About 18 months ago I started an “invite only” small networking group of people local to me that that had the expertise, the experience and desire to propel their real estate business forward. Facing some growing pains myself, I solicited others to meet weekly and “mastermind” together to talk about what we were doing, how we were doing it, how to manage our growth experiences.
Where it was true that I learned a lot from my other weekly real estate networking meetings, the group was getting too large to really answer some critical issues I faced at this mid-point stage in my real estate investing career.
Why a Mastermind?
I’m not talking about networking to get deals, or to promote your business or to make money. I’m talking about the sharing of our business lives, our paths our traction and our learning experiences. I’m also talking about holding others accountable in their path. This close and intimate level of sharing our issues and challenges is risky and scary. Part of this includes being vulnerable to judgement and criticism if you are in the wrong group.
If you’ve had any entrepreneurial background or business education, you probably know the term “Mastermind” came from Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich”, as he reported in his study that masterminding is one of the critical activities the most successful business leaders practice.
How Did it Work Out?
Actually there were 2 masterminds that started about the same time; this one and a female only mastermind that incorporated more of a vibrational, law of attraction kind of approach. That one didn’t last long, and I think it was because of the various levels of participants. Two were custom builders, me, and a brand new real estate investor. I don’t know if it was too “woo-woo” for some, or if the group was just too small, or the varying levels of our experiences weren’t a good fit, but within about 3 visits people stopped coming.
The other one still continues. We setup some rules about inviting others: the level in their business, the opportunities before them, their level of comfort being transparent about their business, and their level of integrity. Several names came up and shot down for some of the reasons above. There were some that were invited, but rarely actually attended. For whatever reason it wasn’t a good fit for them, so we stopped inviting them.
In the 18 months, here is a sampling of how the participants evolved:
- A property management company owner stopped jumping on so called “good deals” which were single family properties near Austin, and concentrates 100% of his time acquiring distressed apartment complexes, adding value to those properties with the intention of refinancing and/or selling them at a higher cap rate. The “bright shiny object” syndrome was getting in his way and distracted him from his real long term goals.
- A local custom builder happened to have a commercial property close to downtown Austin, and through our masterminding and research she had done for another of our members, stumbled across a repurposing idea for her commercial property that will exponentially explode her cash flow – while providing a highly needed service in that location.
- For me, they’ve helped me vet my first commercial property I’m acquiring, one that can finally provide me some consistent cash flow PLUS help me evaluate exactly how to optimize the value add options present in the property.
- For another, one with money and many single family properties in Texas, is almost ready to get out of his comfort zone (having hundreds of single family homes), by considering consolidating into easier to manage projects.
These types of transformations don’t happen with busy networking meetings. Sure, there could be deals done within those meetings, and yes I’ve found many private investors for my deals in those types of meetings, so I still encourage networking with others as you never know how you can help someone, or they help you. But to really transform to a higher level in this business you need to bounce off ideas with others that complement you.
How Can I Start a Mastermind?
I looked at those around me and wanted to be around people that were doing different things than what I do. I found one person that was a commercial realtor interested in self storage and happened to want to do the same thing. From there we started exploring people that we thought would fit in with that group. We invited:
- A Custom Builder
- A Note Broker
- A Short Term Rental Specialist
- A wealthy business man (with hundreds of properties) that wanted to learn more about Real Estate and was frustrated that the other networking meeting had grown so large
- A Property Manager
- A Highly Successful Fund Manager we wanted for his business acumen
- And me, online auction VIP, and Rehabbing Remotely.
So think about those that are around you, that have some expertise or resources you don’t have, knowing they are solid, honest and ethical and start a lunch meeting. It may work out and it may not. One thing for sure, it’s been well worth my time.