From Side Hustle to Full-Time Business
From Side Hustle To Full-Time Business
Why is real estate a strong option for building wealth through effort and persistence?
There is a level playing field in real estate because of the lower barriers to entry. Unlike becoming a surgeon, where credentials, degrees, and residencies are required, real estate allows you to succeed through hustle and determination. Once you are oriented and educated in a specific asset class—such as Airbnb or land flipping—it becomes more about effort and persistence.
Many people, especially early on, have more time and drive than money. Real estate investing is well-suited for them. Looking at the bigger picture, a large percentage of wealthy individuals either made their wealth through real estate or now hold significant real estate assets. If you are focused on building long-term or generational wealth, real estate is a strong option.
Additionally, real estate is easy to understand. Most people have a basic understanding of what a house or a piece of land is, making it a straightforward investment vehicle compared to more complex options.
How can mastering a skill or strategy through frequency lead to long-term success?
You can hustle without focus and spend decades jumping from one thing to the next. You need to lock in on one thing and focus. For me, that was a struggle. I believed that anything I tried should work within three months. It didn't. I later learned that almost anything will work if you commit to it for 12 to 18 months and focus entirely on that one thing. Timing was also a factor for me—I had jumped from one thing to another for a while and was finally ready to commit and give it a real go.
Mindset is another key element. If you enter something with skepticism, you're unlikely to succeed. Early in your entrepreneurial journey, you are fragile and second-guess yourself often because you haven't built up your confidence yet. Mindset plays a big role as you develop your skills. Mastery comes through frequency, and for us, that meant doing a high number of low-risk deals. We didn't start with million-dollar deals; we did small ones where we made only $2,000.
We built our success on doing a high volume of low-risk deals. Even though the profit on each deal was small, it was almost guaranteed. After completing 20, 30, 40 deals, you start to feel more confident and proficient. Some skills are learned as you go—you're building the plane while flying it. I was deliberate in my education and cautious about investing large amounts in something I was skeptical about. I spent time researching and, once validated, took small risks. For us, it was about doing many small transactions to build confidence and proficiency.
How can a natural talent progress into business deals and partnerships?
Whether in the corporate world or elsewhere, I've always enjoyed training people and helping newcomers. I've had both terrible and great trainers and mentors. The quality of a mentor significantly impacted how quickly I advanced. When someone new joined our profession, I enjoyed training them, shortening their learning curve, and helping them reach their goals as quickly as possible. This was something I did long before becoming an entrepreneur and starting businesses. It was a natural fit for me.
I also enjoyed documenting processes and systems to streamline tasks. These two interests—training people and building systems—worked well together. I would see people posting questions in real estate forums, particularly about land investing. They often had the same questions I had a few years ago.
At that point, we had built a successful business. After the first two or three years of intense work, I reached a stage where I was working only 12 to 15 hours a week, and everything was going great. With some free time, I found myself answering questions in forums. I realized that people might struggle with a question for months, while I could answer it or provide a solution in 10 minutes, either with a Loom video or a quick call.
This led to some joint ventures and deals. People started referring their friends, saying, "Work with this guy; he knows what he's doing and will help you get deals." It started one person at a time and grew organically through word of mouth—no paid ads, just referrals. That's how our education business began.
What are common biases entrepreneurs face when evaluating why a business idea didn’t succeed?
It's hard to read the label when you're inside the jar. It takes introspection and self-awareness. When I started looking back at the things I had tried, I asked myself, "Were they all bad choices, or what happened?" I realized some were only three to six-month efforts, and I thought, "Maybe I'm switching too quickly from one thing to the next."
You have to have a hard conversation with yourself. Many people go through life with a bias, thinking, "That didn't work; dropshipping doesn't work; real estate investing doesn't work." But these things work for many people—they just didn't work for you. Sometimes, you need to take accountability and ask, "Did I not give it enough effort? Did I not invest enough money or time?"
For me, this came from self-inventory. Instead of thinking, "Maybe I'm not cut out to be an entrepreneur," you need to find the reason why it's not working. I looked back, figured out what went wrong, owned up to it, and decided not to make the same mistakes in my next venture.
I also follow many influencers and authors, and they can seem larger than life, appearing fearless. But as you grow your business, generate more revenue, and start meeting your mentors and heroes, you realize very few, if any, are truly fearless. Most are courageous. They face fear—of losing money, disappointing their families, or public embarrassment—but they act anyway. I used to think these people had a fearless gene I didn't have, but it's not about being fearless; it's about taking courageous action.
How can business owners set clear, measurable goals to define success?
For me, it's more than just having a "why." You need defined goals—clear objectives of where you are going. When my wife and I started, our goal was to build a side hustle generating $10,000 a month in recurring revenue. That is measurable and quantifiable—you either reach it, or you don’t. It’s not vague like "living freely." You have to define what that means.
Knowing why you're doing something is important, but you also need to know what success looks like when you get there. Many people base their idea of success on someone else’s image. I encourage you to take a moment to define what success means to you. Is it being able to go out to lunch with your wife, walk the dog twice a day, work a few hours when you want? Or is it owning a business that makes $100 million a year? Define what you’re working towards and what a perfect day looks like, and work toward that.
We started with something achievable that could replace my salary. Our first goal was to build a business with $10,000 a month in recurring revenue. When you reach that, you build confidence and start questioning why you set that number in the first place. It may seem small in hindsight, but it felt like a big goal at the time. Building a business is more than just hitting financial or revenue targets; it's about personal development and the confidence you gain along the way.
When I coach others, I start by asking, "What are we trying to do here? What are we trying to build?" Are you a single person who doesn't mind working 60 hours a week to build a massive business? Or do you have a family, love spending time together, and need a highly efficient business with a supportive team? It’s very individual. You need to ask yourself, "What am I trying to accomplish? What am I trying to build?" It's about having a clear plan, not just hustling every day without direction.
*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.*
