71: How to Go From Side Hustles to Building a Passive Income Empire
Behind Their Success: Ep 71
Paden: Eric
Eric: [00:00:00] I'm sitting there during one of these renovation projects and I'm just covering drywall dust. I probably had like five cups of coffee at this point. And I'm sitting there thinking like, I am only trading my time for money.
Hello everybody. Welcome to Behind Their Success Podcast. I'm Peyton Squires, the host, and today we have on Eric Burns. He is the founder of Flowers Capital. He's a Cincinnati based commercial real estate investor and capital raiser, passionate about multiple income streams. Eric uses his network to fund and operate successful projects for investors.
Paden: Eric, welcome on Behind
Eric: their Success. Hey Peyton, thanks for having me on. Looking forward to talking to our entrepreneur friends out there. Yeah, absolutely Eric.
Paden: So, um, tell us a little bit about what you do, right? You're in commercial, uh, commercial real estate.
Eric: Yeah, so, um, I actually, um, am in commercial real estate.
Started off in residential, as a side hustle years ago. But my primary focus now is what I do is I raise money from investors. And we place it with, uh, some really great operators all throughout [00:01:00] the country to buy commercial real estate property. So we pull our funds together and go in and buy these, uh, you know, buy at scale and really take advantage of what commercial real estate has to offer.
Paden: Yeah. when you say commercial real estate, what, uh, is it just kind of any type of commercial real estate or anything you specialize in there?
Eric: Um, so right now we're kind of dialed back and we do focus mainly on multifamily investments. A lot of them with the value add component. There are some, um, other, alternate investment, asset classes that we'll get into. But given kind of how the thing, um, how the market is right now, we've actually kind of dialed back and we are focused pretty much on multi-family. There's still really strong dynamics, uh, demand drivers and, economic drivers that are supporting multifamily coming up.
So we're still pretty excited about that as that asset class. So we're sticking with it.
Paden: Yeah. Yeah. You know, of course, you know, as an investor and whatnot, right? You always got to, let the market tell you what to do, right?
Eric: how do you source deals or what's your process there of even like underwriting deals or, I mean, just high level of course, but,
mm-hmm. Yeah, [00:02:00] so, um, when I first got into commercial, I was coming out of residential and what I found was. I had gone and, it was, I think 2014 I bought my first rental property.
And it was just a, it just made sense and it was, really just a side hustle. All my side hustles before that hadn't panned out. I was working as a Cincinnati fireman. I retired after 17 years and had always done the side hustle. And, and so I had gone from, being a single family. landlord and, and I moved into flipping, um, basically renovating duplexes.
I'd flip 'em to myself and hold 'em for, long-term, rental properties. And it, and it was like, I'm sitting there during one of these renovation projects and I'm just covering drywall dust. I probably had like five cups of coffee at this point. And I'm sitting there thinking like, I am only trading my time for money.
Paden: Yeah. And,
Eric: and that is really what hit me. And so I started leaning into commercial. And so from there I started looking and I started sourcing my own deals. I talked to [00:03:00] brokers and I found deals, and I was putting together general partnership and, and all this sort of stuff. And then I look around and I have this network of really great operators.
Mm-hmm. and I, and I was needing to raise money for my own deals, but then I have all these operators that are saying, Hey, why don't you partner with us? We, we, we'd love to have you raise capital for our deals. And I'm like, well, your deals are better. You're on better markets, like of course I'll do that.
So it was just a natural transition. It made sense, it made a lot more sense to leverage my network of these great operators. So that's really how we source our deals now, is it goes from who the operator is, then we'll look at the market and then we'll go from there. And then we'll go to the deal. So really most of the deals I source now are from, a handful of really trusted operators that.
just really great systems. They're vertically integrated and they're established in these prime markets. Like we just closed a deal in Phoenix that we're super excited about.
Paden: you know, you talked about earlier about when you were. in SIE families or flipping single family stuff.
And [00:04:00] that I started my real estate investing, career or whatever you wanna call it, in 2016, kind of doing the same thing. now I haven't taken to the level that you have. I've kind of dabbled in a lot of different things. But you talk about earlier, you know, the single family flips and, and you are just trading your time for money.
