Greek Rich Dad’s Success Stories

Real Life Success Stories from Real Life Greek people who Followed the Rich Dad Lessons     

                                                                     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Lazaros Lazaros Grekos from Australia attended a 2-days seminar conducted by the Rich Dad’s Advisor on Sales & Communications and author of two books of the Rich Dad’s Advisors series (SalesDogs & Building a Business Team that Wins–Blair Singer) and the following week raised $35 million from investors for his deal!!! Learn how Lazaros got out of the rat race. 

Lazaros Grekos’ success story has been published in the book “Rich Dad’s Success Stories”(Australian Version). The following story of Lazaros is an excerpt from the book.

From Trucking to Taking Control

Lazaros Grekos, Melbourne Australia

“By the age of 24 I thought I was experienced at investment. Unlike most of my peers and family I had owned a business, so I understood the concepts of risk and uncertainty. I had a property portfolio. My investments seemed to indicate I was on the right track, yet my tax bill said another thing altogether. I had also racked up a good-sized debt. Challenges lay ahead and I knew I lacked the skills to meet them, so I began educating myself about financial investment. I didn’t seem to be getting very far. Then I read Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Where It All Began

The only boy of four children born to migrant parents, I was raised in Northcote, Melbourne. My father was a building construction worker. My teachers said I had potential if only I would apply myself. Studying was not one of my strengths and I was made to repeat Year 9 in high school. That was a humbling experience for a cocky 14 year-old. Leaving school at 16  I started work as a stonemason, then decided to become a blacksmith. I enrolled at night school to obtain the required qualifications but it didn’t really appeal enough for me to finish the required two years of night study.

I began working with my uncle, who ran a profitable earthmoving business. Although I did well, family and friends put my success down to luck more than hard work. The perception began to grate until, after a year and at age 20 I walked away with nothing but a determination to make my own way in business. Having recently purchased a new home I knew I could succeed. But no one believed in me, mainly due to my lack of a high school diploma.

I arranged the financing of a new business myself, obtaining contracts to set up a dump truck run. My truck was valued at $30,000 and its purchase was secured against my property. The business went well. It paid for itself as well as a complete home renovation. As the business grew I upgraded to a bigger vehicle with new trailers. My $120,000 truck would make more money, I thought, because I could do jobs quicker and it would be more fuel-efficient.

I was wrong. My expenses were increasing but my revenue was not. I also had higher loan repayments. Realizing things were not working, I put my business on the market. A year passed before I was able to sell everything and look for another job.

At 21 I was married and in debt: I had to roll over an $80,000 debt from my business onto our home loan. Although I had found work as a truck driver, I endured 4am starts and 100-hour work weeks. Still, I had a passion to own my own business. I was determined not to repeat my mistakes even though I wasn’t sure where I had gone wrong.

I turned to educating myself about business. An investment group introduced me to negatively geared property investment. Negative gearing – making a loss on property and claiming that loss back on tax – is a common investment strategy for thousands of Australians. I was earning good money from driving trucks and a third of my total income of around $65,000 was going to paying tax. This seemed to be the solution I’d been seeking. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I would be giving the government one dollar in return for just 30 cents.

Moving On

My breakthrough came when I was about 25 and my accountant recommended Rich Dad Poor Dad. I decided to attend a Rich Dad seminar and the impact was immediate: it changed my life. As the seminar progressed, I realized the problem with my truck business had not been my management skills. It was more that the importance of cash-flow was something I had never really understood. Applying the Rich Dad principles, I saw I was not paying attention to the fundamentals. I wasn’t putting money in my pocket.

My wife and I had lost a business. Now we had properties that were negatively geared with allowable tax deductions such as depreciation. Owning property was great, but I was paying more money out than I was getting back on my annual tax return. I started to question everything my wife and I had done to that point. What if I lost my job? Who would pay for the properties? What if the market turned sour? What is a good investment? What isn’t? As I left the seminar, I realized changes had to be made, and not just to our property portfolio. The feeling of liberation was overwhelming.

