In the modern entrepreneurial world, “working harder” is often worn as a badge of honor. But if you’re trapped in a never-ending cycle of doing everything yourself, even in a highly profitable business, you’re likely feeling the stress and missing out on the freedom you thought entrepreneurship would provide. The recent episode of “Raising Private Money” with Jay Conner and Josh Thomas, founder of VAIQ and host of the “Leverage Everything” podcast, unpacks why doing less (the right way) is not only desirable but essential for growth and happiness.
The Real Bottleneck: It’s Not Money or Deals
For many real estate investors and entrepreneurs, the supposed bottleneck is usually either finding deals or raising money. But as Jay and Josh illuminated, the real limiting factor is often the refusal to build the right team and implement effective systems. Both speakers share candid personal experiences from their early days—Jay recalling nights when the stress bled into family life, and Josh reflecting on patterns he’s seen with thousands of entrepreneurs in over 30 industries.
This stubborn “lone wolf” approach inevitably extracts a toll: time, mental energy, relationships, and ultimately, money. What’s harder to spot than monetary losses are the hidden costs of stress, lost opportunities, and burnout. As the episode makes clear, sole operators eventually hit the ceiling—where the only path forward is to learn how to leverage time, talent, and systems.
The Mindset Shift: Delegate and Disappear
For Jay, a pivotal “wake-up call” came after realizing financial success wasn’t fulfilling when it came paired with overwhelm. His commitment thereafter: dictate, delegate, and gradually step away from daily operations. This philosophy doesn’t mean abandoning the business or lowering standards; it’s about smartly putting people and systems in place so that the business serves you, rather than the other way around.
Josh brings two decades of practical experience to the discussion, warning against the mirage that hiring alone solves all problems. He explains the critical need for foundational systems and clarity on desired outcomes—before seeking to delegate tasks. Without that clarity, bringing on help (remote or otherwise) only risks amplifying inefficiency. Entrepreneurs must first document and refine processes so new hires become force multipliers, not added headaches.
The Four-Box Framework for Trustworthy Business Relationships
Beyond operational efficiency, the episode also covers Josh’s insightful framework for assessing business relationships—a model directly applicable for those seeking or offering private money, but also valuable for leaders overseeing teams, partnerships, or even personal interactions. Josh outlines four sequential “boxes” that must be checked for a healthy, productive engagement:
- Integrity: Is the person trustworthy? All other considerations are irrelevant without this foundational element.
- Competence: Do they know what they’re doing? No matter how much you like or trust someone, if they lack skill, the partnership is doomed.
- Stewardship: Will they be responsible caretakers of your resources, whether that’s money, time, or energy?
- Deal Details: Only after the first three are in place do the specifics of the opportunity or relationship truly matter.
This model flips the common pitch-centric approach. True leverage—whether with employees, partners, or lenders—flows from trust and capability, never just numbers.
Pulse: Bringing High Performance to Virtual Teams
Josh also expands on “Pulse,” his process-driven system modeled after elite athletes. Like Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, top performers rely not on raw hustle, but consistency, constant measurement, coaching, skill refinement, and relentless execution. By instilling these traits into remote teams (especially with affordable international talent), businesses can shed busywork, reclaim strategic focus, and scale seamlessly.
Key Takeaways: Build Freedom by Leveraging Others
Jay and Josh’s dialogue delivers a powerful reminder: lasting freedom and business growth aren’t products of heroic solo efforts but rather of deliberate leveraging—of people, processes, and principles. Whether you’re bottlenecked by your own busyness or afraid to leap into delegation, remember: you’ll never “find” the time to scale. You have to make it—by letting go and tapping into the strengths of others.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone ready to stop only surviving and start truly living their entrepreneurial vision.
10 Discussion Questions from this Episode:
- Jay Conner and Josh Thomas both emphasize the importance of building a strong team for scaling a business. What are some barriers that prevent entrepreneurs from delegating tasks or hiring help, and how can they overcome these obstacles?
- According to Josh Thomas, doing everything yourself in a business doesn’t just cost money but can also impact time, emotional well-being, and relationships. What personal experiences resonate with this idea, and how have you managed these non-monetary costs?
- Josh Thomas outlines common mistakes entrepreneurs make when hiring remote talent. What systems or strategies have you found most effective for onboarding and managing remote employees?
- The episode highlights the principle that you are only earning at the level of the tasks you perform. How can business owners identify which tasks to delegate, and what resources can help them make these decisions confidently?
