From Audience to Authority: A Journey of Business Exits and Real Estate Success

In this episode of the WealthGenius Podcast, host Alfonso Cuadra sits down with Patrick Francey, CEO of the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN). Patrick shares his inspiring journey from a business owner in Edmonton to the leader of one of Canada's most respected real estate investment communities.

The conversation delves into Patrick's early experiences with real estate, the growth and impact of REIN, and valuable insights on transitioning from a self-employed individual to a true business owner. Patrick also offers practical advice on exiting a business successfully while maintaining its growth and stability. This episode is packed with wisdom for aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned investors alike.

About Patrick Francey

Patrick Francey is the CEO of the Real Estate Investment Network, a multiple business owner and the host and creator of his award-winning podcast,

The Everyday Millionaire. Patrick has been investing in Canadian real estate since 2000 when he purchased his first property.

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Transcript

SPEAKERS

Carl Richards, Alfonso Cuadra, Patrick Francey

Carl Richards  00:05

Welcome to the WealthGenius Podcast. The WealthGenius Podcast, strategies for multifamily real estate investing, mindset, community, success. The WealthGenius Podcast with your host, The Godfather of Real Estate Alfonso Cuadra, who has expansive experience in business and massive success as a real estate investor. The WealthGenius podcast, let's dive in to today's episode.

Alfonso Cuadra  00:31

Patrick, what's happening, my friend, what's happening? 

Patrick Francey  00:37

Right here, right now, buddy.

Alfonso Cuadra  00:38

Wow. You just got off a plane fresh from Maui? 

Patrick Francey  00:41

Well, we were in O'ahu, yeah, came from O'ahu, flew into Vancouver for a day, and then got back on a plane, came out here to Toronto. So, yeah, I don't know exactly what time zone I'm in, a little upside down, but I'm good, good.

Alfonso Cuadra  00:54

Well, I've been on your podcast, and I couldn't wait to get you on my podcast. And I like being on Zoom podcasts. I like zoom podcasts, but for me, the in person is just like a little bit of a different energy. 

Patrick Francey  01:07

Yeah.

Alfonso Cuadra  01:07

And I wanted to know your story. I wanted to get to know everything that you've done, because I don't think I've asked you too much about your background. All I know is that you're CEO of REIN, and what I know of REIN is that they were there when I started, 25 plus years ago. REIN was the place, right? And I remember that magazine that all investors used to get, you know, the the Real Estate Investor magazine or something? 

And I actually had a subscription, right? I couldn't wait it would show up in the mail, right? And then I would read every everything, cover to cover. And they'd always talk about REIN, and you got to go to REIN. So I remember going to these events. I don't think there was anything in Ottawa at the time, so I'd have to drive to Toronto. I think Toronto was the, you know, Toronto, maybe Calgary. I can't remember how the events went, but I remember that over 25 years ago. So I'm not trying to age you.

Patrick Francey  02:00

Yeah, yeah. No, I'm the OG for sure.

Alfonso Cuadra  02:02

Yeah, but I love it, and we've kind of crossed paths many times. But you know, it wasn't until I was on your podcast that we really got to know each other, and a lot of our values align. And I just, you know, I love your energy. How did it all start? How did we get here? 

Patrick Francey  02:19

Well, you know, back to- I've been around a long time. So, you know, 40 years in business, and where I got to in the world of real estate was really based on a business that I still own to this day. It just celebrated its 40th birthday, if you will.

Alfonso Cuadra  02:31

Wow!

Patrick Francey  02:32

In Edmonton, and I would have a team of people there. But, you know, ultimately, where that started for me was, you know, one of my mentors, and one of my observations was, you know, I'd like to get to know other business owners. And as I was going through my own development as a business owner, I got to know others. And one things I realized is that as successful as many of the business guys I knew were, and many of them were like, literally doing multi, multi million dollars, all of them invested in real estate. 

And I realized that, okay, if I'm going to follow the path of those who've gone before me, maybe I should look at that. So I started investigating about investing in real estate. And I started investing back in about 1999, 2000 somewhere in that range, in that area. And it was really born out of the realization that, as a business owner, you know, you look at how you might exit a business or not exit a business, and we don't have pensions, you know. 

