00:00.480 --> 00:02.310 Allyson Berger: Hey, everyone Allyson Berger here for 00:02.310 --> 00:06.360 deBanked. We are live in midtown Manhattan. I am now joined with 00:06.360 --> 00:08.880 the lovely Jared of United Capital Source. How are you 00:08.880 --> 00:09.360 doing? 00:09.480 --> 00:10.560 Jared Weitz: Great. Thank you. How are you? 00:10.680 --> 00:13.110 Allyson Berger: I'm fantastic. I'm so happy to have you here. 00:13.140 --> 00:13.950 Jared Weitz: Thanks for having me. 00:14.310 --> 00:18.450 Allyson Berger: It's so nice to be in person doing things live 00:18.630 --> 00:20.790 in real life. And not virtually. 00:20.920 --> 00:23.167 Jared Weitz: Yeah, used to Zoom calls most of these days. But 00:23.213 --> 00:25.180 this is my first in person, which is nice. 00:25.230 --> 00:27.930 Allyson Berger: Oh, I'm so honored to be the first person 00:27.930 --> 00:31.500 for you. So how has it been doing things so virtually? 00:31.830 --> 00:34.710 Jared Weitz: I'm not so much of a virtual guy or a Zoom guy I'm 00:34.710 --> 00:38.100 more of an in person guy. So I I've had a difficult time 00:38.100 --> 00:41.070 adjusting to Zooms. But my team is doing great. 00:41.520 --> 00:43.560 Allyson Berger: That's fantastic. Is it coming back to 00:43.560 --> 00:46.620 life a little bit more? Are you moving away from the virtual? 00:47.550 --> 00:49.770 Jared Weitz: So we've had actually our new sales and our 00:49.770 --> 00:53.190 renewals in office. And we've had our operations accounting 00:53.190 --> 00:54.810 and marketing out of the office. 00:55.290 --> 00:56.430 Allyson Berger: So it's a little balance. 00:56.460 --> 00:57.450 Jared Weitz: We've had a good hybrid. 00:57.690 --> 00:59.370 Allyson Berger: That's great. And you do you see yourself 00:59.370 --> 01:02.310 going full back to normal anytime soon? 01:02.520 --> 01:03.900 Jared Weitz: I think we're gonna keep this hybrid going. 01:04.170 --> 01:05.520 Allyson Berger: Really? And why is that? 01:06.300 --> 01:10.440 Jared Weitz: You know, sales for me is more of an in person day 01:10.440 --> 01:13.440 to day, I think you have a better handle on what your peers 01:13.440 --> 01:16.320 are doing. And what's happening through different funders 01:16.320 --> 01:19.530 changing their rules and guidelines. When you're at home, 01:19.530 --> 01:21.990 I just for me as well, it just felt like I was more out of 01:21.990 --> 01:22.860 touch with everyone. 01:23.130 --> 01:24.030 Allyson Berger: Right? Right. 01:24.450 --> 01:26.760 Jared Weitz: My marketing team and my accounting team, my 01:26.760 --> 01:30.240 operations team, they more so work on their own anyway. So 01:30.240 --> 01:33.840 they're used to working in that environment and can work at home 01:33.840 --> 01:34.290 easier. 01:34.560 --> 01:36.180 Allyson Berger: It's interesting, you know, everyone 01:36.180 --> 01:39.420 has a different outlook on how life has changed, and what's 01:39.420 --> 01:41.940 better for them and what's easier for them. But it's nice 01:41.940 --> 01:44.460 that you're so aware of how your team does better in different 01:44.460 --> 01:45.030 avenues. 01:45.210 --> 01:48.540 Jared Weitz: Yeah, absolutely. I try to look at myself and how 01:48.870 --> 01:51.270 I'm feeling about my day and my workday, and then just 01:51.600 --> 01:53.520 understand how my team would also feel about that. 01:53.700 --> 01:55.440 Allyson Berger: Yeah, and I'm glad you thought today's gonna 01:55.440 --> 01:57.270 be a light day. You didn't know I was going to hit you with some 01:57.270 --> 01:58.410 hard hitting questions. 01:58.560 --> 02:00.030 Jared Weitz: No, so far. It's been okay. 02:01.230 --> 02:02.850 Allyson Berger: It goes light and then hard. You never know 02:02.850 --> 02:05.460 what's gonna pop out, especially when we're doing live events. 02:05.550 --> 02:07.140 Jared Weitz: Yeah, I'll take it whatever you guys have. 02:07.740 --> 02:09.930 Allyson Berger: Do you see a live events happening anytime 02:09.930 --> 02:11.730 soon? How do you feel about attending them? 02:12.000 --> 02:16.650 Jared Weitz: Yeah, I think live events. I'm thinking more toward 02:16.650 --> 02:19.140 the end of the year as the vaccine rolls out more. I think 02:19.380 --> 02:22.800 people will definitely want to attend them in some fashion and 02:22.800 --> 02:26.100 probably have to do some color coding to understand how close 02:26.130 --> 02:27.540 you are allowed to get to certain people. 