull more out of you here for the audience. Let's switch into a little bit of your story. So you said, okay. You had a job you transition that into a business. You wore the same hat or you had to wear all the hats for a long time. Let's talk about why did you even get into business for just a minute or it was just simply the reasons I my family was the main the main driving factor there. It was it was the the ability. Look, I remember.
I'm the guy that I'm the guy that raced on, hey, you know, the kid comes up to me. So, you know, can dad, can you help coach on Saturdays, right, you help coach my football. You know, son, I would really love to do that, but, you know, I can't guarantee that I'm off work in time to make it there every time or in the evenings for practice, but I'll try to make to every every game, right, and race there. You know, sometimes you might be a little late.
I mean, look, the guy who, yeah, we can go see a movie tonight. And you go and I'm, 5 minutes in the movie, I'm asleep, but I did take my kids, right, or or or the one who, you know, has to actually risk losing his little job take off a day to take your kids to the water park on a Wednesday. Right? Like, it's just dude, I mean, the miserable and look. That's the family I came from. My parents just made it happen. They just wouldn't work. That's all they knew.
There was no option in my life where I could just go start a business. There was no real, like, mentor Right? So Sure. You know, we might get into this later, but, like, sometimes when people come up to me, I have people pick me up all the time. Hey. Chaz we go have some coffee and you tell me how to do this? Can't pay for your lunch and you tell me how to do this. And it's just like the most important thing I could tell in people is No. Go make it freaking happen, man.
Either you wanna do it or you don't. There's so much information out there. You should have already got the book. You should have already read it and done it. And then we should meet, like, we just for meeting, you know, Chaz and your network of people. Like, that's the goal. Like, if you don't have the drive to pick up and go make it freaking happen, then there's nothing I could tell you to do. And I felt, you know, let's There may be a few people here. I'm very proud of you.
The ones that I did talk to that didn't make it happen. But, you know, I've kind of fell for this too many times in the beginning. Like, yeah. How can I help? You know, how we wanna help people? That was the portion I was talking about. How can I help you? Well, now helping them is not do this, this, this, this, this, and then I'll help you get it. Like, no. Go freaking make it happen. If you want something different, you're living in the best age and time to do it.
Go educate yourself and do it. Yeah. I I love the straightforwardness about that answer because it's It's actually how I think most successful people feel. Many, many do help like you, and I did for many, many years. And eventually, what happens is that time, the most important resource that you're talking about gets limited.
And and so we have to charge accordingly, whether that's literally like you create a a coaching program or you you only meet with certain people or you only meet with your team. Like, I had to do that for a long time. I only met with people that I employed because it was a it was a mutually benefiting relationship. And that's okay. Eventually, you build some systems, and then you have leaders developing other leaders.
And, it's a ripple effect, but the straightforwardness of you should have already got the book. First off, I wanna encourage all the listeners that if there are people in your life that you wanna ask questions of, definitely go do it. But I love what Aaron just told you to do. Don't just say, let me let me buy you a, you know, a $15 lunch and give me all the answers. Like, that that's not an equal exchange of value. Go read the book. Whatever the book is, pick the book.
I guarantee you probably the guy that you're gonna talk take the lunch has already read the book or something very similar can have an intelligent conversation with you at lunch about the book. Right? Would you agree? Exactly. Yeah. Make it happen, you know, then go search out the network people. But, yeah, no, you're right. I mean, there's so much information. Like, for the people who just want the quick that's that's telling me I'm not interested in doing any hard work.
Can you show me exactly what to do? And if you can, then, you know, great. Chaz, to me, that does work. Yeah. Yeah. There's there's an internal drive that you've talked about a couple times. We talked about where that comes from for for you. And so, okay, let's fast forward a little bit. Chaz internal drive took you into a business, but it also drove you into wearing a lot of hats before you created systems and such. What do you think is the the the one thing?
Cause there's people listening right now, I guarantee it, who are wearing every single hat like you used to, like I used to. What's the one thing that you can give to them right now that unlocks one little piece? I mean, because they're not gonna go drop all the hats and hire it all out today, but what what's the one piece that you can give to them? The one piece of advice I can give you if you're wearing all the hats is go read systemology and the business playbook by Chris Ranzio.