- Josh Thomas describes four “boxes” a private lender checks before investing: integrity, competence, stewardship, and deal details. How can real estate investors demonstrate these qualities to potential lenders?
- When discussing the timing of hiring, Jay Conner and Josh Thomas push back against the idea of waiting until you’re “ready.” What risks are involved in hiring before you feel fully prepared, and how can these risks be mitigated?
- The Pulse system (Process, Updates, Leadership, Skills, Execution) is central to Josh Thomas’s approach to building high-performance teams. Which of these elements do you think is most challenging to develop, and why?
- Throughout the episode, both speakers mention the value of having a business coach or mentor. In what ways have coaching or mentorship benefited your professional growth, and how would you recommend others find the right coach?
- Applying the “four boxes” concept to personal and professional relationships beyond business, how can these foundational values improve trust and collaboration in teamwork?
- Josh Thomas shares about leveraging international virtual assistants through his company, VAIQ. What are your perceptions or experiences with hiring internationally, and what are some advantages or challenges you foresee in this model?
Fun facts that were revealed in the episode:
- Josh Thomas has been a guest or host on over 1,200 podcast episodes and currently hosts the podcast “Leverage Everything,” which boasts over 400 episodes.
- The Pulse system, developed by Josh Thomas, is inspired by the traits and habits of elite athletes like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, focusing on process, updates, leadership, skills, and execution to optimize team performance.
- Jay Conner once had a wake-up moment about business and life balance when he found his wife, Carol Joy, overwhelmed with checkbooks and bills at 10 pm, which led him to rethink his approach and commit to automation and delegation in his real estate business.
Timestamps:
00:00 Building a Real Estate Team
05:00 The pressures of entrepreneurship
08:07 Committing to business automation
10:12 Hiring and delegation strategies
15:19 Taking risks for success
19:56 The lender’s checklist for loans
23:13 Importance of competence in deals
24:48 Ensuring investor money is handled well
30:02 Hiring international employees for success
30:57 Hiring and integrating international talent
36:01 Connect with Josh Thomas:
35:29 Hiring advice and book offer
Connect With Jay Conner:
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Jay Conner is a proven real estate investment leader. Without using his own money or credit, Jay maximizes creative methods to buy and sell properties with profits averaging $67,000 per deal.
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Achieving Sustainable Success Through Team Building and Systemization with Josh Thomas
Jay Conner [00:00:01]:
If you could instantly buy back 20, 30, even 40 hours of your week, what would that be worth to you? And what if the real bottleneck in your real estate business actually isn’t deals, it’s not funding, but you’re trying to do everything. Wow, can I relate to that. When I started in real estate investing, I thought nobody could do anything and everything better than I could. Here’s the truth. Most real estate investors stay stuck because they don’t know how to raise money. Actually, it’s not really because of that. What the real deal is is that they don’t have the team and the systems in place to scale what they already know how to do. So how do you build a high-performance team without the overhead, the headaches, or the guesswork? Well, my guest today here on Raising Private Money has been solving that very problem for real estate investors and entrepreneurs for nearly two decades.
Jay Conner [00:01:04]:
My guest, Josh Thomas, is the founder of Vaiq, a performance-first staffing company that helps entrepreneurs and executives plug in high-level international talent without the chaos. He’s worked with over 5,000 clients across 30 different industries, and he’s developed a system that he calls Pulse P U L S E, modeled after elite athletes, that shows you how to run a remote team that actually performs, not just more people, better output, and less stress. And if you’re serious about scaling your real estate business, raising more private money, and getting your time back, this conversation is going to be a game-changer for you. So buckle up because you’re about to learn how to leverage everything. You’re going to meet my guest, Josh Thomas, right after this.
Narrator [00:02:08]:
If you’re a real estate investor and are wondering how to raise and leverage private money to make more profit on every deal, then you’re in the right place to raise private money. We’ll speak with new and seasoned investors to dissect their deals and extract the best tips and strategies to help you get the money. Because the money comes first. Now, here’s your host, Jay Conner.
Jay Conner [00:02:36]:
Josh, welcome to the show.
Josh Thomas [00:02:39]:
You know, I have to say, Jay, I think you are like the number one hype man that I’ve ever had. It’s like the best intro I’ve ever gotten, man. Thank you.
Jay Conner [00:02:47]:
Well, I. I know you’ve done over 1200 shows and so on. Wow, that’s. That’s quite a compliment. Thank you. All right, let’s go ahead and dive in, Josh, because my listeners want to hear what you have got to say about leveraging everything. So my first question is, what is the real cost of not having the right team in place? When somebody’s trying to scale a real estate business, and they don’t have the right team in place.