Mm-hmm. Right? It's like, it's a constant hunt. And this constant, you've gotta find this deal to be able to have work to do, to be able to flip and, and take this money. But, I have a good buddy that's in, in the multifamily space like you are now at a very high level. And that's what he did.
I mean, he flipped over 2000 houses, you know, as, he's only in his mid thirties and after, after flipping over 2000 houses, he's like, man, I'm stupid. Why am I doing this right? It's like, because I, I keep doing all these little deals where you could step back and you really learn the multifamily space and it's like, okay, well this is a way better leverage for my time.
Eric: Mm-hmm. Oh, leveraging time. That's a perfect way to, yeah, that's a perfect point to hit on is just, you know, and I actually wrote an article, kind of just exploring that idea of is, uh. You know, for me going in [00:05:00] and, and I certainly don't regret my time in residential or any, or anything. Well, you learned
Paden: unreal
Eric: amounts, I'm sure.
Oh my gosh. The hands-on learning experience was invaluable and I rely on it every day now. But, for someone that doesn't want to go down, and make it a full-time profession, you know, going passive at 50 grand for, um, you know, $50,000 can buy you a really a, a really nice cash flow and rental property.
or it can buy you a, passive investment in a syndication, in a multifamily. And, and the big difference there is, is for me, like right now to go in and to buy a, a residential rental property, I. Um, it, I would be buying a job for 50,000. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've made that
Paden: mistake.
Eric: Yeah. So Landlording is, uh, is, is definitely a full-time job.
and it's never like you get a call for a broken doorknob that's convenient. You're always in Florida or something. You're always out of town or something, and it's like, yeah. And then that doorknob, by the time you like, go to Home Depot and [00:06:00] fix it, it's like two hours of your day. Because you can't get in and outta Home Depot in less than an hour and a half anyway.
So a 10 minute doorknob fix takes two hours and you're going, what did I just do with my old day? Like, yeah,
Paden: for me, I, I sold off a lot of my single family stuff in 2021, you know, kind of taking and taking advantage of the market there. And, and also it was that, it was, I didn't wanna be a landlord.
I was now, you know, 45 minutes or so away from all my houses I had moved and. Stupidly enough. You know, I, I was the guy managing everything and, and you're right. And so I'm also an accountant and, and you know, those calls and texts and whatever would only come in the middle of tax season when I had
there's never
Eric: a day where you're looking for something to do, always a day where you have too much to do.
Paden: and you know, you're right, and, and you know, I have. Um, I own a whole lot less real estate personally, directly, and I've, you know, I've done some syndicate deals or, you know, investing in, in some, um, you know, private deals or, you know, limited [00:07:00] partner deals.
you know, nobody calls me. I get, and my money shows up in my bank account and I don't have to do anything. And for me that sounds amazing.
Eric: Yeah. Yeah. And that, and that's what it is for, why I love the product and why I love commercial real estate so much is that. It really is a really passive way to earn income.
And for those of us looking to really get back financial freedom in, in our time, to reallocate to the things that matter more than, you know, going to work nine to five, it is such a powerful vehicle to t to tap into. Um, and I, and I think a lot of people, it can be overwhelming at first, and, and that's kind of what I, and that's kind of one of the things I enjoy about Flowers Capital is the educational.
Aspect of it is kind of getting people, up to date and saying, Hey, you know, here's, here's, it is really not as overwhelming. There's some SEC regulations and things like that that can be like, oh my gosh, what are we doing? But really it's just the SEC looking out for all of us, so we're remaining compliant, which is [00:08:00] good.
So, uh, aside from a couple of these little caveats is really, not as hard to get into as people think. And I think that, um, being able to just kind of help people get, the learning curve going there and really getting people on the same page and realizing how accessible it really can be for just an everyday investor.
Paden: you know, I'm a tax accountant and you know, we talk to our clients all the time about real estate. Um, and the tax advantages and the intricacies of all that. and are able to, you know, qualify as a real estate professional or there's several other, there's lots of different caveats in the tax code, but real estate can be a very, very efficient way to grow your wealth.