02:27.570 --> 02:29.550 Allyson Berger: Yeah, we're both in black. So I guess we're 02:29.550 --> 02:30.600 allowed to be a little closer. 02:30.630 --> 02:32.490 Jared Weitz: Yeah, black means only one foot apart. 02:32.610 --> 02:34.680 Allyson Berger: Oh, okay. Perfect. That works out great. 02:34.800 --> 02:38.160 So how has your business model changed? I know, we talked about 02:38.160 --> 02:41.580 office, how, who, who's where working? But how has your 02:41.580 --> 02:43.680 business model changed throughout this past year? 02:44.400 --> 02:46.590 Jared Weitz: Our model has not really changed. Actually, 02:46.590 --> 02:48.930 throughout the year, we've always been a marketplace broker 02:48.930 --> 02:53.010 that was able to produce different offers and products. 02:53.010 --> 02:57.630 And so as one product, you know, may have been slower, we were 02:57.630 --> 03:00.300 able to just look at others. And thankfully, we were able to 03:00.540 --> 03:03.720 participate in the PPP program and help a lot of businesses and 03:03.720 --> 03:04.530 save a lot of jobs. 03:04.590 --> 03:06.270 Allyson Berger: That's fantastic. I mean, we all need a 03:06.270 --> 03:07.260 little help these days. 03:07.380 --> 03:09.150 Jared Weitz: Yeah, me included. I'll take it. 03:09.750 --> 03:11.460 Allyson Berger: I'm not there for your help, though. I'm there 03:11.460 --> 03:16.380 for everyone else. But that's so fantastic. So where do you see 03:16.410 --> 03:17.430 the future going? 03:18.600 --> 03:21.000 Jared Weitz: You know, for us, we'll continue to hire, and 03:21.000 --> 03:24.630 we'll continue to grow out our multiproduct channel. I think 03:24.630 --> 03:30.060 that the business loan landscape is becoming more normalized, as 03:30.060 --> 03:34.110 this vaccine does roll out. And as this PPP program finishes. 03:34.350 --> 03:36.690 Allyson Berger: That's great. It's good to hear see a positive 03:36.690 --> 03:37.920 light at the end of the tunnel. 03:37.950 --> 03:39.030 Jared Weitz: Yeah, absolutely. 03:39.540 --> 03:42.030 Allyson Berger: Fantastic. Well, Sean's wearing different colors. 03:42.030 --> 03:43.560 Everyone else is wearing different colors. So you're 03:43.560 --> 03:45.780 gonna have to figure out the new color coding on how close you 03:45.780 --> 03:47.130 can get can get to them. 03:47.280 --> 03:49.020 Jared Weitz: I'll figure it out with Sean we'll do a winking 03:49.020 --> 03:49.560 system. 03:49.650 --> 03:53.100 Allyson Berger: Oh, that sounds exciting. Alright. Well, stay 03:53.100 --> 03:55.680 tuned, everyone, there's more to come from deBanked live. 04:01.620 --> 04:04.200 Johny Fernandez: So Jared, let's go ahead and talk a little bit 04:04.200 --> 04:07.950 about your background, your business. The first question is 04:07.950 --> 04:11.520 going to be let's start from the beginning. You know, you're born 04:11.520 --> 04:15.990 and raised Brooklyn boy. And you you went to college at St. 04:15.990 --> 04:21.000 John's, you know, you also ended up going to the south. And then 04:21.000 --> 04:24.240 you ended up back here in New York. So walk us through how you 04:24.240 --> 04:29.100 went from, you know, doing these normal jobs. You know, where you 04:29.100 --> 04:32.580 were a teacher at one point, you know you also worked at the JCC. 04:32.610 --> 04:36.210 When you were in New Orleans, you also ended up in plumbing. 