My 2 Cents on The New Year - Cashflow...
Transcript of My 2 Cents on The New Year - Cashflow...
January 2014
Cash Flow Exclusive / January 2014
Ralf Bieler Co-Founder, President, CEO Cash Flow Exclusive, LLC
My 2 Cents on… The New Year
hile there is a good chance that I
would easily bore everyone to
death with all those great New Year’s
resolutions I will have probably broken by
March anyway, I’d rather want to share with
you instead a real gem from way-back-
when that I stumbled upon while perusing
our Cash Flow Exclusive crypt during the
holidays.
What is this gem? Well, it is an interview I
did in December 2009 with one of my all-
time favorite cash flow people whom I’m not
only proud to call a long-time friend (and
short-term business partner) but who has
also been a great inspiration for me and for
quite a few other small-ticket factors as
well. In fact, he is a small ticket factoring
industry icon and – perhaps more
importantly – a real ‘mensch’ with a great
story and one of the most unusual cash
flow career paths I have ever come across.
So, without further ado, enjoy the interview
and be prepared to be inspired!
THE INTERVIEW
Jeff Callender is President of Dash Point
Financial and Dash Point Publishing in
Tacoma, Washington. He also provides
FactorFox software and has authored and
self-published numerous books, e-books,
articles, and resources for consultants and
smaller factors. He holds a BA in Sociology
from Whittier College in Whittier, CA and an
MDiv from Pacific School of Religion in
Berkeley, CA. But between his scholastic
education and current business ventures
lies a road paved with some rather unusual
– if not unique – experiences.
WWW
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Cash Flow Exclusive / January 2014
Ralf Bieler, President & CEO of Cash Flow
Exclusive, LLC, had a chance to talk with
Mr. Callender about his extraordinary life
and career development. Read on to find
how he came to be the successful cash
flow entrepreneur and small ticket factoring
icon he is today.
CFE: Jeff, you have one of the most
fascinating and diverse backgrounds of
all small ticket factors I have ever
known. Why don’t you give us a taste
and take us back to 1972, when you
traveled around Europe and India right
after your graduation from college. I
would imagine that after your
“theoretical” education in sociology,
this trip probably provided you with
some great “real life” education. What
did you learn from this trip and does this
learning still affect the way you do
things today?
Callender: Traveling alone with a
backpack across two continents for seven
months at the age of 22 taught me basic
self-preservation skills. I had to take care of
myself if I got lost, hurt, sick, or robbed (all
of which happened). So I learned self-
reliance, not to take unnecessary risks, to
take care of myself physically, to ask for
directions when needed, and to be frugal
with money. The longer it held out the
longer my travels lasted.
Being in the midst of so many different
countries, cultures, religions, and
languages, I came to see what we have in
common as a human race: family, laughter,
awareness of something greater than
ourselves, hunger, fear, and a (usually
culturally influenced) sense of right and
wrong.
Absolutely this experience affects me
today. First, the survival skills and self-
reliance I learned are required to run a
factoring business. Second, it molded my
outlook on life and how to deal with people.
Since we all share the same basic human
experiences, emotions, and needs, my
associations with factoring clients,
colleagues, and others is about more than
just money and the bottom line. It’s about
relationships, doing something good in the
world, helping people in various ways, and
making the world a better place. If my life is
only about making money then I haven’t
accomplished anything sincerely worthwhile
during my time here. I realize this truth
more and more the older I get.
CFE: While many people might consider
“getting serious” and getting a job after
such an amount of theoretical and
practical education, you did not. What
happened, and what did you do for the
next few years after you returned from
India in February 1973?
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Cash Flow Exclusive / January 2014
Callender: When I came home, my life was
wide open: “Now what?” I needed some
income to get started, and a summer job as
a horse wrangler became available at a
camp I where I had been a cabin counselor
during summers in college. I knew nothing
about horses but learned on the job. I’ve
enjoyed these beautiful creatures ever
since, though never wanted one for myself
after plenty of shovel duty that summer.
At the end of camp, I experienced a very
difficult personal loss. My former high
school sweetheart was murdered, and as I
was staying at her parents’ home on my
days off (my parents had moved out of
state). I was right in the middle of
everything in her death’s aftermath – the
family’s loss, funeral preparations, handling
the media (her family was prominent in the
area), and dealing with my own sudden
grief. It was an unexpected and devastating
turn in my life that changed everything.
I had to come to grips with the deepest
questions of life and death, why we’re on
this earth, and why such horrible things
happen. I was flailing about for answers,
and turned to my faith, which needed a lot
more foundation than it had then. So I
decided to go to seminary to search for the
answers. I didn’t go with the intention of
becoming a pastor, but to see what the
Bible and Christianity and other religions
had to say about what I was struggling with.
After a year of seminary I felt led to enter
the pastorate, so I completed my three-year
Master of Divinity degree and went through
the “trials of ordination” (as my
denomination so aptly calls it) to become a
minister. It certainly was not a calling I had
anticipated most of my life, but now I had a
“Rev.” in front of my name.
