Q 1. Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Ans: Darrenbuyshomescash is a veteran owned business established in 1996. Our business is focused on residential acquisition and redevelopment of local communities. Our Headquarters and main office is located in Roseville Ca. We service the Greater Sacramento and Placer Counties.
Q 2. Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
Ans: Darren Brown is the CEO, Owner and founder of Darrenbuyshomes. Darren is a 20 year US Air Force retiree. He has an active California Broker license. During the peak of his active real estate career he typically sold 50 homes a year. Most recently he has scaled his business to assist local homeowners by buying their homes for cash and closing escrow in less than 14 days
Q 3. What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Ans: I have always had a desire to start a real estate acquisition company from an early age. My mother and grandparents were a great inspiration. As a young boy I used to mow the lawns of my grandparents rental homes. Despite having allergies to pollen, that did not stop me from my dreams. I just thought that one day I’d rather own the home and pay someone else to cut the grass. About 30 years later that dream started to become a reality
Q 4. What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Ans: If I had to give advice to a new budding entrepreneur, it would be first ‘sharpen your sword’. Meaning, get educated about your service or product. Invest in your education. There is no formal class, seminar or college that prepares you to become an entrepreneur. Second, read, read, read. Read books on faith, inspiration and on your skill needs. Not everyone, including family and best friends will support you or believe in you. So you will need to plant seeds that eliminate the daily weeds. Debbie and Danny Downers will always tell you that you can’t.
Q 5. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans: I will believe the best 3 skills needed are, first, communication – verbal and written. Second, a strong laser focused marketing strategy. It’s important to focus on who you want as a customer, because you can’t service everyone nor should you want to. Third, build your life around your business. Your life is NOT your business and don’t make your business your life. Your business is designed to make an income by servicing people at a top level. Life is to be enjoyed with the money you make. Life and business are to be separate and not crossed over. Work hard and then play hard.
Q 6. How many hours do you work a day on average?
Ans: I typically work 7-8 hrs a day. This is plenty of time to accomplish a lot. I start at 5:30am. There are no interruptions or disturbances. It’s more important to be efficient than to have long days just doing stuff. By starting early in the day I maximize my time.
Q 7. To what do you most attribute your success?
Ans: I attribute my success to consistently developing my faith, persistence and never giving up. I have failed many times. You need to understand and accept that failure is a positive step towards becoming successful. My motto is – Quitters don’t win & Winners don’t Quit!
Q 8. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Ans: Marketing my business is always evolving. There is so much new technology that you just can’t keep up. We do use internet based marketing but for my business the most success has been with direct mail. I don’t market to everyone. I have specific criteria for my customers and I market to a few select groups that are the right compliment for my services.
Q 9. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
Ans: My organization’s funding is mainly from other people’s money. My first resource came from my mother. I borrowed some cash from her and made a nice profit. I paid her back and gave her a significant bonus for letting me borrow the money. I also use credit cards and private money.
Q 10. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Ans: Understand that to have long-term success it requires patience, persistence and developing a strong foundation. A house built on sand will fall but one built on a solid foundation will last a lifetime. Business has cycles and seasons. In order to weather the storm you need a vision, goals and solid principles to carry you thru the good and bad times. Yes, you will have bad times – It’s part of the success ladder
Q 11. Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Ans: In 5-10 years I’ll be in a position where I choose to work or not. I do not plan to live off a fixed income and I have a strong desire and plan to earn enough passive and residual income that can be passed on.
Q 12. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Ans: The companies and people I admire are simply the ones who keep at it, till they get what they desire. The ones that are doing a great service for all people.
Q 13. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
Ans: If I were to start my career all over again, I would probably seek out more help. I began my career trying to figure everything out myself. I was too proud to ask other people and people were not open to sharing ideas on how you can be successful. It wasn’t until after 10 years in my career that I attended seminars or training events. But in the past 7 years, I’d say I have invested $3-5k a year just going to seminars, learning and reading from others that are achieving what I desire to accomplish.
Q 14. How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
Ans: For my family, this life style has added much value. I can restructure almost anything, anytime. Also, on a personal note, financially, the sky is the limit.
Q 15. What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
Ans: I don’t hold on to fear very long. It consumes my energy and I can’t think. So when I come across a challenge, I go right back to the basics of feeling grateful for what I have. My day starts with 45 minutes of yoga, meditation, affirmations, declarations and expectations of what I want. I manage my fear by focusing on what I WANT to happen and NOT what I don’t want to happen.
Q 16. How did you decide on the location for your business?
Ans: When I became a full time entrepreneur, I decided to do it at home. No overhead. The only down side is you have to be disciplined and work on your business while your home.
Q 17. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
Ans: I really believe there is a pattern or schedule you must follow to become successful. Consistency and repetition is key. Develop one and stay focused on it. Tweak it occasionally to better suit your business growth and expectations.
