The mindset that built $100 MILLION deals

#entrepreneurship #franchisebusiness #podcast #AFCurgentcare

On the Built4Profit Podcast, hosts interview Aaron Zucker, who has acquired assets in 21 states and surpassed $100M in transactions!

Zucker shares how he fell into entrepreneurship as a college junior by buying a bar in Tuscaloosa through seller financing, then discovered commercial real estate after realizing landlords “collect rent and play golf.” After building a leasing career in Atlanta and Charlotte and learning at family office, he left a high-paying job to start his own value-add retail real estate business and later pursued franchising, selecting AFC Urgent Care for its recession and e-commerce resilience. 

He explains his mindset shaped by grandparents who survived the Holocaust, his use of EOS to focus on quarterly “rocks,” and ZIG’s model of partnering with experienced multi-unit operators to scale with limited equity or debt. He closes by advising listeners to follow their gut.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

When you have no idea what you're doing, risk doesn't really pop into your mind. None of us had graduated college, none of us had any business ownership experience of any meaning. We were not financiable. My grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Like for me to complain, like, I'm not going to play the victim when people were depriving my grandparents of food and water. Just not going to do it. I have open realm to go after and chase whatever I want. There's no tolerance in my mind to be average.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

That is really profound because most people go into an entrepreneur journey to have more time and money, and they end up having less of both. Welcome to Built for Profit Podcast, where entrepreneurs share real stories and strategies that actually work. We're here to inspire, challenge, and give you the playbook to profit with purpose. Let's get into it. Let's do it. So, as we were prepping for this interview, I was joking that I need to go accomplish a few things before we start. We're definitely going to be talking to a heavyweight. Yeah, that's right. Because we're talking to someone who has acquired assets in 21 states and has eclipsed a hundred million in transactions in short order. And so when you're talking about numbers like that, the good news is you're going to be learning from someone who has achieved some things. Like they've got some knowledge that now we can take, translate, and go execute with. So with that, we've got Aaron Zucker on the Built for Profit podcast with us. Aaron, welcome to the podcast and welcome, Aaron.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Thanks for having me. Hopefully, I can do a good job of sharing what not to do because we've made plenty of mistakes along the way, too.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Excited to get some knowledge from you.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Yeah, let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

So if you will take us back the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

So I was a junior in college in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, roll tide for anybody listening to this. I happened to fall into entrepreneurship. I still don't know how to spell that word today. It's pretty long. But my junior year, some friends and I were drinking, like college kids do, especially at a big SEC school. We talked about how crazy it is that this bar I was selling is beers. Beers were expensive then. That was a lot of money, certainly to me in 2010 when this was. And not an original thought, right? Young, dumb, particularly most of the time, men say, Oh yeah, we should buy a bar. But the next day we woke up and we all texted each other and determined that was still a good idea. When you have no idea what you're doing, risk doesn't really pop into your mind. So we just started walking into different bars on a Sunday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Back then, this is crazy. You weren't allowed to sell booze on Sundays. So we knew that the bar owners wouldn't be like open for business. So we figured that was the right time to go in case they were doing like paperwork or cleaning up or whatever that may be. And the second bar that we walked into where the owner was around agreed to sell. He said, I've been thinking about selling it. He was old, as I use air quotes for those listening to this audio. Unfortunately, I'm now older than that guy was at the time that I thought he was old. That sucks. But he was 35 and he was like, I've been thinking about selling it. Why don't I sell it to you guys? And we were too stupid and naive to negotiate. We were just like, Yes, let's do it. And so he came to the conclusion that he would sell it to us at the price that he determined, but he was willing and able to do seller financing. We didn't even think twice about that. But the reason why that was probably a critical component of the deal is no bank was ever going to lend to a night. We were 19, 20, 21, and 22 when we bought the bar.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