Now it's gotta be. You know, I'm also a, a licensed financial advisor, so, you know, obviously I'm not giving anybody financial advice. Everybody needs to, nor am I. Yeah. Everybody needs to do what's, you know, obviously right for their specific situation, but real estate very well could be, uh, a piece of that, right?
Eric: taxes and stuff like that, it's like icing on the cake. You know, not only [00:09:00] do you get, money showing up in your account quarterly, then you get a nice little kickback at tax time too. And, especially now we're all kind of looking into our taxes. We're going.
And it would be nice, nice to pay the tax man a little less. Yeah. Wasn't, yeah.
Paden: And, like I said, if there, there's certain ways you can qualify and structure your stuff. I mean, there's, you know, there's things like, you know, cost segregations that you could do on property and, If you're, if you're doing real estate at a, at a high level, can really manipulate your income from year to year, what you're doing when it comes to taxes, right?
Eric: Yeah. And, and, and then the power of compounding too, when you are passive is that, you know, you, you don't, you're not using up your time. So you're able to, reinvest and reallocate and, you know, the numbers that they, they compound and compounding is a powerful thing as we know, and they add up quick.
So it's, it's a neat product and. And I'm really excited because actually I was a finance major, and before I went to the fire department and I always was kind of looking at, what it would look like to have a company and things like that. And, [00:10:00] so as I'm doing these side hustles, I was, you know, I'm, I'm just kind of glad I landed where I did.
'cause I went to work at a mortgage broker and I was selling a product that I didn't believe in. It was like hard selling. And it wasn't for me. That's so, so now I have a product that I'm passionate about because I know how beneficial it is and I get excited to talk to, people about it so I don't have to like hard sell.
So it's so like coming on shows and talking about commercial real estate, exciting. 'cause it's like, Hey guys, like this is a great thing for all of us. Like, let's learn a little bit more. So having a product that I believe in is really fun.
Paden: Uh, yeah, that's, that's huge. You know, if you know anybody, any listeners and they're out in sales.
you're gonna be a terrible salesperson if you're selling something you don't believe in. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, or at least I seen you may, you may still be able to produce, but like, it's certainly not gonna be anywhere near your potential. Right?
Eric: No. And you know, and it's like, is it really selling?
If you're having a conversation about a potential investment with a smile on your face? No. You're just having a [00:11:00] conversation and. Yeah, it's good stuff. It's been fun. Yeah.
Paden: Yeah. And that's, you know, the same way I found, you know, I found that in, in my space where we're really, you know, I, I do a lot of really kind of high level tax planning for people where I come in, it's like, Hey, I can save you X number of dollars.
you know, I just lay it out there and it's like, Hey, you wanna do it or not? You know, there's no, no no sale, no nothing really. It's just exactly two people having conversations. It's like, Hey, I think I found you some value here.
Eric: Exactly, yeah. Bringing value to the table is fun.
It's energizing. So I'm definitely glad where I landed. Yeah.
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Paden: So, you know, Eric turning, kind of the conversation even, you know, back, back to you a little bit, so you said you started out as a finance major, was a firefighter for, what'd you say, 17 years or something?
Eric: 17 years. I retired as a lieutenant. Yeah.
Paden: Wow. Wow. That's, that's amazing. looking back, you know, over, over your career and kind of your journey to where you got, got to today, how, would you define success today versus how you may have defined it, you know, say the day you retired as a firefighter?
Eric: Um, so I think [00:13:00] success today is more centered around, fulfillment and impact. I living my days that are. Fulfilling to me, and am I impacting the people that I and my family and other people in the community? so when, when I first graduated from high school, I definitely had the mentality that you go, to college, you get a good job, you, and then you do the nine to five retire with your 4 0 1 a type of thing.
Yeah. And you do
Paden: that for 40 years.
Eric: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. And so when I landed at the fire department, it was just my first big pivot. And my whole story is just doing the next thing that makes the most sense to me. And so that was my first move, and to look back. And every time I've done something like that, the, the growth I've experienced has been so invaluable.
and I use the fire department as example. 'cause I always kind of joke, I was 25 when I got hired and I wasn't a very mature 25-year-old. And multiple, and most
Paden: guys
Eric: aren't. Yeah. Yeah. I'm surrounded with these guys that really, built into me character traits that [00:14:00] matter. holding myself accountable, integrity, things like that.
