Alright guys, so a lot of people access how do they make a podcast? I'm let you in on a secret on the easiest most productive way to start a podcast and get it up and running and that is the app called anchor is free. They have all kind of cool creation tools that allow you to record and edit your podcast right from your phone or computer. They will distribute your podcast for you to all of the major Outlets including spot.Why Apple Google many more and you can make money from your podcast with no minimum listenership is everything you need to make a podcast in one simple easy place. So if you're interested in starting a podcast Go download the free anchor app or go to Anchor dot f m-- to get started. Let's do it. Welcome back. Welcome back on you leave the episode 11. The support has been unbelievable. Thank you for everybody who tuned in to YouTube subscribe to it every day on Instagram. Our growth has been Monumental and it's more than we could have ever expected. So this week we got some special got some special plan for young. We usually save the last segment of each episode for our story time, but this week we have to start with it and we shall we have special guests. Let's go in fact, so yes, we have a special guest this week. So if you know story Tom is usually the last segment of the show and and we highlight entrepreneurs and businesses like the backstories and interesting stories about business how they actually got to that point like how Airbnb got to be Airbnb how Google got to be Google but people like that segment, but they were asking for more relatable stories and to bring you know a business owner in that it's from the community small business owner success story. So we said we would and we kept our word and that's what we're doing this episode. So we're going to give you the back story. We're going to we're going to reverse Engineer to show we're going to do Story Time first, but it's not gonna be over at story time after Story Time. Then we will give you the blueprint because this show is about entrepreneurship and business and we're going to actually give you the full blueprint of what it takes to run a successful business how you get financing the day-to-day operations all of that stuff and our guest a very special guest like saying we have Derek Falcon and Derek is a business owner. He has a restaurant and food trucks and Baltimore And and if anybody's not familiar Baltimore has a special place in my heart because I went to school in Baltimore for two years. And if you listen to the podcast, you know that I went to school everywhere in the country. So Hawaii, Florida Baltimore, Massachusetts, and that's because I used to be a exceptional basketball player exceptional would you say Troy? Yeah. You were good man. You were talented. It's Allison. I wear many hats. So yeah, so Baltimore shout supports More Shot To Marilyn Montgomery County PG County sound to DC sounds of Virginia the whole DMV we have loved her DMV. So we have Derek and I'm just going to give the quick. I'm going to almost start at the beginning and then the end and then there is going to fill in his story. He's going to tell the story time for himself because who can tell the story better than the actual person. So we're going to start starting at the bottom to the top. Right? So Derek got out of jail and six Years later, you know six years later. He has a restaurant in three food trucks that are bringing in more a restaurant alone is bringing fifteen to twenty thousand dollars a week man. I was a year a million dollars a year a million dollars. That's not sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah sounds better than a week. So a million dollars a year in Revenue, okay. That's the angle acute it up. I turned it off again. So ladies and gentlemen every scar. Tell her story. It is Story Time. Here's a little story that must be told listen up gangsters and Honey's with your hair done. Best Storyteller thumb out rate on myself. Waiter waiter. All right, so, you know I started I guess I would have to say I started in in the fitness industry and then you know, I'm starting to Fitness industry and I wanted to focus on something that was more passionate about which was at the time and still is interior design fashion music and food and I felt like a restaurant was wearing a place where you could bring all those things together. So me and my brother started in 2014. We got a small space, but we didn't open it up until May of 2015. And then once we open it up that space became extremely popular and it got to a place where like the customers will be waiting outside before. We can open so we clearly came to the consensus that we needed a bigger space and when I got the restaurant, I got it with the food truck attached to a so the restaurant is five grand. So I had to five grand then they gave me entryway to the restaurant which created a relationship with them the woman who had the food truck. So I was like, alright cool, you know, it's natural for me to accumulate for me to get the food truck because I'm like, it goes hand-in-hand with the restaurant and then that led to the restaurant doing really well and Ice moving to a bigger space once removed. Ooh, the biggest space and we were able to really expand our brand it provided opportunities for this to get the other two truck. So we're really excited about that. The trucks are different Dynamic than the restaurant. Obviously the restaurant is more of an experience their truck is also somewhat of an experience but more of a fast-casual appeal to it and it has really allowed me to expand the brand in a very organic very Grassroots type of movement because like it's with the trucks people see you everywhere and we have to crack the egg logo as you guys are. And so they created a global being everywhere Kris market share and brand awareness. So for me, I'm big on well strategy and you know what part am I going to play in the history books in terms of influencing the culture inspiring the youth but also making sure that we got some real tangible Assets in a miss so you can we started you actually. All right. So, can you talk about little bit like you till you were in prison right when you came home you were living at Dad's basement, right? Yeah. I came home. I was living in my dad's basement. I stayed there for about six months. It allowed me to accumulate the money that that I had to invest in the store. So I took a huge sacrifice and I always say like, you know happiness is the ability to support Nate what you want today for what you really want tomorrow like, you know, like you can leave out of here and you want to bend but you really want yet, you know, just stay down till you get what you really want. So I had a lot of a lot of grit and determination as to what I want to and I saved and allow me get that first on food truck that's important because delayed delayed gratification so much that delayed gratification and like you say you I stood out to you come up. So the fact that you were able to stay in the basement humbling right humbling experience, but you saved your money and you got your first restaurant you got and then you build something and that's important, right? It doesn't happen overnight. Yeah, because