CFE: This additional education was the
starting point for what many might see
as the most unique and unusual period
and experience in the life of a successful
entrepreneur-to-be in the cash flow
business. What did Jeff Callender do for
the next fifteen years between 1977 and
1992?
Callender: I served three churches in
Washington State. My kids were born and
growing up, and the responsibilities of the
parish were quite demanding. What I had
learned about human nature and tragedy
and life and death were certainly put to use
on a regular basis. I did plenty of weddings
and funerals and classes and sermons and
weekly worship services and everything a
pastor does.
But after 10 years or so, I began to get
fidgety. I didn’t like all the long days and
working many nights and especially endless
meetings that seemed to accomplish little. I
didn’t like living in a fish bowl and having to
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go to meetings instead of staying home with
my family.
I also had my share of difficult people to
deal with, and the last church was
especially trying. That congregation wasn’t
a good match theologically and my way of
thinking and looking at issues didn’t fit
there. It became clear this wasn’t the place
for me, and after some pretty unpleasant
experiences (a few church people can be
remarkably uncharitable I learned), I
realized I could serve God and help others
outside the parish, and probably be a lot
happier.
CFE: Jeff, you seem to possess this
relatively rare talent of deriving valuable
learning from almost everything you do
and applying it to whatever you decide
to do next. So, what did you learn from
this chapter of your life and how did it
affect what followed during 1993?
Callender: Getting divorced as it were from
the church – and my career of 14 years –
and what had become my identity as a
pastor – took a lot of adjusting. I could do
worthwhile work after resigning from my
church job. Yet this left me to figure out
what to do with my life (again) at the age of
42.
CFE: We’re getting to the point that may
describe one of the biggest chasms in
your career. How did you finally get from
“preaching to prospecting” so to speak?
In other words, what made you get into
the cash flow business and start buying
small receivables in 1994 after having
spent about a decade and one half as a
man of the cloth?
Callender: I’ve jokingly described the move
as going from “preaching to fleecing”. But
seriously, after I left the church I spent
about a year trying a couple different small
businesses that went nowhere. In the fall of
1993, I received a postcard from the
International Factoring Institute inviting me
to attend a free seminar to learn about
something called factoring. I literally had
nothing to lose and attended; my interest
was piqued.
I learned most business owners are sorely
in need of improved cash flow, and that
factoring can solve this for many. I had
never heard of factoring before but realized
this need was true, and was interested. I
heard the testimonials of business owners
saying how grateful they were for this
service, and the hook was set. I completed
the week-long training in January 1994,
prepared to become an independent
factoring broker.
I worked the business hard for the next
several months but experienced more
failure than success as a broker. I kept
finding very small deals that were too little
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Cash Flow Exclusive / January 2014
for most factors, and became frustrated
these businesses – which truly needed
improved cash flow and would be good
clients with good paying customers – didn’t
qualify for factoring.
Finally, after one too many turn-downs the
light bulb blinked on: “I’ll fund this myself!”
Why not? I didn’t have much money
compared to most factors, but I had enough
to fund a few very small deals. I had seen
enough paperwork to have the gumption to
do it myself. So I started looking for and
funding very small clients and my life as a
small factor began.
CFE: While early forms of factoring can
be traced back to ancient times and
large companies have used it as a
means of financing for many years, it is
probably fair to say that you have pretty
much “pioneered” small-ticket factoring
for “the little guy” – as you so aptly call
it –here in the US. In fact, you even
wrote and published your first book
“Factoring Small Receivables” in 1995.
So, since you started buying small
receivables in 1994, you had probably
built it into quite a successful business
for yourself over the next five years. Yet,
in 1999, you changed course again.
What happened, and what did you take
away from that experience?
Callender: As my business grew, I funded
more and more clients, making my share of
mistakes along the way, learning from each
one. I took on a partner to gain more
working capital and the business continued
to expand. However, I made the fatal error
of becoming quite over-concentrated in one
client who unfortunately defrauded us big
time. Since the bulk of our money was in
this client, when he went down he took us
with him. Even though my book was selling
well, I was mortified by the failure and left
the industry for a while to regroup.
CFE: OK, so you really did what every
self-respecting, successful entrepreneur
does after graduating from the school of
hard knocks. You got right up, dusted
yourself off, and started a new venture.
Now, what was that about and how did
that work for you?
Callender: I opened a franchise sign shop
and soon learned first-hand the value and
benefit of factoring. I was able to self-factor
some of my own invoices and came to
appreciate how factoring works from both
sides of the table. However, the business
model of this franchise didn’t work for me,
though I tried so hard and put in many long
hours. But after seeing the writing on the
wall, I closed the shop, realizing it would
take too long and too much money to make
it work.
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Cash Flow Exclusive / January 2014
Licking my wounds yet again, I did what
most people do after failing in business: I
got a job. I still had factoring contacts in the
area and one led me to a large national
factor with an office nearby where I was
hired as an account executive. AEs
manage clients’ accounts, handling the
invoices, verifications, advances, and
rebates on a daily basis. I managed a
portfolio of larger accounts and learned how
a big factor’s operation works from the
inside out. It furthered my factoring
education considerably.