And then study it. Read it 4, 5, 6 times. Whatever it has to take, whatever it takes to get it. Go read the books, go do it. I couldn't put together what they talked about in those b books, but on this podcast, but that's that's thing that you need to do. And then you need to begin to document the systems that you currently hold inside of your head into some sort of software, some sort of place where the systems can be ran. Right?
McDonald's, we all know it doesn't have the best hamburger, but they have one of the best, if not the best business systems in the world. Doesn't matter if you're you speak Chinese. If you're eighty years old, if you're fourteen, every time, whatever age they hire, every time they hand the cheeseburger out the window, for the most part, it's the same thing. It's they have the system that they don't look. They don't care who works for them. They are working the system.
They're not hiring the person. Right? That's the important part of this. So if you're wearing all the hats, you have to have the systems. And and the systems are they're they're hard to put down. They're they take time. They they suck. Right? But when they're there, then you don't rely on the people, although the people are very important. Right? And I have a fantastic team, but we have to have a system to follow so that we know we can gauge snakes.
Yeah. Well, I think to your point there Chaz it's it's not the system that makes the the system Chaz can operate with any person. Right? Like, that's the idea of McDonald's that you're talking about. The system is so great. I can put in any human into the thick into the mix, and it works.
However, to what you just said right after that is that but if you have amazing people also, it's, you know, you have a system animating people, then then it then it really is something that will produce freedom, not only just for the owner, but in my opinion, it's it's freedom for the whole team. It's like, okay. If I got an a player who comes into the thing and there's a system to follow, they already know, like, okay. Like, this is a place that I wanna be.
A players don't come into organizations that don't have systems or at least not ones that are, I mean, maybe on the ground level and they're trying to, like, actually help build them. That's cool. But Outside of that, you're not gonna attract a players if you don't have systems. And then on top of that, you gotta have other a players. So I love both points there. What would you say for the person listening going, okay. I gotta document all this stuff, and you said it takes time.
I'm just trying to survive, Aaron. Like, I'm just running around. Like, I'm thinking back to your concrete business. I'm running around. Give it estimates. I'm trying to make sure all the jobs are done on time. I got clients calling me. I got people calling out. Nobody wants to work. Like, all the things I can imagine someone saying to themselves right now are listening. How do they have time for this system thing? Yeah. Well, that's a decision you're gonna have to make.
I mean, you have to make it happen. Right? So The first thing I did was I started to take a list of the things that were the that I hated the most, and I just started writing down with stuff that I did on a daily, weekly basis. That I hated the most. And, you know, hated I hated, you know, the office and clerical stuff. I hated. And so when I started to write these things down, I started to develop and inadvertently some duties for someone my first hire. Right?
And so then as I as I had that, then you just have to take a leap you know, I know the limiting beliefs. We don't have the extra money. We're not generate enough to pay this person. We're not Yep. You know, the the the key about that is you can't gauge the opportunity lost, the opportunity by you being stuck in every wearing every hat. So I fell for that too. I don't have the extra money. How could I ever pay somebody $50,000 a year of salary to come help me do whatever? But That's right.
In reality, that time frees you up and you develop you build the top line. And so it's just it's it's it's anything, but you wanna jump in the right way. Right? So that's the thing. Like, if you come up with these duties, you might try to systemize those duties from your mind and just say, okay. Here's what it looks like. Here's how you input stuff in a quick or whatever it is. Right? You go through those books will really help, by the way.
But they are a real lengthy and they are kinda in-depth, but that's that's how you do it. That's the playbook. Yeah. I hope that the listeners are paying close attention. And this is a little side note here for the listeners. It's me and you right now. Aaron's off to the side. I want you to know, like, how great of a quality content you are getting right now. Aaron is giving it to you. Like, he, like, he's just talking to you at lunch.
So he's not gonna boast himself here, but he is giving you straight just fire. And so systems and and the stuff of, like, here's here's the list to create. It's not sexy, and so that's why it doesn't it doesn't tickle your ear.
But I'm telling you right now, stop stop the podcast, go back and listen because everything that he just gave to you is exactly how you get off the tool belt or get out of the retail floor environment or to get out of the kitchen or whatever your business is to get out of the the role of of creating marketing campaigns for your clients. What whatever the situation is. You can't be the guy. You gotta be the guy organizing all the things, but you can't be the guy.