Um, being able to, you know, we count on each other, so yeah. Lives
Paden: are on, you know, in each other's hands, right? Mm-hmm.
Eric: Yeah. It's a high stakes game out there. And, and so they, they really built into me these, these attributes that I value so much today. so I just did that first pivot and then I was doing a side hustle thing and I, 'cause I always had that itch to start my own company and I didn't know what it would look like and I didn't know what it would be.
And the side hustles weren't panning out. So when I did my first, my next, uh, jump into real estate, it was just because it made sense. And I, so I get this rental property and my grandpa, um, and I actually named the company after him, Sheldon Flowers. I had to sit down there in front of him. he was a, just a traditional business guy, world War II type of guy, and came from a farm in Kansas and mm-hmm.
So and I remember sitting in front of him and explaining to him why I thought this is a good idea to buy a rental property. And I knew the numbers kind of [00:15:00] on the, you know, the napkin or you know, the back of napkin. Oh, it makes sense. Like here's what expenses will be and here's like what I expect vacancies will be.
And with student family housing, it was a good, um. It was a good, predictable vacancy kind of situation. so when I did that, I got the keys and then I realized like I hadn't really thought about the, like renting it up and being a landlord. I just knew I knew how to build things. 'cause I had done some renovation work, so I knew how to build things.
I did projects. It worked with my schedule and I went for it. And so that pivot led me into this building, this skillset and in real estate and. I was buying really well, so that gave me some wiggle room while I learned. But, um, and it paid off really well when I, when I got rid of top of market as well, I ended up getting rid of 'em at the top of the market.
So,
Paden: yeah. You know, a couple, one, one key point I wanna kind of circle back you made there, Eric, was you said, I just always did whatever the next. Step, you know, or the next best step, you know, whatever makes [00:16:00] sense to me mm-hmm. At the time. Yeah. And that, I think that's a, a very good mindset, right?
it's so hard to plan out, you know, I, I really don't do any strategic planning or anything longer than like 90 days. I mean, I have my big vision of, of where we're going, but tactically, you know, 90 days. The world changes so fast that, trying to make a plan for longer than 90 days, but by the time you get there, like none of those things will even be important to you.
it is so key that like every day you're just. You know, you're moving in the right direction and you're just evaluating, okay, is this still the direct, you know, are these still the same steps I need to do, you know, am I still heading, you know, to my ultimate goal?
Right,
Eric: exactly. And a lot of our friends out there know, it's kind like as an entrepreneur, you are kind of staying out over your skis a little bit, and you're uncomfortable a lot of the times because you're pushing yourself outta your comfort zone. Mm-hmm. And then you look back and go, whoa. Like, I, like I had no business buying that rental property.
Yeah. You're like, they gave it to me. [00:17:00] But, um, the, but what I learned from that was just, you know, it's just amazing that like, you know, by doing the next right thing and staying a little uncomfortable and, just kind of seeing what kind of opportunities I can create for myself, the amount of growth and the amount of education I've gotten from that.
Has been just, paid itself back a zillion times over.
Paden: Yeah. Yeah. And that, that experience, um, and I've talked about it on the show several times, Alex Hermo talks about, debt of ignorance. And that we all have to pay down our debt of ignorance. And, and that's paid down through money by like buying courses or, or just time with experience.
But one way or another, you had to pay down your debt because you didn't know how to make money in real estate. Right. No. How to do work
Eric: stuff. Yeah. just a lot of businesses in general. Business in general. Mm-hmm.
It's just figuring it out. and I know I'm a big proponent of communities, masterminds, and just. Community in general and the way I paid down my debt has been leaning into groups of people like that and [00:18:00] being humble enough to ask dumb questions. And if you're not in a community right now, like I feel like it, it's definitely worth looking into because when I found my community, I realized I was in a spot where I could ask dumb questions, but I was with people that didn't make me feel dumb for asking them.
Yeah, be humble enough to ask and then be with people that are gonna make you feel. supported when they answer your questions and then, then you've kind of found your tribe. And from there it's like the, you, you just can absorb so much from others like us doing the same thing, um, in any industry. and I like our niche as well too, where it's, uh, it's very collaborative.
