Trevor:

Yeah, yeah. And I would say the one thing I'll say about the last mile is it, you'll know it when it's something very unique to your business, right? If it's something that everybody does, like files, taxes, it's probably not going to be a unique business advantage for you. But there's something different happening in your in Sacramento, for instance, there is something different happening for syndicators in the Sacramento market. I don't know what it's based on, it might be based on the fact that there are different kinds of local regulations or the fact that landscaping crews work or bill in different ways, whatever it is, that's going to be the bespoke advantage that you're gonna want to look at. Because of course real estate's incredibly localized in that way.

Brett:

Excellent. No, I love it. So that's the first thing to automating your commercial syndication business is doing those things. Now, let's talk about your hands-on Trevor. Once someone says, I got these 35 problems. I'm not a tech guy. I'm a real estate guy. What's the next step to implementing or what would somebody or maybe give us a case study of someone who has hired you recently, or you're currently working on? What are you doing for them right now?

Trevor:

So I guess my favorite case study, one of our older customers who's an auto insurer, and they're actually not far from you. They're based out in California. You could actually read about this on the Southport Technology Group website. They came to us years ago with a very small problem, which was dealers are improperly filling out the paper forms that we're sending them. So we want to build an electronic version of that form. And that was one of the smallest invoices I ever sent them, it was a quick project, we got it out the door really easily. That whole process has expanded into a multi-year relationship that started in 2014. And no just has blossomed up until now that we're running five separate, much larger scale platforms for the customer. But all this was based on the iterative identification of the problems, right. So the problem initially was dealers are filling out paper forms, and they're not doing it right. And these forms are unique to our industry, they're unique to our business, we don't have another good way of filling them out and validating them. But since then, we've managed to tack on a whole number of additional additive solutions, so much, so that it's made them remove a whole part of their operations budget that was primarily spent on dealing with these paper forms. And now they can just automate all that. And those folks can do other work. It also helps them to expand into new states. But I think it starts with the identification of a very small and relatable issue. And it actually makes it easier on the customer to I mean, I wouldn't really encourage someone out, although I'd be happy for the work, I wouldn't really encourage someone to come up to me and write me a half a million-dollar check to rebuild the entire way they do business, I'd prefer to start much smaller and bite-sized pieces, and figure out what actually are the levers for growth in this business. And one of the things I'm happy to do with prospective customers who have a specific business problem in mind is I'm happy to help them do a little discovery upfront, that way we can make sure (a) we're the right solution and (b) we can make sure that they're heading in the right direction. And that it's actually is their largest problem, because sometimes they've identified a problem, but it actually speaks to maybe a different one, like the fact that, why are you handling everything via email, you need some kind of CRM before we can even move on to handling this specific problem for your business. So, a lot of it's about building the blocks. Sometimes, I'll send them away to say, hey, go do your homework, go do a couple of these things, to get yourself up to the level, and then we'll talk right afterward. And I think that's always been positive because it builds trust because I'm not immediately trying to get on the clock and sell them something.

Brett:

Yeah, love it. By the way, is there a favorite CRM that you like commercial syndicators using or anything coming?

Trevor:

Honestly, I have not made that recommendation? Well, I know my companies were using Copper right now, which I've enjoyed a lot for the Close G Suite Integration, but we probably don't have as wide of a net in terms of the prospecting we're doing if you're looking at hundreds of 1000s of buildings, there might be a different approach that I'd recommend. The one thing I do recommend for a lot of people is, I mean, I'll say, they haven't given me anything to say this, but Placester, which is for creating real estate websites, I especially recommend that to realtors. And a lot of times people will just come to us and say, can you help us build a website. Web Designs kind of a different service than what we provide. We're really talking about business-level software. But that's often where I'll send people because a lot of that stuff can be done out of the box. So that would be one example.

Brett:

Is it P-L-A-C-E-S-T-E-R?

Trevor:

Yes. I think the only flaw with that product is it's hard to spell and say the name.

Brett:

Now, let's shift it to real estate now. You mentioned your love for real estate and building wealth through that. So where are you investing and what are you seeing in the market right now?