Anything else you wanna add there before we move on, Aaron? Well, that would just lead me into one mistake that I made immediately after starting to hire. So, you know, I probably the biggest mistake that I inadvertently made. So I'm a problem solver. Right? Most business owners, sole proprietors, whatever phase you're in, you're probably a problem solver. That's a characteristic that we we have to have.
So, you know, for instance, my wife will come to me from time to time with, you know, just issues from the day or whatever or something happened. And she wants me to listen, which I've learned this now. I do listen. But, you know, I would I would start off with, okay, I'd listen for a little bit. I'm like, alright. Here's what you do. You do this, this, this, this. That's right. Ready break. Let's we're good. We're good. You know, you go do Chaz. We're gonna be fine.
But, no, she's not interested, but I'm a problem solver. So as I hired people as positions of power and authority in the company, then I was always available to answer the phone. That was another characteristic that I I'm always gonna try to be available to the best of my ability. I answer emails, fast Chaz possible. Right? I try to do those kind of characteristics that are traits that I have, but because of that, I had put people in position of authority and power.
And then they a problem might come up. They know the system. That's great. But anything outside of the system, a problem or an issue, That's right. Oh, what do I do? Well, let's just call him. Let's just call Aaron. And and and if nothing against that, I mean, that's just No. How it answered. You enabled me. I didn't even know what was going on. I'm just like, okay. Great. I'm just putting fires out all day long. That's the role that I'm supposed to be in probably now.
Now that I have employees that are making. Right? But that that's I was inadvertently creating a system where if there's an issue, you call me. And so we were a little story about that. My wife and I were actually on the beach again. We were actually took the kids. We were parasailing. We're doing all kinds of fun stuff. The phone was at the room. Right? And I didn't even have it on me. And I get back, and I remember, you know, like that evening and check the phone.
There's dozen missed calls and a few voicemails or whatever. I start calling my team members back. I remember to call my project manager back and and, hey, you know, a senior called. What's going on? Man, said, oh, well, I ended up doing this and talked this person and this, and and I figured it out. And I called the next callback. Oh, yeah. It's no big deal. I went ahead and did this, and I figured it out. So then I That's right. I learned. I realized, dude, I was like, I'm too available.
I'm way too available. So now the goal is to I'm empowering. So from time to time, I have a couple of team members fan and I have a fantastic team, but I have a, one, a couple of team members who, they'll forget that I want them making decisions. Like, I have to empower them. I have to say, Now listen, you are in a place to make this decision. I am totally comfortable with your decision making here, and then we'll go over it once or twice a week in a meeting.
What decisions have you made in this past stretch of time and how they go? Okay. Then maybe you should think about doing it this way next time or this way. Or maybe do we need to change our system? Right? But the meetings are when we talk about direction, not during the actual workflow. Right? So Yep. So that was a mistake. As I hired the people, I would make all the decisions that were high level.
And then I learned, I need to empower them to make the decisions because you can't scale with me, right, still wearing the hats again. That's just That's right. The micromanagement and me coming back. So I have to realize that and know where I'm best suited. Yeah. I think I mean, first off, everything that you're giving is just, again, really, really good. I'm not just saying that. I've had these same moments in my business where I'm like, oh, I see.
If I don't call you back or if I don't answer my phone better yet, I don't answer my phone ever. No. I don't I don't ever answer my phone. And it's not because I'm trying to be rude. My business partners know Chaz my family knows. I do not answer my phone. Period. And and if potentially I I need to call you back, I Wolfe, but I'm not answering my phone because guess what? It's a reactionary piece. So now we're gonna take it to another level because now I gotta I gotta know.
In my opinion, it's a reactionary piece. Right? So now you've interrupted my flow or whatever I'm supposed to be doing. And if I'm genuinely if I generally hired you to take care of some sort of operational piece so that I can, like you said, work on the top line or work on higher lever activity. Now your problem is interrupting the higher lever activity, and I should have just never hired you to begin with. Right? Which is why people stay stuck and that I'll just wear the hat.
It's like, just I'll just do it myself. And the problem is that sometimes that they're just too available. They just aren't empowering the person. The person thinks I gotta call Chaz. He's like, no, actually, I believe in you. In fact, on Thursday, let's talk about your decisions when our meeting happens. And if it didn't go right, we'll we'll redirect because there's no emergencies. Like, I learned a long time ago there's just no emergencies.