Q 18. If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be and why?
Ans: I don’t have a particular person’s brain I’d like to pick. I rather read and pick from the millions of successful people from past history and the new ones that are making history.
Q 19. Who has been your greatest inspiration?
Ans: My mom is my greatest inspiration. She always told me to never say never and when one door closes another opens.
Q 20. What book has inspired you the most? (OR what is your favorite book?)
Ans: I have a library and I buy books quarterly. I can say that the Bible is #1 and I also read “As A Man Thinkith” by James Allen.
Q 21. What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?
Ans: The biggest mistake I ever made was during the 2007-2008 recession. Being a realtor and broker, I got caught up with purchasing a large portfolio of homes. I did not think the economy would tank and if it did, I could manage it. Well, many of my renters lost their jobs. I never considered their down fall could cross over to me. Coming from a military background, if I had a problem it didn’t matter, I would either go over it, under it or around it. Basically, I blamed myself for things I had no control over. I beat myself up-a lot, which was very non-productive.
Q 22. How can you prevent mistakes or do damage control?
Ans: To prevent mistakes, I try to think with the end in mind. Then I work backwards and think about all the possibilities and how I can manage them
Q 23. What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
Ans: In my spare time I do yard work and exercise. I’m in my late 50’s and I’m a 2nd degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. So I practice.
Q 24. What makes you happy?
Ans: I’m happy when I wake up. I can take it from there.
Q 25. What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans: I am always making sacrifices. Often, to achieve greatness or accomplish something significant, you have to sacrifice, and sometimes not benefit in the moment, just to make large leaps in business and life.
Q 26. How important have good employees been to your success?
Ans: Having good employees is essential in building a large and expanding company. A couple of bad employees can set you back years, while a couple of good ones can explode your business in 6-9 months. It’s important to go out on a limb and not hold back. Many people don’t share all the concepts and training with employees out of fear they will leave. Well, one day they will, so what! Trust in them, provide education, guidance and support, then empower them.
Q 27. How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
Ans: Depending on the impact and results of an idea I may drop it quickly. If the short term complications do not outweigh the long-term benefits, then I’m done. However, if it’s vice versa, I’ll see it thru. Big Dreams create Big Results
Q 28. What motivates you?
Ans: I’m not always motivated, so to get there, I go back to the basics. I spend time reading and feeding my mind. I reflect on where I am and where I want to be. I imagine I’m there. Then I self-talk and point out that it’s all about the action. When I take action, I increase my motivation.
Q 29. What are your ideals?
Ans: My ideals are to treat all with respect and dignity. This means my internal and external customers. I try to do this for everyone, regardless of their own approach.
Q 30. How do you generate new ideas?
Ans: I generate new ideas by focusing deliberately on new things. I focus on what I want the end result to be. Meanwhile, I have no idea, initially, on how I’m going to accomplish the idea. The how comes later. I reflect heavily on my WHY. When I do this my mind becomes stimulated and creative and I solve a lot of questions this way.
Q 31. How do you define success?
Ans: Success to me is a balance of great health, relationships and finances. I have a few wealthy friends that are so dang tight and unhappy. All they think about is money and because of this they are not happy. They have too much of one thing and so lack in their principles.
Q 32. How do you build a successful customer base?
Ans: I believe the best way to build a successful customer base is to exceed the standard. Make a difference for each customer. Go beyond the call of duty. Competition is fierce and it takes months to acquire a new customer and a minute to lose them-forever. Build with longevity in mind, treat them great so you get referrals.
Q 33. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Ans: My favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur is the ability to manage time as I see fit. Also, I can fire myself and rehire. I’m a strong advocate on responsibility and accountability. So if I want a raise or I want to make more income, I have full access to the boss’s ear.
The most satisfying part of my business is seeing the end product or service through to the finish line, the completion. Basically, when I’m done with the job or service all parties win and are happy.
Q 34. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Ans: The major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for others is time and money. You are either building someone else’s dream or building your own. It’s like owning and renting a home. One of the key factors here is responsibility. Not everyone can nor should be an entrepreneur and not everyone can or should work for other people.
Q 35. What kind of culture exists in your organization? How did you establish this tone and why did you institute this particular type of culture?
Ans: The culture of my business is based on companies like Facebook, Apple and Google. It’s an environment that respects new ideas, one where creativity is promoted. No barriers and hard rules. Respect for all is crucial
Q 36. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Ans: My life as an entrepreneur is a Journey. It’s not complete yet. It’s a process that is evolving and
Company Detail:
Company : Darren Buys Homes CASH
Contact : Darren Brown
Address : 4010 Foothills Blvd, Suite 103
City : Roseville
State : CA
Zip : 95747
Phone : 916-300-7962
Email : darrenbbrown@comcast.net