So I've had a lot of success leaning into others doing the same thing, doing the kind of the, the same path, just figuring it out together. So that's kind of where my pivots have taken me is always into something new and into some new form of growth.
Paden: Yeah. That's great. You know, the, the, the Mastermind stuff, same here. that's been life changing for me. I've been in a mastermind group for, I don't know, two and a half years. And it was, you know, I've been in different [00:19:00] networking groups and whatnot, but this was, a lot higher level one. and the quality of people in there and, and what they were doing in their own personal lives and their own businesses and stuff.
It was really intimidating for me at first. Right. I was like, well, you said, you know, when you bought your first commercial real estate property, you're probably like, oh my God, I, what did I just do? And, and that's kind of how I felt. Like when I came in the room first time,
Eric: Yeah. Yeah. Like, I'm in this room with these people. It's like, whoa. They know what's going on. I, yeah.
Uh, this is more zeros than I'm used to, but you know, you just gotta lean in and, and, and make, pick up the slack and just educate, educate, read, read, read, and just kind of just pick up the slack where you're, where and, and it's just like, your growth just is, is so much Yeah. Faster.
Paden: the other part of that, Eric, humans are extremely adaptable. Once, you know, you bought your first commercial real estate property and it was a huge deal to you, right? Like scary, this big, massive thing. What, like, how would you feel about buying that property today? [00:20:00] Like, wouldn't be a big deal, right? Mm,
Eric: no. No. It'd be, yeah, it'd be a lot more comfortable because I would be so much more better at evaluating markets and so much more better.
And I've had the experience of underwriting hundreds of deals and things like that and looking at spreadsheets all those hours and, You know, a lot of that experience came after that. So it's kinda like, yeah. that would be easier, but what about the next one that I buy that might be a 300 unit rather than 150 unit, you know?
Mm-hmm. The same thing. It's like, oh wait, we're back to more zeroes. And really just kind of just stepping in. you know, we're entrepreneurs, we'll figure it out. it's just a matter of be really being able to just comfortably put yourself out there and, and circling back.
Being surrounded with the right people makes that so much easier. Yeah. So much more fun. Yeah.
Paden: Yeah. If you're trying to do anything significant in isolation, uh, you're gonna struggle. You're gonna struggle bad. like you said, it's that humility piece of entering into like a mastermind group or, you know, if you know, [00:21:00] listeners interested in real estate, I mean, there's a million of them out there, you know, million of real estate groups that, you know, obviously need to vet groups and make sure it's the right, right.
People you review with, but like mm-hmm. That once again allows you to skip so many steps, right? And it allows you to pay down that debt of ignorance so much faster because you just. You get in a group like that and you have good people in it that, you know, uh, want to just share with you, you're gonna get so much unreal value and, and, you know, maybe jump five years in the future by being able to learn stuff from 'em.
Eric: Exactly. And, the lessons you're learning aren't as painful when you're with other people. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You don't have to run into a wall when you're out there by yourself and you're just beating your head against the wall. It's painful, it hurts. You're going, why am I, why is this not working for me?
Why is this not working for me? When you're in community, people go, oh, no, no. You're beating your head against the wall. Like this is part of it. Stop what we do together. This is why we're here together. 'cause we all beat our heads against the wall and you're, you're doing the right things. And that encouragement [00:22:00] and, and just having someone to a sounding board or support makes it just so much more fun.
But it's so much less painful. So much more, so much less lonely too. Yeah, because entrepreneurs like, we get each other, but no one else really does. You know? people that care about us the most are going, what are you doing? Like, why are you subjecting yourself to this? And you're going, well, you don't understand.
You don't understand like what the end looks like. and when we're in community with each other, that's what the big difference is, is we understand like, yeah, we have goals. That it's almost an obligation at some point when you embrace like what you're capable of. Yeah. And you go, whoa, I have, I have the potential to make a serious impact to other people.
And it's almost an obligation to do it. And when cross that threshold, you're kind of going, I'm glad I got my people to lean on.
