Articles, videos, and news about upcoming events by visiting our website at Christianity and Business.com. And now, on to update. Today we're going to be discussing the topic of doing business as ministry, and we're joined by Brett Snodgrass, founder and CEO of Simple Wholesaling, which is a real estate investment company that exists for the glory of God. And as an investor, Brett has extensive experience in real estate, covering everything from land contracts, raw land deals, buy and hold investments, fix and flipping, and of course, real estate wholesaling. And Brett uses his business as a means not only to provide for his team and family, but also as an incredible way to empower lives. And he's currently in the process of growing an extremely active online community. And his mission certainly is very evident. If you just go on to the website, uh simplewholesaling.com, I mean, you'll just it'll just be right there in your face, you know, unabashedly that this business is for Jesus, which I just think is is incredible. Brett, uh, welcome to the show. Thanks for coming on today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, thanks a lot, Darren. I am uh just a pleasure to be here, and uh I'm excited about what you're doing, and I'm excited about talk about our business and uh how we incorporate Christ into our business, and just excited, man. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Well, tell us some more about your background and your business and kind of how you arrived at this understanding, this revelation I found that really takes a revelation from the Lord uh that God wants to be involved in your business.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. Um, you know, it's a it's quite a long story. I'll just kind of cut to the short version of it. But uh I've always been an entrepreneur. Uh even when I was a kid, I've always uh just loved buying and selling things. I remember even in the junior high, I would buy and sell big packs of gum. I'd go to Sam's Club and and buy big packs of gum in bulk, and then I would go, I would buy them wholesale and then go sell them to retail in the cafeteria. And uh that's kind of you know what opened my eyes to entrepreneurial ship. Um through that, uh I went to college. Uh, I studied to be an elementary school teacher because didn't really know what else to study. My parents were both teachers, and that was really the only thing that I knew. Um I knew I always wanted to own my own business, but I didn't ever want to go into the corporate world. So when I said I don't need a business degree to own my own business, uh, I can just maybe buy a business one day or start my own or whatever. So it kind of went from there. I got out of college and uh substitute school taught for a little while and then started a couple of businesses, just buying and selling like DVDs. I did a couple of uh network marketing businesses and uh all of those really failed miserably, but it really opened my eyes to to entrepreneurial ship again, and then I started reading uh books about wealthy people on how they you know got their wealth, and a lot of them got their wealth through real estate. So um me and my dad had had a little bit of money together. Um, we each had about $5,000. And um I saw this house online for $9,000, and I said, There's there's absolutely no way that you could buy a house uh for $9,000. But I said, you know what, I'm a all-in-person, I'm just gonna do it. So me and my dad, we put our money together and we went out and we bought this house in Youngstown, Ohio for $9,000, and we only had a thousand bucks left, so we didn't have any money to fix it up. So I said, Well, now what are we gonna do? Uh so I decided I would take pictures of it, clean it up a little bit, go home, put it on the different different websites like Craigslist and just market it really well. And then I I found an investor to buy that house that wanted to rent it out, and he bought it for $15,000. And that's kind of how the business started. And I asked myself if I could do this with one house, could I do it with 10? Could I do it with a hundred? And really that's the whole concept of wholesaling is you go out and you you buy a house uh for a discount, and then you sell it to another investor, and they're the ones who are gonna fix it up and flip it or rent it and and whatnot. And that's kind of how the business got started. And that was nine years ago.
SPEAKER_00Wow. About how many roughly have you done since then?
SPEAKER_01Uh it's a it's quite a few. Um, I know like, you know, we started back in 2007, and and if you remember those days, the market in real estate was just really tanking, and uh, I didn't really know what I was doing, and everybody else was saying, get out of real estate, it's terrible. And I was like, this is awesome because I could buy all these really cheap properties. And uh so I kind of got into it at the right time. I think our first year we bought, you know, I think we started like halfway into the year, we bought a dozen, and then I think the second year we ended up buying 30. Then the third year it actually turned into 150 in a year, and uh so you know, and then it kind of wavered um in that hundred mark, and then we got into some other businesses within real estate. I thought, hey, you know, wholesaling is great, but the real money is in uh fix and flipping uh because I watched HGTV and I saw all these you know guys fixing up these houses and making all this money. So so I started getting into fixing and flipping and I realized you know that is uh it's a lot of headaches, it's a it's a job to manage contractors, to, you know, do you have to jump through all these different hoops? So I did that for about three years, and uh finally I kind of threw my hands up a couple years ago and I said, this this whole fixing and flipping isn't for me. And then I reinvented my business um in and I gave my life to Christ six years ago. So I started my business actually when I wasn't a Christian, and then I became a Christian uh in pretty much a few years into my business, and uh now I developed the concept of of wholesaling, and I wanted to call my business simple wholesaling, which was the Christian-based uh wholesaling real estate business that we have today.
