RG 061 – How to bounce back from failure as an entrepreneur with Damion Lupo

About Damion Lupo

• Damion has started and owned over 30 different companies.
• Damion has written 5 books.
• Damion has three black belts in different martial arts.

Nuts and Bolts

Damion is a serial entrepreneur and investor who has started and owned over 30 different companies
covering everything from insurance, precious metals, venture capital and financial consulting. His most recent company called Total Control Financial is founded in the idea of disrupting Wall Street and stopping people investing their money in stocks and bonds and helping them to invest in sustainable, real assets. Damion also has three black belts in different martial arts and is the author of 6 books and accelerated learning programmes.

Failure and mentors

Damion has invested and started so many companies that he can confidently give advice on the best way to succeed which is, unusually, to fail. Damion recommends that the only way to be successful is to be really unsuccessful, and when he invests he only wants to invest in people who’ve made mistakes. He didn’t know the rules of real estate investing which has its pro’s and con’s;  Damion bought his first real estate investment on his Visa card in 1999 and his only reason for thinking this investment would work was because of an infomercial he’d seen. Damion recommends that all investors have a mentor or someone that will give you feedback and support and ask the hard questions. It’s also critical to have a mentor who has tried several things and failed many times so they have practical experience. The other big key message for success and failure is knowing when something has gone wrong and when to leave sunk costs. Damion invested $100,000 in a restaurant business in 2008 which was never finished and he had to leave behind these costs or else he’d lose even more money.

Current projects

Damion’s current project is Total Control Financial which aims to free people from the shackles of a typical financial system and get them into real estate or precious metals. He also offers the ability to move money quickly. This way he can put people in the driver’s seat for their retirement money and allow them to build up real estate assets and create cash flow. It’s key that people develop cash flow because cash on its own is fleeting. Damion’s biggest pet hate is the idea of retirement which he believes is only meant for machines. The average American male is dead 3 years after retirement and so we need to keep active and productive. Damion suggests keeping engaged by investing retirement money because by the time you’re 60 you have the life experience to make good investments. Damion also notes that by investing this way you are completely in control of your money rather than handing it over to a Wall Street executive who will charge a fee.

EQRP

EQRP stands for Empowered Qualified Retirement Plan and this is similar to a self-directed IRA in that it’s a way to save retirement money and create a cash flow through investment with that money. However with a self-directed IRA you don’t have complete control, you can’t act quickly and there are lots of restricting rules. To start an EQRP you pay in the money through contribution or roll-over and then you’re given a cheque book to immediately start investing. Unlike a self-directed IRA where you get charged for every cheque written, this way you write them yourself for free. The only rule that still applies is that you can’t invest in your own company or buy yourself a house to live in. If you make money on an investment bought with EQRP money then it has to go back into the fund as technically the EQPR owns the asset. You can take out $50,000 as a loan by cheque at any one time and then pay it back and borrow again. When the money goes in there are two tax options; tax deferred or pay after tax. Damion charges $2000 to set up an EQPR and it will be ready in a week, and then the only payments are $200 a year for compliance checks.

Top 5 investing tips

Most important habit – His 10x planner where he writes 6 goals each morning.

Most influential person – Grant Cardone and Gary Keller Williams

Most important tool – Smart Sheet which keeps projects organized and on track

Most important mistake – Having goals focused on money and not understanding that money was a reflection on the contribution you make.

Contact – totalcontrolfinancial.com, LinkedIn and Twitter

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