Josh Thomas [00:03:19]:
So for years, I worked with a multifamily real estate company, and we were raising capital, millions of dollars per deal per year, multiple deals per year. And the thing that I noticed more than anything was all of the successful guys; I didn’t see a single lone wolf. I didn’t see a single guy who was running all the numbers and, you know, doing all of the relationships with the investors and managing all of the money with the banks and the sellers. I didn’t see anybody who was doing all of that by themselves. There wasn’t a magical undergrad, underwriter, capital raiser, negotiator, deal doer, every single person that, that got anything done, at least in my ecosystem, it had to do with building the right team and finding people who stayed in their lane so that you could stay in your lane. As long as you’ve got all the lanes covered, you can get the deal done.
Jay Conner [00:04:28]:
Your observation there, Josh, reminds me of something that happened all the way back in 2006. Carol, Joy, my wife, and I started investing in single-family houses here in eastern North Carolina all the way back in 2003. And those first three years, Josh, I ran around with my hair on fire. That’s why it’s so thin these days. It never grew back.
Josh Thomas [00:04:57]:
I’m right there with you. Look at this.
Jay Conner [00:05:00]:
And you know, I’ll never forget, Josh, after we were in this business and we were making a lot of money, Carol Joy and I were making a lot of money, but we had hardly any help. And I’ll never forget, Josh, I came into the kitchen one night, our kitchen in our home at 10 pm, I came around the corner, and there was my Carol Joy sitting at the kitchen table with tears coming down her face, with three different checkbooks on the table opened up with bills stacked high. I said, ” Babe, what in the world is wrong? She says, I can’t handle it anymore. And I said, what do you mean? She says, I just can’t do this anymore. And you know, that was such a wake-up call to me, Josh, you know, you can be making over a million dollars a year, but if you’re not enjoying the journey, is it worth it? Is it? Is it worth it not to enjoy the journey? Is it, Is it worth it for your company and your business to be running you instead of you running it? And I’m so glad you’re here on the show because this is Such an important topic that so many of us entrepreneurs, I mean, we’re driven. We’re driven. You know, we have so many of us, when we’re starting, we’ve got this hang up that, you know, if I’m not working, working, working, working, working, maybe I don’t deserve what I’m getting. All these crazy conversations that we have in our minds.
Jay Conner [00:06:24]:
And so when I had that experience, Josh, I committed that night that I was going to do everything to dictate, delegate, and disappear out of this business.
Josh Thomas [00:06:36]:
Here’s what, here’s what most people don’t really understand. Everything. What is it? Newton’s third law of thermodynamics. I’m not a science guy, okay? But there’s, there’s one of those really smart old dead guys who said that everything in the universe, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. And the way that we translate that into how we operate as human beings is that everything has a cost. Every single thing you do has a cost. Now, what most people don’t realize is that when that cost is not monetary, it becomes really hard for us to see and measure. But there are multiple ways that you can, that you can execute a cost on something.
Josh Thomas [00:07:23]:
Doing everything yourself, you’re not. It’s not costing you money; it was costing you time. It’s costing you emotional stability, it’s costing you sanity. It’s creating stress. It might cost you, if you’re not careful, your marriage or your life; you never really know. It’s very hard to measure. But here’s the other thing that most people don’t realize. When you’re trying to do something to avoid the monetary cost, not only is it costing you more time, but in most situations, it’s going to end up costing you more money anyway.
Josh Thomas [00:08:01]:
It’s amen. Doubt over time, you’re still spending more money trying to save money.
Jay Conner [00:08:07]:
Yeah, well, you know, when you were just sharing that, A concept that I learned shortly after that wake-up call that evening that I just shared that story. I mean, I committed myself that I was going to doing everything that I could to automate the business. What’s the definition of automate? Or like you say, leverage everything. Well, I’m either going to put people in place, or I’m going to put systems. Systems in place that help me remember everything that I need to do and when to do it, and et cetera. But, you know, shortly after my experience that I just shared, I ran across this concept and, you know, I never thought of this. I never thought about trying to save the money, the way I’m getting ready to frame it right now. And that was when you’re doing a task that you can pay somebody else $8 an hour to do, you are earning $8 an hour. You’re worth.