Paden: yeah, that's a great point to where, you know, you say you, you, you've kind of taken on that, you know, that new even level of responsibility or I, you know, maybe even call it like a, the identity of like, you've taken on that identity.
of that type of person. And it's [00:23:00] amazing, you know, talk about your own identity. We all have our own identities and link it up to all kinds of different stuff, you know. Say like sports teams, a lot of people link their id, you know, their identity up to their favorite sports team. Guilty.
Eric: I'm, I'm, I'm sorry. Yeah, same here. I'm not, no, no, no judgment. Same here is not going well for us in Cincinnati.
Paden: Well, uh, I do enjoy, uh, my chiefs, uh, beating you guys down every year. Oh gosh. You had to, you couldn't resist. Yeah, I'm, yeah, so I'm in central Missouri, so, yeah. Uh, absolutely. but like, you know, it's amazing, that you can, you can really choose whatever identity you want, right?
Mm-hmm. And, and when you choose that and that really becomes, your everyday operating system, your behavior will change to fit in with that new identity. I don't think people really realize that, that everything in their head is made up. Right. Literally their, their future is made up. Their past is made up.
We think our past is this, objective thing of all this stuff that occurred, but not really. Our memories are [00:24:00] terrible and almost all of our memories are really, they're, they're not even close to what actually even happened. And so it really, the only thing you have is the here and now, and to be able to operate in the here and now and, and being present.
that's really all of life.
Eric: Yeah. And it's such a great point that it's like, and it matters a lot when you're out there on your own, when you're out there as an entrepreneur, but in, in life in general, you're like, I, I learned. I really can't trust any thought I have, and I certainly can't trust any emotion I have.
Yeah. Your
Paden: feelings are screwing you.
Eric: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so to be able to like really dial in and, and stay focused on your true north and say, Hey, here's my end game. What do I need to do today to get my six month goal, but what do I need to do today to just move the needle in that direction? And sometimes just dial back down to that one, you know, that one day at a time type mentality.
But yeah, definitely. I, I can't go through like thinking everything, every thought I have is accurate for sure. Yeah.
Paden: I would say two, two major issues I see with most entrepreneurs [00:25:00] is, they spend all their time on the wrong things. they're insanely busy. They're going around, but they're, they're spending all their time on, low leverage activities, right?
They think they're busy and they gotta do all these tasks. And yes, all these tasks need to be done, but for them to get any more successful, they need to figure out how to leverage themselves better or get rid of those tasks, do mm-hmm. Do the whole 80 20 thing. Right. It, it's always getting rid of stuff you don't need.
Eric: Yeah. Writes a good book, buy back. Yeah. And for those who haven't read it out there in the audience, it's worth the read. It's about, um, basically delegating all your, load priority, but all your tasks that aren't in your purpose or are aren't in your wheelhouse really. The more you can get that out of your plate and off to a VA or something, or anything like that, but to stay in where you're, you're most effective.
and a lot of us are more like visionary and things like that. So to be able to stay in that space is where you're gonna get more traction, rather than answering emails for three hours a day gets you no traction, but it, tricks you into thinking you've been productive.
Paden: Yeah, [00:26:00]
Eric: yeah, yeah. Because busy, oh man, I got all that done off my plate.
You know, I did, I had a productive day. And it's like, well, you didn't, you didn't really move the needle in the direction you wanted because you were tricking yourself. And I have such a, I do that to myself all the time.
Paden: Yeah. I'm, I'm guilty as can be, and I feel like I'm just starting to even, you know, I, I guess intellectually I've known this stuff, but now I'm really feel like, okay, now I'm actually starting to understand this.
And, and by that I mean like actually start to execute on it, right? Mm-hmm. Um, you know, I don't think you really understand something if you just like get information and never do anything with it. Uh, it's the implementation, right? Yeah. And, and you know what I'm super excited about is I hired my first executive assistant.
Mm-hmm. And he's amazing, and I'm trying to get him ramped up and give everything I can to him. And here's the thing, as I keep growing and doing, you know, working on my 80 20 and focusing just on the 20 over and over again, well eventually my executive assistant might have a system. And the [00:27:00] thing is, I hired a high enough level executive assistant that he could then go hire people and manage them.
