Start With A Win

Adam is joined by Gary Mauris the co-founder, president and CEO of Dominion Lending Centres, the leading mortgage company in Canada. Gary shares about his entrepreneurial journey to starting DLC through building relationships, humility and creating a loyal customer base.

Gary Mauris is the co-founder and President & CEO of Dominion Lending Centres; CEO of Mortgage Centre Canada; and Chairman of Mortgage Architects. Together, these companies account for almost 40% of all broker originated mortgages in Canada. He is a serial entrepreneur, having sold two prior companies to the public market. 

Gary has also led multiple social initiatives as the co-founder and President of the I AM SOMEONE Ending Bullying Society and recently co-founded “Bikes for Kids”, a National program that collects new bicycles for underprivileged children across Canada.

Main Topics

• The beginning of Dominion Lending Centres—Canada’s leading mortgage company (03:06)
• Growing the business through retention and ongoing recruiting (05:20)
• How Dominion Lending Centres modeled their business model and model for growth after RE/MAX and the leadership tactics of Dave Liniger (09:11)
• Growing a business and creating a loyal customer base through executive presence, developing relationships, being humble, building up others and creating an environment of success (11:01)
• The three things that kill a relationship and how to overcome them (15:00)
• Balancing multi-intentional goals and maintaining a healthy work-life balance (19:28)

Episode Links

Dominion Lending Centres

Everybody Wins: The Story and Lessons Behind RE/MAX

Connect with Gary Mauris:

https://garymauris.ca

https://www.linkedin.com/in/garymauris/?originalSubdomain=ca

https://www.facebook.com/gary.mauris

https://twitter.com/garymauris

Connect with Adam:

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Leaders create other leaders. They lead with presence and with clarity. Leading isn't a title—it's the action that you are taking to lead people and create new leaders!

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There are more than 750,000 franchises in the United States, meaning that more than 10% of American businesses are part of the franchise model.

Adam welcomes back Dave Liniger to talk all about franchising and how technology is likely to be one of the biggest drivers of the industry moving forward.

Dave Liniger started RE/MAX in 1973, and it has become the largest real estate company in the world with a record year in 2021. He also runs a private equity company, Area15 Ventures, focused on emerging franchisors and high-growth businesses and franchise concepts.

Dave tells story of beginning of RE/MAX and selling his very first franchise in Kansas City. Over the course of the next two years, Dave sold more than 100 franchises across North America.

Dave explains the concept of a franchise as a system of methods, training, advertising and more that can be imparted on franchisee. The franchisee pays a fee to buy into the concept and pays the cost of opening a business, making the franchise model a great way to rapidly expand a business concept without it being cost-prohibitive. 

Dave shares the four key elements of franchising:

1. Unique product or service
2. Brand, advertising and market share
3. Purchasing
4. Training Technology and Systems

Dave shares the story of the success of the McDonald’s franchise and how it transformed the fast food franchise industry.

One of the biggest benefits of owning a franchise is the access you receive to a network of peers. You get to learn from each other and share ideas and insights to grow businesses. Dave also shares that every significant, good idea for RE/MAX came from his franchisees. He tells the story of how breakfast, the filet o’ fish and the Big Mac started at McDonald’s thanks to the ideas of franchisees. 

Adam and Dave talk about a new franchise concept they have acquired through Area15 Ventures called Daddy’s Chicken Shack. This business is a great example of how technology is driving the future of franchising. As a walk-up concept, the restaurant blew up during COVID, generating over $1 million in revenue. The owners designed a prototype with curbside pickup and limited seating, and featured technology that enables guests to order food via their phone, on the app and through food delivery services. The technology tracks the order and geo-targets the customer, and when they are 8-minutes away from the restaurant, they begin preparing the food. The drive-thru is also only for pick-up orders. This technology is eliminating the need for waiting in lines for pickup. The restaurant also features in-person ordering via artificial intelligence.

Episode Links:

DaddysFranchising.com 

Area15Ventures.com

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Scott Parker is a former professional ice hockey right winger who played for the San Jose Sharks and the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL. Scott earned his nickname, "The Sheriff,” from his reputation as a feared fighter and enforcer. 

In 2006, Parker and his wife Francesca, started a charity called "Parker's Platoon.” Parker’s Platoon is dedicated to helping military veterans and retired professional athletes who deal with PTSD and traumatic brain and body injuries.

The conversation kicks off with Scott’s story about growing up in Alaska and discovering hockey—a sport he new nothing about. But in the second grade, after seeing a flyer for hockey tryouts, he learned to skate with the family, and his love for the game was born. 

Scott also shares about some of the leadership lessons and skills he learned as an enforcer in the National Hockey League for the San Jose Sharks and the Colorado Avalanche. 