So what would you say to that guy who's listening to both of us go right now? Not only am I supposed to empower them and help them make decisions, but I'm not supposed to be available. That sounds like a bad leader. What are you talking about? Yeah. Yeah. Well, look. So you the the tendency is gonna be to go around and micromanage every person that you first hire because that's the kind of person you are if you're in this role. You freaking know, and you probably do know how to do it best.
But you're not interested in doing it the best. I know that sounds bad, but you won someone else to learn how to do it. Right? So, you know, I I see people that do hire, and they spend their time just going around from person. But why'd you do it that way? Why'd you do it this way? You are creating an to poor work environment and you're not empowering your team. So just go into it maybe like this. Think I'm okay losing a little bit of money for the time being on this decision that might go bad.
Right? How bad could it be anyway? Right? You know, if if whatever your sector is, how how bad could it get between meetings? It really is not gonna cost much, but to get what you're gonna gain from Chaz. By empowering your team instead of belittle it or just micromanaging is just you can't gauge it. Yeah. You're you're using the right language here, and I want the listener to hear it. It's not you removing yourself and saying, here you go. Here's the, you know, here.
I'm a feed you to the wolves. That that would be in my opinion, bad leadership is not giving them the skills, the training, and or then the process. But if you've done what Aaron's talking about and created the process, train them. Give them giving them the skills. Everything that they need, then you're like a good father. You're like, alright, dude. Go for it. And just like my son, I'm like, I know I could, like, help you with this thing.
But if you go do it and even if you fall, you're gonna learn so much. And I'm gonna be right here. Giving you some cheers. But then you're gonna be able to say you did it yourself, which actually, to your point, is empowering them, making leaders who are there that are gonna turn around and help you lead other people. And then now you really don't have to be the guy. Right? Absolutely.
And and you should have a system, a project management system of some sort, company management system of some sort you as the owner can watch from a VAR. I don't have to call my team members to say, how's it going? What's going on? Cause, you know, from time to time, I wanna know what's going on with this. I might have a free hour or 2. How's it going? Well, I have a system where I can look from afar and I can see exactly everything that's going on and I can look and say, okay.
Well, is this to hear? You know, if I wanna ask a question, I can at the meeting. I can just write down my notes and wait for the meeting and but I can watch the system from afar. So if you don't have that, that's probably the first area to start. How do you create this system? And and and so there's a lot of different apps and software out there. You know, there's basic things. I mean, I don't use Monday, but I've heard some things about it.
We use a different software, but like Chaz, but you're just kind of managing things from afar. Get used to Chaz. And then when you plug people in, you can you can see what's going on. Yeah. Exactly. I think that those are great great words. You you mentioned the kind of like the bad decision of go. I'm gonna go with just all this great stuff of creating systems was was a good decision that you've made because, obviously, I think you kinda put yourself as a systems guy for sure.
But I wanna go a little deeper on a little bit more of a like a like a oh, this is like a really bad thing that I did. You kinda gave a small example in the hiring deal, but want you to tell us about a a moment in time. One specific decision that you made, you're like, Ugh. It was bad bad. What was it?
Yeah. Well, you know, in in in the real estate world, the one that comes to mind, the So as as I started to set these properties with project property managers, I was leveraging their business system. So in my mind, Yeah. Every rental property or apartment building is its own business and its own business system. So then I go do a vetting and hire a third party management company. They're the ones and I slide the property over to them and I leverage their system. They have a full system.
And so I'm just leveraging their system and I'm looking at the returns. So huge mistake that I had made. And I my business partner and I it's on the large stuff I have a 50% partner in some of the things. And, you know, and we we we totally missed the the the memo on on that part of that's still being a business. We still have to operate the operator in that scenario.
So we went stacking these properties and just handing them over to property managers and And and, yeah, we'd look at the report they send once a month just vaguely, but none of the high level KPIs. And so Right. We got to a point where you're just like, what is going on over here. Right? So, you know, that everything is a business and there is no maybe there is, but I haven't found it. There is no true passive income.