So none of us had graduated college, none of us had any business ownership experience of any meaning. We were not financeable. We had to come up with our down payment for the business was 50,000 bucks, which might as well have been 50 million to me. So four of us, 50 divided by four is twelve thousand five hundred. My dad, who I am eternally grateful for and deserves a shout-out every time this story comes up. I called him, I'm like, hey dad, my tuition's 20,000. Thank you for paying it. You've been amazing. I'm very fortunate. I can get that down to 6,500 a year. So I'm going to save you around 14,000 bucks, but I want to borrow 12,500. And if I never pay you back, you come out ahead 1,500 bucks, but I'm actually going to pay you back. And he's like, That's cool. What do you need the money for? And I was like, I'm going to buy a bar with my friends.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Proud dad moment.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

But to his credit, he didn't bat an eye and he said, I think it's a great idea. Go for it. It was pretty clear as a communications major and someone that was involved in student government that he knew I wasn't going to become a doctor like he is. And he's got four siblings, they're all entrepreneurs. His dad was an entrepreneur. So in our family or in his family, I should say, that's sort of just how it is. Everybody just starts their own business. And he was sort of the black sheep, as crazy as that sounds. So that's how I came up with my 12-5. It was my first opportunity to structure a deal creatively where both sides could win, but it worked. Not because we knew what we were doing. We didn't even know how much what our margins were like or anything like that. Part of not knowing what was going on was me learning that somebody owns the property that we are occupying. And so it was my turn to walk our rent check down. We still paid our rent through check then. And I took the rent check to the landlord's office. He was not there. And I came back with the check for$3,200. And I was like nervous that I still had it. And I was like, guys, like what do I do? I still have this check. And they said, our landlord owns 400 properties like this. He collects rent and then he takes your rent money and goes and plays golf. And I was like, You're telling me that we're cleaning up beer bottles, pukes, risking getting sued every night, all the things. And this guy's just playing golf. And I was like, I want to be the guy that collects the money, not pays it. So I had that epiphany and then had a second epiphany when I took an internship that summer at a sports agency in Atlanta. I lived with a family friend who I like reconnected with. He's six or seven years older. And he was living in this unbelievable condo. I just asked him, like, what do you do? Which was code for like how the hell do you have this kind of money in your mid-20s? And he was like, You see these properties out there. I was like, Yeah. And he said that the company I work for owns some of them. They pay me a commission every time I lease one of the vacant spaces, whether if it's 1200 feet to a nail salon or 20,000 square feet to TJ Maxx. By the way, when you're done with school, I think you should consider doing it, which, as those of us in commercial real estate know, it's the best thing to ever happen to the B and C student. So I'm thinking this guy works for somebody. He's making really good money in his mid-20s. And my landlord, who owns the property, similar to what this guy's doing, really makes a lot of money because he didn't have to work at all after I graduated. I moved to Atlanta and just started hustling around until I got a job in the shopping center business as a leasing agent. And that's how I got into both entrepreneurship with my bar ownership and then commercial real estate. I knew instantly I wanted to own the properties one day. And so I really did my best to thrive in leasing, had some success along the way, leasing some interesting properties back in Atlanta and then as well here in Charlotte for another company. And then eventually I had the opportunity to work for a family office called Pem Enterprises in Boca Ratone, Florida, which was an incredible opportunity. That was like an MBA in commercial real estate. I was making more money than I had been making and really imagined making at that age. And more importantly, was getting an unbelievable education. And so I've been forever indebted to the Wiener family for taking that chance on me. After that, toward the end of my tenure there, I approached them and said, Hey, like I may have shared with you my interview process. I really want to own properties one day. How do I do that with you guys? And the family understandably so said, Look, we've been doing this for 40 years. You're doing a great job. Keep it up. But at the same time, we don't need to rock that boat. And I never really resented them for it. But I also knew that I was like, man, I just made these people a ton of money or save them out of some pretty crazy situations through some leasing. If I'm not going to get in as an owner or have the opportunity and a pathway to doing that now, it's probably not going to happen. So I started working on going out on my own. At the time I was still married, we had just had our daughter and I left this high-paying great job in Boca Raton, Florida, to move into my parents' basement as a married man with a baby.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Just sexy spouts. I get ridden all over you for that. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

