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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, Justin Sloan shares his journey from operating a chain of cell phone stores to becoming a successful real estate investor and restaurant owner. He discusses the importance of scalability in business, the challenges posed by the current economic climate, and the strategies he employs to navigate these challenges. Justin emphasizes the significance of networking, maintaining focus, and adapting to change in business. He also shares his philosophy of growth, likening it to nurturing bamboo, where consistent effort leads to significant results over time.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Justin Sloan (00:00)
I mean, every day. The mean, the reality is, as entrepreneurs, every day you wake up and wonder what size, not if you’re going to get hit by a bus, but what size the bus is and how fast it’s coming at you. And, you know, I mean, I said I started off really simple life, right? You know would go after high school, after I got off of school, I’d go work at a local mall and sling phones and thenwhen I opened my first store, I was the only employee for four months until I could finally you know have enough money to pay my first employee and then scale that.
Quentin Edmonds (02:03)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the real estate pros podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds Super excited to be here today. You know what I like to say. I love when I have new guests on to be able to see things from their perspective. They are the expert at what they do. And I’m so excited that we get a chance to pick their brain. And so today is going to be no different. I have someone here. they’re listening. Dynamic. Look, he didn’t say this, but I’m saying this about him and I could be off, but I broke down the king of automation.And I’m gonna tell you why I said that because this guy, when he does it once, he does it a hundred times over. Pretty much meaning if he did it one time, he know how to duplicate it. So maybe I don’t fall into the room of automation. I don’t know, but that came to my mind because this guy can make success happen over and over and over again. And so I’m very, very excited to introduce you guys to Mr. Justin Sloan. Mr. Justin, how you doing today,
Justin Sloan (02:53)
I’m doing so good, Q. Good to see you and talk to you,Quentin Edmonds (02:56)
Absolutely, man. Good to have you here. And listen, I don’t want to waste any time. I want to dive in. I would love for you to tell the people what your main focus is these days. If you want to give us little bit of origin story, how you got started, how you worked your way into real estate, we love our heroes journey. So we would love to hear that. And if you want to tell them what markets you’re operating in, we would love to know that as well. So Mr. Justin, sir, you got the floor.Justin Sloan (03:19)
Yeah, so my name is Justin Sloan. I’m the CEO of Sloan Capital. We’re a real estate and restaurant holding company. We have kind of an investment syndicate that invest in different things and companies together. But started off, you know, really simple. You know, I was born to single mom, three boys, you know, and so I learned the grind culture and, you know, hustle culture really early. And you right out of high school started selling phones and ultimately ended up opening my own cell phone store.I scaled that into owning multiple stores across the state of Iowa, which is where I’m born and raised. And then from that kind of parlayed that into real estate. So I was a tenant, obviously, in my strip malls. And you know then started learning the real estate business, you know flipping little houses. And then kind of like what you’re talking about is how do we duplicate? How do we do the same thing over and over and over again? Because I did it with my cell phone stores, getting up to four or five locations.
Well, then when we started getting into rental properties, you we started owning dozens of houses. And now I am part of a company called Ever Bowl, which is an Acai Bowl, kind of build your own superfood bowl chain. And I found that company when they had 22 locations invested into it, along with my investors investing into it. And then we also started opening locations ourselves. So we have 11 locations across Iowa and then also in the state of Texas. So we’re expanding into Dallas and I’m there about a hundred nights a year now.
and just continuing to grow and find things we’re passionate about scaling and go from there.
Quentin Edmonds (04:44)
And you’re wonderful. So it’s not like, know, a little bit about building businesses. I mean, just like a tiny bit. No, I’m just joking, man. I’m just listening to you talk. All you said, you know a lot about building businesses, a lot about finding success. And so I would love to know, are there some core business strategies that you hold there as kind of standards for you? But I also would love to know if there’s any personal strategies that you found to help you as well. When I say personal strategies, I know some people be cold plunges.meditation, different things like that. So are there core business strategies and core personal strategies that you find that help with you along your journey?
Justin Sloan (06:09)
Yeah, I think systems in general, whether it be business or personal are really important, right? Because if we’re going to duplicate things, we also have to have our actions, you know, help those outcomes. You know, if you want to lose weight, well, you’ve got to have a system in place in order for going and doing those things. Or if you want to scale revenue at a specific company or something, you need to have something that’s not only something you do once, but that you can repeat over and over again and in different markets and all that kind of stuff. SoI definitely look for things that are scalable, that are repeatable. You know If someone likes it in one town or there’s a group of people that you know like this specific property, then let’s have more of those. And you know and then with that becomes easier to manage. I think one issue with entrepreneurs, and I’m this way as well, I hate the term serial entrepreneur. I think it’s really overused, but I definitely consider myself a serial entrepreneur. But with that, serial entrepreneurs have shiny light syndrome.
