My Testimonial · Lets Geaux Hustle

My Testimonial

Hey fam, I know

is always asking for us to post our wins so I share this not a brag but as insight into how far I’ve come as a first-time business owner.

My journey with LGH started during my Skillbridge program when I was retiring from the Navy after 27 years of service. I really had no idea what I was going to do after retirement or if I wanted/needed to do anything at all. After hearing Trevor’s pitch about Turo and becoming an entrepreneur in general, I was hooked. Starting something for myself and not working for someone else sounded great. My initial thoughts were this would be a good passive income stream that I might end up trying to grow and actual enjoy being able to do it on my schedule.

Fast forward a few weeks and I had my intake call with

@Andrew Knapp

. That meeting went great, and I feel like still to this day I meet my first actual friend in the LGH fam.

After enrollment I spent hours learning the blueprint, watching the course videos, asking crazy amounts of questions, really trying to learn a new business and understand how it was going to work for me.

During that time the credit optimization had already started, and no lie it seemed like it was taking forever to get anywhere. The old team of credit repair folks weren’t nearly as attentive or productive at holding up their end of the bargain. So, for all of you who are now at that stage, be thankful (and patient) that you are able to work with the team you have now. Honestly, I had really good personal credit coming in so it wasn’t about improving my scores, but more so having 2 old delinquents removed from my profile. That didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me why it was so important until months later once I hit the business funding stage.

But before I get to funding I still want to touch on my actual journey. Impatience got the best of me, so I started reaching out directly to the old dealer connect,

@Jeremy Tate

, also someone I still consider a friend and not just someone in the LGH community. After a few talks with Jeremy, I was ready to push forward and start getting some cars in my business name since I already had the credit to PG them.

Within just a couple weeks Jeremy and I had decided on 4 vehicles, completed all the paperwork, and had cars on the way. Mind you that my credit optimization wasn’t getting anywhere with those 2 delinquents, so funding still wasn’t in the near future.

So now I’ve got my first 4 vehicles, and they are listed on Turo pretty much the day after they arrived and business has begun. I’m now around 100 and some trips completed on Turo and probably around another 30-40 on the private side.

This is important (from my path and my experience only). Don’t expect this to 1. be a passive game when you’re first starting out and 2. be a millionaire overnight. Each car was bringing in decent money each month but TBH cash flow was minimal from what I was expecting. Yes, I was earning 4-5k per month but after car notes, insurance, maintenance and other misc. expenses I was probably clearing about $1k per month on my little fleet.

But of course, I defined my processes and learning what was and wasn’t working in my market and start producing slightly better numbers each month. Also important to realize… yes, the blueprint is there for all of us, and it is tried and tested and should be the absolute baseline for a new business, but everyone has to learn what does and doesn’t work for their individual business model. This also requires a lot of trial and error and patience, and not to mention some unexpected expenses when things don’t work the way you wanted them to. But continue trying new ways to improve and stick to it.

Fast forward many months and I was finally in a position for funding. Seriously after all these months without having business funding, I had not yet realized how much of a game changer it would be. I’m currently sitting somewhere around $200k or so in business capital. This has changed the way I’m now running my business model in the rental car industry. What is working for me may not work for you so be cautious thinking this is the right route for you.

Since funding started about a month ago, I’ve already purchased my first “cash” car. Cash is a loose term in the sense that I’ve actually used my zero percent interest for (12, 18, or even 20 months on one of them) to purchase that first vehicle. I’m also working 2 more deals that I want to close right after the new year using this same model. That cash car I bought was a 2016 Subaru Outback that had 126,000 miles on it when I purchased it for $8,500 dollars. I put in about another $1,500 with licensing and registrations and initial maintenance to have it 100% road worthy. So, I’m now a little over $10k into the car but project to have it completely paid off in the first 9-11 months of owning it. It has already earned me $700 bucks in its first 3 trips and is booked for the first 3 months of the new year for just under $3k for those months.

So, no financing or monthly payments to worry about and I own this car, not the bank. Once this car is paid off (zero % credit wise) I project t this car will bring in over $10k for at least another 3 years baring any major accident.

My current 5 car fleet is producing a positive monthly cash flow, I’ve built assets, I’ve got business funding to continue to grow at a much faster pace and things are all trending in the right direction. I couldn’t be happy with what LGH has provided in the sense of a real mentorship program, big thank you Trevor for your guidance.

Some may have picked up that I mentioned I’m waiting till after the new year to finish up the two deals I have in place and wondering why I haven’t already signed on the dotted line. Well, here’s the reason. My business model is to use this not only as a cash flowing income stream, but to also use the rental car business for THOUSANDS in tax benefits each year. Along with all the other relationship you want to form as a new business, having a knowledgeable CPA on your team may be the most important. I highly, highly advise for anyone just starting out that you start vetting CPAs who understand this business and know how to take advantage of it. I will projectably make 10x the money with taxes than I will from the cash flow in this first year off business. Do NOT sleep on how important this part is. And not only this year but I’ll also be able to take advantage of these benefits for years to come. I’ve already got this year covered with write-offs, depreciation and such that I want to be able to continue being able to use these benefits for even more future years to come. So that’s why I’m waiting till the new year to continue my asset growth.

I will say I’m here to answer any questions, but the real truth is if you have particular question when it comes to any of this, you should really be asking them to a real professional in that particular field whether it’s credit, funding, asset management, taxes and so on. I’m just a guy learning as I go and putting in the hard work every day to continually learn and educate myself. LGH has the right people in place (minus a tax guru that I'm aware of) so utilize them, trust them, and be patient with them.

Fam, I wish all of you and your families a Merry Christmas and I hope that everyone prospers in your journeys.

P.s. One more huge thank you to Trevor, AK, Jeremy, X and all the other folks who are making this possible for each of us… THANK YOU!

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