Money People Deal - Stefan Aarnio

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Speed Wins

      In the days of the Roman Empire, war and business were synonymous. War was business and business was war. The entire Roman Empire was built on conquest and plunder. Ancient Romans often became wealthy through the spoils of war and later in life would venture into real estate, trade, or politics. In a similar way, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, a brilliant ancient Chinese military strategist, is found in the “business” section of the bookstore instead of the war section. Today, the same principles that apply in warfare also apply in business.

      A wise man once said, “Wars are won by legs, not by arms.” In history, smaller armies have been able to wear down massive opponents and take victory over large distances: Attila the Hun was able to wreak havoc on the much larger Roman legions by having a small, fast, elite, and mobile force. Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps were able to beat the British into the submission in World War II with a small elite, mobile force. Lawrence of Arabia deployed similar tactics in the pre-Second-World-War era that evolved into modern-day guerrilla warfare.

      There are two commonalities between Attila the Hun, Erwin Rommel, and Lawrence of Arabia. All three men employed the following into their strategies and tactics: 1) speed and 2) distance.

      History has proven that speed and distance are just as powerful on the battlefield as they are in the boardroom. Allow me to show you why.

      In business, speed wins. Advantageous terms like “first-mover advantage,” “speed of implementation,” and “velocity of money” are all concepts that revolve around speed. In business, if you have a chance to be fast or slow, it’s usually better to be fast.

      In business and warfare, distance is just as important as speed. Strategically, we need to have a short position, a medium position, and a long position, whether we are building a company or managing an investment portfolio. In addition, our lasting power, or “ability to win over distances,” whether short, medium, or long, is imperative to success.

      Strategies that are effective in short positions may not be effective in medium positions, and medium positions will not offer the same advantages

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      as long positions. In business, we need to have an effective mix of three types of strategies to be effective over distances and become leaders in the market.

      In my past businesses, I focused too much on long positions and neglected my short and medium positions. I would load up my real estate portfolio with long position buy-and-hold, cash-flowing real estate. In my music business that I ran in university, I poured my time, effort, and energy into producing a long-term brand strategy and forgot my short-term strategy. In my debt-buying business that I started in my early twenties, again, I had a long-term cash flow strategy but no short or medium position.

      These cash-poor businesses were aggravating, painful, and hard to grow because there were no short or medium strategies to generate the cash needed to properly grow and expand.

      In my early twenties, I spent most of my time working on cash-poor businesses with long-term strategies until I met J. T. Foxx (jtfoxblog.com). J. T. is a successful real estate investor who has transacted hundreds of deals, partnered with some very large money partners, and currently owns a huge speaking and coaching business. When I began to study J. T. and his success, I noticed he weighted his businesses around short positions and the fastest ways to make money.

      The Four Fastest Ways to Profit

      1) Flipping Real Estate: Flipping real estate has always been one of the fastest ways to make money in history. Real estate allows an investor to make huge gains with little or no work, and if you do your homework, real estate can be turned in thirty to ninety days with ease. If you’re in real estate, flipping should be a strategy used often as part of your portfolio’s cash generation strategy. The reason why flipping real estate is so lucrative is because for every dollar you invest, the bank will give you five to ten times what you put in. Instead of making a 5 percent gain, you can make a 50 percent gain in the same amount of time.

      2) Local Marketing/Branding for Other People: Marketing and branding pre-existing local businesses is a very fast way to make large profits.

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      Most business people have no clue about marketing and branding, and the market is littered with businesses that are undeveloped and have virtually no marketing. One fast cash-generation strategy is to find a very poorly marketed business or product and rebrand or remarket it. The entire business is pre-existing, so there is essentially very little work to do as far as business building. Selling branding/marketing services is also an extremely fast and lucrative way to make cash.

      3) Public Speaking: Donald Trump charges $250,000 an hour to speak in public. Other speakers like Raymond Aaron and Tony Robbins, have both made over $1 million an hour giving speeches. Most people would rather be dead than speak in front of an audience. However, this is one of the fastest, most lucrative endeavors for an individual if executed properly. There is enormous leverage in public speaking and tons of opportunity to build a brand. Consider the value of this avenue for a short-term strategy in your business. This strategy can be offered for free (capitalize on branding and lead generation), or it can be monetized for fast profit—who doesn’t love options? Why spend an hour selling face-to-face with one prospect when you can fill a room with prospects and sell to one hundred or one thousand prospects at the same time? The leverage in public speaking is tremendous; the profits are enormous, and the speed is unrivaled.

      4) Joint Ventures: In one year I was able to build up enough residual income to stop working as an employee because I used joint ventures to build my business. Joint ventures are the fastest, highest-leverage business tool available and can be used to build wealth quickly. Only 2 percent of entrepreneurs know how to use joint ventures, and this gives savvy entrepreneurs an enormous advantage. Credit card companies and Fortune 500 companies derive major profits from joint ventures, while small entrepreneurs and investors use zero joint ventures in their business. Whenever I am missing a resource, I will find a joint-venture (JV) partner who has what I am missing. Why try to own everything? I have become a specialist in joint ventures, and I am never low on resources because I know how to create favorable deals for everyone. Some greedy entrepreneurs don’t like joint ventures, because they have to give up a percentage of their business for access to extra resources. American billionaire Mark Cuban (blogmaverick.com) frequently asks budding entre-

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      preneurs on the hit TV show Shark Tank, “Would you rather have half a watermelon or a whole grape?” Every time I have to choose between the watermelon and the grape, I choose the watermelon.

      After studying the four fastest ways to profit, I began to rethink and restructure my business. I began to change my business to create balance and generate steady streams of cash. Today my business is healthier than ever, and my strategy going forward has liquidity and an abundance of options.

      Why Joint Ventures Are the

      Fastest Way to Real Estate

      Wealth

      Joint ventures are the fastest way to real estate wealth because no matter what type of resources you start out with, you can make fast profits with real estate joint ventures.

      If you have money, but no team of people and no deal, real estate joint ventures are beneficial because you can partner with a successful entrepreneur who has the right skills, knowledge, team, and a profitable deal.

      If you have skills, but have no money, you can raise

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