Trevor:

So, we've been very passive, our whole time investing. And it kind of, it was one of those things that almost started a little bit accidentally, but emerged as a bit more of a philosophy, and we got lucky to be on the right side of our philosophy. And I think one of the things that happened with my wife and I was realizing you’re somewhere along the opportunity cost spectrum. And if you have a high opportunity cost, you're in a much better situation to be a passive and just partner with people. And of course, you're gonna lose a few percent off the top when you're paying the GP share or property management or asset management, whatever it is, but at the end of the day, you're getting a lot of peace of mind that there's somebody else out there working for your money. So we've always stuck on that side. I'd say the most active project we had we sold two years ago, which is a duplex we had in Virginia. And you know, the realization, there was we made money on it, it was fine. But at the end of the day, it was a bit more of a headache than it was worth. So we've gone pretty passive in terms of regions of the country that we like, we've always gone definitely south of where we live, and heading more towards the Midwest. So we've invested in Tennessee, we really like Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky at the moment. We have two buildings in North Carolina. And then also we did like Virginia at a point, although a lot of that was based on still kind of slow growth in the Richmond area and also a property tax bonus that we got at the time, I don't know if I'd go down there today. And I would say just to give you an idea of what kind of class we're in, we're typically looking at workforce housing, income-producing kind of projects, and you know, pretty safe that we can do a long hold on it and you know, don't have to just necessarily sell it right away. So there's a lot of other markets. I like plenty, I'm really interested in Cincinnati. Got a partner there I'd like to do a project with but they get filled up real quick. And I think the biggest thing we're seeing in the market, which won't be news to you is just inventory. It's hard to find anything that's it's reasonably priced these days.

Brett:

Yeah, tunnel unlocked deals that are already bid up, and still have some meat on the bone there. So value add, it's very competitive, especially multifamily, mobile, home park, senior housing assisted living. So when you sold or when you do sell, what's your biggest frustration when it comes to capital gains tax deferral? Does anything come to mind like the 1031 exchange or anything else?

Trevor:

Well, I think part of it was just in the case of what we did two years ago, with the property in Virginia week, I hesitate to say, on this podcast, but capital gains probably weren’t the biggest issue there, the thing we were a little more worried about was the fact that the taxes were going to go up in two years, and we were very concerned about that just eating into our monthly cash flow, which was slimmer than we would like and slimmer than the margin of safety we'd like to have at this point. But as a result, it kind of forces your hand a bit, and we had to find a market at that time. So we were able to sell at a profit. But then when the windfall comes through, it comes through with a lot of other things that are going on in our lives too. I mean, simultaneously, that same year, my wife got paid out for a stock purchase that she'd made 10 years ago, and a company that she was working for is pretty much a junior-level employee, they offered her shares at a really low rate that sat in the freezer for a long time, and it was a great payout. But that plus selling a duplex meant a huge year of capital gains for us. And so we didn't have an immediate project to go to via 1031, I would have liked that. But unfortunately, I'm not going to force a deal just to make that happen. But the biggest thing we tried to do was get a good amount of charity going and kind of track the charity, especially along with those gains that we had made so that we could also let the people we give to have windfalls. And then the other thing is somewhat regrettably, at times, but some of the other real estate product projects ended up giving us a loss on our K1s, because they were depreciating fast, and they were earning income. In particular, we had one project that had underperformed what we had planned that we had originally invested in 2014. And so that was nice, I don't know if it's the correct use of the term, but it was a bit of a loss leader in the sense that it was providing that drag down on the income side for us. I mean, the only other thing we can do beyond that is focused on you know, making sure we're expending a lot of things out of the businesses and you know, just not getting hit like crazy on it. But at the end of the day, you still want to pay off one of the things. I'll say about it too is you know, we held it for longer than a year so that was helpful as well you know, at least got the lower capital gains rate on it.

Brett:

Yeah, very well said, very insightful. We do have a solution for businesses, highly appreciated stock, cryptocurrency, failed 1031 exchanges, primary home. It is called a Deferred Sales Trust. For our listeners that are curious about alternatives that might be available, you go to capitalgainstaxsolutions.com. And by the way, if you want to learn more about Trevor Ewen, you can go to trevorewen.com. That being said, are you ready for the lightning round?

Trevor:

Oh, yeah, of course.

Brett:

Alright, so knowing what you know now if you can go back to your 25-year-old self, what is the one Golden Nugget you’d make sure to tell yourself to do?