Jay Conner [00:09:14]:
You’re worth $8 an hour if you’re doing a task that you could, you know, sub out for $8 an hour. Josh, you have worked with over 5,000 clients across over 30 different industries. Sounds as though your principles work regardless of the type of industry that, you know, a business person is in. What kind of, what kind of commonalities? What are some of the biggest mistakes that you’ve seen entrepreneurs make when they try to hire and manage remote talent? I mean, that’s one of the answers to this problem, which is actually having very affordable remote talent. But if someone’s never hired remote talent, and that’s given, they know what they can actually hire them to do; they have to know that first. But what are some of the mistakes in hiring remote talent?
Josh Thomas [00:10:12]:
So the thing that we want to keep in mind, if you’re going to hire anyone, whether they’re right in front of you, whether they’re down the street, or whether they’re in another country, it has everything to do with what the outcome that you desire. Desire. And if you’re not clear on that, then it’s going to be a waste of time and money for you. The other thing that you want to keep in mind is whether you actually have a provable and repeatable system that you can delegate. The other thing that hiring a person won’t do for you is that it will not solve all of your problems if you don’t have a solution to your problems. So some exceptions to this, but basically, if you’re hiring an employee to go and do some outreach for you, well, have you ever done outreach effectively? If you’re hiring somebody to go and close deals for you, have you ever closed deals effectively? Do you know what your criteria are? Do you have that mapped out? And if you don’t have a clear plan on what you’re going to do or the outcome that you’re desiring, it doesn’t matter who you hire; it’s not going to work. Now, the other side of that coin is you can go and hire people to help you figure it out, but you need to know that that’s who you’re going for. And you got to pay for those guys, right? A dollar two an hour random Filipino is not going to solve that problem for you, right? You need to go and get a specialist. But for most people, as long as you have a system that can be repeated, like you’ve done it yourself successfully, and you can document that process and transfer that skill to somebody else, then the thing that you want to really look for is somebody that’s proactive, that’s responsible, and that’s organized, and that has that mental capacity to be able to pick this up and like, okay, I understand the assignment.
Josh Thomas [00:12:08]:
I’m going to get this done. The mistakes that we make nine times out of 10 as entrepreneurs is we try to hire our way to a solution, but we need to know that there is a solution first. We need to know what that solution is. Then hiring people starts to make more sense, because it’s just about executing the system.
Jay Conner [00:12:27]:
I’m so glad you brought that up, Josh, because I have a business coach. I always have a business coach. I mean, I’ve had a business coach, more than one business coach, for decades. So I don’t care how successful you get, keep a keep if you can keep a business coach in your corner. And so I’ll tell my coach, I’ll say, ” Look, here’s what I’m looking to do, and I’m interested in doing. And invariably, my coach will ask me the question, well, what are you trying to accomplish, Jay?
Josh Thomas [00:12:58]:
So, you know, so stop asking me logistical questions.
Jay Conner [00:13:04]:
Right, Exactly. It’s like, well, look, I’m excited about this thing. Well, you know, the most powerful question you can ask yourself is why? Why? You know, where are you trying to go with this? I’ve. I’ve had a lot of real estate investors, and of course, you know, us entrepreneurs, we, you know, we get excited about every shiny object, you know, that comes along. But a lot of real estate investors, I’ve heard them say to me, in fact, that at my private money conference, I teach a whole session on how to automate your business. And they’ll say, well, you know, I’ll hire when I’m ready. Or. Or they’ll say, I’ll hire when I’ve got the money to hire.
Jay Conner [00:13:47]:
So why is that backwards thinking? I’ll hire when I’m ready.
Josh Thomas [00:13:51]:
I’ll hire when I’m ready. You know, it’s funny. I have done so many stupid things in my life.
Jay Conner [00:14:03]:
Not as many as I have.
Josh Thomas [00:14:06]:
Hey, give me some time. And the.
Jay Conner [00:14:10]:
Well, that’s true. I got about 20 years on you, I think.
Josh Thomas [00:14:14]:
Yeah, I’ll catch up, man. You just give me some time. I’ll make it happen. But. But here’s the thing, like most of us human beings, we are wired for self-preservation, for protection. And if I’m going to walk up to a ledge and there’s a big gap and there’s a chasm there, and on the other side, it’s only. It’s like 18 inches to the other side. But in between my solid ground and the next solid ground step is an infinitely deep chasm.