I guess if you're, you know, in the in the business world, there's very few true passive income sources. Right? So so just thinking of everything as a business. I'm thinking of once you get this, it's it's easy. You just that's the way you're asking the question that we all know who not have. Right? And so we're looking at but so the asset management role of the of the multifamily's what comes to mind as a as a big mistake here, you know, as we've gotten rid of them.
Yeah. I think that that principle can be taken into any business because I can't tell you how many whether it's an individual franchise for myself or, a piece of real estate. I've done the same thing that you just did. I've I've got plenty of clients who build something up and then hand it off so that they can, you know, whatever they think they're gonna go sit on the beach or whatever. And and it just doesn't work like that. That person, at least, still has to be managed and led.
Not even managed. Lead, if they're really a good leader or in this case, you're managing a vendor who has a whole system. Okay. Fine. But you still have to be the leader in that equation. You still have to, you know, be the one interested. They respect what you inspect. As the old saying goes. You start looking away and and not caring. Guess what? They they do as well.
The only passive income that I could see is, like, your the the people that wanna invest with you, and they just give you the money and then they go back to whatever they're doing. That's the only thing I could that I can find. But the problem is is that guys like you and I know we know how to do it. And so it's like, well, I'll just go man as the asset myself. Right? And so a little bit, we're still stuck in that place, but the returns are just so much greater.
So I'm not I'm not harping on you because I do the same thing. I was just talking about or talking to a gal I had on the show, I don't know, maybe 4 or 5 months ago. She invests in large triple net properties and high end clients and, you know, Starbucks and stuff like that. And so I was talking to her about one of her deals, and it's a good deal. It's a good passive investment. It is.
But knowing what I know about real estate and how I can go find my own deal, I'm like, I I'm not ready for that. I'll take a little bit of non passive because I know the outcome. Of investing in real estate for myself. I'll get to you later is what I told her. Exactly. Yeah. But that what that provides, what people like you who who do allow other people to come into a deal. Maybe they're a doctor. Maybe they're a dentist. Maybe they're a business owner and have no clue about real estate.
That's the opportunity is to be able to give their money. Like you said, take it from the concrete company and put it into real estate. They just get to do it with a trusted source like you. Right? Yeah. Absolutely. That's the true eye portion of the cash flow quadrant. And so there are definite investing, passive sources. And I I I guess I need to clarify. So in the business system world, right, there's very little. Right.
And and and, you know, we were looking at these as as as actual investments where we it's not a syndication. We aren't taking on anybody else's money. And so we are more in a hybrid model where we're actually should be operating the operators. So in that scenario, see, the the person who takes their money, like you said, and hands it to someone, that person that is the the GP in that scenario, the general partner that would invest the money in to real they're managing for you.
So you have basically hired an asset manager in that Wolfe. But somebody is managing the manager no matter what. So, yes, the the limited partnership just investing is is probably the you're right. The the true passive side of that. You know, it's funny as you're talking about this. I'm thinking about a investment that I made, I think, 2 years ago, and it was a 6 figure investment into a company into a new industry. And I got an email the other day that basically said, hey.
You know, projections or or the the the real isn't as good as our projections. We're trying to you know, revamp some things, you know, rather than seeing returns in year 3, we're thinking year 5. And my first question was, well, where's the where are the financials? And let me see let me see because because what you're like, even though I gave my money and someone else is doing it, I need to manage that relationship even the same because if I'm just like, okay.
Cool. We'll see you in year 5 Chaz opposed to going, no. No. No. I'm I'm now demanding accountability. Right? That's what it is. Like, that's that's what you're talking about. The management is, like, I'm demanding accountability to the numbers or to whatever you said, whatever, you know, Whatever the deal is. Right? Yeah. Exactly. Except now they when all this happened, we had to actually change all almost all property managers.
Because they were so used to their way, and it was a dumpster fire. And it was so when we when we actually decided who we were gonna go with in the future, we we laid out what process was gonna be. We put together a business system that shows our KPIs and how we want it done. Right? And when we sit down, hey. Do you wanna be a part of this? If you do, this is how it's gonna go. Yes. We're not telling you what kind of property management software to use. You do your own thing.
But as far as our deal, this is how it's gonna go when you report to us. And the ones that were on board, they're on board from the beginning. It's kinda like hiring a new employee. You go try to put systems in your company and you have an employee that's been there for 5 years and then you try to implement systems, they're gonna probably kick back. Right? But if you go hire somebody day 1, here's the system you follow or you don't get the job, guess what?
