BIO: Morad Fiki is a former U.S. Naval Officer and #1 Real Estate Expert on Social Media in Texas. He has been awarded Top 1.4% Real Estate Agents In the United States through Real Trends and has over 100 Million dollars in Career Sales.
STORY: Morad got into the restaurant business without prior due diligence causing him to buy a non-profitable business. In addition to that, he got into a partnership where he was the sole financier.
LEARNING: Don't go into business with someone who has nothing to lose. Do your research.
“Don't go into business with someone with nothing to lose. If a partner doesn’t put money into the venture and it doesn’t work, they could just walk away."
Morad Fiki
Guest profile
Morad Fiki is a former U.S. Naval Officer and #1 Real Estate Expert on Social Media in Texas. He has been awarded Top 1.4% Real Estate Agents In the United States through Real Trends and has over 100 Million dollars in Career Sales.
Morad helps people who feel stuck in their careers and their lives and have no sales, no business, no customers, and no idea where to go from here to get out of their own way and realize the greatness within themselves. He believes that once you do this, you can unlock your potential and take profound steps to live your best lives and have a business that reflects that.
Morad is on a mission to inspire 10 million real estate professionals and associated services providers to grow their businesses to six figures and beyond so that they can make a greater impact on their own lives, families, and communities.
Worst investment ever
Morad wanted to be an uber-successful business tycoon. He decided to buy several restaurants and liquidate them. At first, he started looking at different franchising opportunities. Morad had no experience in this whatsoever.
Morad's best friend from high school had an older brother who had worked as a sous chef for about 20 years, so he knew how to cook. His dream was to own his own restaurant. Morad figured they could partner in his quest to be a restaurant owner. The plan was for Morad to acquire the restaurants, and his friend's brother would run them. Morad would fund them all and do the marketing and advertising.
Since the two were starting from scratch, Morad thought it was best to buy an existing restaurant that was already operating and profitable. He went ahead and got a business broker, who found him a pizza parlor. It was selling for $120,000, but he ended up negotiating it to $90,000. Morad had sort financing from the bank. He went to the sales tax office and got the license in his name.
They opened the restaurant, and Morad went hard on the advertising. But, this was in vain. They only got a few customers, but more was needed to keep the business going. In due time, Morad discovered that the restaurant wasn't making the amount of money the seller said it was making. Morad was lucky to break even.
Morad tried to sell it before it went under. He hired the same business broker that sold it to him. All the buyers were savvy and had done enough due diligence to realize there was no money to be made in the business. So it became impossible to sell the business. Morad's partner quit the partnership and left him high and dry. The business finally went under.
Lessons learned
- Don't go into business with someone who has nothing to lose because it will be easy for them to walk away when it doesn't work out.
- Don't rush into something. If you don't feel 100% good about it, it's better to walk away and reassess.
- Take a risk, but fully evaluate that risk and do thorough due diligence.
Andrew's takeaways
- Only partner with people who have skin in the game.
- The number one reason why people make a mistake and experience their worst investment is that they don't do their research.
- You'll go out of business if you cannot deploy your capital well.
Actionable advice
If you feel like something's off, and it doesn't add up or make sense, don't do it.
Morad’s recommendation
No.1 goal for the next 12 months
Morad's number one goal for the next 12 months is to continue making an impact on the Houston real estate business. He also wants to get to the top 10 agents in Houston. He’s currently in the top 200.
Parting words
"Thank you, Andrew, for giving me a chance to talk to your audience."
Morad Fiki
[spp-transcript]
Connect with Morad Fiki
Andrew’s books
Andrew’s online programs
Connect with Andrew Stotz:
