EP 156: How Tim Oppelt Has Persevered Through Difficulties In His Real Estate Career
The Profit First REI Podcast
February 16, 2023
David Richter
Summary:
Starting your own business can be exciting, but it’s also very often difficult. Between coming up with capital and being unable to find their footing and a steady income, new investors can experience a feeling of “financial anxiety.”
Our guest today, Tim Oppelt, wasn’t safe from this feeling either. He experienced money problems while in real estate that led him to take another job elsewhere. But with the help of Profit First, he managed to get himself out of his unfortunate circumstances and build his business into the success it is today.
If you’re experiencing financial anxiety, this is the episode you need to listen to give yourself the hope and motivation to keep pursuing your goals! Catch Tim’s story and insights into the industry in this episode of the Profit First for REI podcast.
Key Takeaways:
[00:58] Introducing Tim Oppelt and His Background
[03:49] What Got Tim Into Profit First, the Difficulties He Faced, and Taking on Another Job
[10:47] On Continuing His Real Estate Career Despite the Difficulties
[12:13] Implementing Profit First and How It Alleviated His Financial Anxiety
[17:26] On Why Investors Live Deal to Deal and Experience Financial Anxiety
[20:19] Advice for People Who Want to Get Into Real Estate Investing
[24:10] What Should Investors Do With the Uncertain Climate in the Industry
[28:44] Connect With Tim
Quotes:
[12:57] “I created this kind of automated Profit First process, right? I opened up the bank accounts…read the book, and…it just spoke to me.”
[16:35] “Once I decided I was going to follow the book…my financial anxiety started to go down, even though nothing actually changed in my life…I had a plan, and to me, that plan was what gives me gives me hope there.
[28:12] “Any business has ebbs and flows. Some quarters…one could be amazing, but…I’m not stressed about it because I’ve been implementing Profit First.”
Connect with Tim
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLIxhqZXnUPDDT0hmLWKLkg
Agency Website: www.wholesalingppc.com
Training Program: www.Get1HrDeals.com
Tired of living deal to deal?
If you are a real estate investor or business owner who is tired of living deal to deal, and want to double your profits, head over here to book your no-obligation discovery call with me. Either myself or someone from my team will hop on a short call with you to get clear on your business goals, remove any obstacles holding you back, and map out a game plan to help you finally start keeping more of the money you work so hard to make. – David
Transcription:
Tim Oppelt:
<affirmative>, I created this kind of automated profit first process, right?
David Richter:
Yep.
Tim Oppelt:
I opened up the bank accounts, right? I read the book and I was like, it just spoke to me so clearly. Like I know it’s like, seemed like a magical, oh, all of a sudden, one day it was better. But in a way it kind of felt like that because I, it wasn’t solved in a day, but I had the hope where it, my anxiety was overcome by hope. And I had that hope instantly after I read it, I was like, man, this makes sense. So you gotta understand, like, that was the biggest pain point in my life.
Outro:
If you’re a real estate investor who’s sick and tired of living, deal to deal, then welcome home. Hear from everyday real estate investors just like you, and discover how they’ve completely transformed their business by taking a profit First approach. This is the profit first for REI podcast, where we believe revenue is vanity. Profit is sanity. It’s time to start making profit a habit in your business. So here’s your host, David Richter.
David Richter:
Tim is our guest today on the show. Super excited for you to listen to this one. He dives into, whoa, he called it financial anxiety. That’s what he had pre profit first, and he was depressed. He said it was his number one pain point. He talks about how he felt at one point and even got a job somewhere else while in real estate. And he felt like the ultimate form of failure there because of what our culture preaches and teaches for that whole mindset. He tells a story of how he got out of that, how he feels today, where he is now. Like I keep saying for these episodes, I want to give you hope. Tim is going to give you a ton of hope no matter where you are right now. He also helps people make money as well. He’s active in the real estate world. And then he does, uh, marketing as well too. If you listen today, he’s gonna give you some great pointers from how to relieve that financial anxiety and how to make more money as well, too. Here we go. Hey everyone, this is Tim Opal here. We have him right with us. And I’m your host, David Richter. I am super excited because he does something that right now, if you’re listening to this, you probably need it <laugh>. It’s, he helps people acquire deals and market them. And if you’ve ever heard me say make, spend and keep money, you know, like as a business owner, you have those three numbers, those simple numbers, he helps you make more of it. So Tim, thanks for being on the podcast today.