SPEAKER_00You know, I I found that a lot of times when people are are they've been working in business, they've been successful in business, and then they give their life to the Lord kind of midstream in that uh in a lot of cases what happens is that they shift, and now ministry is not is not something that happens in the marketplace. It's like if if it doesn't happen uh under the watchful eye of my pastor, then it's it it didn't really happen. It wasn't really ministry. And so they they they kind of lose sight of what they were doing in the marketplace and now just focus so much on volunteering in the church. Um, as an example, how did you come to this realization that God wanted to be central in your business?
SPEAKER_01It was uh it was definitely a process. I remember, you know, um I'm 30 years old. I uh I had done pretty well in that business. Like I said, we had done, you know, 100 houses, flipped 100 houses in a year. So I was like, I was doing pretty well. And I remember I was I was seeing a Christian mentor, I was going to a Christian counselor, like I was pretty much a mess, but I was really searching for God. And then, you know, God uh revealed himself to me, and I remember the hunger to have that relationship with God was just it was just absolutely overwhelming. And I remember I busted into my counselor's office and I said, I'm gonna be a pastor, and I was gonna give up all and just give up the whole business and give up everything.
SPEAKER_00That's exactly exactly what I'm talking about right there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. So uh, and he said, you know, uh, why don't you sit down a little bit? Yeah, you just started reading the Bible, you know, like you know, you you know, you just uh gave your life to God, and uh but then he started talking about the disciples and how you know they um you know were were just had had regular jobs, you know, fishermen, uh tent maker, and uh and you know, they didn't weren't really pastors. And um so I started thinking about that a little bit, and then I started to realize that you know I don't have to be a pastor, I don't have to be a youth minister. Um and I think that it would actually could be more influential uh to share the kingdom of God if I wasn't if I wasn't getting paid, you know, to to share, to share the love of Christ, if I just did it because God loved me first, you know? And uh and that's really when I when the light bulb just kind of went off, and I said, you know, maybe I can be more influential if if I wasn't in in the church, you know, working and I was just doing it out in the world. And that's and that's kind of kind of where the the revelation came. And then and then I talked to uh uh my partner, one of my partners, Jaron, just all the time about we wanted to be uh a ministry disguised as a business. And uh so when people come into our office, yeah, they're here for business, but maybe you know they can come out uh you know a little bit more like Jesus and see the light in Christ in our in our uh office.
SPEAKER_00So you would you say that your business, simple wholesaling, is a Christian company?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. I mean that's that's kind of what that's kind of what we're all about, you know. We're like when when a lot of the businesses in the world are kind of uh tentative, I just met with a guy this morning and he was and he was asking me because he's a chiropractor and he's uh and he's a Christian. And he and he asked me, how do you think you could get around hiring people, you know, because all the laws and all the legal and you can't ask if if they're a Christian and and all this stuff. And you know, I just said it, you know, I don't put on the application, and uh, but you know, our core values here at simple wholesaling, um, I feel like the we we share our core values. It's like, you know, this is who we are. You know, one of our core values is being a faithful servant. Um, another one is being mission-minded, uh, leaving a lasting impression. And our last one is simple and smart strategies. And if you look at those core values, it's never about money. It's always about other people. It's always about putting ourselves in their shoes, serving them well. And uh so I think that we just attract uh attract that uh in the in the people that work with us. So are we a Christian company? Yeah, we're really bold about it. Because at the end of the day, you know, when I'm standing before before a God, I'm I I don't want him to you know look at me and say, yeah, you know, you loved me at church and and you you you worshiped me here, but in your business or or in this area of your life, you know, I I didn't really feel welcome, you know. And I I definitely don't want him to say that. So so I was just like, you know, we're gonna be bold. Let's just let's just do it.