The business plan is the same as what Peb was doing, which is buying value add retail properties and creating value and selling them. The difference is there was a zero missing. So if they did a$30 million deal, we would do a three million dollar deal. And I figured because I was an esteemed entrepreneur at this point, of course, that rather than starting one business and taking on that risk, it's probably wiser to start two at once because maybe one of them will work. So my college roommate and I had always been talking about doing something because he came from an operations background. And I'm obviously growth, retail, real estate, finance thinking. And so the idea was I'll find it, grow it, you run it. And we weren't smart enough to come up with the idea. So we really liked the idea of franchising. So simultaneously with starting Zig, we went franchise shopping and went to the IFA show at the Javit Center in New York, like I'm sure a lot of people listening to this have done, and just literally went up and down the aisles like shopping for franchises. And eventually back. No, the back, the chotchkas, I learned a long time ago. You can't take all the chotcas. I'm sorry if you're a great chotka giver. If you've got like chapstick in Vegas, that's a major win, or water at any city, that's always a big win, especially when I'm hungover. But by and large, like I'm not big on taking all the magnets and stuff. But we went franchise shopping and we'd been through a ton of different brands. He eliminated food because he didn't have a food background, which I respected. It took us like trial and error to figure out that's not something he wanted to do. And we were really searching. And eventually, because we had the criteria of making sure it was recession and e-commerce proof, we found AFC Urgent Care and pulled the trigger on that.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Tell us what the acronym stands for.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

So AFC stands for American Family Care. It is the only urgent care brand in the country that is franchised. It is also the largest urgent care brand in the country. There's over 400 units open and operating today. And it was founded originally by a guy who was pioneering in medicine, Dr. Bruce Irwin, in 1982 in Birmingham. And he bought franchise concept called Doctors Express in 2011, which got AFC bigger in Unicunt and into the actual franchising business, whereas AFC was wholly owned by Dr. Irwin on the corporate level, exclusively. And then he bought the franchise concept. Dr. Irwin passed away probably 18 months ago, and the estate determined that it was best to sell the business because there was no family working in the business. And they sold it to a company called Laurient Partners out of Michigan. And Jeremy Morgan, who's the CEO of Lorient and their team, have done a great job of not only retaining a lot of the history and what works well for AFC, but has done a lot of what private equity does, which has incorporated some really great people and changes along the way. And we've enjoyed that journey. It's been fun.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

It's interesting to me for someone that is a seeker of opportunity. You're definitely one who looks around and sees opportunity where it is, which is a great skill set to have. But you've done really well on your own. So what made you look up and go, I'm gonna go find the playbook somewhere out there, a franchise concept?

SPEAKER_01 9:49

There's just two different types of people, right? There's people that can be successful based on generationally different ideas. Like that guy basis was an original idea and he had a vision and he changed the world. My brain doesn't work like that. I'm like leasing retail shopping centers or buying retail properties, like buy low, sell high. Like that is not an original business plan. But what I lack in maybe innovation on a concept, I really take a tremendous amount of pride in doing everything I can to control the controllables and allowing the determination and unwavering commitment to be successful, even if it's something that's not that original. I'll do it better than it needs to be done in order to make sure that it works. And I think a lot of that doesn't come from me, that comes from me recognizing that is what it took for my family to survive. My grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Like for me to complain, like I'm not gonna play the victim when people were depriving my grandparents of food and water, just not gonna do it. So that's really where that stems from. And that's why they're the ultimate inspiration for me and a huge part of my why to take on the legacy that they established by survival and then their kids running with the opportunity, and then my dad being born and raised in Canada, leaving there to come here and me being first generation American. I have open realm to go after and chase whatever I want. There's no tolerance in my mind to be average.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

And that's all mindset, Aaron. And that's what we talk about so much is that you can know the tactical things to do, but usually it just comes down to our mindset being what drives us forward and what takes us across the finish line. And so I think it's so admirable. You've had that obviously from the beginning when you talk about your family and your grandparents, like that's something you decided for yourself. This is what is actually a struggle, and this is how I will, you know, look at this moving forward. So I know that you talked a lot about having purposeful growth and what we were reading about. So tell us a little bit about like what does that mean for you now? Because you made some different moves, even moved to states. So, what's that mean for you now when we talk about having purposeful growth?