And it, you know, ultimately Right. It ultimately it's, it's, it's building out, it's using, you know, and I don't say using other people, but it, it, it is right. And it's, it's using other people's time and, and, um, talents to help you. Right. Because, you know, Gabe, my executive assistant is amazing organizing and research and all these different things that.
Or a drag to me, but he's really good at it. Yeah. So we both get to set in our, like, you know, genius zones and are happy about it, doing stuff that we'd like to do, and by us coming together, we produce something even, you know, way more effective than we would along.
Eric: Yeah. And like a lot of the things I'll send to my VA mark, he does a fabulous job and he does this stuff, he does it so well, and he does it so fast.
So not only is he getting to work on things that, that he likes to do and he does 'em really well. These are things that I don't do well at all. Yeah. So what is taking him an hour would take [00:28:00] me a day or two. Yeah. And you'd hate it. And, and he can do it in just an hour or two. And I'm going, wait, this a thousand times better than what I could ever put together.
Especially the graphic design stuff. And I like that sort of stuff, but I'm just not good at it. Mm-hmm. So when it's like I can sit and play and like do Canva work for three days straight. And then I'll send it to him like, Hey, what do you think? And he is like, oh, I made some tweaks, and going, oh my God.
Like this is a thousand times better than anything I could have ever done. Why didn't I just spend three days doing it? Well, it's because I was procrastinating, because I was having fun doing it. You're avoiding
Paden: something else from something
Eric: else, like, hosting on social or something. Like, I don't like doing that much.
But
Paden: yeah, that's, uh, that's some really good stuff. Yeah. another question for you, Eric. going back to the start, you know, say you bought, you bought your first commercial property that day. What is one piece of advice you'd give yourself?
Eric: man, do it. Do it. Go for it. Just go for it. Um, if that's your next right, move, [00:29:00] uh, buying a rental property, go for it. If you're ready to get passive and you think that, um. Commercial real estate might be a little overwhelming. Go for it. if you think that there's this business that you've had burning in your heart that you, that is within your passion and it's in your wheelhouse and you just don't know how you'll pull it off, go for it.
Because you will pull it off. You just don't know how yet. And that, and, and, and just go for it. Get out there and do it, and do life. And, take that bucket list trip that you don't, you know, book it even though you don't know how you'll pay for it quite yet. That sort of stuff, just. Get out there and do it, I think is, is gonna be my, my advice and, easy to say, oh, well I wish I would've gone into passive investing sooner. And yeah, that, that, well, sure not true because what I've, what I've gained from my journey has been so much more valuable. and it's led me to where I'm at now and. So I, I, I don't ever second guess things like that.
So I think my advice would be definitely just go for it. Like,
Paden: yeah,
Eric: if you're worried about Eric, just do it anyway. [00:30:00] End up doing
Paden: it regardless that, just do it now. and, you know, Eric, I think that's, that's a lot of great advice for a lot of entrepreneurs where, um, and I think that was the advice I needed.
you know, I started my business, you know, 11 years ago. I was just playing too small or I, I, I guess I didn't even know what. I didn't even have, I didn't even have an accurate picture of what it was even possible. it took me years and years of experience and, and letting go of things.
Some for some reason very slowly, uh, um, and, and, um, able to, yeah, let go and, and go for things and, and hire employees and expand and invest into different things and, and take on, you know, some level of risk. but the amazing thing you talk about risk. risk can be controlled if you are educated and you really know what you're doing.
that's how you kind of control risk and like in real estate, that's, that's certain certainly something you can do. But yeah, just, Take a chance, you know, bet on yourself. it's amazing when you keep doing that and it's not gonna be a smooth road, but if you [00:31:00] keep doing that for a long time period, you're going to change dramatically.
Eric: Yeah. And one thing that actually kind of put that in perspective for me too is, uh. A couple years ago, I read a book, be Your Future Self Now, I think Hardy. No, Ben. Ben
Paden: Hardy. Yeah. I love his and Dan Sullivan stuff, man. Yeah, that was a
Eric: great book and it puts it in perspective.
If you're setting a 10 year goal, make it outrageous because your five-year self is gonna be so much more capable than your now self. Mm-hmm. You're probably gonna need to make a bigger one in five years anyway. But when I started thinking that big picture like that and big goals like that, it put it in perspective.