a lot of people won't get rich with contingencies. Hmm subject upon this I for look good this way. You know, I'm a me. I just I'm an end result type of guy. So I'm not really caught up a how I get there. Like if we leave out of here right now, we try and get in the city you don't Matter who drive hmm, you know, I'm saying it don't matter, you know, if I'll ever stop like him we going to stop but we won't keep going and I think for me that's been my determination even with the trucks. It doesn't stop there in my plane is for stores nationally went to San Francisco want to La one in New York and maybe one of these she'll keep the Baltimore one, you know, I mean and all makes use property because that's what we had. We have to make sure he's probably sad so and all of them with a mobile for mobile Presents so like for me I felt like all right. Well, if you got a store in the that's bringing more to do you got a mobile presence, but then we got product like we make our own Jam from scratch that we sell we make our own Sheriff from scratch. You're not me and then you got these products and the products can go on the website. So now you have a web presence to just activating extremes of wealth within my industry. So I don't really have to do anything else for the rest of my life. I just got to keep milking this master what? Yeah, that's my boy. This right which is important. So can you talk about that later? Because a lot of times people financing is important and they don't have money to start a business. But you saved your money from working as a yeah. Yeah. I save my money and then like me, I'm real Scrappy. So I was willing to do whatever to but I had close to a hundred grand when I started, you know shine and people say well, how did you how were you able to do that? Like, you know I saved and I stayed on me and I stayed in my dad's house and then basement for six months pregnant with my dad and my stepmom is help. And then also I built my credit up and then I constantly got in credit increases and not constantly receiving money. Just hoarding cash. Like right now I'm holding cash flow a big event. I want to do something called My Booty like broccoli City or you know, Coachella and things like that. So I'm hoarding cash and I'm cultivating relationships. Yeah, that's always key but it really ain't it really is it's hard, but it's not as hard as we make it seem but in our culture we refuse to sacrifice. So I've had conversation with people where it's like You know, I do want the business but I ain't trying to stay with my mother for you. Oh, no one the best don't worry about enough to do whatever yo, I'm gonna do whatever, you know I'm saying so and I've done it all is a servant he was bussing. I like the fact that I really put a lot of grit and sweat into my business because it allowed me to master all the different positions in the components and elements that go into what makes homemade homemade my got better as time went on because my first restaurant took me six months the second one took me for the third one the Supper Club concept took me 40 days and then at night and then it was so sweet about the third one was it took me 40 days because I had Partners to the end guys are got shot out like Randy poble and Kevin Von because now I was able to get better and better and that was really perfecting of ones crab because like now you go from the first old me and my brother six months to the second store me and my brother for my stem like now I got collaboration. So now we're even working with Ray. Me and Kevin working with you of a black man. Seeing how easy it they make my life has inspired me to want more collapse and that's why you know all my reaching out of y'all and just really spreading the wealth because it's enough day. If you got purpose you said some really important about homemade being experienced you told us behind the scenes that there was a story where you were bringing the food out to people right? Because that that was something that you were doing in your everyday life, right? Yeah. It was always the the tone the undertones in the restaurant is always my real life. Everything I do is my real life. You know I'm saying I can't give you anything. That's inauthentic. So I had to be who I truly am and that's why I like that like you say the hoodies and you know, when I get Vapor Max and stuff like that really coming to what we do because we didn't we didn't your husband doors, you know, we were born in the 80s and you know that we drag race you're not and that's what it is. Yeah, and now it's a place where the dude in the vapor Max has employed the guy in the street. Yeah, you know I'm saying that's just what it is, but you you be surprised, you know I'm saying, so yeah, I think I think That was important for me being able to build out a brand in a way in which it could be authentic. Yeah, so we went from homemade to the Supper Club. Yeah. So the Supper Club is a good to you on my homie. It's more of a it's like you ever watched like a drama that you waiting for next week. Like Empire your powers are like so like for me it took me so long because things had to be authentic. I really had to lift things and when I left things and like for me, I'm a romantic type of guy. So like everything for me falls back to Allah A story like even when I decide when I designed as a feel, so it's like, you know this person made me feel this way. And now I'm going to manifest that in a way in which I do a space is like a true story. Yeah. This is a true story and that's why I was saying I can't run off and do like a sushi restaurant. It's not my life starts with who you are. Yeah. It's not my life and it's been able be forced and I see so many people they cast a wide net because they really trying to force it. So you like, you know, you might call somebody to cut. Hay like you. Okay. I'll cut all type of hey. The kind of narrow it down and keep things other than it. All right. Well, so now okay. So now we had the back story but more importantly we're going to go into the business side of things how to run a business how to have a successful business. Your day-to-day operations other said you wanted from making zero to a million dollars a year in Revenue. So now it's like, okay. Well, how how does that work? How does that happen? And so we want To give you guys some free game. Ernest you currently paying off student loan debt interested in improving your financial literacy or looking for new ways to earn income and today's ever-changing digital landscape. Well on the talk money with the mesh lakhani podcast mesh will follow Paper Trails chat with experts break down complex ideas and bring Clarity to the mystical Financial phenomenon. Each episode will be filled with compelling stories covering a broad range of subjects from buying Bitcoin dealing with student loan debt and everything in between. So listen to talk money with mesh lakhani on Spotify or whatever you listen to your favorite podcast and learn how to spend invest in learn in today's economy. Alright, so now we know we told it kind of the backstory, but now we're gonna go to the day-to-day operations because like I said, it's one thing to actually tell a story about you have a business you have a