SPEAKER_01 11:42

We operate all three businesses that I'm involved in on EOS, entrepreneur operating system. It has transformed both the companies that I'm involved with and as a result, the way that I spend and invest my time. I'm finding myself less busy now, but far more intentional with complete clarity on how I can contribute to each of the three teams' successes. And my teammates, who I'm so fortunate to call teammates, friends, because I think that people fall slave and fall in love with the idea of being really busy. That's why we set rocks. So, like the reason why they're called a rock is if you fill up a cup and you need to be able to put sand, dirt, and a rock in it with water and fill it up to the top. If you put the sand and the dirt in first, you can't ever fit the rock in. But if you put the rock in first, you can fill in the sand and the dirt around it. So focusing on activities that push toward achieving rocks on a quarterly basis, allow you to hit your annual goals and then your annual goals feed into your three-year goals and your three-year goals. Fill out your 10-year goals, which are clearly defined and are loud and proud for everybody to hear and understand. And that's how I've been able to get that one sort of navigated.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

And that is really profound because most people go into an entrepreneurial journey to have more time and money, and they end up having less of both, especially being busy, because there's so many things to do when you start off as an entrepreneur and be able to focus on, like you said, the things that are profit generating or moving the needle forward. Yeah. I want to expand on that for one minute, Erin. So when most people think about that, we're thinking, okay, so what's moving it forward? It's got to be sales, but I'm sure it's a different list for you. Help our listeners understand like what would that look like outside of sales?

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Yeah. I mean, it could be, for example, if you wanted to deviate from that a little bit, we have different seats. We call it an accountability chart pursuant to EOS. And so each seat is responsible for having rocks that move the needle. For example, here at Zig, Hannah Zelensky, my teammate who's amazing. She's not really responsible for bringing in revenue to the organization. Like she supports the team. So, like, for example, that she may have a rock tied to creating a new proven process, which is again an EOS term. It's similar to SOP, for onboarding an operator that we work with in the franchising space to make sure that we're servicing them and holding up our end of the partnership in the best way possible. And the rocks that she's been able to accomplish and the things that she's been able to accomplish over the last 18 months allows the team that's in production and bringing in the revenue to be able to perform better, faster, and more efficiently.

SPEAKER_00 13:57

Hannah, you should go back and ask for a raise. That's right. I know where I want to go next. Again, you talked about having, I'm not gonna say it exactly like you did, but having as much fun as humanly possible in building this business. And I'm not trying to give any stereotypes, but you went to Alabama, you owned a bar. Like I'm sure there's some funny, right? But now you're in the real world. But it seems like you've carried that through and brought that aspect with you. Just explain a little bit, and especially for anyone listening, how do you bring that aspect into the professional world, but still have fun? Because sometimes that can be one of the first things to go.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Yeah, for example, on our team, Kendall Whitaker, who heads up our restaurant platform here, who's doing an amazing job. He works with six operators across the country to help scale their businesses. And we're seeking more. And we're going to RFDC, which anybody who's in food franchising, I'm sure, has heard of it or is probably going that listens to this. And for example, we're looking to court and get in front of more operators because we have the bandwidth to be able to help them. We have room for a couple more that we feel like that we can really service to help find multiple units a year for those operators to scale without any equity or debt off their balance sheet, which is pretty compelling to them. So, how do you get the attention of a multi-unit restaurant operator who's got the POS guy chasing them and the HR services and the payroll company and the franchise or and business brokers and all these people chasing them at any given time throughout the day and alone within a two-day window of a conference? We figured, let's have a party in the Bellagio in the penthouse suite. So we're doing it. I'm not surprised, by the way. So, like we're having a bartender come in and like restaurants are a fun business. If you own a bunch of Taco Bells, you're probably having a good time and having fun. And who doesn't like watching the fountain thing explode in the Blaggio, right? So that's what we're gonna do. And we felt like we needed to do something to stand out, which is critical in business in general, and provide an environment that we would be interested in going to if somebody asked us.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