Tim Oppelt:
Thank you David for having me. I’m very excited. This will be a good chat.
David Richter:
Yeah. Will, he had me on his podcast. We got to talk about private first. He interviewed me like with a book and everything, so I had to get ’em on here because Tim, I want to give people hope of what they can do with the finances and like how they can manage the money better, how they can make sure they’re keeping more of it. And I know you are a big proponent of profit first, so I wanted to just go into that story a little bit. Before we do though, why don’t you just give a very brief overview who you are, your background, and then, uh, you know, like what you’re working on currently.
Tim Oppelt:
Yep. I am a wholesaler. I’ve been wholesaling for seven, eight years or so, roughly. Small operation, not a big guru or anything like that. Um, I also have pivoted more so into marketing, like you’re saying. So internet marketing, Google Ads specifically, I run in my unbiased opinion, the number one P p C agency for investors. So it’s for investors, buy investors. Awesome. Uh, that’s what we do. And I have a training program I’m working on, which, you know, I’ll plug at some point, but, uh, that’s mainly it, man. Yeah,
David Richter:
There you go. So you, he’s in the trenches and he’s helping other people as well, get the deals from the same lead sources he does from, and he’s, uh, man, I’ve been to so many different events where this is such a pain point for people like P P C and all the ad spends and especially on Google and stuff. And, you know, some people have it dialed in, but they’re probably like the 5% in those rooms.
Tim Oppelt:
Yeah.
David Richter:
So I know Tim can, can help a ton there, but let’s talk about your private first journey. Let’s, I’m gonna throw that first question at you. What got you excited about private First?
Tim Oppelt:
It was less excitement and more of a necessity. Um, I was, uh, <laugh> basically the story goes, so it was, I think, what, 2016 maybe back when I was just doing wholesaling,
David Richter:
yeah
Tim Oppelt:
So it didn’t have a marketing agency or anything like that. And, you know, I, it was just didn’t really know what I was doing. I was closing a handful of deals and we had this like, banger deal. It was a wholesale deal. Um, and it was my market’s Delaware, so the wholesaler ended up being like $41,000 for, in Delaware it’s very high. My average was like nine. So it was this crazy deal. And, you know, my business was like very up and down. It’s probably a lot of wholesalers and even flippers experience and I wasn’t doing enough volume for it to be consistent. So financial anxiety was like probably my number one, uh, pain point in my life at that time. Just like, what am I gonna, how much money am I gonna make next month? Can I eat all this stuff? Like very much of a grind. And I closed this 40 grand deal and I just felt like a winner. I was like, man, like we’re finally good. Like, I think I finally made it like, I’m gonna have money for marketing now and like we’ll be good to go and a great deal. And then, so basically what happened, that was like in April, I think 2016, let’s, let’s say 2016. And then by December, uh, I was like out of money. I was out of money. And um, what happened was I got, uh, careless a little bit cuz I was like, oh, making 40 grand. Like this business is easy now. And I ordered like 10,000, um, postcards in like one go and this big marketing campaign.
And I was like, oh, I’m gonna 10 x I’m gonna 10 x like 40 grand every month. Boom, let’s do it. And I just flopped. I got like no leads in and I was like overpaying. I had like, um, a VA and I had like a sales guy and it was just like, just bloated expenses.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
And at the end of the year, I remember being, I felt the same at the end of the year as I did at the end of the previous year, even after
David Richter:
hmm-mm
Tim Oppelt:
I had this big deal. And because I closed this huge deal, I was like very frustrated with myself of like, where did the money go? Like, what happened? Like I did, I closed probably the best deal I’m ever gonna close. Um, and I thought I was like, good. And it would like provide me the safety net forever and I’ll be able to like grow off it. And I just ended up struggling back where I was a year later and it was really painful for me. And, um, I knew I needed to do something different and like, I felt like I very trapped and there was no way out. And I came to the realization that, you know, it was me. It was just my lack of, um, financial education, my lack of running a business. I didn’t know how to run a business properly. I didn’t know how to manage my finances. So I started doing like a heavy dive into like, how can I learn about finances and what not. And then I stumbled the across the profit first, uh, book.