And I looked at it and I went, "Holy cow, when I look into the future and I see what these guys are doing, it was really taking capital, putting it to work, so capital generated in your business, putting it into real estate, and then having a long term view of where that would lead to." So it was really about creating a financial future investing in real estate that came out of one of my businesses.

Alfonso Cuadra  03:47

I love it. And like, how did REIN come about? And, you know, how did you end up in this position?

Patrick Francey  03:53

Well, you know, I started when I went on the journey of investing in real estate and deciding I wanted to, I actually came across this thing called the Real Estate Investment Network, REIN, and at the time, it was owned by a good friend of mine, Tim Johnson, and so he was back then doing presentations. And very small group, by the way, very small group. 

And I went, I listened to that presentation. I went, "Oh, I get it like I see what it is that they're doing." You're investing in real estate. You're not speculating in real estate. There is a system, there is a process, there is a reason. You have to look at real estate regionally. So I started understanding that part of it now, Tim went on to leave, and then he sold the business to one of his guys who was working for him was Don R Campbell. Well, Don R Campbell at that time was very early in his career- 

Alfonso Cuadra  04:41

He's got that famous book!

Patrick Francey  04:43

-2001. He's- so he's a best selling author of seven books. 

Alfonso Cuadra  04:47

Wow. 

Patrick Francey  04:47

He wrote the book Real Estate Investing in Canada, released in 2006 it is still the best selling book in Canada for real estate investors. So when I got into the REIN community right at the time where Tim was transitioning. I happened to meet Don, and through five or six years, we got to know each other, and not with any other intention than we just started having conversations. I was watching the REIN community grow, and we got to know him and his wife, Connie, really well. 

So Stephanie and I, my wife were we went on vacation with them one year, and this was in 2007 and we'd gone on many vacations with them, and he's sitting there, and I just come off a project I had exited my business in Edmonton, exited as in, I didn't sell the business, but I was not I was no longer working in the business, and that was one of my goals. And so I owned the business, and just come off a big project where we were raising capital for something in the hockey industry, totally unrelated industry. 

And he said, So what are you going to do now? And I said, I don't know. You know I was in a position where I didn't have to do anything, but I knew I had to do something. And he said, So what are you going to do? And I said, I don't know. And he says, Have you ever considered moving to British Columbia? And I said, we have, in fact. And he goes, well. He said, I could really use some support with the Real Estate Investment Network. And how would you like to come and be my president? So back in 2008 I came to work with Don in REIN and, you know, as the story goes, I liked the business so much I bought it in 2014.

Alfonso Cuadra  06:26

Wow. I got goosebumps, because I remember when I started in this industry just being an audience member. And I remember sitting there like, "ah." And some of these stories are just so inspiring, you know, and I'm sitting there thinking to myself, "Wow, I'd love to do that one day." Right? And then you're driving home, you're like, "No, I can't do that." Or, you know, the self talk and and then, you know, full circle, here I am. 

You know, WealthGenius. We started WealthGenius, and we have all these members, and you know, people that maybe look at me and say, "Wow, that's inspiring. That's an amazing story." So it's just everything's like, kind of full circle. You, you were an attendee, and you went to these events, and then you ended up working there, and then now you own, own the company, and that's inspiring. 

Patrick Francey  07:15

Well, you know? And thanks for that. It's an interesting journey, though, isn't it? Alfonso is because when we come back, if you look at it just, you know, business and nuts and bolts and cool, cool. And you know, when I first started getting into the game of being a speaker, I was terrible. I did not like public speaking. And you know, we want to respect and honor those individuals. You know, Don R Campbell made a difference in 1000s of people's lives. 

And you know, he certainly made a significant difference in my life in terms of allowing me to be on his stage, supporting me as I went through those awkward moments of not knowing how to speak, going through the phase and the transition of being an educator, a speaker, a leader, understanding what you stand for. Those were all things that were learning as I went along. And you know, my point of it is that at my core though, it was me understanding myself, which was that it wasn't about ego that drove me to be on stage. It wasn't about ego that drove me to be that educator, be that speaker. 