Right. Over here. Let’s go over here. Let’s go over here. Let’s go do this. And, you know, every day we’re presented with new incredible ideas or new paths to go down. And it’s very important to really have to you know blur out and black out those opportunities to focus on the core businesses at the main time. And, you know, no different in personal life when there’s all these things that could distract you from your goals. You have to be able to have tunnel vision.
to go and execute the things that you want to. So whether business or personal, I would say you’ve got to remove that shiny light stuff and focus, get tunnel vision on going to scale and make the things that really matter count.
Quentin Edmonds (07:46)
I think that’s probably very good advice for people because you’re right. I’ve talked to so many people who admitted just like you, like some guys say, you know, I’m like the squirrel chasing the new nut or, you know, like you said, the shiny object, like making sure that you’re disciplined, making sure that you know what’s your why when you know who you are, you know what to do. So making sure you can, you can still settle in but and overcome that shiny object syndrome. So I talked to a lot of people and they share that same sentiment. And so I hear you loud and clear on that.And now you built a lot of successful businesses. And so have you faced adversity while you was building? I tell people all the time, it’s one thing to show people the success, but it’s one thing also to talk about the journey to success. So on your journey to success, have you faced any adversities, any hiccups, had to pivot fast, some deals fall through? Have you faced anything like that on your journey?
Justin Sloan (08:37)
I mean, every day. The mean, the reality is, as entrepreneurs, every day you wake up and wonder what size, not if you’re going to get hit by a bus, but what size the bus is and how fast it’s coming at you. And, you know, I mean, I said I started off really simple life, right? You know would go after high school, after I got off of school, I’d go work at a local mall and sling phones and thenwhen I opened my first store, I was the only employee for four months until I could finally you know have enough money to pay my first employee and then scale that.
And over the 12 years that I owned and scaled that cell phone chain, think about how many things changed in technology during those times. You went from flip phones to color screen phones to Blackberries to iPhones. And then people started ordering online. Like, why would I go into a local store?
And that obviously that changes the entire business model as well. And in real estate, you know, things change as well. Right. Ups and downs in the market, ups and downs and interest rates, ups and downs and legal challenges that can be with being a landlord or being a you going through construction processes. And now in the restaurant industry, there’s a million ups and downs. You know, we have inflation with food items. You know, we have.
you know, different challenges regarding the consumer right now, the average consumer is definitely hurting and not going out to eat as much. So how does that affect our business and how do we pivot, you know, adding more value items onto the menu or items that are a broader time of day and things like that. So I think the reality is that, you know, it doesn’t matter where you work, whether you’re, you know, work for yourself, work for somewhere else, there’s never going to be just this straight up into the right arrow.
And there’s all sorts of ups and downs and stepping back and this and everything. And throughout my life, we’ve had to make you know crazy decisions in order to continue different things moving forward. And you know I can remember when I decided to get out of a cell phone business and I kind of saw the end of that coming. I had built a huge house. I had you know put a lot of money down on that and I made the decision to actually sell that big house and I went and bought two little strip malls with it.
and you know pivot in different ways. But all my friends were like, is everything OK? Is he doing OK? Is he going to, you know? And I’m just like, no, I don’t want to spend all my money just on where I go and sit and sleep. I want to have my money working for me in different areas. So the adversity, it never stops. And if anything, has as you get bigger, you have higher highs and lower lows. But it’s just plug in, keep going and have the determination that there’s no way I’m going to quit no matter what. So let’s go figure things out day by day.
Quentin Edmonds (11:42)
Absolutely.I’m asking a question. I wasn’t planning on asking you that, but the more you talk, the more I’m curious. When did you know you would be an entrepreneur? Like, was it something that had your teenage years? Like, would you sell a candy bar? And like, man, I just know like, this is something I’m gonna do. Like, when did it spark in you that you like, yeah, I’m gonna be, I’m not gonna say this, sir, you’re an entrepreneur, but when did you knew you had the entrepreneurial spirit in you?
Justin Sloan (12:07)
I mean, I don’t know if there was a specific moment, but like you just said, I was in middle school and I would go to Sam’s club and buy a bulk candy and piece it out to my friends. When I was a junior in high school, I actually arbitrage and sold my entire high school new laptops and made like $8,000 or something like that. A couple hundred dollars per laptop where I arranged this deal to get them wholesale and set them up and all this kind of stuff. AndYou know I think it comes from having a single mom of three boys. We talked about you know from a very young age, my brothers and I had to buy a lot of our own food, our own clothing. Our grandma would take us shopping you know once a year and all that kind of stuff. And I look at that as what made me who I am today. Because then with that, you’re always looking for different opportunities. And you know the reality is I’m probably not good working for other people.
because I question everything. You know I want to find other opportunities. I’m not OK with the status quo. And so with that says, well, I should go build my own thing and give myself my own opportunities. And I just can’t imagine it any other way.