David Richter:
mm
Tim Oppelt:
And it just, you know, basically once I implemented it, my financial anxiety completely went away. I had such a better handle on my business. Um, but more the most important thing was that my financial anxiety really went away. I knew what I needed to do. I knew what I could spend, what I couldn’t spend. And I’ve took that philosophy I’ve applied, it’s my wholesale business applied to my personal life. I’ve applied as my agency and everything else I’m gonna do. Uh, so ever since then it’s, it’s solved the biggest pain point I had in my life, which is why I’m a huge fan of it. So.
David Richter:
Well, that’s an awesome story. Let’s dig in a little bit there. When you were going through that year where you said you did the biggest deal, but we’re still at the same place you were the year before, did you ever feel like from April to December of that year throwing in the towel?
Tim Oppelt:
Absolutely Yeah, a hundred percent. Um, so yeah, what I ended up doing, like basically for the next year was like a bit of a struggle.
David Richter:
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Tim Oppelt:
Um, so full disclosure, I do work at Kara, everyone knows Kara. I worked there, I worked there as like a project manager on the side. Uh, I started there part-time and the reason why I even started there, right? I love the company, I love what they’re doing, so there’s a lot of reasons, but, uh, I was like having a lot of pain in my business and I wanted to get some type of, uh, other income to supplement it. So there was a point where like a summer hit, I guess it was summer 2017, where I told myself, I was like, Hey, I need to get a job. Like, I didn’t, It killed me like to accept that and to even think that because as entrepreneurs to me that’s like the ultimate symbolic failure sometimes. And I was like, man, like I don’t know what I’m doing. Like I need to get a job. And, um, I think that was probably the point before I had the profit first model, like really like cranking.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
Uh, so I did, so I got a job working at Carrot, um, supplement my income and that helped a lot. And then I implemented Profit First, which helped too. So, um, yeah, I mean, the a hundred percent I didn’t throw in the towel, I kept doing it, but I definitely took a little bit off the gas and I supplemented my income with something else.
David Richter:
Okay. Well then do you regret taking your foot off the gas or were you like, this is where I was at this stage of life and I’m glad I took the time to let off the gas and, you know, start implementing some of these things that would make it better? How, what do you think about it? Looking back now?
Tim Oppelt:
I don’t regret anything. I still work at Kara. I don’t, my financially, I really don’t have to be honest.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
I don’t know if we wanna tell ’em that, but yeah,
David Richter:
<laugh>
Tim Oppelt:
I like it. So
David Richter:
yeah,
Tim Oppelt:
Like I’ve, they’ve helped me grow my agency business as well and like I’ve learned a lot. So I think for me it was a good thing because like running a wholesaling business, if I’ve come to realize now, it’s like, it’s just running a business.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
Like I think a lot of people are drawn to the get rich quickness of it and a lot of people who don’t have business skills. Right. Um, and like managing finances is just one portion of it. And I was one of those people, I just didn’t have business skills but me basically as like, uh, maybe unintended side effect. I’ve learned a lot about business in general. I learned how to run my agency well, you know, managing people, leadership, like all this stuff that I never would’ve learned if I just kept kind of hustling and reading Facebook posts about people making big checks all the time. You know? So I don’t regret what I did, yeah.
David Richter:
Well good, I didn’t wanna lead you either way. I was hoping you were
Tim Oppelt:
Yeah.
David Richter:
Say that though, that you didn’t regret it because I feel like there’s gonna be, sometimes some people will need to take that step back and it might be for that time and it is right in our culture, especially the American entrepreneur culture, like you said, it, you felt like it was the ultimate form of failure was having to get a job. Like, oh shoot, like I’m unemployable. Right. You know, like, but I had to go and get one. And sometimes that’s the case. That’s where now if you haven’t prepared, it might be, you know, like it depends on what you, where you are in the market, what you’re doing in the market. It might be time to do something like that. That’s not failure. Failure is giving up completely. You didn’t give up at, during this time is what I’m hearing. You still kept doing deals, you still kept doing those things. You just got better as a leader and as an entrepreneur. Would you say that’s was another thing as well too? You started growing in other areas, not just in the real estate side, or not just in the financial side, but just probably in a lot of different areas at that time too.
Tim Oppelt:
Yeah, so last year for 2021, my wholesaling business net more money than I ever had and any given year prior net. And I worked the least amount in it because I got better at business, I got the right people on board.
David Richter:
Awesome.
Tim Oppelt:
I managed my money properly and we got lucky. It was a good year for the market, you know, I will say that
David Richter:
<laugh> right?