SPEAKER_00So that's yeah, I love that. You know, I I just saw this um there's this Christian satire site, it's kind of like the onion for Christians. Uh and and the the article, I think the title of it was something along the lines of Pastor says that he's not a Christian pastor. He is a pastor who happens to be Christian. And uh, and then in the article, it went on to say that uh he he he said, you know, don't put labels on me. In fact, you know, we're not a Christian church here, we're a church who happens to be Christian.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there you go.
SPEAKER_00But see, I I love that that you know, you know, and I I hear it often from Christian business people. They feel like that you're not there's no Christian businesses, you know. Well, there's Christian churches, and if you're and it doesn't mean that everybody who walks into your church on Sunday morning is a Christian, uh certainly, but but it it does mean that this is this place is dedicated to the Lord. And um, and and you can do that with your business, you know, and so there are very very few companies I've seen do it like yours, you know, where where it is, you're you're just not making any apologies about it, you know, and I I love that. I think we need more of that um that example. Yeah. So so I want to hear more about uh some of the specific things that you do in your business as an expression of your Christian faith. And and so to dive into that, I want to ask you this question. If you were not a Christian, what would be different about your business?
SPEAKER_01Uh a lot, you know, and that's a great question because I started this business, you know, my first wholesale transaction was around when I was like 27. And I had, and and like I said, I gave my life to Christ when I was 30 years old. So I I had ran my business not as a Christian, and uh, we used to do these lifestyle charts um where you would take a magazine and cut a bunch of cut out a bunch of pictures and we would try to replicate what our what our life we would want our life to look like in maybe five years or whatever, you know. And if you looked at mine in my mid-20s, I actually have it still. Uh it had nothing but material possessions. It had uh mansions on there, it had a nice uh Dodge Viper, it had a big boat, and it had a big fancy engagement ring that maybe I would get married one day and give give to my future wife. And that's literally what I was all about, you know, and that it was just all about me. Um I didn't care how I made money, it it was just if I made it, it was a it was a good day, I guess, in my opinion. Um, you know, I did some did some things where, you know, I would let's say we had a house that um that was tough to sell. You know, I might try to sell it to somebody from out of state that maybe would never come actually come to the house. And I knew it wasn't a good deal, but I would do it anyways because again, it was just all about me. It was all about filling my bank accounts, all about filling my needs, all about trying to make myself feel better about what I was, who I was, making myself look better to my friends or whatever it was. And uh, and that really was where my where my story was. And then, you know, obviously it unfolds to I realized that, you know, I have a nice house, I have the nice car, I had the big boat sitting in the driveway, and it was just super empty, you know, to me. And I just this is uh, you know, some other things happened uh as well. But I remember just sitting in my big house and I had my two-year-old daughter sitting here, you know, with me, wondering, you know, my life looked great on the outside, but it was absolutely miserable on the inside uh because I didn't have the one thing that I was looking for. And uh, and that was to have the relationship with with my father in heaven. So so then, you know, obviously fast forward, um, you know, we just today, uh, you know, we just try to do the right thing and uh we try to live by the the two best commandments that the Christ talks about, treat other people that we would want to be treated and love, our father first and foremost. And um, and that's what we try to live by. So, what do we do today for some examples of that? You know, we every Friday we have uh what we call visionary meetings where all the team gets together. There's uh six of us, and and we all get together. And instead of just going through the different metrics, their different stats of the business and where we're at, uh, this last month we actually started talking about um moments. And uh that's just been really, really cool because uh again, I I talked about our core values, being a faithful servant, being mission-minded, um, and and leaving a lasting impression. So we go around the table and see if anybody has a moment through that week that represented what one of those values were, that we were like the hands and feet of Jesus. And uh, and that's just really cool um that I think that we can can just share. And uh some other things that we do, you know, we we pray before all of our meetings um in our business. We actually have the we have a war room, uh which which is amazing. The movie, I don't know if you guys have uh seen that, the war room came out um a year or so ago. Yeah. So we had a space in our office that uh that we have just designated as a prayer room that has planks of wood on it, that we nail in prayers on the wood and we can pray over those. And uh people that come into their office see that. And uh, it's just it's just a magnet. So people that come in their office really it just brings up a conversation, you know, whether they're a believer or not, and they just know where we stand, and