successful business and support the business. Okay, we get that but people are saying okay, how do I do this? Right? So the first thing the biggest issue that any entrepreneur any business for any person period but definitely in business has is funding. Yeah. That's right. So you mentioned your story as far as having a certain amount of money when you start it. Yeah and buying it. So, how did you go about funding your operation? Like what's your personal story for that? Yeah. So for me it always start with sacrifice and try not to look cute. So like I told you I stay with my father for six months, right? So the six months that I say my father I ain't paid nothing. So now I come home and training people. I'm taking cash taking cash or personal check. I'm training all on by myself. I cut out the middleman. I accumulated all this money and now I'm able to build out this restaurant. Yes, I did. So that's how I was able to gross the honey grind because I'm going through Six months of training and then be honest six months now I get a get apartment, but then I keep my expenses real low and then I'm still I'm sewing I'm hoarding cash and preparation is something big you Center. Yeah, so, all right, so I got a question. So we got the hundred thousand and now the one of the key parts of businesses location location location location. So you are located what part of Baltimore I'm located in the Federal Hill notice Point part of gamma, which is directly like you can see The harbor for my restaurant and you chose that location. What was that? I always like to choose more affluent white neighborhoods. Just to be honest with you. The reason why is because I like to come in and neighborhood encounter when they go Jennifer. I like to fuck it up last because like yo, it's not enough of that. So the reason why I got into the brush because I'm like no I want to do something that's a different model for us because it's easy for them to see me pushing pig feet or children's or you know, I mean, but I want to do something very To get a very elegant crab shot right up across. Yeah, so and I always believed in fighting. So I felt like I can do it in a white neighborhood. I felt like as long as you bring value to the marketplace and you do something that's extremely exceptional people will come. Yeah. I think one of the biggest things that you're doing is you specialize in an area right where a lot of restaurants will say, they'll try to be everything for everyone and please every customer they have and you guys are like, hey we do breakfast and we do lunch and we do a great and it's a whole experience. I just wanted to bring you in what were you guys thinking that going into town like as an African-American business only you can't you can't cast a wide net because the whole world isn't your oyster? It's a different piece for you. Well good. You know I'm saying it's a total different P. So for me, I felt like I had to speak directly into the voice of the people who I knew would support me and he also have to know how to grow your business laterally, you know, it's a lot of times we go outside the scope of our business and try to reel in people who aren't interested in us be interested in the people who are interested in you so that was easy for me to be able to focus down on a I felt things like I know Millennial black women not trying to eat avocado chosen Sushi all day, right, you know Sam but I know that they do partake in that as well. You know I'm saying but for me, it was always about what makes sense for the culture in the brain and not trying and doing things with a certain sense of timelessness and a certain level of purpose where I can pass it off to my kids. I'm proud of my I'm proud of my brain. I'm proud of the storefront and proud of the trucks and I know that it's something that can be the queen. So if this recipe because your your restaurant is Only open three days a week, right and Friday Saturday and Sunday, but you're still profitable, right? So, how are you able to make a profit when it's only open three days a week? Like can you talk about the actual business model behind it? Yeah, I treat them out. Also, you know from the time that I was young like you can only guys I'm familiarize you what you know, my story about me being young always had a model of cutting out the middleman, right? So like if you take my restaurant I so breakfast and brunch how many times have you been to brunch on a Monday morning? Never mind, you know. So now I'm in the industry on which 70% of my customer base is going to come Saturday Sunday, right? And then I'm in a white neighborhood. So a lot of my clients I was black which means that they drove to the restaurant right? I don't have problems. So you drove you had to go out of your way, you know, and then from when you finally get in there you're looking for an experienced and that can't happen in 30 minutes. So being able to really identify who my customers are and what they want. Allow me to really focus on just a small Niche audience. So most people can admit they have a mental breakdown. Lunch on Tuesday, unless you live in LA you like wealthy issue, you know, I mean you got something for me to be able to figure out what really miss. I'm also a several pieces to it. I like to cut labor everybody coming on the same time. Everybody get paid the same amount of thing and go home. I'm kind of gauge the labor in that way. No food goes to waste we run. Everything is small batch and when we're out of things but other things because people understand the concept, right? So those things really made sense. And then also I knew that it would create an allure in a sense that people Want to come there and it would it would foundationally be a destination place. So it's like not everybody got a crime in these two days for this place has really remarkably like a limited quantity of yes limited quantity. Yeah, that's true. You know that approach in that model is pretty pretty brilliant. The fact that y'all was doing because one of the fastest growing chains in America is called first watches like this restaurant chain, and they have a similar model where they're specialized just in breakfast and brunch, but they're only open from 7 to 2:30. And that thing was like the same thing. He says like the work quality of is like everybody loves coming because his noticed there's one shift and the employee retention rate is great because people have work-life work home balance where they can get home. It provides great kids up and they can still make dinner and everybody loves it. So like that's interested you guys doing cuz it seems to be a trend of samsara happening in our country and also, all right. So because in this show, so a lot of shows I watching you two like I watch these gurus Court Who was on YouTube for 45 minutes? And I don't know what I actually watched. I think it's like it's like they talking Circles of 45 minutes and then it's like okay subscribe to my private YouTube channel getting pretty I'm Not hitting the ball for go to my seminar. So it's like we're going to give you the straight blueprint of how to be successful whether you take it a nice up to you, but we want to give you all the tools that you need to be successful. So can we