However, after about a year and a half I
received another dose of corporate
education I didn’t see coming. One day I
came to work as usual and was called into
the manager’s office with four other
workers. We were handed our two-week
severance checks and told to take our
things and “go home now”. A few months
later most of the others were let go as the
location changed from an operations center
to a sales office, with only a couple people
remaining.
But for me, I was now 50 years old, laid off,
and facing the “what now?” question yet
again. I asked myself, “Who will hire me at
this age? And do I really want to work for
someone else and risk getting laid off
again?” Could I really handle that?
CFE: Oh boy… It sounds like the ‘90s
alone equipped you with more
experience and education than many
people will normally accumulate in their
entire life. So, what was next on your list
of “things to do in the new millennium”?
Callender: You’re right. I wasn’t a bit sorry
to see the ‘90s end after leaving the church,
experiencing business failures, and getting
laid off. I welcomed the new millennium with
open arms. Once again I had to figure out
what to do next…for the third time in my
life.
CFE: So, what was your learning from
that experience and how has it helped
you with your current companies Dash
Point Financial and Dash Point
Publishing you started in 2001?
Callender: I again learned self-reliance. No
one’s really going to look out for me but me,
and I quickly decided I was done working
for someone else. I was determined to get it
right this time, so I took the time to observe,
to think, to study, and to plan. The Internet
was now in full bloom and held great
opportunity for entrepreneurs. I learned
about multiple streams of income, how to
create web sites and build a web-based
business, and how to write books and
market them online. I also realized I still
enjoyed factoring and how it helps small
businesses.
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I very intentionally started Dash Point
Financial with specific parameters for
acceptable industries and concentration
limits. I laid out plans for writing a series of
books about factoring that would benefit
those interested in being small factors. I
created Dash Point Publishing as a means
of publishing, marketing, and distributing
these products. In the process, I created my
persona as an industry expert, and the two
businesses have complemented each other
exceptionally well. I’m happy to say that
after so many failures in the past, what I’m
doing now has worked and the success is
extremely gratifying.
CFE: In fact, between 2001 and 2005 you
wrote and self-published five more
books in the “Small Factor” series
followed by four “Top Ten” e-books. Yet
this still isn’t the whole story. When I
brought you on board as a full partner
and CEO of Factor Solutions, LLC in
2003, we set out to develop “BluBeagle”
factoring and business management
software for smaller factors and
factoring brokers. And when I got out of
our software development business
about two years later and left the
business in your capable hands, you
kept at it and, in 2006, turned
“BluBeagle” into “FactorFox”.
Now it’s 2010 and you are still going
strong. This leads me to the questions
on the subject matter of our theme for
this month: As none of us is getting any
younger, what are your thoughts on
retirement? Is there even such a thing as
retirement in the cash flow industry?
Does one retire the same way one retires
from a corporate job? And how will Jeff
Callender retire from the cash flow
industry, if he ever chooses to do so?
Callender: At age 59 – and seeing my
peers beginning to retire – I sometimes
think about it myself. However, I have no
plans to retire in the sense of not working
any more. I think of retirement more as just
slowing down a bit, delegating more, yet
still being active and productive and
contributing. Playing golf or puttering in the
yard every day would bore me to tears.
Quite honestly, I feel like I’ve been semi-
retired for the past several years already.
While I work my business every day and
always have plenty to do, not driving daily
to and from a job taking orders from
someone, has considerably lowered my
stress level. I’m not in a rat race I want to
retire from. I left that long ago and have
been doing what I enjoy every day for quite
some time now. Why stop doing something
you enjoy just because you reach a certain
age? That makes no sense.
I don’t see myself completely getting out of
my cash flow businesses. As time goes by,
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I will probably delegate my business tasks
more and more. My work continues to be to
help others grow their businesses, put food
on the table for clients and their employees,
and provide needed products and services
to their communities. This kind of service
has been what my working life’s been about
for a long time, and I don’t see any reason
to stop. It’s what I’m here for and what
gives me a sense of purpose, fulfillment,
enjoyment, and satisfaction.
CFE: What advice would you offer to
cash flow consultants and fellow small
ticket factors that will help make their
business more successful? Or should
they just throw in the towel… and retire?
Callender: I am a living example that
success comes after failure (in my case,
many failures!). Don’t give up easily; keep
trying, but be smart about it. Figure out
what is needed to succeed – observe, think,
plan, and learn from your mistakes. Don’t
just dive headlong into a business and hope
for the best.
While you need to be profitable in business
to keep it going, when life is over it’s not
about the money. It’s about what you’ve
done to make others’ lives, and your family
members’ lives, and your life, better.
Hopefully your cash flow business gives
you a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment; if
it does, chances are good that retiring from
it isn’t something you think much about.
After all…why retire from what you enjoy?
Well, I hope you found Jeff’s story and take on life and business as inspiring and motivating as
I did when I first heard it. And if nothing else, I’m sure it will give you enough food for thought to
come up with some great New Year’s resolutions for yourself.
Other than that, I hope you enjoyed the holidays, had a peaceful Christmas together with your
loved ones, and got off to a great start into a healthy and prosperous 2014.
To your success,
Ralf Bieler Co-Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer Cash Flow Exclusive, LLC [email protected]