One important skill he developed was how to have a mindset of always learning through studying opponents. Scott had to spend hours studying his opponent, learning their tendencies and their weaknesses. “And if you didn’t, you got your head kicked in. …The sport is 80% mental and 20% physical." 

Scott and Adam chat about the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals between the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The two round out the conversation with the story and heart behind Parker’s Platoon, the nonprofit organization started by Scott and his wife, Francesca. The Parkers have a passion for helping our military veterans, as Scott’s father-in-law served as a Marine and his father was a gunner in the U.S. Army. 

Following his own diagnosis with a traumatic brain injury, he saw the need for mental, emotional and physical support for veterans who might be suffering from injuries like TBIs and PTSD. And since his retirement from the NHL, Scott found that he really missed that locker room dynamic and the way he and his teammates bonded through shared experiences. 

So, through Parker’s Platoon, the organization is able to partner wounded veterans with wounded athletes so they can grow in relationship and go through the healing process together. From meeting physical needs through meals and health access to meeting emotional needs through retreats and mountain getaways, Parker’s Platoon provides an avenue for holistic care and support. 

Episode Links:

ParkersPlatoon.org

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The two most important hours of your day are actually the two most important things you can work on in your business: Client Hour and Content Hour. So build these into your calendar, and stick to it!

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Lindsay Pinchuk is a former high-powered magazine publishing executive turned business owner and leader.  She is the founder of Bump Club and Beyond --- a community of resources, support, and educational tools for millions of parents and parents-to-be across the country.  In year one, she turned a profit, and then grew her company to a 7-figure revenue each year and her community to over 3 million users. Less than a decade later, she led her company through the acquisition of a large agency holding company.

Lindsay shares about the origins of Bump Club and Beyond, which began out of her need for community and resources as an expectant mother. Through the organic promotion of prenatal workouts, shopping events and workshops, the community continued to grow and expand. Soon, Lindsay left her job in Corporate America and took the company national and partnered with major brands, growing into a 7-figure company. And, after nine years, she sold her very successful company and stayed on to run Bump Club. 

In 2021, she made the decision to leave Bump Club and Beyond and now she owns and runs Lindsay Pinchuk Marketing & Consulting where she helps female solo entrepreneurs and large female-founded brands through coaching, consulting and courses. 

Through her transition from the corporate world to becoming an entrepreneur, Lindsay took a couple key principles with her: networking and the sales process. She shares with Adam how she took these skills that she had learned as a magazine sales executive and plugged them directly into her new endeavor. 

Lindsay also talks about the importance of being willing to ask for help. And she gives listeners some practical ways to be creative in getting help as a beginning entrepreneur with a small amount of revenue. And to round out the episode, Lindsay shares the best leadership lesson she has learned is to know when to say no and to be able to actually say no when it’s not the right opportunity or the best place to spend your time.

Episode Links:

Lindsay Pinchuk Marketing & Consulting

Dear FoundHer podcast

https://www.instagram.com/lindsaypinchuk/

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Misty Lown is the founder, president, and energized force behind More Than Just Great Dancing, a licensed dance studio affiliation program that has a positive impact on over 100,000 dance students around the globe each week. She is a sought-after speaker and business leader. She has been recognized as “Teacher of the Year” by Eclipse, “Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year” by the YWCA, as well as many others. She is also the author of One Small Yes an Amazon #1 Bestseller.

Misty shares her story of how her dream of teaching dance began with one small studio and grew to what it is today with 296 studios around the world. She was a talented dancer in high school and was accepted into a prestigious dance program. But, in her heart, she knew the classroom was going to be her stage. Even when people questioned why she would give up performing for teaching, she felt called to it and knew it was the path for her. 

Misty shares with Adam about some of the pivots she made in her business to take it to the next level. She knew it had to be about more than just dance. She wanted to teach dance as a vehicle for life lessons and to have an impact on her community. Internally, she started to referring to the program as “more than just great dancing.” And that name just stuck. And as she looked to grow, she considered many options like multiple studios or franchising. But she landed on licensing which would enable her to equip existing studios and teachers with personalized tools and resources and coaches.

Misty and Adam dive into creating systems and how they empower leaders to win in business. Misty shares that the idea that we need to build everything for ourselves seems to be uniquely American. And rather than trying to do everything and create everything for themselves, businesses need to be more willing to take advantage of the wonderful resources that have already been created. Through MTJGD, Misty uses her ability to create business systems and to train people into that system and helps studios around the world. Stop searching, start executing. There’s some level of discomfort in some area. Until someone gets to that level, 

Misty also shares about the importance of getting small wins. Business owners and leaders tend to struggle in certain areas that prevent them from growing their business. Misty’s goal is to show them how to get a win in that area and getting them some breathing room to start working on the next things in their business. Then, it becomes a domino effect as they choose the next thing to work on to get another small win. 