04:36.360 --> 04:39.570 So from that to where you're at now, let's let's kind of go back 04:39.570 --> 04:40.260 to that a little bit. 04:40.290 --> 04:42.840 Jared Weitz: Yeah, definitely. You know, I think like most of 04:42.840 --> 04:45.360 us in school, you're just trying to figure out what your actual 04:45.360 --> 04:49.890 passion is. And I just had a lot of things that I really enjoyed 04:49.890 --> 04:54.300 doing. And I just remember always loving to stay busy and 04:54.300 --> 04:58.050 so I always had multiple jobs at once and coming from a big 04:58.050 --> 05:00.630 family it was important to be able to provide for myself as 05:00.630 --> 05:04.110 well, you know, mom and dad had a lot of my younger siblings to 05:04.110 --> 05:07.500 take care of. And so like my first working papers were at 05:07.500 --> 05:11.820 like, 13 years old, my first job was at McDonald's. And, you 05:11.820 --> 05:16.020 know, from there, I had so many different different careers and 05:16.200 --> 05:20.460 jobs. And then through college, I was just taking any job that 05:20.460 --> 05:23.430 was paying a certain amount so I can pay my way. That's really 05:23.430 --> 05:26.880 what the mindset was. And so that's how I ended up in so many 05:26.880 --> 05:30.150 different industries throughout it was all different pay levels, 05:30.390 --> 05:35.130 to really be able to pay for my education. So I followed a girl 05:35.130 --> 05:38.190 to the South that I thought I would end up with and then 05:38.730 --> 05:42.000 didn't end up there. I met Hurricane Katrina. So then I had 05:42.000 --> 05:46.080 to come back to St. John's. And I had to do some more schooling 05:46.080 --> 05:50.040 over there and kind of start from scratch because I had lost 05:50.040 --> 05:54.390 everything in the hurricane. And so I was going to school and I 05:54.390 --> 05:58.260 was working at night as a valet. And one of the guys that I had 05:58.260 --> 06:01.830 been valeting for said, hey, why don't you get a job with me in 06:01.830 --> 06:04.500 the plumbers union. My name is Jean Cardoza. I own Cardoza 06:04.500 --> 06:06.750 plumbing, and it was one of the largest plumbing outfits in the 06:06.750 --> 06:10.740 city. And so once I just understood the opportunity, and 06:10.740 --> 06:13.410 that it could really schooling, I just said yes, I was literally 06:13.410 --> 06:16.680 in his office the next morning, and I signed my paperwork, and I 06:16.680 --> 06:19.200 was in the union. And so I was working in the day, and then I 06:19.200 --> 06:22.920 was going to school at night. And then I was still valeting at 06:22.920 --> 06:26.250 night. And then one of my buddies that I was battling with 06:26.250 --> 06:31.080 got a job in the city at Merchant Cash and Capital, which 06:31.080 --> 06:34.950 was later BizFi, and they were hiring new people. And he had 06:34.950 --> 06:37.740 said to me, you know, you gotta meet this guy, Steve shine down, 06:37.950 --> 06:41.040 he's super charismatic, like this company is gonna blow up. 06:41.490 --> 06:44.160 And I'm like, you know, I'm doing pretty good in the union. 06:44.160 --> 06:48.930 And I'm probably going to finish out and become a teacher. And I 06:48.930 --> 06:51.090 remember talking to one of the guys in the union about the 06:51.090 --> 06:53.340 opportunity, and he's like, You're crazy if you don't meet 06:53.340 --> 06:58.230 that guy. I'm like, really why? He's like, Jared, I told my son 06:58.230 --> 07:01.170 to go be a doctor, don't don't be a plumber. And he showed me 07:01.170 --> 07:04.860 his hands. And his hands were like this. And he said, you 07:04.860 --> 07:09.060 know, 30 years of plumbing doing it. It just kind of stood out to 07:09.060 --> 07:13.080 me, you know, and it made me want to go meet this guy. And, 07:13.110 --> 07:17.760 and I met Steve and Mike was right, he was super charismatic. 07:17.760 --> 07:21.330 And I really believed in the vision. And so I took a shot 07:21.330 --> 07:25.470 again, and I shelved my book for 90 days in the union. And I 07:25.470 --> 07:29.280 tried this job out for 90 days. And after 60 days, I was pretty 07:29.280 --> 07:33.750 sure that it was for me. And I left the union. And I just 07:33.750 --> 07:36.780 started working full time at this company. And I really put 07:36.960 --> 07:41.940 200 of myself 200% myself into it. And I started in 07:41.940 --> 07:46.860 underwriting. I worked my way up to business development. And 07:46.860 --> 07:49.710 then I co founded their inside sales division next level 07:49.710 --> 07:53.970 funding, they had made me a 10% owner of it, I was, you know, I 07:53.970 --> 07:56.610 really hit the roof, I was like you really made it, you know, I 07:56.610 --> 08:00.960 was 25 at the time 26. And so it was a pretty big deal