My wife Michelle had not been able to attend the seminar with me. A qualified teacher, she had been a corporate trainer at Telstra for 10 years. When I told her of our new, albeit sudden change of direction, her response was understandable: “What do you mean? What have they done to you?” Michelle had to appreciate the value of the Rich Dad message for herself and she did, once she had played four or five games of CASHFLOW 101. The realization was there for her too and we were able to plan new goals together.

Here’s How We Did It

Before my accountant gave me Rich Dad Poor Dad, I had never read a book in my life. Yet Robert’s message left such an impression that I quickly devoured all seven books in no time, learning everything I could from them. I came to see my truck as a mobile office where I was being paid for an education that would transform our lives. Plenty of hours on the road gave me a lot of time for reading and listening to tapes. I saw that two things were the cause of my problem: unwise expenditure and negatively geared assets.

With my new education in financial literacy, I gained more control over my expenditure. This is the main lesson from the CASHFLOW 101 game. Before each purchasing decision, I learned to ask: “What do I have to do to get this item?” Consider a transaction to buy a car worth $30,000. I don’t borrow to make such purchases anymore. Fees and charges hidden in fine print can inflate the price of finance beyond the advertised interest rate. Now I am able to see these hidden charges. Now I ask: “What asset will finance this item?” In this case, the profit on the sale of an asset such as a business or property might finance the acquisition of the car.

Michelle and I decided that negative gearing would no longer be part of our strategy. The decision stemmed from the realization that changes in tax laws could affect our cash-flow at any time. Our immediate plan was to liquidate our entire negatively geared property portfolio. This was completed and achieved with profits intact. We then moved into the business of looking for investments that put money in our pockets, rather than taking it out. Our strategy, using Rich Dad’s fundamentals, was simple: buy and hold real estate. Whether a property generates a 1% or 50% return, is of no real consequence. This, of course, runs counter to popular theory in Australia.

Now when we buy a property, the primary consideration is positive cashflow. Although I prefer to negotiate the best terms possible, we will put in as many bids as it takes. Mostly the bids are low and we continue bidding until a motivated seller is found. The example below shows how sound this strategy is. Our only requirement was that the money the property generated was cash-flow positive without us putting any money down.

Example:

Purchase Location Purchase Price             Kangaroo Point, Brisbane $120,000

 

Cash put into Property Deposit                                                                             $Nil

Costs paid by us Repairs/renovations paid by us Total cash

 in property                                                                                                           $Nil/$Nil

 

Monthly Cashflow analysis Rental Income                                                            $3300

    Less Other income/expenses ie Vacancy Loss Total                                       $264

     Income                                                                                                                       $3036

 

 

Monthly Expenses     

-Taxes (property)                                                                   $54

-Insurance (rental, buildings,)                                              $22

–Repairs/maintenance                                                       $540

-Body Corporate (Home Owners) Fee                              $100

–Loan Repayments

– Total Expenses                                                                $1421  

 

Net Cash-flow                                                                      $1615

 

Cash-on-Cash Return Annual Cashflow                       $19,380   

 

Cash put into property Cash-on-Cash return          $Nil  Infinite                     

 

Financial literacy has brought other opportunities. Business and franchise prospectuses are sent to me regularly so I now find myself considering deals. Often the first question a business broker puts to me is: “How much do you want to spend?” For me this is not the issue. The product itself determines the price I will be prepared to pay. Numbers – the financial statements – tell the story.

For example, I recently evaluated a panel-beating (motor vehicle body shop) business offered for sale. Realizing the financials didn’t add up, I inspected its operations. Questioning the owner on the turnover of cars that were spray-painted each week, I suggested to him that he was earning around $100,000 worth of income in cash payments. He was confused: “How did you know? That is not in the figures!” It was obvious to me. His paint expenses did not tell the story of his business when compared with the figures about turnover of cars.

Out of the Rat Race

Michelle and I now work full time at our business along with another business partner. Although according to the Rich Dad philosophy we are primarily in the B and I quadrants, I feel that if you want to succeed in business and investing, you need to work in all four at once. You need to be an employee and self-employed too. I will do anything from buying multimillion-dollar properties to washing dishes – whatever a project requires of me.