It wasn't about me. I realized early on in my life, fortunately, is that to this day, I have a tagline that says to be your greatest self and live your best life, so I understand what my purpose is, what my mission is, and that is to have an impact on others, to support others in their success. That's what drives me. It's what I wake up thinking about it's what I do in all of my businesses at some level. 

So my point of all of that is, as much as you go on to create WealthGenius and do all of it at the core, at the core, yes, it's a business model, yes, it's education, yes, you have obligations and accountability and all the things that you want to deliver on in terms of value, what drives you, and this is where we align, is that you want to be and make a significant difference in other people's lives. You want to see them succeed, and so you bring value to it that people want to be in the same room as you. They want to pay you to do that. But you're driven by your need to support other success. That's what lights you up. 

Alfonso Cuadra  09:22

I love that.

Patrick Francey  09:23

You know?

Alfonso Cuadra  09:24

Yeah, it's true. Our vision is to create time freedom in this world. And I don't want to help people create other jobs for themselves. I want to help them create time so they can spend time with their families, spend time doing the things they love, charities, churches, you know, following what it is that really fulfills them. 

I want to go back to something that you were saying before you said that you completely exited your business, and I think that's a valuable moment in learning opportunity for a lot of people. So how did you do that for the people that are listening and they're like in the trenches, there, you know, they're kind of on the hamster wheel. I think that I didn't want to kind of like, you know, go over that. I wanted to kind of like highlight that, because I think that's a that was incredible.

Patrick Francey  10:11

Well, there's a fundamental that I came to believe is that I don't, you know, when I came to- many people are wired to be entrepreneurs. So there's a fundamental difference between being an entrepreneur and being a technician or being an entrepreneur and being a business owner. And at some point, I had a realization that I want to own a business called an asset that paid me whether I showed up to the office or not, that actually expanded and grew and made money, and that wasn't at the direct effect of me being in the trenches every day. And so when I started that business, like I say, 1984 is when I started that business. 

And at some point in time, I realized that I'd outgrown the business, and the nature of the industry, and the nature of the business was it wasn't going to be a billion dollar company or $100 million company, it's just going to be a really great little business that chugged away, and we had multiple locations, and I had expanded into the US, and I'd done a lot of things, but ultimately it came back to I want this business to be what it is, and I knew what it was, and I made a decision with my team, and I said To them, in 2004 I said, guys, in 2006 I'm done. I'm out. Yeah, they literally went, "Holy crap, what are you doing, boss." 

So you know, that was a kind of a fun story, but the point is, is that I ended up exiting that business sooner than that, but it was really developing. And number one, it was a shift of how I looked at the business. It was, number two, was being able to put the team together and understanding what my intention was and being clear with them what it was. And so then understanding difference between delegation and abdication. And so to this day, although I'm only on the phone with my team once every couple of weeks, I'm checking in. 

I look at financial statements every month, I'm on top of what exactly they're doing. I have a great team of people that have been with me many, many years now, and they're excited about it. And so the point of it is, is that I stepped out of it. So I want to own this business. I want to be a business owner. I don't want to be a technician. So many people buy themselves a job. Nothing wrong with that, by the way, just at some point you look at it and go, "Is this enough for me?" And so I didn't want to be at the effect of having to- I don't even have a key to my business anymore. I literally don't. If I go to Edmonton to visit my family and my business, I literally have to make sure, I have to text my GM and go, "Okay, I'm going to be in town, you guys around?" And so that's how that goes. But so that's, that's how it all- It was a mindset. It was a shift of how I looked at the world.

Alfonso Cuadra  12:44

And so like, what's the process? So if you can give us, like, three things that you have to follow in terms of a process of how to exit a business, keeping the business, but exiting in a way where you can be like a business owner, yeah, not a self employed person, right? Because if you're self employed, you get your the business is dependent on you. What are the top things that you can offer in terms of what needs to happen in order to be able to do that?

Patrick Francey  13:11

So first off, I would encourage anybody to read the book, the E-Myth revisited, or the E-Myth. It talks specifically about that. That book was actually the fork in the road for me of the realization of I don't want to be a technician. I want to own the business. I want to own that asset. You could read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Kiyosaki talks a lot about it in his book, in terms of the quadrant that you're in. So that's the first phase, is understanding that you need to look at the business through a different set of eyes. So in order for me to exit the business, then I go, "okay, if I'm not here, who's running the business?" So that meant building a team and then having the right people in place, training them, and having systems in place, having an understanding of what the mission is, how we operate, what the culture is, what the environment is, who's doing the accounting? 