for me. 08:02.100 --> 08:05.070 Most of the peers that I had started there with, I watched 08:05.070 --> 08:07.320 them all leaving and kind of going on their own in the 08:07.320 --> 08:11.820 industry. And that just hadn't really dawned on me. And then 08:11.820 --> 08:15.540 one day I was talking to Steve, and he was explaining to me that 08:15.810 --> 08:17.850 as they were building the company out, they needed some 08:17.850 --> 08:20.730 more gray haired folks he had said, which really just meant 08:20.730 --> 08:24.480 people with experience to build and be on their board. And he 08:24.480 --> 08:26.580 was kind of nicely telling me like you're not going to be a 08:26.580 --> 08:30.510 board member anytime soon. And so we just worked out a deal 08:30.510 --> 08:32.700 where I sold my shares back to him and I went on my own with 08:32.700 --> 08:37.530 United Capital Source at the end of 2010. And then from there, 08:37.530 --> 08:41.370 it's been a pretty wild ride for almost 11 years. 08:42.240 --> 08:45.600 Johny Fernandez: That's wild. Yeah, that is wild. So Jared, 08:45.600 --> 08:48.060 something that I've noticed about you just talking with you 08:48.090 --> 08:52.050 and reading up on you is that you took different risks in 08:52.050 --> 08:56.610 life. Yeah. 2020 has obviously been a big part of many people 08:56.610 --> 09:01.500 taking a risk, and being scared of starting from scratch from 09:01.530 --> 09:04.530 like building your way back up. So what advice would you have to 09:04.530 --> 09:07.380 someone that is either new to the business, or that is 09:07.380 --> 09:09.870 thinking about starting in the business or that is thinking 09:09.870 --> 09:12.780 about just taking a risk like you did? What advice would you 09:12.780 --> 09:13.200 give them? 09:13.620 --> 09:15.930 Jared Weitz: You know, the first thing I would say is to just for 09:15.930 --> 09:19.620 me a lot of the risks that I took, thankfully, I was at a 09:19.620 --> 09:22.710 eugenic place in my life as well. I wasn't married yet. I 09:22.710 --> 09:26.940 didn't have any kids yet. And so I also felt kind of bold enough 09:26.940 --> 09:30.870 to do that. So I would definitely take that into 09:30.870 --> 09:34.290 consideration today. But more importantly, I would say if you 09:34.290 --> 09:38.370 have a skill set and and you have a real desire and will to 09:38.370 --> 09:41.190 succeed, I don't think there's much that would stop you these 09:41.190 --> 09:43.980 days from going on your own and being entrepreneurial and 09:43.980 --> 09:48.360 starting a business. The one thing I will say is that you 09:48.360 --> 09:51.690 will be tested time and time again, whether it be with a 09:51.690 --> 09:55.500 world pandemic or some of your largest partners closing some of 09:55.500 --> 09:59.250 your closest employees leaving, so you really have to have like 09:59.280 --> 10:02.670 zero quit in you if you're going to take this path. 10:04.080 --> 10:06.900 Johny Fernandez: And what would you say in regards to people 10:06.900 --> 10:09.510 that are trying to figure out what their next step is and how 10:09.510 --> 10:12.540 to maneuver, you know, a next step, whether it's in whether 10:12.540 --> 10:16.380 it's in the business, or whether it's just doing something new in 10:16.380 --> 10:16.830 general? 10:17.400 --> 10:20.760 Jared Weitz: I think if someone has an entrepreneurial spirit, 10:20.850 --> 10:23.430 and they look at what they're good at, and what they like 10:23.430 --> 10:26.550 doing, and then look at the different industries, in terms 10:26.550 --> 10:30.180 of what that looks like, they can pretty easily I think, 10:30.210 --> 10:33.270 create a plan to start something. And something that I 10:33.270 --> 10:37.770 did, you know, I had emptied my 401 K, and I had emptied my 10:37.770 --> 10:41.250 savings at the time to start United. And so it was, it was 10:41.250 --> 10:42.870 really an all in move for me. 10:43.860 --> 10:45.810 Johny Fernandez: So at this point, you know, you had you 10:45.810 --> 10:50.460 couldn't just, you couldn't quit is what you're saying, there was 10:50.460 --> 10:51.450 no option for failure. 