Tim Oppelt:
Uh, we got lucky, but, a hundred percent I didn’t give up and I’m definitely much better off, uh, today than I was yeah. Years ago.
David Richter:
Awesome. So don’t give up. If you’re listening now, don’t give up than and getting a job sometimes if you have to Absolutely do it like Tim did. Like that’s not giving up. Like still stay in your, what you can do to provide that value. That’s good stuff. And okay, so then let’s t transition a little bit there cuz we went real quick of like through your story and then you were like, I private first and then all my financial anxiety was kind of like, what’s the massage that a little bit? Like how did that journey go from Okay, it’s now I feel like we have a better picture 2016 from April to December pretty rough because it’s like just throwing money at the wall saying what sticks 2017 enter, I gotta get a job too. And Mike now doing those days. So when did Profit first come into play and how did that start to help relieve that financial anxiety?
Tim Oppelt:
I don’t remember the exact month or you know, like even a year, like
David Richter:
Sure
Tim Oppelt:
It was either 2017, it might have been 2018 as well.
David Richter:
Yeah,
Tim Oppelt:
I don’t know. Well, you know when the year the original book came out? I don’t even know. Um,
David Richter:
2015 20
Tim Oppelt:
Okay. It wasn’t not long ago. I wish I read it in 2015 when it came out, but, um, so I don’t remember the exact like, exact moment I read it.
David Richter:
Sure.
Tim Oppelt:
But, um, yeah, I read the, like I’m a very process oriented guy. Anyone who knows me.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
Like I am just, I love spreadsheets, you know, and, uh, so I created this, I think I posted it in your uh, profit first Facebook group like a year ago or something. But I created this kind of automated profit first process, right?
David Richter:
Yep.
Tim Oppelt:
I opened up the bank accounts, right? I read the book and I was like, it just spoke to me so clearly. Like I know it’s like, it seemed like a magical, oh, all of a sudden one day it was better. But in a way it kind of felt like that cuz, it wasn’t solved in a day, but I had the hope where it my anxiety was overcome by hope. And I had that hope instantly after I read it, I was like, man, this makes sense. So you gotta understand, like, that was the biggest pain point in my life. Like, it caused me a ton of pain. Like I was depressed. Like it was bad. So for me, this was like, it was number one priority. So I, like, within a week I had five more bank accounts opened up, you know, I created this spreadsheet basically where I put my, and I can like share it if you want or whatever in the notes. But, um, uh, yeah, just put like how much money I would, I did the, an analyzation of what my margin should be and what my expenses were,
David Richter:
right
Tim Oppelt:
And then I was like, well, what should they be? And that took a little bit to figure out. And then I would like automate. So, okay, so I’m gonna pay myself, let’s say five grand this month. And then the spreadsheet would just fill it out, okay, well three grand goes to, you know, my personal whatever, one grand to taxes, whatever to emergency savings. And I just followed that sheet and I’ve been doing it for like, what, four or five years now to this day. So I have my business one and then my personal one. So when I pay myself, they say, okay, how much do I set, set aside to, you know, for gifts or travel or emergency savings or my personal side? And yeah, I just created the spreadsheet. So I, every two weeks I just go into it, I just follow it. And then I’ve been doing it ever since. And then I haven’t really had any, any issues. And i will say it would help me a lot. I wanna ramble here, but, uh, I opened up, uh, I guess it was like Axo Bank. It’s just like an online only bank.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
And I got a debit card from them.
David Richter:
Okay.
Tim Oppelt:
And the, I like going out to eat and I used to go out to eat like a ton. Like, I would like, oh, spend way too much money.
David Richter:
Sure
Tim Oppelt:
And I would be very guilty of it. And I would buy, like, I buy like $200 pillows and stuff. Like, I just like waste money on things sometimes. And I would, um, uh, I ended up with a profit first model. I got this debit card, or I would like, okay, the stuff I wanna splurge on, like buying pillows or like a VR headset, which I have or going out to eat, I would only use this card for. And when I ran outta money on it, then that was it. And that helped me reign in my expenses. It became much more disciplined with my money. And I never felt like I was like spending money I didn’t have that never happened again.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
So in a way, I live off this like one random debit card I have. Um, and it’s, yeah, that was one reason why my anxiety, uh, disappeared. So
David Richter:
I like that you gave the actual steps there too, because as an entrepreneur you feel like you even said you like spreadsheets, but you didn’t have the financial education or knowledge. Like no one just gave you the business 1 0 1, you know, finances or anything. Or like bank account 1 0 1, you know, finances or whatever. So then I like that, you know, like setting up something like that in your life to be able to say, Hey, this is what we have and this is what I’m spending it with and this is the one thing that it’s tied to. Just gives you a very clear picture of what you have, what you’re keeping and what you’re doing inside of your life. And I did too. I did pick up on what you said that you said after reading it, you had that hope immediately. Like, I don’t know if that was when the knots inside of you, of that financial anxiety started to untie at that point, or would you say it was like that financial anxiety was like, I have hope that it won’t be here in the future. When would you say that the financial anxiety started to, you know, that, to start to untie and then would be more like, Hey, it’s not my biggest pain point anymore.