My business partner and I have discovered a valuable niche in developing environmentally related sites. We developed expertise in adding environmental value to properties where others do not see it. We created the largest solar power generation site in the Southern Hemisphere. This led to the creation of a business that installs solar power systems for companies. The operation makes its money as a percentage of the savings generated by the client.

A big potential deal in the works is to install the system at 750 sites across Australia for a multinational corporation. We have approached all the parties concerned. If this deal succeeds, we will be able to take the company public. We recently met with the private lenders from the wholesale market who are backing one of our businesses. The strong environmental aspect of the project was highlighted as the most appealing factor during the meeting.

I have no problem admitting this is all still very new to me. For a person who once drove a truck for a living, it is also very exciting! Coming to realize that I don’t have to know everything is the biggest thing I have learned from the Rich Dad books and seminars. Other people will know things that I do not. All I have to do is find these people and get them on my team. People will not always fall over themselves to join a project with me. They are most open to joining me when the deal is so good they want part of it.

My sacrifices have been numerous but I have maintained the course I set for myself. Until three months ago I drove a car valued at $1,000. Sacrificing holidays over four years was also difficult. I have seen Christmas, New Year and Easter periods through the windshield of my truck. But from where I’m sitting now it seems worth all the hardship. Our niche property portfolio and other business interests are worth $35-40 million. I now live on $9,000 per month net in passive income, most of which I reinvest. Other business interests include a painting company and a property investment service where my partner and I invest on behalf of others.

Setting an Example

The Rich Dad system does not work by magic. You still have to get off your behind and do the work. But it taught me a lot about the importance of cash-flow and a good team of advisors. It also helped me set goals, define them clearly and work backwards in quantifiable steps. Only then I was able to make my goals a reality. I’m 28 now and I have hit every goal I set since ading Rich Dad Poor Dad. Yet it doesn’t stop here. I still need new goals, a plan, and sub-goals more than ever. But they need to be quantifiable.

For a long time, my goals were very broad. They lacked flexibility and definition. Seeing buildings being erected as a boy, I thought I wanted to own one some day. Michelle and I had goals too: what type of car did we want? We wanted to own our home and we achieved that. We owned a business so we wanted that to succeed. We kept pushing it to achieve these things. Ultimately, my life revolved around becoming a millionaire by the time I was 30, a goal I set when I left school. Yet at 25 I still didn’t know how I was going to reach my goal. Then came Rich Dad Poor Dad.

My new goal is to take a company public by the time I am 40. Having set the goal, I have to define the business, know which people I have to approach and understand the stages I have to go through. With so many variables in play, I don’t know if it will happen. It may be another company that I take public instead. For some companies the process has taken 12 years, so that tells me not to expect anything too soon. I may only travel 50% of the way towards my goal and fail. That’s OK. Progress of 50% towards a goal is better than no progress at all.

I don’t know everything I need to know to reach my goal. That’s OK too. Rich Dad taught me that I don’t need to. That’s where advisors come in. It’s impossible to know everything about finance, law and accounting but I can surround myself with plenty of people who do. All I have to do is find the people with the skills and capabilities I need to achieve my goal. For example, deals can involve complex issues such as patents, property or the environment and this determines the type of lawyer I may need.

With the composition of my team of advisors settled, I bring them together, sit back and watch them thrash out a deal or solution – perhaps over lunch. If one advisor feels something can’t be done, I want to know why. I will always want them to explain why a goal cannot be achieved. Their job is not to worry about expenses, regardless of the amount of money involved. Their job is to provide me with the best information. It’s my decision to make. The buck stops with me. After all, I now have an education in financial literacy!

That education has paid off in other ways.Engaging and working with my team of lawyers, bankers and accountants means I need to be able to present financial statements. Often my banker will prefer to see my numbers in a format different to that of an accountant. Being able, to accommodate them in this small way makes getting what I want, with their help, far easier.

Taking Control of Your Life is Possible

The Rich Dad strategy revolves around answering one question: What do you want from life? I wanted a lifestyle I can enjoy. The changes my wife and I made have given us a family life where financial pressure is non-existent. With bills taken care of, we hardly ever argue. I still work hard but only when I need to. Sometimes when I tell my four-year-old daughter I have to work she says, “Daddy, you don’t have a job!” That I am able to give her the attention she deserves is a great comfort. If she wants to play in the park, I have time to spend with her, be it 10 minutes or an hour.