Quentin Edmonds (13:15)
Yeah. Now, when I listen to you talk, I listen to one of my best friends who’s just doing fantastic in life, fantastic businessman. And his birthday was just two weeks ago. And I sent him a voice note telling him, because he comes from a single, you know, mom, single family, single mother. And I remember telling him a story on his birthday, because I still remember that kid that came out the house with a trash bag because he didn’t have a suitcase. So he had his clothes in a trash bag when he would come.to our house, that’s how he would come. And he told me, he was like, it’s funny that you say that, because he said that’s always in the back of his mind. He’s like, I’m that kid that had that trash bag and I’m never going back to that again. And that’s what powered him. That’s how he thrives today. This is how he just quit so many strategies and disciplines in place, just thinking about that mindset from when he was younger. And so when I listened to you, I was like, yeah, I’m pretty sure this started in high school. And so it’s amazing that you could tell that story.
Man, always had the innate ability in you to do it. And it’s just so fantastic that you’re still carrying it out to this day. That’s wonderful, It really is.
Justin Sloan (14:21)
could say one other last thing that just popped in my head that really opened my eyeballs was when I first started working for commission and realizing that the harder that you work and the smarter that you work, the more money that you can make. And so when I was in high school selling cell phones and going to the local mall, you know, while different people I would work with would goof off or go to lunch for an hour of their whole five hour shift.I was doing everything that I could to make every sale, create every relationship, do everything that I could, because I was getting paid, you know, 15, 20 bucks for slinging each one of these phones. Well, if I can do five a night, that’s a hundred bucks or five, holy cow, you know, and all that. And so, you know, I think everyone needs to have a job where their money is based on their performance. And it will show you whether you’re the kind of person that can go figure out how to eat and create your own path forward.
Quentin Edmonds (15:15)
Absolutely. So well said. So well said. So let me ask you, what’s the next real goal? Are you looking to solve something, scale something next? Like what’s next in line for you, for you to kill and eat?Justin Sloan (16:06)
Yeah, so right now we’re scaling our restaurant concept pretty consistently. So Ever Bowl, when I found them, they had about 22 locations out of California, now over 100 locations. We own 11 of those locations and are continually looking for more and have investors that are all part of that. And same thing with real estate. You know, we’re not making any huge swings right now. And instead, just kind of chunking along and continually expanding. I’m a big believer in compound interest. Just keep doing the right things.Let it keep growing, let it keep growing. And I have time on my side, I’m very young. And so, you know, really for me isn’t about going and taking huge swings and what we’re going to knock out of the part next, but just continually making good decisions for our investors, for our group, and looking for other opportunities that present themselves over this next period of time. And, you we chatted for a second before the podcast, but I believe that, you know, there’s going to be opportunities in real estate that are already starting to present themselves.
and as interest rates keep resetting for a lot of people that did short-term loans, it’s gonna continue to create other opportunities. So we’re always looking for you know those different cracks in the foundation. And the old Warren Buffett rule, when everyone runs away from something is when you run towards it. And that’s exactly how I built my wealth. So right now we don’t see any specific area to go run towards, but we definitely see cracks in the foundation that we know will create opportunities and we’re gonna be ready for them.
Quentin Edmonds (17:24)
I love it. like when the crack show, I’ll have the tool to fix the crack. I absolutely love it for sure. Now I know you said you have a syndicate, you know, and just listening to you, I mean, in the industries that you’re in, it seems to me that you know the value of valuable relationships, right? So I want to pick your brain a little bit on what’s your strategy with building relationships? What’s your viewpoint on relationships? Are they beneficial to you? Have they served you in a positive way?I would love to hear your, your, your take on relationships.
Justin Sloan (17:55)
Well, not to give like another meme quote or whatever, but you the net your network is your net worth. And that’s something and then another one, you’re the average of the four or five people you hang around the most. Those are as real as it gets and need to be said and repeated over and over and over again. You know, if you look at kids that get into issues and troubles, look at who their friends are. And it’s no different with adults. Look at for alcoholics, the fifth one’s an alcoholic, right? It’s no surprise.And so surrounding yourself with the right people, with the right network and with people that don’t mind having challenges and real conversations. You know I don’t wanna have relationships with people where everything’s always smiles and rainbows and everything’s perfect. I wanna go through life with people that admit when they’re challenges. And I also wanna be in business with people that are okay saying this is a challenging time and here’s what we’re doing because of it, et cetera. Right? There’s no such thing as just going up and straight to the right.
We all have these challenges. We all have these ups and downs and having a networking group and different people that you can count on. You know, I’m going to San Diego next week and I know there’s a group of guys, we’re all going to dinner and they’re all in different industries. And every time that I’m out there and we literally talk about all the worst stuff you’re not supposed to talk about, right? Because that’s where progress happens. And that’s where people can actually see from other people’s points of view, what’s going on in the world and how they might be able to adjust and also how we learn from each other.