Tim Oppelt:
Yeah. Once I decided I was gonna follow the book, I think as I was reading it, after I read the book, I was like, okay, my financial anxiety started to go down even though nothing actually changed in my life,
David Richter:
<laugh>.
Tim Oppelt:
But, um,
David Richter:
sure,
Tim Oppelt:
The, I had a plan and to me, the plan is what gives me, uh, gave me hope there. So the plan,
David Richter:
awesome, that’s why yeah, We have this podcast. If you’re listening right now and you’re feeling that anxiety or the knots in your stomach or that financial anxiety or that depression, listen to Tim’s story. You know, it might just be the actual information that unlocks it for you. Or it might be setting up like he did or he, you know, being able to have the actual system in place, whatever it is that’ll help you. There’s people just like Tim that have done this over and over and over again, started to untie those financial knots inside of them. So I did wanna ask too, so you’ve been on this journey, why do you think a lot of real estate investors either live deal to deal or don’t know what to do with that or have that financial anxiety?
Tim Oppelt:
I think it comes down to education. A large portion of it. I, okay. Well I think there’s a couple of reasons. I think
David Richter:
There we go.
Tim Oppelt:
I think it comes down to education.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
I think a lot of people, again, getting into the business aren’t educated on business and they, um, including myself, right?
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
So there’s, you know, maybe not good leaders maybe that they treat their employees the way that they would complain they were treated at a job,
David Richter:
right.
Tim Oppelt:
You know, like
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
Things like that. And, uh, I think that’s a big capo, uh, component of it, you know, not managing cash flow. I think the reason why people don’t make it a priority to learn is a bit of a deeper question that I don’t necessarily have the answer to.
David Richter:
Yeah
Tim Oppelt:
Uh, for me it was just, um, maybe not, uh, maybe the expectation that it should have been easy. Like the business should have been easy.
David Richter:
Okay.
Tim Oppelt:
I think for me.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
Um, because you see it everywhere online, right? Like everyone’s making checks left and right and everyone’s
David Richter:
yes.
Tim Oppelt:
Netting or grossing this much, you don’t really know how much they net,
David Richter:
Right
Tim Oppelt:
But there’s not many conversations about, Hey, how much are people actually taking home? People are just posting the checks, right? Of 50 k, a hundred k and no one’s talking about net. No one’s talking about, um, profit margins. No one’s talking about, you know, employee commissions and how to structure salary and what the organizational structure should look like in your business. And, I think that’s why like, I was just following the internet, um, kind of content and none of it was like, Hey, managing your finances important. It was just like, go close deals. Go close deals, go close deals, and then you’ll be able to buy a Lambo. And so that was my mindset. I was like,
David Richter:
yeah,
Tim Oppelt:
Close deals, spend whatever I can. Like, hey, burn the bridges. Like if I go into debt, it means I care, you know, if I’m hustling, it means I care. And I think that was, now that I’m actually thinking about it, that was definitely why, I don’t know if it’s like brainwashing necessarily, but you’re just so focused on a certain culture, um, that isn’t, it’s not reality, right? Like people posting all these checks are not
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
It’s not like that. Like a lot of these people go, you know, they don’t end up staying in business years later.
David Richter:
Right.
Tim Oppelt:
So that’s why.
David Richter:
Right.
Tim Oppelt:
And I think it comes down to the internet culture and the culture in our industry.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
That got me too. Yeah.