talk about as far as Revenue like how your Revenue model actually? Works for the good thing about it. Is that especially in the black community how I see it is that entrepreneurs? We have three types of businesses that we always aspire to be right to ourselves. Let's just let's do the list barbershops hair salon the one that's number one right then clothing store. Yeah, and then a restaurant I don't know why but everybody is like everybody's dream have a restaurant. Right and it's one of the hardest businesses to actually be successful in like I think like 95% of restaurants and kind of came to the conclusion that it's a This thing which I guess your models like Joyce is actually work. It's working and it's still in statuses. Yeah, so it's all about revenue and like how yeah and the restaurant industry just specifically in my industry had three General colors, which is you have Labor because you have full cost and then you have overhead right so overhead on the fixed cost which is the cost of the building operating expenses, whether it's trash removal grease removal Gas and Electric your cable things like that. Those things won't go away their fixed, right and You have Labor cards, which is obviously the cost of having people on staff that can officially execute whatever it is that you want to do and then you have food costs. So I scale the model in a way in which the prophet was already built in a show. It was I like to call it winning at the tables. I want at the table like for example, when me my highest price selling item is a chicken and waffle but it's the most highly consumed item. A lot of times people who are in the restaurant industry. They tend to sell things because they having a lower to them or they look really nice. So they think it's going to track a sir. Kind of people not considering full cups full cars can really sink the ship. If you don't really focus on it. My fixed costs are my labor costs are below an industry standard. So like say for example, let's take a chicken and waffle for example, right and I say, all right, it takes me two dollars to make this chicken and waffle and I'll actually young kid. So what are you selling for? This have $6? Why because that's what I thought I should sell it for First Years. Like if you take me I'll take the chicken and waffle at you bucks. And I know my full cost to be 20% right side x about five. So I've already won at the table. I don't have to make an assumption but then I might add a two dollar margin on it and sell it for $12 while because now you're going to take utensils you're going to want to serve to go, you know, it might be a situation where they might bring you chicken and waffle now you got to make another beer. So you have to win at the table in my industry. The margin is about five to six percent for the owner of what you'll typically make which will typically net. I'm not in a mummy 25-30 percent. So I'll break them out or down is real simple. My fixed cause weakness $700 between the supper club and homemade buns wheat grows anywhere from 15 to 20 grand. My full cost is 20 percent. So let's take the 20 grand which the higher number ratio of my who comes with 20 percent. That means that 4 percent 4,000 goes to fool, right? I already told you that my fixed costs were 700 right which leaves me roughly at 4700 at least me a 15-3 right? I run a seven-man bang. I pay all of them a salary. So all seven people get seven hundred dollars a piece. That's 4900 m. And let me win 10 grand gross amount of time net and all that is extracted. Maybe I might walk away with 7500 maybe eight grand, you know considering that I got state taxes, and I also got my personal income tax. So now how is it that I'm able to make three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Yeah, when we only groschen a million miles but in a typical restaurant for me to make Brendan $50,000. Yeah, I had to goes five million miles or so winning model while because my fixed costs are low. Why because my food costs have already been priced out. Also, I made sure I went in the table and then I put all my employees in on a salary wage. That way I don't get caught up in our lie and I will show it makes sense for us right now blueprint. That's that's your old milk. Yeah, let's take a look. We appreciate first of all, I want to thank you for saying that because a lot of times people they don't give the blueprint right or they don't they still like stinky with their numbers. Are they like his his his secret? So I want you to fully appreciate store to they don't clean the truck. That's my even greater than trucks. I want you to fully appreciate. Somebody just coming in and laying it on the table, right? Like I said, we don't know what we can do, but we try Clara try to help you guys best way we possibly can but it's important to have a plan that we think I like when we spoke on the phone. You have a plan in place, right? Then another quick piece. I will advise people to really focus on to is play small ball for a while. Don't get so caught up on perception of what people think so like for example, if you were to say that well, how would you scale your brain if you had no money, let me give you that right? So, all right, for example if I had no Money I had the same food. What I would do is I would do a pop-up and I would do collabs. You see I'm saying like say for example, you guys have a podcast. I'm sure you got to eat eventually and I would say well let me pop up at the park has bring some attention to my brain and I'll make you guys Chicken and Waffles right bro, pop-ups create collapse because now draw attention to who you are. So the things that you can focus on which are free, which is your content that you can produce and put out right the image of your brand and the projections in the messages that you convey and then the relationships that you can create based off of the content that you created which In allow you to further part of your brain. That's the reason why I'm here. So now those collabs create situations where a now you can generate enough money to maybe not get a restaurant a brick and mortar but maybe a food truck maybe a car and in the car, it generates flow. You have to understand that flow is data. So all the customers who come into my restaurant I make sure that they are aware that I have a supper club. I make sure that they connect with me through social media I make sure I got your phone number and I make sure I got your email. So now I'm texting you pictures of the chicken and waffle while you have work all day. You know I'm saying and I'm creating that flow. There's another concept that we execute from time to time called a brunch and go a brunch pop up, which I can show pictures of my meals. Right and I can send them out like a mass text him you guys can order them through the cash app and you can come pick up my from my house. That's a very effective very efficient very clean way in which you don't have any waste. You don't have any overhead. You don't have any labor. It's easy to scale a brand that way. Yeah. Okay, and that's like one of the things that again that we start to see the restaurant industry grow to was like these ghosts restaurants or these stairs. Resumes where people are