← unSeminary Podcast
unSeminary Podcast
Closing the Ministry Income Gap: Need an Extra $1,000 a Month? Try This Proven Side Hustle with Tim MacLeod
00:43:09
Loading summary
Transcript82 lines
- [00:02]
A
Welcome to the Unseminary Podcast, the place where church leaders get practical insights, tips and strategies for ministry growth. Today, you're stepping into something bigger than just a conversation. This podcast is part of a bold mission to help 100 churches grow by 1,000 people. Whether you're dreaming of increasing your impact in your community, empowering your team, or reaching more people with the message of Jesus, you're in the right place. We're here to bring you the stuff you wish they taught in seminary, ideas and tools you can put into action this week to see transformation in your ministry. Let's dive in.
- [00:41]
B
Hey, friends. Welcome to the Unseminary Podcast. So glad that you have decided to tune in. We're definitely having a very un. Un Seminary episode today. You know, recently I heard some statistics that I was like, man, we gotta do something about this. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, you're like, it's a little early in the year for the Bureau of Labor and Statistics statistics, But there's a 13% gap between what religious workers, people who are clergy actually is the title, and the average income in the country makes a 13% gap. In fact, it even gets worse when you look at people. There's a category called religious workers other which these would be like, not the senior pastor types. This is like everybody else that works in a church. There's a 40% gap between those people and the average salary in the country. And so why am I bringing this up? Because I know that there are people that are listening in today that are feeling that gap. Here we are in January and they're feeling the pressure of that and I want to help you with that. And so I've got a friend, like a friend from real life friends. This is like we're in the same small group. We know each other, incredible leader. And I want to expose you to him. But more importantly, I think he can help you with that gap. It's my friend, Tim McLeod. Tim was a nurse with the dreams of fatherhood and home ownership. But after a few years was faced with reality and no time, no amount of overtime was really going to fill the gap that he needed to make things work. And after being stuck on that kind of financial treadmill, he found a way out. He found the niche of, wait for it, friends, Flipping couches. What? Flipping couches. And was able to quit his nursing job and now does this full time. And I've asked him to come on because I think what he did at the beginning, even part time, I think could help some of us Today that are, that are listening in. Tim, welcome to the show.
- [02:34]
C
So glad you're here. Thanks so much for having me man. I'm excited.
- [02:38]
B
This is going to be a good conversation. Kind of fill in the story, tell us a little bit, tell us about your background and how did you get in, how did you go from nursing to flipping couches?
- [02:50]
C
So I wanted to be obedient and I got married maybe a little bit too young. At 21 my wife was still in teachers college and so very, very quickly I was thrown into adulthood of two cars, rent and all the things that come with that. And nursing was good. I was a registered practical nurse, so not a university educated RN making bank but doing okay with a college diploma. And I got the comfy gig at a long term care home because I preferred eight hour shifts and not the. I didn't want midnight and all that. Yeah, yeah, I wanted the, I wanted the free parking and the, the reliable six to two shifts. That was just the lifestyle that I liked. And the only way that I could stay afloat financially was with doubles. I had to do my six to two and then at least once a week, usually twice if I wanted to have any money to play with, I would work the 2 to 10 and that was cool. While my wife was in college or while she was finishing up teachers college, that was fine. And then we had a newborn baby and that was fine because anytime that I would have to do those doubles she'd go to sleep, go for a sleepover at her parents place and. And I would just drudge up the, the shifts and. But then when we were pregnant with number two, I knew that there was difficulties coming and the road ahead did not look very good and so I needed something different and all my options for replacing the income sucked. Like I could go back to school and upgrade to rn, but I scraped through the first time so that was nuts. I didn't have much hope in myself in that avenue. And I could go, I could relocate, I could move or I could commute about an hour and 20 away to the mental health hospital and make like danger pay and like a asylum basically with my current qualifications and everything just looked terrible. I hated all that and all I needed was something better than overtime. I just needed to replace that portion of the income and I needed something better in my evenings that hopefully I could do with my wife or from home. And so I was looking at side hustles and I had a little bit of success flipping phones and iPads because that's all okay. All I Understood at the time. And I lived about an hour north of where my in laws live, which is a pretty dense population. I'm in the sticks and the supply was really light there, so I could reliably go for a free meal at my in laws place, pick up an iPhone or three and for like 300 bucks and then bring them home and sell them for 450 bucks. And so that took. That took the pressure off. And that was like grocery money. And it was really consistent, really reliable. And. And it was fun too. I really liked it. I liked the negotiations. I liked. I liked not trading time. Like, I liked.