So to say, oh, okay, well yeah, like when that's the end game and you kind of like embrace that idea, then all of a sudden you're now and you're now problem just seems almost a little more logistical, not as overwhelming, so much as just a step in the journey, a step in the right direction. Rather than saying like, oh, well what if it fails and it's going well?
I need to figure this out because I've got bigger places to [00:32:00] go and, and it was a, it's a really kind of a perspective shift I had when I, when I set goals like that.
Paden: Yeah. And I think, you know, yeah. The problem today is just the problem that needs solved today, right? Mm-hmm. And, It's being okay with the process and the struggle and, accepting the, the boring daily stuff. That, you know, that has to be done. That it's just keep those little, you know, you're gaining inches every day and then it's amazing enough.
Well, if that adds up to an over, you know, five years, 10 years, 10 years is insane. I mean, I, I, I want every listener here to think about, think about yourself 10 years ago. So it'd be say 2015. think about that person. All the stuff that person believed and did, If you're not like somewhat embarrassed from that person, you're probably not growing enough.
Eric: Yeah. Oh, I love it. Yeah, that's such a good point. And yeah, again, in perspective, like yeah, when I, and that was about when I was buying that first rental property and like had I [00:33:00] ever thought I would landed where I, where I am now. When I did that, no. I thought I was just gonna have like a really good side hustle going now need financial freedom magically and, and all this stuff.
And it's like. Man, do kinda laugh at myself back then. 'cause it's like you were foolishly confident in your, you were, you were unjustly confident in yourself enough. Yes. Like it worked out. Yeah. Yeah. Just stay in yourself. And it's probably unfounded when you're first getting started, but it's really not, you know, you'll, you'll, you'll live up, you'll live up to your own expectations.
Yeah.
Paden: And here's, here's the even scary thing to think about. 10 years from now, you're gonna think the same thing about yourself today. I baffling, isn't it? So what do you believe now that isn't true? That like 10 years from now you're like, wow, that was stupid.
Um, there's lots of that stuff in your life. Mm-hmm. And, and, and that's why your humility needs to be there and your openness, your curiosity question asking. you [00:34:00] do all those things. Uh, 10 years from now, you will look back at yourself today like, wow, that guy, you know, he was on his way, but man, he was missing, you know, X, y, and z, these pieces.
Yeah. Yeah. Now I
Eric: have, and I you mentioned the daily, the daily stuff, and, and that is actually one area that I could do much better in is remembering that it's just a daily habits, a daily routines. The, the daily, KPIs that, that really matter more than. you know, what's my next big move?
Well, my next big move is gonna come from all my small moves I'm doing today. Yeah. So I, I just wanted to reiterate that point that I loved you made Peyton, so thank you. Yeah,
Paden: that's great
Eric: stuff.
Paden: Eric. Eric, man, this has been a great conversation. what's the best way people can connect with you or get to know about you or your company or any, anything like that?
Eric: Yeah, I always send people, um, aside from LinkedIn, I always send people to flowers capital.com. there's actually a free download, it's just a quick article I wrote on 12 of the Pitfalls you could avoid if you're looking commercial real estate, um, some underwriting things and get people ready for that, [00:35:00] for that first investment or first of many investments.
Or, you know, maybe they just wanna brush up on some underwriting. So yeah, go ahead, grab that free ebook.
Paden: Yeah.
Eric: Very cool. Very cool. Eric, anything else you wanna leave the listeners? No, Peyton, I, I've had such a great time. Thank you very much for having me on. It's been fun.
Paden: Yeah, absolutely Eric. I appreciate you man.
And uh, yeah, guys, check out Eric, uh, Eric Burns on LinkedIn or you know, uh, flowers capital.com. and guys, we will catch you in next time.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. If you found it valuable, please rate, review, and share it. That is the best way to help us build this and reach more people as we're trying to accomplish our goal of help creating more healthy, wealthy, and wise entrepreneurs. You can follow us on social media by searching for me Paden Squires.
Or going to padensquires.com on the website and social media. We're always sharing tips of personal growth and there we can actually interact. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks guys.