Josh Thomas [00:14:46]:
You can’t see the bottom of it. I have a decision to make. Well, I don’t know. I’m not exactly ready. I’m not sure if I can make this step or not. I’m pretty sure that I can extend my legs 18 inches and get across this chasm. But, you know, there’s a not-zero chance that I miss, and there’s a not-zero chance that when I get my foot on the other side, you know, like maybe the ground just dissolves beneath me and I fall into the abyss. There’s always a non-zero chance that you’re going to fail.
Josh Thomas [00:15:19]:
The problem is, is that most people get up to the ledge, and they never make the decision to go anywhere. And so the entire journey, because, you know, Utopia is on the other side, and the entire journey that they took was meaningless because they stopped right before they had to actually take a risk. And so where we really run into problems is not taking the action that we need to take before we’re ready. I can, I can tell you personally, for me, zero percent of the successes that I’ve had in my life were ones that I walked out the door with 100% certainty that it was going to work. And 100% of the things that have advanced me forward have been times where I’ve taken a significant risk, a calculated risk that I was pretty sure was going to pay off, but it’s never going to be 100%. And I failed a lot, too. And that’s okay.
Jay Conner [00:16:21]:
Yeah, that reminds me of John Maxwell’s book. You know, John Maxwell has written over 80 books, but one of his most popular books is called Failing Forward. Failing Forward. Carol Joy and I were so fortunate to hear him speak last year. A keynote at our Mastermind meeting. And one of the audience members during Q A said, Mr. Maxwell, you know, what have you done or what is it about you that lends itself to really making you so successful? He says, ” Well, that’s an easy question. He says, I just fail more than anybody else.
Jay Conner [00:16:58]:
He said, ” You know, if I, if I’m going to, if I’m only going to be 20% successful, well, most people try 10 things and they get two things right. He said, I try a hundred things, I got 20 things right. He just feels really bad and knows I. I love what you just said, Josh, about taking action and the calculated risk. It reminds me of the riddle that I’m sure you’ve heard a hundred times. Maybe some of your listeners have not. But the riddle is three frogs are sitting on a log. Two decide to jump off.
Jay Conner [00:17:37]:
How many are left? Of course, the answer is three. There’s a difference between making a decision and actually taking the action. Deciding to jump off is not jumping off.
Josh Thomas [00:17:51]:
That’s right. Yeah. So I heard it put another way recently, where it was, you know, I’m working on.
Jay Conner [00:18:01]:
I’m working on it, I’m working on it.
Josh Thomas [00:18:03]:
So here’s a. Here’s a great example that 100, like almost everybody listening right now, is probably guilty of this. I’m working on getting healthier. I’m working on losing weight. I’m working on getting back to, you know, whatever it was that you were before, but you’re not anymore. Instead of deciding and taking action that I am no longer that person, I am this other person instead. Because when you’ve decided, and you’ve taken the action that you are no longer this person, but you are someone else, you’re not working on it anymore. You’re just walking it.
Jay Conner [00:18:38]:
I love it. Now, the name of my podcast that everybody’s listening to is Raising Private Money. So let’s talk about raising private money for a little bit here. So I was a guest on your podcast, which is phenomenal. Go ahead and share with everybody what your podcast is because they need to listen to your show.
Josh Thomas [00:18:57]:
My podcast is called Leverage Everything. You can go to leverage everything.com to check it out. We have, I think, gosh, we’re over 400 episodes on that particular show now. I’ve done about a little over 1200 in the last 10 years. But it’s a great show if you want to learn about how to find great people like Jay that are going to share ways that you can get more with the resources that you have now.
Jay Conner [00:19:25]:
Yeah, it’s a phenomenal show. Josh is a phenomenal host. It was great being on your. On your podcast. So in the context of private money, you know, one thing you and I talked about previously is we talked about it from the standpoint or from the perspective of a private lender. So when I say a private lender, I’m not talking institutional money. My audience knows that we’re talking about borrowing money from ordinary people, either investment capital or their retirement funds.
Jay Conner [00:19:56]:
And one thing we talked about that was intriguing to me, Josh, was from your perspective and from the private lender’s perspective, there are four boxes, if you will, that a private lender needs to check before loaning their money to a real estate investor. So that’s right. We talk a lot here on the show. Raising private money from the perspective of the real estate investor, attracting capital, raising capital. But from the perspective of the private lender who is loaning money out to the operator, the real estate investor. What would you say, Josh, are those five boxes that a private lender needs to make sure they check before they loan their money out?