They're gonna follow it and they're gonna be happy. So it's just sometimes that new fresh blood helps. Hey, Kings and Queens. Chaz Wolf. I wanna talk to you about something that's super important to me. We put a lot of time and effort. We, meaning myself and my team, into this podcast into the content that goes out every single day. And if you have been getting any sort of value or insight from this, we want it to be able to reach other business owners too.
So we would love if you would like, comment, share, leave a review, post, share again, all of the things. On social media, on all the different platforms, or even on the podcast mediums of Apple and Spotify. We would love to be able to get our content into more hands, more entrepreneurs so they can grow their business as quick as possible. Together, we are building a community of like minded entrepreneurs who are committed to growing their businesses to new heights. So let's do this.
Let's help each other. Let's help each other grow. Oh, yeah. Not sometimes. Every time. That's like one of my secrets to building a team. You know, I I've got a couple of mastermind members right now that are rebuilding. Right? You know, had some people leave. They've had to fire some people, whatever it is. And I just get kind of excited. It's a little bit odd. I know. And it's a frustrating moment in business where you lose people or whatever, but it's like always another phase.
Like, it's like, oh, and I get to rebuild with brand new expectations with brand new level of commitment. Let's go. And I'm not trying to do that, like, every year or anything, but you get what I'm saying. It's a great opportunity. Yeah. Time can zoom. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. It's a great way to say it. I'm trying to put a optimistic spin on it. Okay? Alright. Let's let's talk about family for a second. You've talked to passive income.
You've talked time and investment or time as the asset that we're all after. And you talked to balance. And it's like the one word I don't believe in, but that's okay. We're gonna come to an agreement here. I already know because you already gave me your definition, which is the same as My definition is obsession. I wanna obsess in all areas. I wanna obsess in my marriage. I wanna obsess in my kids as a father. I wanna obsess in life. I wanna obsess in business. I wanna obsess in passive income.
I wanna assess in friendship and my podcast. We don't just do one show a week. We're gonna go to 7. Like, let's go. Right? So how how do you obsess or what you say balance all of those things all at once? I wanna know how you go all in. Chaz what you've described to me is that you're an all in or all out type of guy. So how are you going all in in multiple areas of life all at once? I mean, you you described it perfectly.
That's exactly what I I am all in, trying to be all in everywhere, not just a little bit everywhere. It's a mindset like you like you alluded to. That's right. But, you know, just this whole thing is I mean, I you know, I've actually wrestled with this question. Like, how do you get somebody? How do you give someone that drive, or how do you How do you help someone flip the switch on?
Or how do you like, why are they you know, I have friends that are, you know, really good friends that are just stuck with very little motivation to do anything different in life. And it's just like, how do you do it? And so I've always I haven't always, but ever since I took that leap, right, I actually that like I keep saying, that switch was flipped on. And it's just been go go go go go whenever you're aspect.
But one practical thing that that really helped me was I made a commitment to stop listening to the freaking music. Turn the freaking radio off. You know, I always listen to an audio book podcast. Whatever you wanna be. No. I listened to podcasts about family. I listened to, you know, podcasts, obviously, about business and whatever I'm commercial multi family. That's how I got into it. Always be educating yourself. And then the mind is a wonderful thing.
What you put in, you will begin to get out. So, you know, that's my biggest Key, I guess, is just every time I get in the truck, the Bluetooth kicks on, the podcast I was playing last automatically pops on, and it just starts playing. And, you know, I'm always I have listened to music and I don't know how long. Right? So it's it's what I put in.
And then And then it's like, you know, are you strategically hanging around with people, mentors, coaches, right, a network of of people that are in a place higher or level or right or beneficial to you. Are you mindfully hanging out with those kind of people? Or are you, you know, at the bar? I the bar's fine. Whatever. But you know, you get what I'm saying. So it's like those couple of just just stand on it type of mentality where what are you gonna do?
Are you gonna are you gonna be committed to getting better? Well, then listen to stuff that helps you get better, you know, educate yourself. Read a book. Right? Do that kind of thing. And and for the easiest way for me is when you jump in the truck and you just always listen to it. Yeah. Yeah. I'm hearing you say that those five areas of life as we've defined them flow from a place of you deciding to do it.