David Richter:
That Is so good. And that statement there, if I go into debt I care, you know, like it looks like I care. And I think that is such a good way to sum it up the, of that culture and of the posting, the li you know, the checks and all that. It’s like, okay, I’ll post the checks, but you don’t know that I just had to, you know, take out twice this much just to keep my business afloat and just because I’m posting this check here. So man, that is really good stuff. So then, okay, we’ve gone through your journey from pre profit first, kind of with that financial anxiety, then you implemented it better on the other side. If someone were listening to this wanting to adopt profit first, what advice would you give them to the real estate investing community?
Tim Oppelt:
I mean, not that hard. Your book is literally behind you. I see it in the Cam
David Richter:
<laugh>. Yeah,
Tim Oppelt:
Right there. I have it on my shelf. I read the original one. Yeah. And I read yours too. And it’s like, it’s easier now than ever cuz you literally wrote the book specifically for our business. Like if you’re flipping homes, like I was just wholesaling, but if you’re flipping the original profit first might not have like, quite enough detail in it. Um, because it can get complicated with like, you know, organizing money just for, you know, if you have five different properties and like,
David Richter:
right
Tim Oppelt:
it’s like a nightmare.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
Um, so I mean, your book is the Promised Land. I’m not trying to say that cause I’m on your podcast, but like, just read the book. Like, it’s not that difficult to do. I’m more of a process guy, so it might have been a little easier for me versus someone who’s maybe more of like, you know, fly by night type of person, uh, you know, seat of their pants type of person. But like,
David Richter:
Yeah,
Tim Oppelt:
Read your book. I mean, read your book. Um, I would say then start, yeah, start doing it Open bank accounts and start honestly, being honest with yourself is the most important thing because until I was honest with myself, I wouldn’t have even read the book. And I think a lot of people gets, they like, it scares them. Like they, the reason like they may be listen to this podcast and they won’t do it is because like, deep down and I had this feeling, I don’t have this feeling anymore. I didn’t realize I don’t, but like I was scared, to go tackle my finances because of what I would uncover. I would uncover that I’m a failure. I would uncover that I’m actually not making money. And it’s, and that’s a very tough thing for people to accept. Um, but I think if you can face it and if you can, you know, will yourself and you believe that you can overcome it, I think it starts with belief. So if you can believe you’re overcome, It’ll give you the strength to face it. And once you can face it, then you can start to solve it. Um, so profit first and of itself, not a hard read, but it’s a hard read if you’ve been messing up your finances a lot cuz it forces you to get really honest. Um, and that’s, I think a biggest challenge for people.
David Richter:
Yeah. Uh, a hundred percent agree with you. And I also believe that once you go and be honest with yourself, that’s when it gives you your power back, you know, to be able to put it in your hands. So like he said either read it or just start it too. You know, like just take that action. But if you’re listening to this and you’re seeing the constant theme of people that come on this podcast, they’re action takers. I mean, the people that we get on here and we don’t get it, like all the gurus on here and stuff is a lot as well too. It’s a lot of the just the hardworking people that are doing deals or like Tim who’s also helping people, you know, make more of the money as well too. We wanna make sure that you take action. So take action from something that Tim has said today. Hopefully Tim’s been hopeful for you that you can get to where you want to be no matter where you are right now. Tim, I think you’ve done an excellent job with telling your story and then just really get diving into it how you were feeling and then how other people feel as well too. So I just wanted to commend you on that because I think it’s gonna give a lot of people hope here, you know, that they can get where they need to be as well too. I just have a few final questions here, but go ahead.
Tim Oppelt:
I wanted to ask you a question, uh,
David Richter:
yeah, interview me
Tim Oppelt:
While I can here. I know you’re,
David Richter:
yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
So, um, you know, with our agency business we’ve seen a fair amount of drop off just being transparent over the past
David Richter:
Sure.
Tim Oppelt:
Four months or so with the interest rates going up and it is anecdotal stories from all like we have, you know, 40 clients or 40 investors we work with. Right.
David Richter:
yeah
Tim Oppelt:
And uh, we get stories of like people scaling back their businesses, A lot of people are dropping, you know, from like our marketing agency too. It’s been a, you know, kind of a tough quarter Sure. Last quarter. Um, and what advice would you have for investors who, um, you know, with the market coming and there’s uncertainty, a lot of, I hear like a lot of big wholesalers maybe have to are scaling back, they’re getting rid of their office space and all that stuff. So who knows what the next six months will end up being.
David Richter:
Right.