10:51.480 --> 10:53.820 Jared Weitz: There is no quit, yeah, after 11 years, 10:53.820 --> 10:57.390 thankfully, I can say that, you know, I've bootstrapped this 10:57.390 --> 11:01.920 business, we have not had any loans, and we have no debt. You 11:01.920 --> 11:04.800 know, I've grown this business from all the dollars that it's 11:04.800 --> 11:07.560 earned itself. Most of my staff that started there is actually 11:07.560 --> 11:10.320 still there with me, the average employee tenure is about eight 11:10.320 --> 11:11.070 and a half years. 11:11.580 --> 11:13.200 Johny Fernandez: So what do you think? Why do you think your 11:13.200 --> 11:16.800 business specifically is different? And people have been 11:16.800 --> 11:19.710 able to stay there long. And also, you know, you guys haven't 11:19.710 --> 11:23.370 had to close because of something like the pandemic, 11:23.370 --> 11:26.190 what do you think has made you successful in regards to being a 11:26.190 --> 11:26.820 business owner? 11:27.660 --> 11:32.100 Jared Weitz: You know, I watch a lot of different shows and read 11:32.100 --> 11:34.230 different books on business. And one person that I really admire 11:34.230 --> 11:38.160 is Marcus Lemonis. And he talks a lot about people, process, and 11:38.160 --> 11:42.570 product, right. And so in an industry like ours, where 11:43.200 --> 11:47.880 everyone has access to a certain product, right, you really have 11:47.880 --> 11:51.450 to differentiate yourself with people in process. And so for 11:51.450 --> 11:55.200 me, what differentiates us definitely is our people. You 11:55.200 --> 11:58.680 know, I focused on building a culture versus a business. And I 11:58.680 --> 12:02.190 think that is what has made us successful on the on the people 12:02.190 --> 12:06.180 side. And then our process, you know, a lot of people in 12:06.180 --> 12:10.740 industry throw around the word fintech. We're a finance 12:10.740 --> 12:13.680 brokerage. We're not a tech company. But we have some really 12:13.680 --> 12:16.020 cool tech built, and we have some really cool technology that 12:16.020 --> 12:18.150 enables us to make our process faster. 12:18.480 --> 12:20.670 Johny Fernandez: So what advice would you have to someone that 12:20.700 --> 12:24.600 is in the business that's fairly young? What advice would you 12:24.600 --> 12:28.560 have to them about moving up about just trying to get ahead? 12:29.580 --> 12:32.610 Jared Weitz: I say that someone should look to partner with a 12:32.610 --> 12:37.080 larger firm, and learn the business and understand what 12:37.080 --> 12:41.940 their growth pattern is going to be. And learn from a mentor. You 12:41.940 --> 12:45.120 know, that's why I think I was able to be successful, you know, 12:45.120 --> 12:47.820 I did start my business on my own. But I had this background 12:47.820 --> 12:52.710 from MCC. And I worked with some of the most talented people. And 12:52.710 --> 12:55.650 still to this day, you know, I talked to Steve Shinebam, I 12:55.650 --> 12:58.470 bounce things off him. And I think it's important to have 12:58.470 --> 13:02.370 business mentors that enable you to stay on your path. 13:03.180 --> 13:05.340 Johny Fernandez: Really interesting question that I've 13:05.340 --> 13:07.440 seen, you know, not only in this industry, but in other 13:07.440 --> 13:09.300 industries, is how do you not burn out? 13:10.650 --> 13:13.470 Jared Weitz: That's a difficult question. You know, sometimes 13:13.470 --> 13:15.990 you'll feel like you are burnt out, right. And I think that's 13:16.740 --> 13:21.330 just part of the job. I actually don't have an answer for why I'm 13:21.330 --> 13:24.060 not burned out with the amount of hours I work, I feel like I 13:24.060 --> 13:27.930 should be I just, it really goes back to having that zero, quit. 13:27.930 --> 13:29.610 I just I don't really think about that to be honest, it's 13:29.610 --> 13:32.670 really not even in my head. I don't think about how many hours 13:32.670 --> 13:36.360 I work a day, or how many hours I worked this week, I focus on 13:36.360 --> 13:39.900 goals. So as long as I'm just reaching those goals, I'm not 13:39.900 --> 13:40.890 too focused on much else. 13:41.430 --> 13:43.890 Johny Fernandez: That's awesome. So moving forward, you know, the 13:44.160 --> 13:48.270 business in general, you know, the business, the industry, what 13:48.270 --> 13:52.560 exactly do you think is going to happen in the future and also 13:52.650 --> 13:55.530 how has the business had to adapt and change because of 13:55.530 --> 13:56.910 something like the pandemic? 