Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in commercial real estate but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Scott Jolly, Founder of Site Consulting Specialists, located in Reno, NV, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We are a capital expenditure consulting firm for commercial real estate owners and operators. We work with several property types, specifically: industrial, office, mobile home parks, apartments, HOAs, and retail shopping centers. We work with two kinds of owners and asset managers. Most fall in one of two buckets. One bucket is the smaller investor with less than 50 properties that don't have an in-house construction management team. We fill this role for them when projects arise. The other bucket is larger public and private REITs that want to save money by procuring several similar projects together to help drive costs down.

Tell us about yourself

I have been in the construction and real estate field my entire career. I got into Commercial construction when I was in my late 20s in Southern California, working for a paving and concrete contractor. I started investing in real estate in my early 20s and lost everything in the '08 recession, which is what led me to SoCal. We started this company at the request of my clients when they started asking me to travel to other states where they had properties and needed help. I value freedom over money. I really disliked an employer or "boss" telling me what I was worth financially. I want to find out for myself how much my time is worth and be able to dictate when I take vacations and personal time without having to report to someone. Becoming financially free is my biggest motivator. I believe I'll always work, to some degree, as I love what I do and any extra time I have a donate to my community. We took a sabbatical about 5 years ago when we first started the business full time and would like to take several more 3 - 12 month sabbaticals in the next 5 - 10 years.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Currently, my biggest accomplishment is being able to fully support myself and my family financially and still build a growing business. We have enough finances to invest more significantly in real estate and our future. We bought our first mobile home park last year. I also love working with large public and private REITs. Most of our clients are very successful professionals that have multiple degrees and some advanced college degrees. I never finished community college, so I get a kick out of having these companies hire me and tell them how to spend millions of dollars on their properties.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Getting from zero to something was the hardest part. Building something that can pay you, and you can begin to hire employees to delegate tasks, has been the hardest part. It took us about 3 years with just me, my wife, and my business partner working tirelessly before we could really afford to bring people on.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. When starting a business, I highly suggest starting it as a side hustle to see if it really is a viable option. If you're not doing that or are transitioning from side hustle to full time, I suggest having a 1 - 2 year financial runway. Have enough money saved to pay your bills for 1 - 2 years. When we started this business, my partner was still running his small construction company, and I sold my house and moved to another region. The proceeds from my home allowed me to take a 3-month sabbatical and then have another 2 years of financial runway to ensure we had enough time to build the business.
  2. Running and growing a business can be learned. There are lots of books, podcasts, and business systems you can learn and employ. I have invested heavily in audible books, podcasts, and coaching over the years to help me learn. I suggest finding a business system that works for you and using it. We have used the Entrepreneurs Organization template for Scaling Up very successfully so far. As we grow, we implement more and more of the Scaling Up tools. We have also used some of the EOS systems for KPI meetings and regular tracking of goals and progress.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://siteconsultingspecialists.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scottgjolly
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottgjolly/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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