Josh Thomas [00:20:48]:
And I think this actually goes both ways. So if you are raising capital, you need to be aware that the people who are going to give you money are checking these boxes. And if you are considering investing or lending money to somebody, you are subconsciously checking these boxes, whether you’re aware of it or not. And now what I’m going to do is I’m just going to reveal them to you, and then you’re going to say, I’m like a genius or whatever. But it’s more like, it’s nothing groundbreaking. It’s just like, oh, of course. And they get checked in order. That’s important.
Josh Thomas [00:21:24]:
And here’s what it is. Let’s create a scenario here, Jay. Let’s say that you have a deal, that you’re trying to raise a million dollars, and you need to get $100,000 from me so that you can get this deal done. And you’re coming to me, and you’re saying, you know, Josh, you know, we’re the best in operation. You know, we’ve been in business for 20, 30 years, and, you know, we definitely know our stuff. Well, that’s great. And, oh, by the way, this deal, you know, we, we expect that, you know, it’s got a 2x multiple in the next three years, and, you know, it’s. It’s going to pay off all these dividends, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Josh Thomas [00:22:04]:
That’s great, but I don’t really care about any of that yet, because I have to check box number one. And box number one is, are you a person of integrity? Because if you’re not a person of integrity, or I don’t believe that you are, nothing else that you say matters to me. It’s completely irrelevant.
Jay Conner [00:22:26]:
Amen.
Josh Thomas [00:22:28]:
I need to know, Jay, are you a person of integrity? And you can’t tell me that. I have to feel it. And it’s not something that anybody can teach you. Like, Jay can teach you how to go and get deals. Jay can teach you how to fund it, how to advertise, and how to raise capital. He can teach you how to do all of those things, but he can’t teach you how to be a person of integrity. Your parents taught you that, and then life taught you that, and you decided and acted on whether or not. So it’s non-negotiable.
Josh Thomas [00:23:00]:
You must be a person of integrity. And you must show and demonstrate through your being that you are a person of integrity. Otherwise, there’s never a deal.
Jay Conner [00:23:11]:
Thank you.
Josh Thomas [00:23:13]:
That’s box number one. Okay, now the next box that you want to check is, do you know what you’re doing? Because if I can believe that you’re a person of integrity, I can also believe that you don’t know what you’re doing. And if you don’t know what you’re doing, or I don’t think you know what you’re doing, ain’t no deal going to happen. And you might be thinking to yourself, well, how can I meet somebody who is a person of integrity that turns out to be completely incompetent? That doesn’t seem possible. And for that, I present Exhibit A. Everybody’s got a. Like a crazy Uncle Larry, you know, it’s just like family. He’s family, right? And, I trust Larry’s got integrity.
Josh Thomas [00:24:05]:
I trust Larry with my life. He would lay down his life for me. Me. Because that’s just the kind of guy he is. But at Christmas time, he shows up with these wacky, you know, crypto island investment scams that make no sense. He obviously has no idea what he’s doing. I’m not investing with Uncle Larry. I trust him.
Josh Thomas [00:24:23]:
He’s got integrity. He’s a trustworthy person. But no way am I investing with him if you don’t demonstrate competence in whatever it is that you’re doing. No deal. It doesn’t matter. But if you can show. Hey, I know what I’m doing. You know, I.
Josh Thomas [00:24:40]:
I know what, what parts of this are important. I have experience. I have xyz. I have this. I have this. All right, cool. You’re competent. I’ll check that off.
Josh Thomas [00:24:48]:
Now, box number three. Are you going to take care of my money? I want you to pay, pay attention to the way that I worded this. It’s not. Are you going to make me a bunch of money? Because any smart, savvy investor understands that there are no guarantees when you’re investing money. You might lose it. That’s why there’s a potential for gain, because there’s a potential for loss. So not, are you going to make me money, but are you going to be a good steward of the money that I give you? Are you going to use it properly so that we have the best chance of making money together? I need to know, are you going to take care of my money? I need to believe that. I need to see that you know how to handle money, because this is a lot of money.
Josh Thomas [00:25:37]:
Check that box. And then we get to the final box, which is actually the absolute least important of all. Well, okay, go ahead and tell me the details of this deal, this particular deal. Go ahead. What’s the potential of this deal? It matters less than anything, but it’s the thing that everybody leads with when they’re presenting their opportunities, like, oh, you know, the multiple, you know, the returns and the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Who cares if I don’t believe that your person of integrity, who knows what they’re doing that’s going to take care of my money? I don’t. It doesn’t matter to me what the details of the. The or.
Josh Thomas [00:26:19]:
So if you’re leading with all of those numbers, you need to flip it, and you need to start focusing on who you are, what you know, and how responsibly you’re going to care for other people’s stuff.