13:57.540 --> 14:01.890 Jared Weitz: So I think the future for the finance industry 14:02.220 --> 14:05.400 is always bright. And you know why I say that is because I 14:05.400 --> 14:09.030 believe in entrepreneur. I believe in entrepreneurship. But 14:09.030 --> 14:11.550 I also believe in small business. And I know that 52% of 14:11.550 --> 14:14.550 the economy is small business. And so that just doesn't go away 14:14.550 --> 14:18.660 tomorrow, whether there's a pandemic or not, right. And so, 14:19.170 --> 14:23.520 today, what I see happening in our industry is that states will 14:23.520 --> 14:25.890 come in and they'll create some more regulation around what's 14:25.890 --> 14:28.440 happening. I think that's positive for the industry. 14:28.440 --> 14:32.760 Right? Once a set of regulations is in place, there's nothing to 14:32.760 --> 14:36.450 really worry about nothing looming. I think disclosures 14:36.870 --> 14:39.420 will become more and more pertinent in our in our 14:39.420 --> 14:43.740 industry, whether it be commission rate and term. And I 14:43.740 --> 14:46.800 think that brokers are really going to have to become really 14:46.800 --> 14:53.550 familiar with privacy laws, privacy guidelines, and data 14:53.550 --> 14:56.100 disclosures because that's coming down the pipe as I see 14:56.100 --> 14:57.330 from different states as well. 14:57.630 --> 14:59.310 Johny Fernandez: So speaking about that, I know there has 14:59.310 --> 15:02.490 been different states that have put different that I wanted to 15:02.490 --> 15:05.040 pass different bills, different laws into place, you know, 15:05.040 --> 15:07.800 pretty much hindering the business from moving forward or 15:07.920 --> 15:12.720 putting different tying brokers and having them follow different 15:12.720 --> 15:15.960 rules. What would be your advice, you know, for someone 15:15.960 --> 15:19.710 that's just starting out about, you know, working around these 15:20.190 --> 15:24.360 different rules, different hurdles that someone like you 15:24.390 --> 15:27.150 didn't really have to go through because it was in place? 15:27.510 --> 15:31.290 Jared Weitz: You know, I think for us, we've always focused on 15:31.290 --> 15:34.830 being a consultative brokerage. And so we've never hidden 15:35.250 --> 15:40.350 anything about our pricing or our term or our product. And so 15:40.470 --> 15:43.590 if there were disclosures that were to come out, we've already 15:43.590 --> 15:46.740 been operating that way. And we've already been selling that 15:46.740 --> 15:50.100 way. And so if you're doing the right thing, and you're being 15:50.130 --> 15:54.330 honest with your clients, any of these things aren't really for 15:54.330 --> 15:57.930 you. It's the lenders that are going to have a little bit more 15:57.930 --> 16:01.440 of an issue with their borrowing base and their cost to capital 16:01.440 --> 16:06.360 if there are certain cap on rate and term for them. In turn, that 16:06.360 --> 16:09.600 trickles down to the brokers a bit. But there's other folks and 16:09.600 --> 16:12.690 products coming out like American Express's Kabbage, and 16:12.690 --> 16:18.330 those guys are coming back out. Folks, like Idea, folks like 16:18.330 --> 16:20.940 business backer in headway, you know, most of these people are 16:20.940 --> 16:24.060 already following the guidelines. So when these things 16:24.060 --> 16:26.190 come out, it's already that you're working that way. 16:26.310 --> 16:29.430 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. So obviously, 2020 was a big year, 16:29.460 --> 16:32.190 and it changed a lot of people, it changed the way businesses 16:32.190 --> 16:36.810 work. So from what you can say, for the future for you guys, 16:36.960 --> 16:37.980 what does that look like? 16:38.760 --> 16:41.730 Jared Weitz: You know, we'll continue to operate as a 16:41.730 --> 16:45.960 marketplace and offer multiple products. Equipment Financing 16:45.960 --> 16:49.830 has become bigger, as I see right now, as is, you know, the 16:49.830 --> 16:54.210 SBA loans. I think as the government loans calm down, our 16:54.210 --> 16:58.770 industry will begin to tick back up. And for us, that is the 16:58.770 --> 17:03.720 focus is just understanding what product is going to be the best 17:03.720 --> 17:05.730 at the time for our clients and then pushing it there. 