So literally putting a team in place and then managing that team. Now that comes back to leadership. And you know, there's a phrase that I often use, clarity equals velocity, and then it boils down to communication. So I'm always expressing what my intention is for the moves that I'm making. And you know, I made the statement earlier is that this has to be about delegation, not abdication. So I'll tell you in advance what the biggest mistake is of any technician that's trying to exit their business. They put a general manager in place, or they put a manager in place, and they walk away. And that literally is what happens. They go, "no, he's got it. She's got it." 

Whatever that story is. Well, the next thing you know, they quit. Life happens. They go away. You're back in the grind. So how is it that you do that? And this comes from number one. It's not abdication, it is delegation. It means ongoing communication. You are only as good as your team. Your job as a leader, as the business owner, is to make sure that you're supporting the success of that team, which means that you got to- you have to create the environment for that team to want to thrive, to want to step into. Interesting is that- it's a retail environment, so although I pay far higher than average wages, I had recently one of my younger team leave me, and I was really disappointed. 

He'd been with me two years, and the team had done a great job of training him. He was really great, but it looked greener on the other side. He went to a much higher paying job, and we were all "Aww. Too bad we didn't see that one coming." And so just recently, he circled back and said, "Can I come back?" And this was about a year and a half later, "I'd like to come back." And we go, "Well, you went to work for these guys, you're making, like, 10 bucks an hour more." 

He goes, "Yeah, but it's not as fun, you know, like, I love coming to work." And so he actually, in his case, in which we see often, as much as it is about the money, they want to also work in conditions that are fun. So again, as a business owner, what is the culture? What is the environment? How are you supporting people and empowering people and being successful having systems in place? You know, nothing is more important than me, having my hand or my finger on the pulse of what the business is doing financially. So these are all things, and then communicating with my top three key people, four key people, which is my general manager, in this case, his right and left hand and my accounting and bookkeeping team.

Alfonso Cuadra  16:24

Did you do this like a band aid? Or did you do like, I know, there's like, sabbaticals that you could take, you know, like you leave the business for six months, and let's see what happens, right? Or do you recommend that? Or, what what did-

Patrick Francey  16:36

That's a great question. Yes, so great question. What I did in my case was I was in the business, and I continued to be in the business for a year. What I did was got out of front stage. I was backstage, backstage, backstage. So in the training of my general manager, for example, scenarios were showing up, how he was dealing with vendors, for example, how he was managing the team. What was the protocols for hiring? 

These were all things that we were constantly in the conversation of, but I was backstage. So in other words, I was behind him, pushing him up the mountain, and we collectively were having discussions and creating so it took about a year of me being there without being there. I was there, but I wasn't there.

Alfonso Cuadra  16:36

How did you know you had the right person? 

Patrick Francey  16:40

Well, I went through two or three, and you know now this many years later, I now know who and how I would attract the right people and what is important for me. Now I got very fortunate because my general manager, who's been with me, gosh, almost 20 years, he was a young man coming in and you know, you're coming into that environment. 

You don't know these guys are going to last. He's now 40, 41, but the reality of it is, is that through my training and the relationship that I built, it was always understanding that, do we align with our values? You know, you mentioned early on that one of the things that attracted you and I together to look at doing some collaboration was that we share common values. And, you know, these kind of philosophies are often overstepped. Is because- 

Alfonso Cuadra  18:11

So important. 

Patrick Francey  18:12

You know, but he could have been really good technically. He could be a kind of a cool manager, but if we don't align in terms of our values, how we treat our staff, how we treat our clients, how we show up for work. Who are we as an individual, in terms of the person that we want to say that we are okay, and do we align, you know? Can we have conversation? 

You know, what is it about him that we can have fun having conversations about and and so, how we treat people, how we view the business, how we look at life. These are all important conversations to be having. So as much as we can get into, okay, what do you do? How do you do it? Can you handle an Excel spreadsheet? You know what is the Tiktok of business? That's an important aspect of it. But you can have that same individual, but not aligned in values, in terms of how we see the world, how we treat our family, how we treat our staff, and then that won't work. 