Jay Conner [00:26:35]:
Let me tell you something, Josh. I’ve had over 800 guests on raising private money. I’ve never had anybody like you break it down like this. And it’s so true. It’s so true. You know, I share with my mastermind members, my platinum plus coaching clients all the time. I, I tell them, look, when you do this right, on raising private money, you never have to ask for money. There’s no pitching of deals.
Jay Conner [00:27:08]:
And, you know, we talked about this on your podcast. There’s no pitching of deals. As you said, most real estate investors lead with the pitch of a deal, which, as you said, doesn’t matter until. Unless you got the first three boxes, you know, checked. And so I just really, really appreciate you breaking it down like that. I love it, love it, love it.
Josh Thomas [00:27:31]:
And here’s one thing I’ll add to that, Jay, is take real estate out of the equation, take raising capital out of the equation, and insert a relationship.
Jay Conner [00:27:44]:
Thank you.
Josh Thomas [00:27:45]:
The man or the woman that you love, take that person and go through the same stuff and switch out. Are you going to take care of my money? Are you going to take care of my well-being? What are the specifics of this arrangement that you have? Like, what is your vision for our life together? That’s the least important thing. They need to know that you are a person of integrity, that you know what you’re doing. You’re going to take care of them. All right, cool. Yeah.
Josh Thomas [00:28:14]:
Well, let’s. Let’s talk about traveling and buying a house with a white picket fence and all that other stuff. That just means nothing without the first three boxes. Take that out and replace a potential business relationship. Take that out or put a dog in there; it doesn’t matter. Like, we all have to go through the same process.
Jay Conner [00:28:32]:
So what you’re saying is, regardless of the relationship, personal, business, professional, social, it doesn’t matter. A coworker, relationships. Those four boxes apply to man. You know, Josh, you should write a book. You should write a book on. On the four essential pillars of a successful relationship.
Josh Thomas [00:29:02]:
There you go.
Jay Conner [00:29:03]:
Subtitle Subtitle Personal, professional, you know, etc. Etc. Etc. Look, I want to get this. I want to get this in before we close out. You’re the founder of Vaiq. What in the world is that?
Josh Thomas [00:29:21]:
So, for the last 10 years, I have placed international virtual assistants VAs. And I have done that for my own clients. I had a lot of consulting clients over the years, and a lot of times, they’ll come to me because they believe they have a sales and marketing problem. And so my job is to build sales and marketing systems to boost their revenue and income. What I find out is that 80 to 90% of the time, they do not, in fact, have a sales and marketing problem. They have an operations problem or a systems problem. Most people don’t have any sort of system at all. And because they don’t have a system, they have no structured operations.
Josh Thomas [00:30:02]:
And so what I would do over and over and over again is I would go and hire an international employee, typically somebody from Central America or something like that, because they’re in the same time zone, they’re hard working, and you can get a great discount versus hiring an American or somebody locally. And they just work harder. And then I would put them into a simple system that required very little oversight, but it was well structured so that every single day they were operating at the highest possible levels. And just those two things alone allowed me to take some marquee clients, and we were able to 3x their sales in about a 90-day window. Wow. Yeah. And it’s not because I’m like some sales genius. It’s not because I’M some marketing guru.
Josh Thomas [00:30:57]:
It’s basic blocking and tackling. It’s basically going out there and executing the things that need to be executed so that your business operates correctly, effectively, and efficiently. And over time, I realized, well, hey, the number one thing that makes a difference here is getting the right person and putting them in the right environment. And so we started a business called VA iq, which is the smart way to hire international talent and integrate it into your team so that you can boost your performance without having to micromanage everybody, because we take care of it. We manage everybody for them. Because most people are not great managers either. No problem. You stay in your lane.
Josh Thomas [00:31:39]:
Let me stay in my lane by building great teams and helping keep the operations on track. So that’s what we do.
Jay Conner [00:31:46]:
Well, Josh, that’s amazing. 2x3x in 90 days or less. That is. That is. That’s just. That’s just amazing. You also created this thing you call Pulse, the Pulse System. P U L, SE, what does Pulse stand for, and how does it drive performance?
Josh Thomas [00:32:09]:
Yeah, you got it. So Pulse is just an acronym. I studied a lot of the famous athletes from back in the day, some people that are still active, and, for instance, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, pretty much anybody that you would consider, like, the most elite of the elite. And what I realized was they all had kind of the same character traits. Whenever you would ask them, well, what is your secret to success? They would always give the same kind of answers. And I realized these trends, and every single one of them used the word process. Every elite athlete. Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Michael Jordan.