hopefully we can pray over them if if uh the opportunity's there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Man, I love that. I love that. I mean, it's it's very overt, and I think it's time for Christians to stop apologizing for their faith and and feel I mean, and that's one of the great things about being an entrepreneur in in the United States anyway, certainly not all over the world, but you do have so much freedom, you know, and there's a there's a stewardship, and it it doesn't mean that we just kind of take that freedom and we just kind of water down our faith. And uh we don't want to we don't want people to think we're that Christian company or something like that. It's like, I mean, what are what are we doing here? I mean, that's the whole that's the whole point of having a company is represent the Lord anyway. And if people don't know what you're about, then uh they're they're gonna miss it. And we're gonna be held, uh we're gonna be called to account for that. Um, just like the parable of the of the talents and those stewards. Um so what would be some other maybe some other specific examples of so you've done business in real estate as not a Christian, um, and then you know you you went into your pastor's office and said, I'm gonna I'm going into the ministry. And like like so many have. I mean, and it's like the like the great ones, like like RG Laterno, if you're familiar with him, I mean, I think 75% of the earth-moving equipment used by the Allies in World War II was manufactured by his company. And and and when he first gave his light to the Lord, he said, I'm I'm going into the ministry. And his pastor is like, look, God needs business people too. And um, and so I mean, that's um, that's what you're doing. What are some of those other some of those other specific examples that maybe uh uh a business owner could take and use in their their own company?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know that um, you know, we had the conversation because I've always had the desire um to to also be to start a ministry or be in a ministry. And uh, you know, one of the things that's different about me now is you know, I I don't really drive the nice car, I don't live in a big, big, fancy house. Uh, but a lot of my money that that we do bring in, you know, we try to put toward the kingdom of God, you know, because because at the end of the day, I think I heard um Francis Chan talk about this one time, and uh he was uh, you know, because he writes, he probably makes a lot of money, writes a lot of books and stuff. And uh he was talking about maybe one of his friends buys, let's say, a $50,000 car, you know, and he could, and I, you know, we entrepreneurs, we could go out and do that if we wanted to. But what if you could take that $50,000 instead of buying that car? What if you could go out and like you know, build an orphanage, you know, and and help so many people and build the kingdom of God that way? Like at the end of the day, I mean, how much more like uh satisfaction uh is that? So, you know, so we're taking a lot of our income and and and pouring it in to a ministry. We're actually starting a ministry called Simply Christ, where it's really um one thing that got to me uh when I came to Christ was hearing people's testimonial testimonies and hearing how God changed their life and transformed their life. So we're gonna be really capturing um different people and uh sharing their testimonies through through video. So that's so that's one thing that we're we're pouring into. Um I meet with a business coach and uh I remember a couple months ago he said, you know, Brett, you don't pay yourself enough. And uh, you know, I pay myself, you know, a modest, uh, modest salary. I pay myself about 60,000 a year. And uh he said, you know, most CEOs of companies pay themselves, you know, 100,000 or or maybe 120. Um But again, it's like, you know, if I can uh uh not pay myself maybe that much and and and be more generous to my um to the people that work with me, my team, um, that's that's just what I want to do, and then pour into the kingdom because I don't really care about all the stuff. I mean, I'm good, you know, I'm I don't really need uh much else. I just want to share God's love and and uh and build his kingdom that way.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love that. You know, uh uh Jaron mentioned to me about how you guys kind of do some uh second chance employment. Um I'm not sure what you guys uh how you guys term it, but tell us uh some more about that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean uh you know, here at Simple Wholesaling, we don't we don't have really uh a criteria on to apply uh here. You don't have to have a certain degree. Um, you know, we we got some guys and have had people that you know might look on paper like they have pretty messy backgrounds where you know that might be difficult for them uh to get a job. But you know, a lot of the people or some of the guys that we have hired, you know, I really just kind of look at their heart. I I look at uh uh you know their um their mission. Um and and I don't I guess I just don't let that stop me uh from hiring them. Have we hired people? That haven't uh panned out, um, yeah, you know, that that happens with every business, and we have to to come to the conclusion uh uh for that. But uh for me again, um I just I look at are they gonna be loyal? Um, are they going to have the core values of the business? Um, you know, are they going to you know serve the business well? And uh, you know, I've hired guys that maybe have uh, you know, have had messy backgrounds, like maybe been in prison. I've hired people that uh