We recently connected with Santino Becerra and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Santino thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
The biggest risk I took was when I decided to quit my job of 20 years to start my own business.. During the last year of working there I remember counting the days down. Some people were telling me what if your new business doesnt work? Do you think they will let you come back if it doesnt work? Even some close relatives and friends questioned this risk I was taking…. I was working fulltime at Mcdonalds and during the late nights when my family would be sleeping I stayed up and educated myself on Real Estate and wholesaling. During the last 3 months before I left I was in the process of making a move that could at least have me set for a year without working. I remember telling my old team and boss Im going to be giving notice of resignation then I would push it back another month, then push it back another month. At this time I was hearing people questioning whether I was going to really leave or if I was just doing this to find a better paying job at another quick service business. Then Boom! Check hit my bank account and it was finally over. After I finally quit it was on to the next journey. I took a couple months off at the end of 2021 to draw out 2022 and spend some much needed time with my family. I started marketing in January of 2022 to bring in leads for my wholesaling business. I invested $12k in a 3 month span and only made $3k back. I never had this type of money to just risk on marketing. I should of done some more homework on this but the clock was ticking and I needed to take action. At the end of 3 months of marketing I couldnt continue to risk more money because now I was afraid of losing more money and not getting the return I would want. I then collaborated with a local partner in the cleveland market and he educated me on more ways to market with free marketing. I closed a few more transactions by Joint venturing with investors who were way more experianced and held my hand through the process. At this time I also created another business helping investors that are investing in cleveland with a ground running service. At this point now im running 2 businesses. It took me 6months to bring in more income that I was making at my previous job that took me 20 years to get to that pay level. Now its been almost 2 years and I have tripled my income. Long story short, taking risk is scary but being in the same place and not being happy or satisfied is worst. You never know what your really capable of until your back is against the wall and you have to make things happen. My previous mindset would have never done this due to me always wanting to play it safe, I changed my mindset and disciplined myself to not give up and it worked. It wasnt easy, alot of long days, long hours and sometimes no days off. When your an entrepreneur you have to work hard to get the results you want. Its no longer clocking in and out calling it a day. But once you create processes and stay consistent the results will happen and improve over time. I had a great support system over the last couple years, I had people that cheered me on and also had people that said will see…… were halfway through 2023 and business is booming! I am beyond grateful for this journey and I am so proud of myself for not giving up.
Santino, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I run a boots on the ground service in cleveland ohio helping local, out of state & overseas investors that are buying/selling in the cleveland area. We provide services such as quick walkthroughs of properties, lock smith services, project management, delivery of important documents & most ground running needs. I have helped over 100 investors locally and from all over the world. I have a 5 star google rating from my clients and have so many great relationships with most of them. Its more of a partnership then just being a service to them. Ive had clients give me tips, bonuses & gifts for them appreciating the work I do for them. We also work with real estate agents, contractors and property management companies all over cleveland. So if you need any ground running services that involve real estate we would love to help you.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Going to local real estate meetups was key when I first started. Getting to meet all the big companies and players in Cleveland was great. Almost 98% of my business is all referral based. The other 2% is facebook keyword search and our website. Word of mouth is still great marketing and works if you do a great job for your clients/customers.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I treat every clients goal as if it were mine and do everything possible to help them get better insight or help with my services. My clients know they can trust me and that I care. Doing this multiple times and building multiple relationships, referrals has built my reputation in my market. My clients have helped me grow my business and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities I have been giving. 
Contact Info:
- Website: Becerrainvestmentgroup.com