Trevor:

25-year-old self should probably, save more money. Although my 25-year-old self wasn't too bad on the saving side. I think the biggest thing my 25-year-old self should have done is considered remote work a little sooner, it would have been nicer to do some more world travel and I had the ability to do it given the field I was in.

Brett:

Excellent. What's the biggest challenge you see for your business in the next 12 months?

Trevor:

The big challenge is valuations on businesses right now. So we run two firms. The Southport Technology Group in Southport Ventures, Southport ventures is an acquisition fund. So we are actively going out and you know, making offers on software businesses and the valuations are going crazy. I mean, it's like an even crazier version of the real estate story because we're real estate still has a lot of the specific regulatory risks that kind of blow people's hands. SAS businesses are very hot right now, especially after the pandemic. So we're chasing a lot of deals and getting a lot of no, you got outbid kind of situations which is all right, we don't necessarily want the winners curse we want to pay right but that has seemed to be the problem that Doug does the most.

Brett:

By the way, have you considered helping them have a capital gains tax deferral solution, so they can sell to you for a lower price?

Trevor:

100%. A big part of our process. With the sellers is talking to them about rolling over a seller's note where they can hold on to that. And get paid it paid out as debt. And a lot of times, this will coordinate with the seller who may be making a move. So a lot of times they could be in high-tech zone places like where I live in New Jersey or New York, California, of course, is one of the worst. And so they want to make that move to Florida or Texas before they get paid out everything so that's a classic example of what we do. And I think when we get closer to the actual sell point, that's going to be another discussion we have is, look at some of the other options you've got as well.

Brett:

Yeah, and what’s the biggest challenge with the seller note? What do you feel like is the number one thing that is challenging there?

Trevor:

To some extent, I think there is a psychological issue where people want to be separated from the business, and it varies from every seller. Some sellers are more than happy to hold back some equity or take a pretty big note. Sometimes the seller knows they have to take a big note because it's not the kind of business that can just blow you out of the water on the price. And so that helps their negotiating leverage. But sometimes also they have some big dream they've been waiting on. They want to go buy a ranch or do something that takes a little bit more money than that. And so that is always part of the discussion. But you know, at least a small seller note is always part of our process, in part because we just be worried about a seller who wouldn't be willing to take some debt in the future cash flows of the business what is their concern, unless they had a very specific, specific reason that they wanted to be entirely divorced from it?

Brett:

Yeah, we just had a deal in Alabama close for a business seller, he had three partners, and he wanted to be bought out for about 2.6 million. His challenge was he had a $600,000 tax. And then he was in his 40s. He wanted to start a new business venture, in fact, building multifamily properties. And so he could not turn 31. So he used the Deferred Sales Trust park the funds now he's building 70 units all tax-deferred. And so for him, it was too strong (a) I don't have to be considered with the business anymore, I can really separate it, I don't even have to like foreclose or take it back, (b) I can still defer the tax, and then (c), I guess it'd be three-prong I can now use the funds that I would have paid to start my new business dream, right, my new venture. That's pretty sweet. And by the way, we use a seller carry-back that's what it is. It's just a third-party seller’s carryback. So that's interesting. Then you're right, there is something to be said for if they're not willing to basically put their money on the line and it says or they're dead on the line, then or they're hiding something or is there maybe something they're not willing to back but then some people, you're like they just can't even think about having to take it back. Having to foreclose, having to take the business back and build it back up. So there are definitely psychological reasons. That's very well said.

Brett:

Any questions on that, Trevor? I think I lost you for a second, or does that make sense?

Trevor:

Absolutely makes sense. I think this is where we build a relationship with the seller and we want to know, what's at the core of what you're trying to do and there are a lot of times it aligns with maybe a bit more of a sad or emotional story where you would completely understand why someone doesn't really want to take back the debt sometimes a huge thing has happened in their personal life that has changed their perspective so radically, that they just want to move on. Then those things are something we'd obviously be willing to consider. But with someone who obviously just going to keep existing and you know, has no reason not to want to take a note on the thing. I think we would look at that a little suspiciously.

Brett:

Awesome. Makes sense. What's the one book you've recommended or gifted the most in the past year?

Trevor:

I’ve been recommending a lot, the E-Myth by Michael Gerber, you probably hear that one quite a bit, or the E-Myth Revisited is the updated edition. So we're big business process junkies over here and I think part of that is because we end up doing that work for people. So we see how other people's businesses can be improved with good standard operating procedures. So that's what I talked about a lot, just had a big tweet about that the other day. And I think I'd be consistent by saying it.