don't have degrees at all, but they're just passionate and and you know, you know, the but some of the best entrepreneurs, man. If you stay study some of the best entrepreneurs, they dropped out of high school, you know. So I really look for that and I look for uh the the motivation and that's really just I think God's just kind of blessed me with putting the right people in place uh on the team and not letting not letting their background or their um uh credentials kind of um when other companies might they might just that puts a stop sign up. We don't do that here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I love that. What would be uh a parting piece of advice you'd like to share with maybe a a business owner, uh maybe two parts of advice, and and they may be one and the same, but for somebody that may be a business owner that can call more of the shots and the way that they shape the culture of their company, and then maybe so that that would be maybe sort of like a like a David position, but then you have like the Daniel position where you're in Babylon, you're you're not necessarily calling the shots, uh, but but God has put you in a place to um uh to to to be redemptive. And how would you encourage those people today?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, as a leader of a company, I mean, uh your team is gonna follow you. So, you know, um, so you have to just you have to step up, you gotta be bold, you gotta be, you know, your company and and and your team, they're just gonna be replicates of you. So if you're not that, if you're not bold, then they're not they're not gonna be bold, you know. Um and that so you gotta just you gotta just, you know, uh uh read, read through uh the Bible, pray, ask the direction of God where he wants your business to go. And uh, and you know, if God has given you that gift, then then he's given it to you for a reason. Um I think you know this might backtrack a little bit, but I also came to the revelation that God gave me a gift to build a business. And he also gave me gifts to make an income, uh, to make money. I can probably do that better than other people can. And I don't think it's any different than than an artist, let's say, you know, painting a painting a beautiful picture of of you know of Christ, you know. And so, you know, they use their gift for the glory of God. Well, a businessman can do the same thing. They can use their gift for the glory of God, building business, building an income, and using it in the right way, and using it in a godly way. So be bold um in your faith and lead your team well. As you know, as an employee or somebody that's just out in the field and and on the ground and and they're um uh being led. Um, you know, that's maybe a tougher uh question for me. I don't even know how to get a job. I've never actually never actually done a resume. I've always kind of just worked for myself, but uh, but you know, just just just be loyal, um, be loyal to the company, uh, do what you're asked. And uh there's something about just just working diligently, working hard, and uh, you know, just doing what you're asked, but also do it in in a godly way, you know. I I just encourage you if somebody's asking you to do something that's against God's word, then maybe it's it's a time to maybe look look look someplace else because there's a lot of businesses out there that do believe and do their run their business in a Christian way, and uh and that's that's what you're looking for, yes.
SPEAKER_00So well said. Well, where can people learn more about you and simple wholesaling?
SPEAKER_01They can go to our website. Uh we're redesigning it uh right now, but it's uh it's still up and it's it's pretty good, but we're we're doing some different resources. But it's simp uh www.simplewholesaling.com. So check us out. We got some videos on there. Um you can also look up simple wholesaling on Facebook, and we have a Facebook page, and that's probably the two best places to find us. And a podcast as well. We do, yeah. We have a podcast, the Simple Wholesaling Podcast. So check out iTunes uh and uh search for the Simple Wholesaling Podcast. It's on also on our website, and uh we love to talk to real sp real estate entrepreneurs or really on any entrepreneurs uh that love that love Christ. And some are Christians, some aren't. We don't really, you know, discriminate against that, but uh we talk a lot about Jesus on that, so check us out there too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, Brett, thank you so much for taking the time to to share with our listeners today your your wisdom, expertise, and just your passion. And it's it's very your humility is is refreshing, and it's clear that you're you're really discipling an industry. And I think not only are we called to disciple individuals, but but you're discipling an industry and showing them uh that there is a way to glorify God and and not only your industry, but but discipling people listening to this show today that may be representing other industries. So may God just continue to bless the work that you're doing through Simple Wholesaling and beyond.
SPEAKER_01Uh thank you so much, Darren. It was uh pleasure to be here, and uh I wish you so much success too in your podcast and in your business, and uh thanks for having me on the show.
SPEAKER_00We hope you've enjoyed this episode, and if so, we would greatly appreciate it if you'd leave us a quick rating and review for the Christianity in Business Podcast on iTunes. You can get more information about HBU's Center for Christianity and Business at Christianity in Business.com. Thanks for listening and keep integrating biblical values into your business.