Despite all I have achieved since I attended my first Rich Dad seminar in 2000, I still listen to the tapes in my office and my car. I have around 2,000 hours of audiotapes in my home-based office. I’m also happy to hand them out to anyone who’s interested, although some are returned by people who admit, “I don’t get it”. My walls are covered with helpful quotes and reminders to help me remain focused on my goals.

I like to keep my hand in with the truck driving. There’s no better way to build a business network, keep your finger on the pulse of the economy and spot opportunities than being on the road. My business is driven by passion. My objective is to push the boundaries of my abilities to find out what I am capable of.

New experiences such as attending charity functions have expanded my horizons. I never knew such things existed let alone the fact that meeting people in such an environment would be so enjoyable. I continue to purchase products and attend Rich Dad seminars. Although I don’t need to, I enjoy coming into contact with the positive energy that comes from networking with like-minded people.

The thought of failure or of losing what I have does not bother me. Of course, while I hope that never happens, I have enough confidence in my skills and knowledge to know I can recover my ground.”

 

 

In addition to the above success story the HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association have contacted Lazaros Grekos and asked him the following questions:

HCCA: After reading your success story, we have concluded that your story
is in some ways identical with the rich dad’s story. For instance you
left school at the age of 16 and started your own business at the age
20. Rich dad dropped out of school at the age of 13 and started his
own business nearly at the same age as you. Rich dad was also saying
that ” being a school-smart is important but being a street-smart is
more important”. Could you please tell us how gaining real life
experience at a young age helped you on your way to become
financially free?

L.G: Having street smart experience has allowed me to learn to control my
emotions well making a decision as every decision I make will have a
direct impact on my finances. It is a lot easier to make decision when your next meal does not depend on it.

 

HCCA: You are stating that as a truck driver you have endured 4 a.m
starts and 100-hour work weeks. Still, you had a passion to own your
own business. Do you think that passion is a critical
factor for overcoming difficulties, set-backs and failures in
someone’s way to success?

L.G: Yes Passion & Persistence

HCCA: Today the common phrase is “be willing to think outside the box”.
Rich Dad would say “Everyone can think outside the box for one day.
The question is, can you think outside the box for years? If you can
you will become richer and richer ” Could you please tell us what kept
you thinking outside the box on a daily basis all those years and also
what helped you keep focusing on your goals? We are asking this
because as rich dad said, people usually think outside the box and
making goals only for a short period of time and after that they are
quiting from their efforts.

L.G: To think out side the box you must not  compete instead you must
create that way you will not have any competes.

HCCA: You are saying that being financially free gives you the
opportunity to spend as much time as you want with your little
daughter and give her the attention she deserves. Robert Kiyosaki said
in one of his books that ” he suspects that one of the reasons that
our young people facing so many problems is due to the fact that
adults spend so much time in their work neglecting the people who
love”. Do you agree with Robert’s point of view and how spending more
time with family and loved ones can become a motive for getting out of
the rat race?

L.G:  Yes I think having more time gives you the choses to do more of the
thinks you love. For me it is spending time with my two daughters.

HCCA: One thing that really impressed us about you is the fact that you
have achieved all these things at a young age. There are many Greek
young people all around the world who are now starting their journey
to financial freedom wondering if their dream will ever come true. Do
you have any advice for them?

 

 

L.G: Life is short go for it the only failure in life is the failure to
try and keep on trying the journey along the way is your reward.

 

HCCA:The HELLENIC Cash-flow Club Association has just began in order to bring in contact and link all the Greek people from all around the world who have entrepreneurial and investing instincts while at the same time like to discuss the rich dad story. Would you like to wish something to the Hellenic Rich Dad’s Community?

L.G: I wish you all the success in the world the HELLENIC CASH-FLOW CLUB
is a great tool for people who want more out of life and understand
the value of networking with a global economy.

 

For more information on the projects been described on the above success story in which Lazaros Grekos is being currently working on please visit:  www.llpg.com.au  and   www.solsonplace.com.au