making them based on their orders, you know, I mean and Chick-fil-A actually just created to fulfillment centers. Where is just delivering an order and they just ship it to you again. It saves money on food costs because we only making it was somebody orders it and the data like you said that's important on a day of the data is extremely important. He said data is you said something data is information. As you said. All right, I'll say it to say this be interested in the people. Who are Stood in you. So like case in point you only wife coming to the restaurant right? It's full of you guys. So I've already bought you in so it's easier for me to sell laterally, which means that now I can collect data from you and say look, I know you're interested in the brunch. How would you feel about yourself? How would you feel about a wedding? How would you feel about an event and then grow your business laterally with the people coming in? I learned that my first store and just being wrong being real that you know, I thought I had all these great products and I thought that people needed them. So I will go outside to the people who I felt needed them and they weren't interested in but you guys are sitting here right now and you want to and it's easier for me to be able to grow my brand. Also in terms of wealth accumulation is always easy to grow laterally so that you can accumulate. Well, what do I mean by that meaning? Like I supposed to be getting seven stores? I could find seven streams in one store. Right? So now you got to realize that I can I can coach I can consult I can speak. I got the restaurant. I got the food truck. I got events. I got the brunch and go at 7:00. The income the average millionaire got six to seven streams of income. I don't need anything else for me to get wealthy. I just need to perfect the things that I'm going to cry because you have it right with you. All right. So yeah, so, all right. So the next topic we're going to go to is scaling a business and taking your business to the next level. Yeah. What's up, y'all? So if you're listening to this you obviously like podcasts and you're probably like music just as much on Spotify. You can listen to all your favorite artists and podcasts in one place for free. You don't need to premium account Spotify has a huge catalogue of podcast on every topic including the one you listening to right now on Spotify. You can follow your favorite podcast. So you never miss an episode premium users can download episodes to listen to offline wherever you are and it's really easy to share what you've been listening to With your friends on Instagram if you haven't done so already be sure to download the Spotify app search for Ernie Leisure on Spotify or browse podcast in the your library tab. Also, make sure to follow us so you never miss an episode of Ernie Leisure again. Alright, so now you have the back story. You have the current story. We got to take it to the next level if you're so before I even start we would kind of depend whether we going to do the last segment on some other stuff that's in the news right now. It's entertaining but this is more important, right? This is so blueprint. Yeah, we got it. We got to get back to her next week. We're going to give you some more entertaining stories next week, but this is something that you can actually utilize in your day-to-day life and be successful and make some money. So we thought that this would be more important to cover for the last segment. So now I'm going to go into how to scale your business right? Because it's one thing to have a business. It's another thing to have a successful business. Another thing to have a successful business that can run without you. And can grow it to multiple locations and you can actually make some money from because we know that most entrepreneurs aren't really making money. They're struggling, right? Yeah so scalability. Yeah, what should we should ideas on scalability? Alright. So for me it always starts with the end in my you know, I mean, so the only way that you can scale is know what you're trying to go always related to like if we get out of here right now, we are going somewhere where there's a red light where the deer run across the road where the stop sign you continue to go. A lot of entrepreneurs are just starting. So it's like you start the ignition up to the car. And like now you're waiting no one's going to give you Direction because we don't have any Mentor speaking from an African-American perspective sometimes so in terms of the scalability of the brain, you have to have a vision as to how you see opportunity in your industry for you to be able to grow in perpetuity. So it always thought for me with my grandkids. So like we say, I'll hustle from my first name my house with my last right? So like wow why I get the trucks because the stores are already told you to stay. Model, right. So the trucks are for my grandkids were so when it comes to scaling your brand you have to you have to be focused on a handful of things. You have to have low overhead. You know, I'm saying you have to know how to grow your brain laterally and a way in which that you can generate multiple streams without no more cause so like okay I did the Supper Club. So let's talk about the Shopper Club, but we look at the Supper Club menu, right? I got lamb chops, broccoli and asparagus, right? What is the same lamb chops? That's what eggs and potatoes and at the brunch So I'm not selling anything else. If you don't buy that brunch, I'm going to dim the lights down you will by tonight. We have to understand what it's going to take. So I think low overhead is key. I think bringing in Partnerships creating Partnerships is definitely keep for black businesses. If you don't create Partnerships the days of being self-employed and sitting in your house doing someone taxes and think you're going to be on the Fortune 500 over with yeah. That's that's a very personal. Sounds in our community. We are so hesitant to work with each other because it's like I want to make it out. I want to make it out not knowing that if we look across like that person trying to make a tool for yeah, like I told you like what the Supper Club is Randy problema who's a partner of mine and Kevin Von these gentlemen have come on and endure the stresses of starting up something new but I've gotten better and better to so constantly challenging myself. Like when I build out the first restaurant over six months, the second was four months I built up to Supper Club in 40 days. I'm trying we had no menu we had Nothing. We just had a general feel in the message that we want delivered and we built our for that so in order for you to scale your branch going definitely take collaboration, especially if we but it's definitely going to take minimum over here doing this much Sweat Equity as you can to make sure that everything kind of remains intact in terms of financing, but then also coming under the fold that someone was greater than yourself like for me. I'm in a race Pace because it's no it's no black five-star restaurants the bottom so I kind of set the standard for what is to be but also after that Again through a lot of valleys and Hills first so like always equated the like