Alfonso Cuadra  19:08

I love it so much, and I know that a lot of people are going to get a lot of this conversation. And you know, what are some books on leadership, or kind of like, going down this path where people may want to, like, build a business. Maybe right now they're building a business. But I think you should probably start thinking about exiting when you start, you know, you should always have that exit in mind and how you would go about it. And so what kind of books, where can they get information on? 

Patrick Francey  19:33

Well, I mentioned the E-Myth, or the E-Myth revisited. Those are- Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I can't say, you know he, Rich Dad, Poor Dad-

Alfonso Cuadra  19:40

Classic!

Patrick Francey  19:40

-is classic. These are, you know, there's lots of new ways to reinvent, but people saying the same thing differently. So I couldn't give you specific books, but that's one of them. But some of this as well is that, for example, there is how we have to show up. There's a book that I read that I would recommend for anybody written by. Jocko willink, and I don't remember who co wrote it with him. I don't recall his name. Doesn't matter. It's called Extreme Ownership. 

And that particular book, whether you like the way it was written or not, he was a top performing navy seal, and he talked about how he communicated when he's in Iraq and Iran and they're fighting and they're doing all their things. And he shares a story, but he shares what his takeaways were in Extreme Ownership. Extreme Ownership is what? Is realizing that your life is a reflection of you, what you do, what you don't do, the decisions you make, the decisions you don't make. You take 100% responsibility for your results, no blame, no complain, no excuses. What happened? 

Why did it happen? It isn't about what they did to you. You break it down and go, "Okay, how could I have communicated better? What led up to that? What did I miss? How did I miscommunicate? What did I pretend not to know?" You know, that's a common one. So when you start to look at Extreme Ownership, and this is so important as a leader, as you know, and as a business owner, whatever results you're getting are just a reflection of how you're operating and what your operating system is. I learned that lesson many years ago from a good friend of mine who went on to build a very, very significant business. 

And I was doing business with him, and it was a- he was producing some things, and he shipped them to me, or they, the company, shipped them to me, and it was all messed up, and it really created havoc. So I phoned Mike, and I, who's the owner, President, friend of mine, and I go, Mike, I go, don't hear this as a complaint, but this is what happened. And you know, your stock guy, your inventory guy, is just a mess. And he goes, got it. And he phoned me back, and he said, I got to apologize. And I said, in the way he said it. I go, Well, this isn't about you. This is about your stock guy. And he goes, No, he goes, at the end of the day, what happened? I have to go look in the mirror, because I'm the pointy end of that spear. 

Alfonso Cuadra  19:51

Wow. 

Patrick Francey  21:36

And that stock guy is a reflection of what I'm not doing, and then he looks at it from that point of view and and it was the first kind of entry into the conversation of extreme ownership and accountability. And it was really it's a difficult pill to swallow, because you want to blame the stock guy, okay, but as the business owner, I look at it, I go, "No, it's me." 

Alfonso Cuadra  22:24

Yeah. 

Patrick Francey  22:25

What is the environment? What is the culture, what is the systems? Why is it that stock guy, I hired him, or somebody hired him within my system, if he's not equipped, have I not given him the tools? Was he a bad hire? Okay, whose fault is it's not his fault.

Alfonso Cuadra  22:41

Yeah, it's like your kids reflection of you the parents. 

Patrick Francey  22:45

They are, they are! 

Alfonso Cuadra  22:48

Yeah, that's another story, right? That's another story. Thank you for coming by. It's such a pleasure and an honor to have you here. All your information. How people gonna get a hold of you, it's gonna be in the show notes. Lastly, what's a quote that you live by?

Patrick Francey  23:02

Oh, there's a couple, but the one I often go back to is when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Alfonso Cuadra  23:09

Love it so much. Patrick, thank you so much. And you guys, we love you. We'll see you at the top! Whoo!

Carl Richards  23:16

Thanks for listening to the WealthGenius Podcast. If you have a question or comment about something you heard today, reach out to The Godfather via social media or email him anytime. All that information is in the show notes, and of course, don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of the WealthGenius Podcast. The WealthGenius Podcast, until next time see you at the top!