17:06.510 --> 17:08.640 Johny Fernandez: And then what advice would you have to people 17:08.640 --> 17:11.550 that are wanting to get into the business, the industry? 17:12.119 --> 17:14.789 Jared Weitz: I think it's a good industry to get into, but I 17:14.789 --> 17:21.449 think that there are areas of it that you can get caught in a bad 17:21.449 --> 17:25.859 way. And so I would say to align yourself with some of the best 17:25.859 --> 17:28.439 folks in the industry. And you can probably find a lot of those 17:28.709 --> 17:33.659 people on the SBFA's website and on deBanked's website, where you 17:33.659 --> 17:36.569 can see all of the different funders and brokers and their 17:36.569 --> 17:39.689 ratings and what they're doing. And I would say that's who you 17:39.689 --> 17:41.729 really align yourself with over the next two years. 17:42.300 --> 17:45.510 Johny Fernandez: So in regards to moving forward, just how you 17:45.510 --> 17:49.290 guys do business, do you, how do you think that's gonna change? 17:49.320 --> 17:52.110 Or not only you, but just the industry in general, do you 17:52.110 --> 17:55.200 think there's gonna be any changes because of COVID 19? 17:55.200 --> 17:59.550 Because of the pandemic, do you think, do you believe that the 17:59.550 --> 18:03.600 industry has to kind of evolve and change? Or what are your 18:03.600 --> 18:04.920 thoughts? And what are your views on that? 18:05.280 --> 18:08.550 Jared Weitz: So I think that a lot of brokerages, unders as 18:08.550 --> 18:11.520 well, will continue the hybrid model of working from home and 18:11.520 --> 18:14.880 also having some in the office, right. I know a lot of founders 18:14.880 --> 18:17.850 are getting rid of office space and finding that their 18:17.850 --> 18:20.640 operations and underwriting are able to work well from home. So 18:20.640 --> 18:24.210 I think that the way that people work will continue to change, I 18:24.210 --> 18:28.740 think the products that we sell, will not change the pricing and 18:28.740 --> 18:31.080 the terms of them and the disclosures around them will 18:31.080 --> 18:31.650 change. 18:32.310 --> 18:34.230 Johny Fernandez: That's awesome. And that's interesting in 18:34.230 --> 18:37.500 regards to, you know, starting something from the ground up for 18:37.500 --> 18:40.530 someone that just is starting, what would be your best advice 18:40.530 --> 18:44.340 to in regards to financing, something like that, and trying 18:44.340 --> 18:47.850 to bring the money to be able to start from the ground up? 18:48.240 --> 18:50.880 Jared Weitz: Yeah I think starting from the ground up, is 18:50.910 --> 18:54.570 is is really great, because there's nothing like that 18:54.570 --> 18:58.200 initial grind and really learning from your mistakes. I 18:58.200 --> 19:02.490 will say that in this time, you should be especially careful 19:02.490 --> 19:05.310 with capital. And you should really understand and have a 19:05.310 --> 19:08.790 plan for you know, your first initial six months, but try to 19:08.790 --> 19:11.250 plan to have at least 12 months of operating capital if you're 19:11.250 --> 19:14.760 going to go out on your own and start this way, especially 19:14.760 --> 19:17.400 during this time, I will say that you have a benefit because 19:17.400 --> 19:20.160 you don't need office space. And a lot of people are working from 19:20.160 --> 19:23.190 home. And so you can probably save a little on your SG and A 19:23.190 --> 19:23.760 costs. 