cowboys and Indians were like, you know, the cowboy look out on the all the Indians were shooting with the glowing arrows. I got to get shot first. Yeah, but I'm willing to do that if it provides a Gateway or a path for you, so it's more specifically when it comes to scaling businesses. I think that you have to have a plan and a way in which you see yourself in that business years from now. So always think about your grandkids and then reverse engineer. So like that's what I do when I saw a problems in my business, I won't focus on the the shit. That's good. Like, oh the Food is nice and you know that the core is nice. But what about the fact that every week when they say they come here they feel like the lines are too long or you know, maybe they all want hot Sarah with the pancake instead of just you know room temperature. So I think you got a reverse engineer. So it all goes in a how you say it. So in terms of my business model, we all know that the real estate piece. So it's a mixed use property its commercial down to the teacher about that or let me talk about that. Okay, so it's real simple with my peace. You know I'm saying so I have a mixed use property, right? Which means This commercial / residential there are tenants upstairs attendance pay to run upstairs. And now I have to deal with the rest of it downstairs which leaves me with a minimal to no overhead because now you have people who've leverage the cost. So I speak to entrepreneurs who have a brick-and-mortar find other ways to use what you already have outside instead of going outside of the scope of what you're doing this what shall I say? If you have a beauty salon and then you can allow someone to double it and use the space as a barber shop. Stop getting so caught up in the thick of really thin things. I call it we major and minor things. It's so black people we tend to major and minor things and we make things that are really important. We sit them behind the minor thing like what are people going to think of me versus creating wealth convert, you know how to say, how am I going to be perceived if I rent my space it's going to be perceived by I don't got money for the bitches doing this is the additional income. You know, I mean, maybe I might not want to just stuff the lamb chops with lobster this week to save it out. You know I'm saying so those things are extremely important how we look is extremely like it's a very big Enjoys but where's for me? I was like yo when I first started my brand, like I said, I came into the game with a hunter grammar. I could have gotten caught up in ego and be like, well, I'm not going to clear this plate or I'm not going to wash these dishes because this is not what count but I think the vision always allows you to surmount. So even when you bussing tables you thinking about I'm hate locations in 10 years. So the what does it matter laws were you thinking about your last name? Think about the long-term keep the overhead low focus on collaborations and get on the people who have more analogy, but that's me. I just will just one minute before you go Troy because what you said was very important. I don't want that to go over people's heads. So you're making money from the tenants upstairs and that's pretty much covering the cost of the restaurant. So that saves you a lot of credit tenants upstairs cover about roughly 60% of the know so that chassis important to understand because you have to find creative ways to leverage and that's the scaling model in general. So when people come to me and they say well dark, I think you look great in a strip mall to shop Michelle it don't fit them out. So Only way I could grow. My brain is still makes use properties that of Townhouses are apartments and which I'm at the bottom. That's what that looks like. So now let's now that's really thinking about it and break it down. It's no longer a restaurant place a real estate play. Yeah, so that's the that's the so some of the things that people want. I was like, what are the qualities you need to be an owner? So we did a little research and likability is one being able to multitask being able to delegate and one of the most interesting things I read was being able to drive. Drive under stressful conditions and I think that gets overlooked want to talk about some of the setbacks trenches. Yeah. There's no distress for me. Yeah, I mean especially as a black person because you know, my restaurants all black, you know, the staff is black. We hire any and everyone was qualified, but I focus on but you know because we needed so they devised the word. And the reason why is because we don't have models so like when you have when you got models, goodbye anything, so I always speak. I'm generally I mentor and I hired mostly young black men. They the hardest to deal with because they don't buy anything because they can't say well well Derek your dad is a third generation wrestler tool and we've seen you guys come through the ranks because my dad worked for your dad and now I can believe in this right, but we tend to believe in most them because it's 50 Five or 80 locations and they got billions of dollars and they going to give you all these wages and all that shit is going to be promise to you. So you tend to focus on today. It's very difficult as a black or husband or because we get the most resistance from our people. So I'll explain to you how I what I mean when I say that let's talk about consumerism. So that's something that's bigger than me right versus support. Well, I support black business. Well support is more of a philanthropist thing. So if you see that I'm doing what I'm doing or you decide to cash at me or you or you know, someone that might my industry who can help provide an additional service or more mentorship The Nest support, but if you come to me and you pay for chicken and waffle because it's great because you like it then that's consumption and we really have to educate the consumers on what consumption really means support doesn't mean that because you came to my restaurant and you spend some money you supported no because I didn't have to drag you up to support Mercedes got a Mercedes outside and you had to say yeah, you know that shit on your mother birthday Valentine's Day. Yeah anniversary. Eddie kids soccer game dump it on because it will allow us to make a certain amount of money and then we'll overcome obstacles will surmount mistakes and we can scale because I mean really all bow down the sails. Yeah for real for real. I'm just a mediocre business. But if I'm generating a lot of sales and I can scale McDonald's they know about the best burger you ever had but they got a system. They got a consistent flow and scalability looks likely. Yeah, you know, I mean version I think we make a great burger, but you go once in a while. You gotta keep going you gotta keep going and going and going and going and going and you got to also understand that these businesses are in a different place than most businesses. So you're going to have to endure failures as a customer. Like for example, I'm working on an iPhone and it ain't working out. I could take that shit back to the research lab and figure it out versus if I say, look I'm going to try this new syrup this