I'm a little biased here because you went into the medical industry and your franchise concept. We've got a little doctor in the family, so we're not gonna say that. But we talked briefly before, and you talked about diversifying and finding recession proof things. And let's be honest, real estate, not exactly recession proof, wouldn't you say?

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Well, that's why that's a big reason why we're in 21 states because we only do retail, right? We're not buying office or industrial or hotels or mobile home parks or anything like that. We're buying mostly single tenant and almost virtually all retail. When you have such a specific strategy, it's a good thing because it allows you to be really focused and the riches are in the niches for sure. But on the contrary, like if you go all in and without any diversification, you expose yourself to risk. If we owned properties all one hyper focused geography during the pandemic, we would have been in big trouble. We were fortunate to have a hundred percent rent collection and bought several properties that we have done very well with in that short window where there was like a little mini recession for three or four months in the pandemic. And I'm just really thankful that our entire portfolio wasn't in New York City or California or Chicago. By being in those different states, things happen. And I think to think that a geography could be permanently dismissed from geopolitical obstacles that make it difficult for commercial real estate owners is insane. So that's how we diversify on the commercial real estate side, and then on the franchising side with the operators that we work, our business allows us to be inherently diversified because we don't work with competing operators. So, like if we're working, for example, with a Lane's chicken franchising in Ohio, we're not going to work with a Popeyes group that's looking in central Ohio. That would be counterproductive. So as a result, it's okay, let's go find a chicken operator in a different market, maybe in Arizona or in Florida. So we inherently do that with different geographies and different concepts within franchising.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

So to back up a little bit, to put in perspective, we have several different brands of franchise concepts that you represent personally, that you have investment in. And in a little bit of our conversation, you have identified an opportunity to help other people thrive in the franchise concepts that want to scale. And so there was a need because you, it seemed, experienced it on the ground going, how do I get there faster? And we're all about collapsing the curve of learning and about showing up and you know, time is money's friend or enemy. We want to make everybody's friend. So expand a little bit about that gap. So if I come in and I wanna be a concept and you can share the concepts you're currently in and have more than one, there was a challenge to scale faster because of financing. So talk a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

Yeah, for sure. So at Zig, what we did is we re-engineered our entire business plan. We used to buy retail real estate and let the real estate be the driver. And we still do that, but it's taken a little bit of a backseat to letting the operating partner that we're working with be the driver of what real estate we go procure. That works for Zig, but how do we make it work for the operator to where it's exciting for both sides? And so I put on my operator hat with the urgent care thing, and I said, What are the challenges for operators? And also, like, where's their opportunity? Every real estate schmuck is quick to chase the major investment grade, publicly traded corporate backed tenants. It's not breaking news.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Is that where you're going into area?

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Yeah, exactly. But as a result, my friends that do that, I commend them for it because they have a tolerance to build out of the ground and all those things. Okay, so like, how do we solve this with operators that are emerging that aren't being courted? Because there's an opportunity there. Like, how do we build the business plan to make it work for them and for us? So for us, it's buying the real estate at a certain spread to know that if we were to sell it or cash flow, we'd be in a good spot. And for them, their problems are financing. So as long as the real estate is included in the transaction that's occurring, being able to say to an operator, we can help you grow and scale with limited to no equity or debt off your balance sheet. And as long as you have five units or more and a five billion dollar net worth or greater, and you're the decision maker or one degree of separation from it and you're you have integrity, like we're gonna work with you and we can help you scale and get to where you want to get to faster. So we solved that problem that way. And it's worked out really well. The 15 operators that we have signed on, I'd like to think pretty pleased with us because we find deals that they wouldn't otherwise see and we limit their capital or try to eliminate them having to put out capital to open a new unit.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