Tim Oppelt:
But what do you think people should do, especially like wholesalers right now with the uncertainty of the market and buyers pulling back and what not. Uh, how any adjustments we should make on the profit first side of things? You know,
David Richter:
I think number one, if you don’t have it implemented cuz then it’ll give you yellow flags instead of red flags. You know why people are cutting the cords right now cuz there’s red flags everywhere. They’re, you know, like they’re bringing their one big bank account is screaming at them where if they would’ve had a system to say hey here’s a yellow flag instead of a red flag, like over this last quarter, this last month, we didn’t bring enough in like we’ve been doing for the last six months. It just gives you a better indicators faster to make decisions faster. The market two has covered a lot of since over the last, you know, however long for the last many years. And so now a lot of people are saying now it’s now it’s uncovering our since <laugh>, you know, now the market is ripping that veil back and that’s where now being very clear, what do I need to make? How much do I need to spend almost to the T and then I need to still keep some during this downtime. So I need to make sure you’re focused on that. And, i honestly for us, we’ve seen an uptick in business over the last two quarters cuz a lot of people are more scared I think now and need someone to be like, how much do I need to spend? Like what do I need in my accounts? Like what the heck am I doing? You know, running around a little bit like a chicken with their heads cut off. So that’s where I also see the people too, that have a system in place like this, they can pivot their marketing. Like if the same marketing doesn’t work, now they’re pivoting to something else. Like, okay, they couldn’t sell the flip, they’ll go to a rental now with that because the rental works for them, but they’ve got enough cash flow that they don’t need the big hit of a fix and flip to close right. In order to, you know, cover their business expenses. So that’s the thing, it’s taking these baby steps, becoming a better business owner through profit first, knowing where the cash is going. And then honestly like I feel bad when people cut their marketing cuz like that’s your lifeblood,
Tim Oppelt:
yeah
David Richter:
You know, like if you’re gonna scale things back, scale the other things unless the marketing channel just isn’t working. But if it’s working and bringing in leads and you’ve got that consistency and you can still take them down like do not for the love of God, stop your marketing. You know, like that is one big thing as well too. Cuz I hear that, I’ve heard that from several people in our space where they’re, you know, they’re taking a dip in the marketing and like being able to,
Tim Oppelt:
yeah
David Richter:
You know, pump that out and I’m like, oh man, like if I could just get some of these investors and you know, knock ’em upside the head and I get it, some of ’em are just throwing money out there to try and see it, you know, what’s working. A lot of ’em don’t know like, what is my return on the spend and whatever. But a lot of ’em, that is their lifeblood is that pumping the money into the marketing portion. So if you’re thinking about doing that, unless it’s killing you, unless it’s just like you can’t spend it or otherwise you’re not going to eat, that would be one of the last expenses that I cut is the marketing budget or slashing it unless, you know, there’s specific things that aren’t working. So there’s another tip as well too, because the people who are able to market through this time and get the deals in are going to be the same people from like 2009, 10, 11, 12, you know, that were like, man, I’m glad I was in real estate back then because 2021 <laugh> was my best year ever. You know, it’s like being able to capitalize on the crazy years that follow as well too. So there you go.
Tim Oppelt:
Yeah,
David Richter:
There’s my answer.
Tim Oppelt:
But, uh, I will say, uh, as well, like, so yeah, our business, like we’re not in trouble. Like we’re doing well, but yeah, last quarter, like we definitely took a dip a little bit, um, and, but because I’ve been using Profit First for years on it, like, it’s not like I wasn’t, I’m not like stressed about it, you know, I’m not stressed about it, like the way I structured the way, you know, commissions and like, we have so much savings, like we’re good. Um, and we’re like very profitable and I set my business up so that we’ll always be profitable no matter what. Um, but uh, yeah, like now that I’m thinking about it, like, you know, any business has ebbs and flows and like, yep, some quarter, like next quarter one could be amazing, but like, I’m not stressed about it because I’ve been implementing Profit First, right? So
David Richter:
There you go. That’s,
Tim Oppelt:
There you go.
David Richter:
That’s the hope here that we wanna give people is that you can say exactly what Tim is saying 10 years from now, five years from now, a year from now, that you’re not stressed about that stuff. This has been awesome. I need you to be able to tell about what you’re doing more because you provided a ton of value here. So how can our listeners provide that value back to you? Tell about what you have going on, you help people make money and you are in the marketing space and I believe in what you’re doing and you’ve been able to help people. So talk about what you’ve got going on, how they can connect with you.
