Lee Arnold is an international speaker, trainer, author and licensed broker who has spent many years perfecting the real estate and private money mortgage lending process through thousands of transactions. Lee is a leading expert on private money mortgages and has been featured as an investment strategy expert by Forbes, the Boston Globe, Market Watch, Reuters and Business Week. He has also consulted and taught for a number of national financial literacy companies.

As a master of networking, Lee connects private investors to borrowers from across the United States and Canada. To leverage the power of these relationships Lee and the Secured Investment Corp’s executive leadership team have created Cogo Capital – The Private Money Company, Lake City Servicing and The Lee Arnold System of Real Estate Investing. This family of companies is among the fastest growing private money mortgage firm in the United States.

Key to the company’s values is integrity and trust. These values are founded on a deep commitment to biblical values. Lee is personally dedicated to helping others and leads the He’s The Solution ministry.

Looking back to when you started your first business – how did you know when you had the right idea?

When I started working in real estate there were several key indicators that I was on the right track. 1. Obviously, the first indicator was that I was making a lot of money. 2. I started developing a ‘herd.’ My ideas, methods, and information were being adopted by others and through our marketing of great products and services, people began to experience the same successes I was, which created a base of raving fans. 3. I also created something we call the Circle of Wealth. This has become central to our business. We teach people how to do real estate the right way, we lend them the money to put this learning into real action steps, which provide a return on their investment, and then overtime, through this method, they earn enough money to lend capital (through one-off investments or through one of our high yield funds) to other real estate investors seeking the same success. Our philosophy is that we only do well when our customers do well, or “We get more of what we want by helping others get more of what they want.”

What was one of your greatest failures, and what did it teach you?

During the Great recession I received the most painful, but valuable lessons of my life, “Don’t be caught naked when the tide goes out.” When I entered real estate EVERYONE could make money. I not only invested in properties, I leveraged them to the hilt to lend money to other investors. When the bubble burst, all my properties were upside down. I couldn’t pay what I owed, and the investors I lent to, couldn’t pay what they owed me. It was a negative feedback loop and left my real estate business in shambles. Now I understand how to leverage my properties correctly. I have financial safety nets and I only lend when it’s a wise investment, invest in properties that will bring me the quickest ROIs, and make sure my investments are salvageable regardless of what happens in the economy.

How did you go about building a customer base for your early ventures?

I began by having local seminars. Eventually I built a product, a sales floor, and created nationwide events. Once I established a name, I began to build joint venture relationships with other like-minded real estate entrepreneurs. Our customer base grew and is more robust now, than ever before. We continue to create value for our clients and celebrate with them their victories.

What was the most difficult period of time during your startup journey and why? What helped you to work through it?

As mentioned before, the Great Recession was an intense and enduring lesson! Although initially painful, I learned how to responsibly manage my assets, rebuild my business focused on my customers, create products and services that can withstand recessionary periods, and employ core people in my business. I also learned that unless I focused on what was really important, God, I was ultimately lost, no matter what was happening in the economy. After the recession, I took a long, hard look at my personal and professional life and rededicated it all back to God. That laser-like clarity gave me great peace of mind and allowed me, my wife, and my staff to work toward a common goal of being bold in the workplace.

What has been your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?

I truly enjoy the topsy-turvy, problem-solving nature of it all. The co-founder of Linked In said it best, “An entrepreneur is someone who will jump off a cliff and assemble an airplane on the way down.” I enjoy the journey. I love sinking my teeth into a new venture and watching my staff work for a common goal. I can’t imagine doing it any other way.

What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs to invest their time in?

• Become an avid reader of books about business.  Start out by reading Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
• Make sure you challenge yourself regularly.  Hire people that are smarter than you.  Be open to their feedback and constructive criticism.  Set lofty goals for yourself and your business.
• Identify clearly the one thing you’re great at doing. Uncover for yourself what one thing you can do better than most and continually develop that talent.
• Find your why.  It’s imperative to know why you do what you do.  If you don’t know what truly drives you, you will never be achieve your goals.  Not knowing your why, will lead to burn out.

What does it take to lead a remote team effectively?

During this COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of our staff has been working remotely.  The use of technology has been instrumental in maintaining our success throughout the crisis.  We have relied upon video chat heavily to stay in constant communication and to hold all scheduled meetings that would have normally occurred in the office.  I have made a concerted effort to have contact with each, through daily texts, phone calls or video conferencing.  Overall, maintaining fluid communications has been essential to our success.  I’ve also managed expectations, maintained a positive outlook, and focused primarily on outcomes and not just activity levels.