Right. So solving a problem, and I guess, excuse the expression, funding a little bit of the entrepreneurial journey in my expansion.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

They have to be financiable. That's why we typically only work with groups that have five units or more or five million dollar network or greater, because we have to be able to finance their lease. Like ultimately, when we go buy the property, we have to be able to have something to sell or tell a bank, like, hey, you should learn on this because that operator has a track record. So there's a little bit of a barrier there. But in comparison to my peers who are only wanting to work with investment grade tenants or maybe groups that have at least a hundred units or more, like we fill in a pretty large portion of that gap.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

And we're bullish on the franchise concepts in general because you have a playbook, a recipe. So you're already leaning into people who already have an advantage of the success. So, what franchise concepts are you currently in as far as you personally?

SPEAKER_01 20:22

We have straight up equity, American family care, like we talked about before. And then we have a company called the Notorious Brands, which Zag owns a pretty meaningful chunk of that is franchisees of small sliders and seven brew coffee.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

There you go. Diversification a little bit there. Yeah. And also making me hungry. And you have a podcast too, right, Aaron?

SPEAKER_01 20:40

We sure do. Yep. It's called Limitless. Thank you for asking. It's called Limitless. And we bring on people that are highly successful in commercial real estate, operating businesses that are franchised typically. Yeah, those two categories, I would say. These people have incredible stories. Uh, it's a good show because of the guests, and the only thing stopping it from being elite is maybe the host.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

I'll put a link so that anyone listening can check it out because we know they'll want to do it. First of all, thank you for sharing some of your wisdom. And one of the common denominations we hear a lot is that drive and also the mentors and the coaches. With that in mind, as we wrap up, what is the one thing you want to share that you make sure that people take away from this conversation?

SPEAKER_01 21:21

I love the power of that question. When I mentor younger people, whether they be working in our businesses or not, the one thing I always tell them is follow your gut. The only bad decisions I've ever made are when I didn't follow my gut. And the ones where they've been contradictory to what everybody else thinks, but I knew in my heart of hearts or in my stomach that it was the right thing to do, it's worked out okay. Having a great, high paying job at twenty nine and a newborn baby, like most people would say it's probably not a good idea to quit that cold turkey. But I told myself if I didn't make X in dollars, and I told my then wife at the time, hey, if I don't make X dollars in five years, I will fire myself and go work for someone else. I'm out of my parents' basement and it's been seven years and that number is laughable in hindsight. So spot your gut.

SPEAKER_00 21:59

I love it. Because there's a lot to be said for that because people justify it away, don't they? Yeah. But Aaron's on the other side, and that's who you got to hear stuff from. The winners. Listen, thank you so much. I've learned more and I've already talked to you. I've never known so much about commercial real estate as I do now.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

So I'm not an expert. One day I'll become an expert on it, but I can certainly nerd out on it with you whenever you want.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

Oh, that's great. We appreciate you, Aaron. Elizabeth, do you know that when you're launching a franchise, one of the biggest expenses and biggest risks typically is the build-out? I can see this. With missed deadlines, overrunning budgets and stuff like that, they can increase anywhere between 10 and 25% of unexpected expenses. No good. That's where Build Point USA comes in. They, everything from pre-construction to the grand opening, they're with you every step of the way to make sure those things don't happen. Yeah. And they've got over 25 years of experience in building franchises nationally. So when you've got that much on the line, why would you trust it to anyone other than someone who's got the right team who can get it done? They've got the reputation, the proven expertise, and the national resources. So if you're ready to get your doors open faster with no unexpected surprises, go to buildpointusa.com or click in the show notes below to schedule your 30-minute discovery call with one of their experts about your project. That's a generous offer. It kind of is. So again, buildpointusa.com. Check them out. We'll see you in the next episode.