19:24.120 --> 19:26.520 Johny Fernandez: And someone, someone watching this, people 19:26.520 --> 19:29.580 that are watching this set, see you and see your success that 19:29.580 --> 19:33.510 our business owners already that are in the game. What advice 19:33.510 --> 19:35.910 would you have for them in regards to just trying to get 19:35.910 --> 19:39.990 through the rest of this pandemic and just moving 19:39.990 --> 19:40.500 forward? 19:40.830 --> 19:43.320 Jared Weitz: I think in general the same as me, anytime you see 19:43.320 --> 19:46.890 someone at any level of success, you're likely not seeing what 19:46.890 --> 19:50.370 they're doing to achieve that success. And so I would say that 19:51.120 --> 19:53.550 everyone, whatever level of success you're at, you're 19:53.550 --> 19:57.630 working really hard. And the advice I would give to anyone is 19:57.660 --> 20:00.840 you have to work really hard all the time, to stay on your own 20:00.840 --> 20:02.340 and be in your own business and be successful. 20:02.520 --> 20:05.070 Johny Fernandez: So when you say like working hard and just 20:05.070 --> 20:09.060 grinding, what do you think has helped you kind of eliminate 20:09.480 --> 20:13.020 time wasters or eliminate things that number one, people that 20:13.020 --> 20:18.480 waste your time, but also just techniques or habits that you 20:18.480 --> 20:20.580 know, have pretty much made you productive? 20:20.730 --> 20:23.190 Jared Weitz: You know most of the things that I've learned are 20:23.190 --> 20:27.240 from the mistakes I've actually made. So I can tell you that, 20:27.240 --> 20:29.280 you know, a lot of the good processes that I've come up with 20:29.280 --> 20:33.240 is because I've worked through the bad processes first. And 20:33.240 --> 20:34.830 that's what I think people are going to go through, you know, 20:34.830 --> 20:38.340 it's difficult to tell someone, this works best for you, because 20:38.340 --> 20:42.060 you're not them. And you're not in that in that area. Even in 20:42.060 --> 20:44.370 our sales floor, you know, we don't have scripts, because I 20:44.370 --> 20:48.000 don't think there's one way to kind of sell and operate. So I 20:48.000 --> 20:52.980 think that there's an overall looming bunch of rules that you 20:52.980 --> 20:55.770 should follow. But then you have to kind of make it into your 20:55.770 --> 20:59.220 own. So for me, I understand, don't waste your time, follow a 20:59.220 --> 21:02.610 schedule, have a strategy, I use different apps that help me 21:02.610 --> 21:06.600 follow my time and schedule. So it's difficult to operate 21:06.600 --> 21:07.050 loosely. 21:07.140 --> 21:10.110 Yeah. So really quick, because we have to wrap up soon, what 21:10.110 --> 21:12.750 apps dp you use, and what time do you wake up? 21:13.440 --> 21:17.820 So I generally wake up about 430, 5 o'clock every day. And 21:17.820 --> 21:21.450 then I'm generally going to bed between 11 and 12pm. 21:22.440 --> 21:23.430 Johny Fernandez: So very little sleep. 21:23.520 --> 21:26.790 Jared Weitz: So a little bit of sleep, but I've not ever been 21:26.790 --> 21:30.570 someone that was someone that slept or rested a lot, you know, 21:30.750 --> 21:35.430 so that's not for me. And the apps that I use, I can tell you, 21:35.850 --> 21:39.510 I use my iCalendar for almost everything that I do with my 21:39.510 --> 21:46.320 alerts. I also use LastPass, which is huge for me, because 21:46.320 --> 21:48.870 it's an encryption software for all my passwords that I need to 21:48.870 --> 21:49.440 get into. 21:49.530 --> 21:50.040 Johny Fernandez: Okay. 21:50.100 --> 21:52.230 Jared Weitz: So that actually is big. I don't know any of my own 21:52.230 --> 21:55.620 passwords. They're all in this thing, you know, and that's a 21:55.620 --> 21:59.550 time saver, and also a data protector for me. And so those 21:59.550 --> 22:03.090 are like my two biggest apps and ScanEasy and Sign Anywhere. 22:03.420 --> 22:05.220 Johny Fernandez: Awesome. I'll definitely take that one into 22:05.220 --> 22:07.770 consideration too. Alright, Jared, well thanks so much for 22:07.770 --> 22:08.250 joining us. 22:08.250 --> 22:08.880 Jared Weitz: Thanks for having me. 22:08.970 --> 22:10.230 Johny Fernandez: And you guys. Thank you guys so much for 22:10.230 --> 22:12.990 joining us. Again I'm Johnny Fernandez here with Jared Weitz. 22:13.110 --> 22:14.130 We'll see you guys next time.