Committing to do it and then taking some action towards building yourself so that you can flow out in all of those areas. Listening to audio books and podcasts or what I do as well. I very rarely listen to music. Usually, it's when I'm with my kiddos and we're just, you know, having a blast of sorts and doing dance parties. My favorite, actually, on that is Justin Bieber, just in case anybody was wanting to know. We have some epic dance parties up in this house. Okay?
And and I'm not ashamed of Chaz, but Regardless, the what the input output, the old input output game is what Aaron's talking about. My question to you, Aaron, that someone might be thinking right now is Yeah. But that sounds really intense. And and, you know, like, it doesn't sound like there's any room for fun, but one of your categories was fun. So How do you answer that guy? Well, you know, I have to be mindful with fun too. Right?
So I we're always planning something looking forward to something, right, or Today, it's a little easier to have fun. But if I look back to when I was stuck in this grind, you know, fun was fun was an afterthought. If we had time, we we were gonna have fun. So, you know, maybe let that motivate you. You know, I I to me, now, like I said, I've got freedom. I've got time. So we can look at things a little different. Like, we intentionally plan to do things during the week. So Right.
It just may be a little different for some that are still more have been the grind. And, look, like I said, I'm not trying to say I've arrived or anything. I just have a system that I can nobody can tell if I'm there or not, right, because of my wonderful team and system. But you know, that that fun piece, I'm just saying, if you're there, you're gonna wake up one day. You're gonna look around. Your kids are gonna be out of high school.
And you're gonna be like, what happened just for the sake of a few bucks? Right? So put together some systems and do it now. Enjoy life. Yeah. I'm hearing you say because there's really 2 schools of thought here. It's like grind grind grind, and the rest will figure itself out later. Which people get caught in that, which you're saying they're at the end, is that they get caught in that for too long. And then it's like, oh, geez. My kids are grown. What happened? Right?
I I've been busy being busy as opposed to being strategic or, like, you're saying, no, I'm gonna I I had to grind. I had to grind too. I put in many, many, many hours and hours that took me away from my family many times, but there were certain commitments. Like, I've always put my kids to bed. Every single night. If I if I showed up, you know, 30 minutes before bedtime, we snuck in. We did our little routine. I put him to bed and then boom, back to the office I had to go.
But there's a difference between I'm committed to all areas of my life, and it's gonna look like different seasons along the way, like Aaron's talking about. Sometimes you just gotta go. You gotta grind. And and there isn't necessarily, you know, as much fun, although you can typically still find fun or fulfillment somewhere in that mix. And it might just be you putting your nose to the grindstone and knowing that it's gonna be worth it one day.
But it doesn't have to be something that, like, no, I'm committed to the hustle, the hustle, And now I'm just, like, work and nothing else is I'm that's what I'm hearing you say. Am I right on that? Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, you're you're committed to, you know, to spending that time with your family. And that's important to you. Right? So you're gonna do that. You're committed. Your commitment time. You're a kinda Look, the most important mentor I had, he told me.
He's like, dude, there's nothing I can do for you. You are the the person who has to make this decision. Are you going to make it freaking happen? And, remember that. And I right then, I was like, yeah. So am I gonna make it happen by putting my kids to bed every night? Yes. Am I gonna be there when they get off school? Yes. No. I take my kids to school every day. Right? You know? So, like, those kind of things, I'm trying not to get away from, but I understand it's hard.
I understand when you're stuck in all this, it's hard. I have put little trips and getaways on my calendar too. Like whoever may be listening. And then when it comes up to that time on my calendar, I'm like, dang, I shouldn't have done that. I got too much to do. I I get now I gotta go do this. Like, I know what that feeling's like, but, you know, the systems are the answer. Yeah. You said something super powerful on the systems, and then we'll move on here.
Is that nobody knows whether I come or go. And to take that phrase one step further to the actual value is that now you have something that's sellable. Right? And so, like, as the listener, they may not be thinking, I wanna sell my business today. But they're building something. You're building something that can be sold and which is an asset. Otherwise, you're back left side of the quarter. Right? You're you're you're just a business owner who Chaz you're just self employed.