weekend. It directly goes on your plate and it has a direct effect on you as a customer which can come directly back to me. So those things are important are robust top-notch robust timeline. And patience, you know, yeah anything else for that. You want to Now you kind of go to let the last thing before we before we wrap it up is that I want to talk about so you have a unique story and you have a unique look to right? Yeah, so, all right. So you're in the Inner Harbor. Are you in a horrible? Lie outside Holly I Really Wanna of a sudden up. So it's two pieces is the Tourist side of the harbor and then there's the more exclusive side of the Hub of that's based our residents. And so I'm right across the street from the risk. Oh, okay. Alright, so if anybody's not feel like I said, I used to live in Baltimore, but I think it has Nick made by he's never been to Baltimore Baltimore is an interesting City like most cities, you know still serving. Yeah, exactly. So the Inner Harbor is a wealthy neighborhood. It's right on the water very affluent businesses. You have the risk calls and stuff like that. So you're a black. Are you the only black on restaurant in Ann Arbor? And that is the only black hole restaurant in that in that area and I'm assuming a lot of your customers aren't black, right? Yeah kind of a mixed crowd probably so Don't put the traditional business model as somebody might look right so they look at you. They say okay, how how have you been able to overcome that because a lot of times people, you know, they don't want to compromise who they are as a person but they struggle with that especially us right like yeah trouble with do I cut my braids off do I draw the shades? I have a tattoo like my name is it's different than your name. So it's like how have you been able to overcome that and has that been an issue for you at all? No. No. It's definitely been an issue for For me specifically not for them. I personally don't give yeah, you know, I mean just being honest like so no, it's been an issue. I think I've always remain true to myself. My mother taught me at a young age to stay grounded know who I am and my beliefs. I knew what I was doing was different. I knew when I did like, for example, like I knew when I was doing it like this in a white neighborhood that Not only was our black man getting out of prison and doing something that was new but the likelihood of me surviving was slim to none. I will explain something You because when you got a black business out of like riding on a black neighborhood, right? I immediately come out of the doors of my establishment in the community embraced me. They're looking forward to me they going to stop and get me at lunch dinner breakfast at that. They get off work when they see me cleaning up outside my store. They salute me. It's a level of support there. That's just obvious right built-in. Yeah, it's built in but how many just not even not even restaurants how many black businesses are an affluent white neighborhoods? At make it period you know I'm saying then let alone we open on the weekends. And then let alone I'll have any Partners, you know, in terms of my economics and things like that and then let alone like we don't have the cheapest cause we saw everything I'll occur. You know, I mean, we're not offering any deals, you know, it just it just built off of quality. So it was a strong belief system for me specifically from the beginning that allowed me to stay the course. We want to thank you for becoming in answer to being so honest and opening up your playbook. Right because you don't have to do that. Right and that's something like I said with this show. We taking a unique approach to it where we want really want to educate, you know, and I think that entrepreneurship is something that's very important and even in college, right? Like they don't teach you the certain stuff in business school and stuff like that. So to hear it from a real world perspective, it's somebody that you know, people can relate to somebody from the Unity's Michael neighborhood is is encouraging and and it's also it's important important. And for those of us who are in culinary school and like can't figure it out. Like this is we built this city, but this one the ground. Yeah, it was no formal school that you went to in built this from the ground up from Basalt experiences. Yeah, and one Avenue just resonate into another one, you know, I mean one medium you took some some ethics and some morals and you brought it to a different way and that's powerful and it shows I'm not the coach well, but it's also can be related to to any business not just restaurants, right? So we're talking about the rest of our business today because you own a restaurant but the business model and the idea is in the general principles of business can be applied to anything you say whether it's a hair salon, whether it's a restaurant whether it's a sneaker store no matter what it is. You see, I just need those three different things that I talked about before right? No matter what it is. No matter what it is. It can be applied to so that's something that's important and you gotta respect. Aspen or two because I got that's another thing. I really feel that I've done enough like black people. You know, how much I like to speak to them. Yeah. So black people like, you know from the consumption style understand what it looks like when a black person is establishing a business or entity and what it's going to take for you to grow them but more specifically young black people who work for black people know what that takes to be able to build out that brand dedicates your Sweat Equity to those companies because they need you more than a white entities, right? We talk about it all the time. I'm Ruth Chris Rich enough Nordstrom's Rich enough Macy's Richard. No, so it's so crazy because like we speaking about the culinary school the young black kids come out to culinary school. They want to work for the fucking Four Seasons and you like yo, you ain't nothing to allocate even my customers my customers coming to store. All right your son. Oh, oh come out of culinary school. You let him work for the Four Seasons, but your cousin who getting out of jail. You pull me straight up you pull me straight up. Yeah, let my just to let you know, you know, my cousin just got out the joint. He need a job. What about you? Has she got a master's degree? She need a job. Yeah. Nice job is stop sending out in some cases. I would say first potential at your best talent because we don't do that with LeBron and all that when we see that a young black kid. Is he 15 years old and he's six nine and he could dribble it out to make sure he goes wee wee wee wee wee clamoring like, oh keep him out of trouble and make sure he get home. But when you see the young black man, sir, but no 20 years old who stopped by nachos, you know, like my young man killer from not you're banging shouting nachos you throw him to the Wolves. Oh, you know my cousin my uncle my cracking album. Can you sweep the steps up? Oh stop doing that because they do that all the time. They tend to undermine the value of our entrepreneurs. We're essentially our entrepreneurs and our creators all the future because I