Tim Oppelt:
Sure, yeah. Best way to connect with me and to see what I’m all about. See if you can trust me or not. You know, go to my YouTube channel, Tim Oppelt, um, I started YouTube channels. It’s, it’s pretty new, but I put a lot in my videos. I talk all about, uh, industry analysis, you know, why big companies, how they make money and like, uh, a lot of good stuff. So I spend like thousands of dollars on my videos. Um, so check it out. My channel, uh, I’m trying to go hard into YouTube. Uh, you can leave comments on my videos or hit me up there Instagram as well. It’s Tim Oppelt. But yeah, if you wanna learn about my business, again, I have an agency. We are the best agency for real estate investors, uh, in my unbiased opinion. So wholesalingppc.com and, um, I’ve, the market has demanded that I make a training program. I wasn’t really wanting to do it, but, people have been asking for it a lot. So if you go to, um, get one hour deals, I got the shirt on and everything. So one hour deals, one HR deals, so get onehourdeals.com. Um, it’s not launched yet, but there’ll be a wait list. I’m only gonna take like 20 people or so, but, it’ll be pretty affordable and we’ll have kind of like a Discord group. Um, but yeah, anyway, like I’m gonna teach people how to use ppc, how to manage it really on one hour a month, you can do it. It’s the most passive system to get deals in real estate investing and I’m gonna share it finally. Uh, it’s not about the money, like obviously that helps, but like, I just wanna get it out there. Just like you wanna share Profit first, right?
David Richter:
Yeah,
Tim Oppelt:
I think, uh, PPC and Google ADSD specifically, there’s a lot of, uh, bad information out there.
David Richter:
Yeah.
Tim Oppelt:
A lot of people teaching the wrong thing. So yeah, I’m trying to get the right information out there at a cheap enough price where like it gets out there. It’s not just,
David Richter:
yeah
Tim Oppelt:
You know, just for the big spenders, like it’s gonna be I think like 500 bucks, so
David Richter:
yeah
Tim Oppelt:
It’s not gonna be much, most,
David Richter:
yeah, exactly
Tim Oppelt:
Most of ’em are like five grand. So yeah,
David Richter:
Right. And that’s where if you need the help and you’ve got a team, you know, that’s where you go to Tim and he can help run that and like get it up and running and if you’ve got, you know, if you’re wanting to do that more in depth and then if you’re wanting to learn it, get it up and running, it’s not gonna be very much. And <laugh>, you’re probably getting into a time when other people are jumping out of real estate and you jump in, you know, like that’s where, this is where wealth is created. It’s either lost or created here and that’s where the people that can withstand the storms and then do the things that Tim is talking about too. Make that money, making sure that you’re doing things the right way, knowing and learning and going the directions and the route that you need to go in order to make it. So he said wholesalingppc.com, that’s probably like a one-stop shop for his company. And then you’ve got the get one hour deals with a, it’s the one hr, so get onehourdeals.com for the
Tim Oppelt:
Yep.
David Richter:
Um, for that as well too. Then you look up his YouTube channel, I we’ve had him on here. You can obviously tell I love having people on that have implemented Profit First for obvious reasons since this podcast. But they also, that to me means that they’re a serious business owner. They’re not just real estate investor, he’s not just marketer coming on to market his stuff. He also ha runs a successful business and you heard, did you hear what he just said a few minutes ago? He’s like, I set it up so my business is profitable. So like, this is someone who cares about his business as well too, and he cares about your business and like this is a way to set it up correctly. So make sure you follow him with all that great stuff. If you want to be like Tim and stop the financial anxiety and those knots in your stomach and like feeling depressed and like this, if this is one of your biggest pain points, you can also go to simplecfo.com. We’ve got our fractional C F O business to implement Profit First Stop Living Deal to deal, like get that inside of your business. If you need that help to help lock along there, you could go to that website, simplecfo, we’d love to help you keep more of the money that you are making. And then if you wanna make more, reach out to Tim as well and remember, start making profit. I have it in your business. Tim, thank you so much for being here today.
Tim Oppelt:
Thanks David, man, I appreciate it. Thanks.
Outro:
This episode of The Profit First for REI podcast is over, but there are plenty more where that came from. Are you ready to learn how David and his team can help implement the Profit First system in your business? Schedule a discovery call at simplecfo.com right now. We’ll see you next time on the Profit First for REI podcast with David Richter.
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