We’re in a time of intellectual obesity where we’re consuming so much content online but not exercising what we’re learning. So Misty’s last piece of advice to business owners and leaders is to find one or two voices that you trust and go deep with those.

Episode Links:

https://mistylown.com

https://morethanjustgreatdancing.com

https://www.instagram.com/mistylown/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mistylown/

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Are you an order taker or a deal maker? If you're always in business and always waiting for something to happen, you're an order taker. But those who are out there, growing their business and making things happen—they're the deal makers! It's up to you to decide if you're going to be an order taker or a deal maker!

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In this episode of Start With A Win, Adam is joined by Producer Mark to talk about the two most important hours in the day for any business owner or entrepreneur: Client Hour and Content Hour. 

When it comes to sales, there are two types of people: order takers and order makers. An order taker is someone who expects the business to happen and to have sales dropped in their lap. They often get their sales leads from those “lead fairies” like web forms and lead-generating companies. But the truth is, less than 1% of leads close and generate actual revenue!

So, in this episode, Adam talks to the order makers. The ones go out and make the business happen!

The two most important hours of your day are actually the two most important things you can work on in your business. 

Client Hour 

This is obviously best done during business hours. It’s the time that you spend talking to your current and future customers. Pull out that contact list of your current and potential customers, and look for ways to talk to them. Send an email, pick up the phone, shoot them a text—whatever you need to do! But this isn’t cold-calling hour. This is relationship-building hour!

In his small, boutique agency, Producer Mark has a network of relationships that he checks in on periodically, nurturing those relationships so they develop into new and repeat business. 

Adam shares the three ways we get business: 

1. Get new clients
2. Get more deals per client
3. Get more money per sale per client

Content Hour

Just like it sounds, this is the time to write content! Think about the challenges your customers have, and write about it. This content can be for a variety of purposes, whether it’s a blog post, video, podcast or social post.

Here is a great format you can use to guide your writing:

• Get their attention with a problem
• Agitate the problem
• Bring in your value piece that solves that problem
• Accentuate that value piece
• Serve up the call to action. 

But during content hour, the key is to just write, don’t edit! Step away when you’re finished, and then go back and review.

Client Hour and Content Hour should be what you do first thing in the morning, because that’s when you have the most clarity and the greatest attitude in the day. If you do these things in the morning, your day is going to change. So build these into your calendar, and stick to it!

Episode Links:

Ryan Stewman’s Episodes on Start With A Win:

Part 1

Part 2

Order your copy of Start With A Win: Tools and Lessons to Create Personal and Business Success:

https://www.startwithawin.com/book

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Dave Liniger started RE/MAX in 1973, and it has become the largest real estate company in the world with a record year in 2021. He also runs a private equity company, Area15 Ventures, focused on emerging franchisors and high-growth businesses.

Dave and Adam pick up their conversation from last week by talking about the importance of being a lifelong learner. Dave shares how the early days of building RE/MAX began a pattern of lifelong learning that he’s carried on throughout his entire career.

The only constant is change, and the world is changing faster and faster as we’re sitting here. And Dave believes that one of the worst things a leader can do when a learning opportunity comes their way is to assume they already know everything they need to know on that topic.

Another aspect of becoming a lifelong learner is taking full advantage of personal experience. Dave shares that no one is born a leader. It comes from a cumulated lifetime of experience. And getting a college degree gives you a great head start, but that can really only give you theoretical knowledge, not practical experience with people. Leadership comes down to how you influence and control and encourage the team. And you can only learn that through personal experience. 

Dave addresses the importance of having a coach in your professional life. The purpose of a coach is to get more out of you than you can get out of yourself. Using their wisdom, their job is to analyze you and make suggestions on how you can improve. And the money spent on a coach almost always will multiply your financial benefit. Dave recalls that nearly all of the most successful RE/MAX agents utilized professional coaching.

Lastly, Dave and Adam discuss the benefits of participating in masterminds. Dave defines a mastermind as a group of people that support you in where you want to go and are going in the same direction themselves. Masterminds are an incredible opportunity for like-minded people from different backgrounds to encourage each other.

The two round out the conversation by talking about the importance of establishing good habits in your life in order to achieve your goals. One of the best ways to develop good habits is by establishing the right systems in your life. These are systems and processes that set you up for the best chance of sticking to your habits. And, if you have the right systems, the goal will accomplish itself.

Episode Links:

http://www.daveliniger.com

https://www.area15ventures.com

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Order your copy of Start With A Win: Tools and Lessons to Create Personal and Business Success:

https://www.startwithawin.com/book

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