don't give a fuck how high you can jump eventually he got retired only for how fast he runs some I going to affect that business is forever. It could last in perpetuity the duration of a business can go on for Generations, right? Go on for decades. So a person can do business. I've been to the timing 8590. We still got a 90 year old CEOs and shit like Al Davis who ran the Raiders until he was like fuck and 90s TV Guide, right? They like a Jerry Jones that should go on forever. So, you know, the musicians the creatives the entrepreneurs they have to be supported the same way that athletes are support. I'm not taking anything away from the athletes. But to me personally, I feel like my son Curry and he can he can he can assimilate information and he can impart that information out. He could get his ideas out to the world. He could make more money than LeBron James he could create more opportunity for people to LeBron James and he could give more back because that's not really talking about even at that whole your would it look like the work for the black man. Would it look like the beat of black man who owned it? And then what it look like the concern from the black man ate three different perspectives. That's a fact. It's a fact we're gonna have to do it as for assault bottle or your to follow even if you going all day, but thank you for coming in. We appreciate you. Coming and yeah, we want to encourage everybody to a keep it in this up because this is an example. Like I said, we we said we was going to bring on entrepreneur highlight a business that you can support in real life, right and so a make sure you support the business. Can you just tell the people to information for ya? So I'm the name of the restaurant is homemade hom EMA ID and we on social media under homemade underscore. We're located at 1400 key highway. In Baltimore, Maryland to 1 2 3 0 the hours are Friday from 6 to 11. We want to Supperclub. We want to brunch on Saturday morning from 9 to 4 which we run a separate file on you net from 6 to 11. And then we also have another brunch on Sunday, which is a really big deal whole city come up. So yeah, so if you're in Baltimore if you interview in DC if you're in the area, so you love me stop by shows your social support, but I'm definitely gonna come through we have is that important very soon. I want to talk about The merch I'll go ahead. Don't forget the merch guys. Like I said, we have new merch up. We have dope shirts hoodies v-necks for the ladies. We got all kinds of stuff. Dad hats that has we got them in a few colors. Look camouflage. Somebody can play like yo, I need one in white. So, you know, it's not for us to just add the family support and especially like I said in our culture we make statements by what we wear. So we complain about Gucci We complain about all these clothing companies that we know don't care about it. So why don't we make statements with our clothes? As well. So all of the clothes has financial literacy on it. So you talked about like hustle for your last semester on the church. Also put your last name. I got to ask so reliability shirt. We have the signature. So it's always something it's going to be a message in that in the clothing. So make sure you support that and then also our patreon going to take a minute. Yeah patreon. Like I said, we have some new features that are going up on their new topic that we're gonna be doing cold Hometown Heroes. We're going to be highlighting some people who are doing things in your hometown or in our hometown. Some people up there already. I told you our goal is to reach a hundred and then when we get there, I'm going to start calling people to have a conversation with them. We're going to choose five people from our page on patreon page. So keep checking that out. Keep supporting that keep subscribing to our YouTube. We doing we're doing alright on YouTube not subscribe to the YouTube though and yet a patreon is Nipsey Hussle right? Easy easy. He's our God. So he had a campaign called core proud to pay, right? Where we going to give you the information for free, but if you would like to financially support the podcast so we can travel to different cities and we can bring on other entrepreneurs and we can do different things that we want to do is the way to be proud to pay and financially support us and financially support the park and now it's not supporting us supporting the podcast so we can spread the message of financial literacy to the world and but you know, we haven't done and we should have with this some people behind the scenes who work on out. Cast as well as a fan. So let's give them a little bit tassel child to Sid, you know met he does all the magic you make some sound great. No progress without that's a fact about the Larry Mike bam. So those guys behind the scenes that are working to make this thing, you know take off and that's that's the point of even going notice. You can't nothing great has ever done by yourself, right? And we talk about collaboration like it's important. You can only go so far. I used to play sports on being on team. You only go so far as an individual. You have to surround yourself with good people and you have to be humble enough to be able to work with good people. So yes, there's no podcast. You see me in Troy but there's no podcast without the other three gentlemen that you just named and there's no podcast without you guys actually tuning in and supporting us. So we appreciate before we leave I say a book that I read I read or I'm reading so my book tip of this week is 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. I've read that book three times. Very very good book. You've read that book before yeah. Yeah, but then graphic did you did you did everything I didn't read that I had my book, which is the new Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander nothing just just because I'm working on something right now in the school district where we're going to be combatant that school to prison pipeline school to prison pipeline. We got it. We got some special about that for sure. So. Alright guys, thank you for rocking with us another episode and of the Monumental episode in the books. You guys learned something that you can apply to your real life, and we will see you guys next week. Peace.
In episode 11 we interview Derrick Faulcon, owner of the Homemaid/Supper Club resturant in Baltimore, Maryland. In 2012 Derrick came home from serving 5 years in a federal penitentiary. Flat broke upon his release he moved into his father’s basement for 6 months. While in the basement he saved money and planned for his future. Today he owns a resturant, 3 food trucks and a mixed use commercial real estate property. His enterprise pulls in a gross profit of $1 million annually. Derrick not only told his story but he also opened up his books, and broke down his revenue model in detail. He also provided a step by step blueprint to secure profitability as a business owner. https://anchor.fm/app  · Talk Money With Mesh Lakhani Podcast: On The Talk Money with Mesh Lakhani podcast, Mesh will follow paper trails, chat with experts, and break down complex ideas to bring clarity to the mystical financial phenomena behind your finances. 