Because when you admit your problems, what I’ve found is if I go up to 10 people that I know and like and trust and I say, I’m really stuck on this one thing right now, two or three of them are going to say, I’ve been there. It’s easy to do this and this and this. You know, like if you came to me with some sort of rental house issue, guess what? I used to have dozens of them and I’ve dealt with hundreds of, you know, tenants and issues and all this kind of stuff. I can, you know, I can fix those things so quick. But when people pretend that everything is perfect, then you don’t have that same progress. So.
There’s nothing more important to me than my network, my friends, my investors, relationships, and then also having real relationships and real conversations and being able to admit when things are tough or rough or You know challenging and be able to work through those together knowing that we are all going to have those ups and downs in our lives and we need to have people that support us through that and that we are there to support others when they go through that as well
Quentin Edmonds (20:17)
I love it. you know, the one thing I found out, you know, as growing older, I thought peer pressure was just for like teenagers, people in their twenties. No, peer pressure is applied to every transition of your life. There is peers around you that put pressure on you, but they can put pressure on you in a positive way. And so, you know, they say, you know, pressure, you know, it creates diamonds or it busts pikes. Like when you are around people that hold you accountable,that force you to confront your issues because confrontation is not necessarily a dirty word. Confrontation just means you confront the issue that’s in front of you. So you have peers that force you to hold you accountable and confront things around you. I think that’s like the best thing. And so just listening to you talk, yet the people that you surround yourself with is everything because they’re going to pull you up and make you better, especially if you surround yourself with the right people. So no, I definitely appreciate you saying that, Mr. Justin, for sure.
Now listen, listen, is there anything else maybe that you wanted to add or lead the people when it comes to maybe inspiration, motivation, education? Is it something that you feel like needs to be said that we haven’t said just yet?
Justin Sloan (21:24)
No, think it’s, you know, one of the foundations I live my life off of is actually bamboo. So if you see here, I’ve got my company pen. It’s actually made out of bamboo. when we have many of our core philosophies kind of built into around our company. So, you know, it’s in the book, Chopwood, Carry Water, if anyone wants a great read, there’s a there’s a short chapter in there about bamboo. And with bamboo, you plant the seed and you always water it. But you never know when it’s kind of sprout. AndBut when it does sprout, it goes crazy, right? Foot 18 inches, two feet a day and all of a sudden, but you never know when that’s gonna happen. And I really encourage everyone listening to this to live your life that way. If every day you go plant new seeds and water everything, then great things always happen. And in 20 years of building different businesses and having more highs and lows than I could ever explain in a 10 hour podcast.
You know, the reality is that the more good decisions I make and the more that you water their bamboo, then that great stuff sprouts. It always does every time. And wow, am I glad. And I always say thank you to previous Justin for the decisions and the good decisions I made in the past. Because really, I’m living right now because of decisions I made five, 10, 15 years ago. And my future self will be living based upon the decisions that I’m making right now.
And so making those good decisions, water that bamboo, amazing things happen, I guarantee it.
Quentin Edmonds (22:51)
Man, so well said. Thank you for saying that. There’s a book I’m reading right now. It’s called Gradually, Then Suddenly. And so everything you just explained about the bamboo, that’s what this book talks about. Success happens two ways, gradually, then suddenly. Just like the bamboo, you plant the seed, you water it, and then out of nowhere. And when that bamboo grows, the bamboo is strong. The roots are deep. And so.So well said, Mr. Justin. Thank you so much, Listen, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, what’s the best way for them to get in contact with you,
Justin Sloan (23:28)
Yeah, so I love the social media game. I’m on Instagram at Sloan Capital or on LinkedIn, know, Justin Sloan. And I would love people to reach out. You know, it’s always important. I love, you know, again, I talked about growing my network and having conversations and I, you know, people I can’t tell you, I slide into the DMS of other people that I want to get to know or respect or whatever. And the more that we all do this and reach out and pick each other’s brains and find ways to compound, do it. So, yeah, find me on Instagram or LinkedIn.Quentin Edmonds (23:57)
Yeah. Well, there he is. Mr. Justin Sloan, thank you so much. Thank you for your story. Thank you for your perspective. Thank you for your time. This was a pleasure. I really appreciate you,Justin Sloan (24:06)
Thank you so much, it was fun.Quentin Edmonds (24:08)
Absolutely. Listen, y’all listen can’t tell me you didn’t get the value out of that compensation. You can’t tell me. So please make sure you’re subscribed that way when that alert goes off, you can come in and just hear these amazing people just like Mr. Justin that we’re to continue to bring up. And so Mr. Justin, I thank you so much and to everyone else. We will see you on the next time.