Brett:

Love it. Favorite leadership, quote, or theme that you strive to live by?

Trevor:

Well, I mean, I guess this is kind of a generic answer, but I think I'd go with servant leadership. And you know, I'd add a bit to that with some consistency as well. So I really try and be someone who can be held by my word, in terms of what I'm going to say one day to the next and I can apply that across a broad range of people who work for me so that they have a pretty good understanding. And because we bring in a lot of contractors, I think that's a good thing for establishing goodwill with folks. Just to get the idea that I promise to pay that even though the work ended up being different or something else changed rapidly. You know, let's just get that done with, let's get water under the bridge. I think that's been really positive for us.

Brett:

Love it. What are you curious about right now?

Trevor:

Well, I am very curious about, I think Eastern European technology companies. I know that's a bit of a diversion. But there's a lot of growth in that part of the market that we're seeing now as we're sourcing tech companies for purchase. Now we are going to purchase something in the US or Canada. But that's an area where we are just we see tons of talent, tons of growth, a lot of really cool products coming out of the region.

Brett:

I'm going to go into France, potentially, COVID, all that kind of stuff for two weeks vacation is like a tech thing, like a big Silicon Valley over there, Southern France. All these people that are techie people, only talk about tax, but it's interesting. I'll maybe report back on what I learned over there.

Trevor:

You will meet a fair number of Eastern Europeans as my guess. Especially the people actually building the stuff.

Brett:

Yeah, exactly. So the last question and then we'll let you go. After all your success and helping all the people you've helped, and investing in all the roles that you've invested in? How do you stay centered in your values and how do you stay encouraged to charge forward to reach new goals?

Trevor:

That's the ultimate question. I mean, one thing is good friends and community around. And a lot of people who've really helped me to get a leg up it’s probably the most generic thing to do. But I really have to thank my wife, Diane, who is my partner, and every sense of the word. We are truly financial partners. And what that means is when $1 comes in or out of the house, it's both of our dollars. And it's been great to see that because there's been a lot of times where we've been on the different side of an issue or an investment and worked on seeing each other's perspective. My partner, Nicholas is also super encouraging, I don't think I'd be doing great with the whole acquisitions thing if it wasn't for having him around. It just helps to keep your motivation up when you're just looking at tons and tons of deals. And so many of the things are overpriced, or there are issues with them. So it's great to have someone to bounce it off. And we've just had a lot of great people in our lives come in and out different ways, not even in the business sense. And so just being surrounded by that kind of community is just keeps me going and keeps me revitalized, and especially after COVID. It's just more important than ever, and we've been fortunate to be able to get out quite a bit when we can, but I think this year, I'm ready to get back into a bit more social life and travel that goes with it.

Brett:

Amazing, Trevor. For our listeners who want to get in touch with you, we remind them one more time where they can reach you?

Trevor:

Yeah, check out trevorewen.com that has a link tree that'll show you Southern Technology Group, Southport Ventures, my LinkedIn, also my Twitter, and shoot me a message in your preferred way in those and we can keep up the conversation.

Brett:

Awesome, Trevor. Thanks for being on the show more than a pleasure to get to know you a little bit here. I want to thank you for sharing part of your story. So much expertise, on the courage to keep using your gifts of building deep relationships and going deep on boring topics so that we can undercover gold, right? Like E-myth Revisited by Michael Gerber, you want to read that book, that'll put you to sleep. But for people like Trevor, it's gonna light him up, and he's gonna help you a lot of your business. So make sure you reach out to Trevor Ewen and also want to thank our listeners for listening to this episode of the Capital Gains Tax Solutions Podcast as always, we believe most high net worth individuals and those who help them they struggle with clarifying their capital gains tax deferral options, not having a clear plan is the enemy and using a proven textural strategy, such as the Deferred Sales Trust is the best way for you to exit your highly appreciated assets, cryptocurrency, real estate, primary home, business are or collectible. You've got capitalgainstaxsolutions.com to learn more about that. And we're also streaming on Expert CRE Secrets. We touched on some experts’ expertise on commercial real estate and we're also streaming there too. So we appreciate our listeners out there in the Expert CRE Secrets world. With that, please rate, review, subscribe. We appreciate you share this with a friend and thank you, everybody.