But if you create a system, then that is something that is now considered an asset. And as far as a business system goes, you cannot clarify it as an asset if it cannot be sold. And no one's gonna buy something from you if it's your job. Or if you're half if you have to be involved, if they know whether you come or you go. So kudos to you, for building what you've built, I wanna I wanna just hammer that home for the listener. I got one last question here for you because you have in a mind.
You have a mindset. You have a drive that's just, you know, pretty pretty spot on, man. I've enjoyed this conversation. So want you to go back in time. Whatever age pops into your mind is is fine, but you see the younger Aaron. And you walk over and you tap him on the shoulder and you whisper something in his ear. What do you tell him? Turn the radio off. Right? No. You know, just educate yourself and take massive action.
So that's the thing that once I started educating myself, here recent, you know, when I decided to make this leap in life, the massive action came a little bit too for much further down the line than I'd liked. Right? Got it. Younger self may educate, take massive action. It's real simple. So it it doesn't matter what sector you're in. Doesn't matter what you choose. If you wanna be whatever you wanna be, you know, just pick something. Make it easily systematizable.
Pick that area, but then pick it, educate yourself on it, and take massive action. So, like, really, you know, you get to A lot of people sit back and they think of things and it just it gets too daunting and it's just it's just you gotta just take the chance. You don't have to learn at all at the beginning either. Like, the most important characteristic one of the most important characteristics I think I have is are helpful is, you know, I jump first and try to evaluate later Right?
I try to figure it out on the fly, and it forces me to do that. So maybe I would tell my younger self, hey. You know, take a chance. You know? I mean, imagine Chaz being a kid, like, you know, straight out of high school or whatever and and and or I don't know when you got started, but, like, just younger. You don't have a lot to lose. Right? Take some Chaz, build some stuff out. You know? That's right. That's right. Yeah. There's a lot of opportunity, obviously, to go back and play that game.
We can't. But maybe one of the listeners here today Chaz. And, of course, it's the same story we tell ourselves today. Right? Like, you're telling yourself today take a Chaz. Go for it. Right? That's right. Same story. Because it's belief, man. And what I'm hearing you say is just freaking go, but you you what happens after you take massive action? At least this was the case for me. I just convinced myself that I finally I believed it.
Like, I didn't try to negotiate with myself whether I believed it, upfront. I just did it. Just whatever it was. I took massive action like Aaron's talking about. And, eventually, I just talked myself into it. Whatever it was, right, whether that was sales at the beginning because I'm a learned extrovert. Believe it or not, I'm introverted on the scale. It's like, well, how is that possible? 400, you know, 30 podcasts in and, you know, 20 years of sales and all these businesses.
It's like, well, now I had to learn that. Same stuff. Education, take massive action, and then eventually start to believe, like, that it can be yours. Right? Absolutely. That's the formula. That's the formula. I mean, keep it simple so that you can do it. Right? You don't have to figure everything out. Love it. I also love the the timeline that you gave there. Just go go. I can tell you're an urgent guy, but you're also giving yourself It's a poise. It's like a no, it's okay.
Like, I'm going to get there in whatever period of time. And and when I get there, it'll be great. And the journey is gonna be great along the way too. So Aaron, how can the listener find you? Because there's a couple different ways here. First off, if you're if you're an entrepreneur listening and you just wanna connect with Aaron, obviously, he's got multiple companies and he's doing the thing right from an asset building perspective.
But if they wanna actually build assets with you and they wanna maybe invest or they wanna go to their next level in real estate, how can they connect with you? Yeah. You can send a message at on the website at securemultifamily.com. And, you know, I'm I'm on all the social media platforms, but, yeah, just reach out. You can send it send an email through the website probably the best way. Perfect. Well, we'll put all that information in the show notes as well. It's incredible to have you here.
Now that I know that you're just a skipping a jump down the road. We're grabbing lunch over here at Jackstack here in the next couple of weeks. That's the best place. And I can't wait to get to know you better. Thanks for being here. Bless your family and all that you have going here in 2023. Thanks for being here. As well. Thanks, Jess. 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 me from multiple businesses in multiple different industries and now interviewing over 2 or 300 other very successful 7, 8, and 9 figure business owners is Chaz It's tough to do it alone. And so gathering the Kings exists to bring together successful entrepreneurs.
In fact, we are putting together 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 within 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. 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.