Josh Thomas [00:33:08]:
They. Anytime they were being interviewed about what made them great, they would always, always say, I follow a process. And the next thing that they would always say is that they were constantly measuring and updating their stats and metrics. They always knew exactly where they were, and so they were constantly updating, checking in. Let’s see what happens here. The next thing that they all had in common is they would have at least one or more coaches, just like you mentioned at the beginning of the conversation, that was leading them to the next level.
Josh Thomas [00:33:48]:
Michael Jordan is arguably the best basketball player in the world. I challenge you to find anybody on the planet who doesn’t know who he is or why he’s famous. And he had a coach. Kobe Bryant, same thing. I met Kobe’s mindset coach. Kobe had a mindset coach. And the great Todd Herman, by the way. And he knew that he needed that edge, and he couldn’t get there on his own.
Josh Thomas [00:34:16]:
So he needed that leadership. And then the next thing that all elite athletes focus on is they are maniacal about getting skills, about honing and perfecting all of their skills at any given time. And then finally, they are relentless with execution, and they go out and execute. So process updates, leadership skills, and execution. What we do is we insert that into the environment. With our talent to make sure that on a daily basis, they’re getting exposed to those five things, because those are the five things. If they’re good enough for Tiger Woods. Sorry about the stuff that just recently happened to him, but he is one of the greatest athletes ever.
Josh Thomas [00:35:04]:
If it’s good enough for Tiger Woods, it’s good enough for, you know, my remote employees sitting in Honduras, you know, and they can benefit from it just as well.
Jay Conner [00:35:15]:
Josh, how can our listeners continue this conversation with you and reach out to you and your team and find out how they can, you know, learn more about your services?
Josh Thomas [00:35:29]:
Yep, very simple. If you are interested in expanding your team, if you’re hitting your capacity right now and you know you need to expand your production and you don’t have enough hands to do it on your own, or if you’re starting to feel like maybe there’s not enough hours in the day and you’re getting overwhelmed and you’re pulled in 15 different directions, it might make sense for you to hire strategically the right person and put them into the right system. And if you don’t have clarity on either one of those things, that’s okay. That’s why we should probably talk. You can go to www.vaiq.net, and on there, there are all kinds of options for you to book a call directly with me. I have a free book called Build without Borders that you can get there for free. That shows you exactly how I recruit, source, hire, and manage international talent. And then obviously, if you want to have a chat, just book a call there, mention that you were on Jay’s or you heard me on Jay’s show, and I’ll be happy to chat with you.
Jay Conner [00:36:28]:
You, Josh, thank you so much. Again, that website is WWW V. That’s V as in Victor, A as in virtual assistants, www.vaiq.net, and of course, all that’ll be in the show. Notes. Show notes. Josh, thank you so much for joining us here on raising private money.
Josh Thomas [00:36:47]:
Yes, sir.
Jay Conner [00:36:49]:
All right, there you have it, my friends. If you’ve been telling yourself I’ll scale when I have more time, this episode proved the opposite is true. You don’t get time. First, you build the team with Josh helping you. That gives you time. And if you got even one idea from Josh that really hit home, like the four boxes for any relationship, just one that I want you to do me a favor. Don’t keep this episode to yourself. I want you to think of just one person.
Jay Conner [00:37:22]:
Just one person. Another real estate investor, another business person, another entrepreneur, business owner who’s stuck doing everything on their own. Who do you know, in addition to yourself, who has complained about I just can’t get it done. I don’t have enough time. I want you to share this episode with them right now. Not tomorrow, right now. Share this episode, text it to them, email it to them, post it on your social media. Because chances are, the breakthrough you just heard could be the exact thing they need to hear today.
Jay Conner [00:37:56]:
And hey, if you haven’t yet, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and let me know what part of this episode hit you the hardest. I read every single one. Until next time, I’m Jay Conner, the private money authority, reminding you that money comes from people, but freedom comes from leverage. I’ll see you right here on the next episode of Raising Private Money.
Narrator [00:38:22]:
Are you feeling inspired by the knowledge you gained in this episode? Then head over to www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide, that’s www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuideand download your free guide that shares seven reasons why private money will skyrocket your real estate investing business right now. Again, that’s www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide to get your free guide. We’ll see you next time on Raising Private Money with Jay Conner.