The Broker: How Daniel Dias Evolved and Found Success

Title: CEO of Small Business Lending Source. A one-man shop with one full-time assistant and another assistant in San Diego, California.

Years in the industry: 5

How he got into the industry:

I’ve always been an entrepreneur and I had a business that was going downhill. [In 2013,] I had a friend that was doing business loans and he told me that he had made $26,000 the month before, so I was like “What are you doing that’s bringing in so much money working for someone else?” And he said business loans. So I was like, “I need to check this out.” So I went and worked for the company he was working at for about 6 months. I learned how to sell the products and then went off and did my own thing. Now we do equipment leasing, business credit lines, SBA Express Loans and other products.

What were some of the challenges of starting your own business?

Initially, the biggest challenge was that I had only done merchant cash advance and not everyone is a good fit for merchant cash advance. So I had to learn about the other products, [which] is one thing that has helped me grow the business. Every year, I’ve seen about a 30 to 40% increase in revenue.

Also, marketing has changed a lot. I was kind of old school. I’d pick up the phone, start dialing, do direct mail. [But] since I’ve been in this business, I’ve learned a lot about internet marketing. I do a lot of marketing through Linkedin and Facebook, a lot of retargeting…I taught myself everything I needed to know about internet marketing.

His daily routine:

6/6:30 a.m. – I wake up. I make myself breakfast along with my daughter and get her ready for her daycare.

7:30 a.m. – I start work. I’m checking my emails, returning emails and calls.

9 a.m. – 12 p.m. – I’m doing outbound marketing. I dial through whatever leads came in.  

1 p.m. – 3 p.m. – I try to close deals this time of the day.

3 p.m. – 5 p.m. – More marketing.

5 p.m. – 7 p.m. – I spend time with daughter.

7 p.m. – 9 p.m. – I go to the gym.

9:30 p.m. – Get back home.

10 p.m. – 12/1 a.m. –  I’m working on marketing or trying to learn something new.

What he means by “marketing”:

I do all my own posts, so I have to come up with the copywriting for LinkedIn for the next day. I have a certain strategy that I use, so I have to come up with the content for that everyday. And I’m regularly checking to to see how my strategy/posts are performing.   

How his process works:

I give the client a call the first time a lead comes in. My assistant is more or less on the front end and she will follow up the 2nd, 3rd, 4th time. She’s collecting all the paperwork after that.

Then, once the offer comes in, I call the people back and then I’m closing the deals.

His monthly volume:

Last month we funded $750,000. I’m typically generating a good 300 leads a month. Of course, they’re not all qualified, but it’s a good amount.   

His biggest deal:

It was an $850,000 deal and I got a $50,000 commission.

Tips for having a home office:

I have a specific area in my house where I work. It’s a loft upstairs and once I’m up there, I’m completely focused on the business. There’s no TV in there. If you’re going to work from home, you can’t have distractions. You have to be of the mindset that once I’m at my desk, there’s nothing else – no internet surfing. If you’re going to work from home, you have to have a designated space where everyone knows “If I’m in there and the door is closed, don’t bother me.”

His mindset:

Putting a plan in place and doing everything you have to do in order to get it done. There’s no procrastination. If I’m going to do something, it’s going to get done. If I don’t know how to do it, I’m going to find somebody that does or go on the internet and find the answer to my question.

Where he’ll be on Oct. 4th:

At deBanked CONNECT San Diego. He even got an Early Bird ticket!

Todd Stone was a reporter for deBanked.