- [05:50]
B
Right.
- [05:51]
C
Making a profit instead of a wage and that. I was hooked on that. But there was competition. Like, I wasn't that clever doing that. There was. There was kids that were closer to the inventory, ripping around in little Hyundai Elantras. And I remember meeting this. This Indian kid named Lucky, at least his Canadian name was Lucky. And he was beating me to all the goods. And. And I met him one time to buy a phone for myself, and I actually got to meet him and ask him some questions. And he was making four grand a month flipping phones.
- [06:22]
B
Wow.
- [06:23]
C
And I thought, that is so sick. And it. It just a pure cash hustle. And he was making more doing that than whatever his office or IT job was at the time. And I was super inspired by that, but I didn't want to compete with them. So that kind of. That kind of festered with me a little bit. And I just got an awesome idea. Well, it was gifted to me by the holy spirit, I think, based on how fast and how fierce it came, that I need to get skills and tools to sell in a different category, something with a higher barrier to entry. And I wanted something where I didn't have to compete with the Honda Civics and the Hyundai that were closer to the action. Yeah, exactly. He was smoking me. And. And it also, it was a little bit of that and then also a little bit of me coveting. I wanted to get, like, I wanted an excuse to buy a Ford Ranger. I wanted a truck at the time. And so this combination, this combination of, like, wants and needs at the time had me pitching an idea to my brother Ross, just like, hey, what do you think about, instead of phones and iPads, what if I got a truck and I started doing like, washers and dryers or appliances or something like that? And he said, that's a cool idea. You're good at the phones and iPads thing. And I definitely like, you're good at the negotiations. All that, but don't start. Eight grand in debt. That's so stupid. Why don't you just borrow my trailer and just try it? And I said, well I don't have a hitch on my car. He said get a hitch on your car buddy. Okay, so put that on the Visa. Did not have the money for it. That on the Visa. Two two inch hitch and four prong wiring on a Mazda 5 like the little four cylinder, little Mini, mini.
- [08:07]
B
I wish I would have saw this at that, I wish I would have seen this at this phase because that, that would have been amazing to see him getting pulled around.
- [08:12]
C
It was, it was pretty cute. And it was a big trailer too. 12x6 aluminum being pulled by this little me. And it was stick shift nice. And, and the first day I got the trailer, the only thing I could find because I was just itching to use it was a free catch. And it was one of those beige microfiber like gets dirty if you look at it wrong. Like they hold on to every water stain. Yes. And it was that. And it was free and it needed a little bit of tlc. And I went and I got it for free. Brought it home with a damp cloth, scrubbed out all the little marks and had it looking good. Took a picture of it, listed it with an offer of delivery and it sold the next day for 280 bucks.
- [08:55]
B
Wow, that's amazing.
- [08:57]
C
It was awesome because a nursing shift net was like 180.
- [09:02]
B
Wow.
- [09:03]
C
I think it was 28 bucks an hour for an eight hour shift after taxes. Yeah, probably like 180 in the account and so 280 for that. And it was one of those trips of free meal at the in laws and then a free couch and then bring it home and then solve somebody's problem of I just got an apartment, I don't have a car or my car's too small and I need a couch. And their option was rent a U haul or go to Leon's and finance something that comes delivered. Both are not very good options for most people. And then lo and behold was this guy who said I got a couch, I can bring it by. And it was just the easiest. Yes, for them. It was a win for everybody. The person who needed the couch picked up didn't care about the money. They needed reliable pickup more than they needed cost recovery of the item because they hit a deadline. I needed a way to make some cash and the person on the receiving end needed a couch that was affordable, that came delivered. So it was just a win win. Win for everybody. I was like, okay, forget about appliances. Couches. I love this. And it was easy. It was.
- [10:05]
B
It was easy. Appliances. Did you ever do appliances in there?
- [10:08]
C
Yeah, I did a washer and dryer and ate a loss on that because it needed repair and I didn't. I paid for someone to assess and they were like, oh, yeah, this thing's broken. I said like, sweet. Okay, so 100 bucks to you for to tell me that it's hopeless. And then, yes, paper junk removal, too. Like, it was just such a loss. But couches, I could reliably sit on it and be like, well, that's not broken and I can handle that little stain. Or I can, right? My wife could stitch that up. And it was just so safe. And I loved it. If I were handier, I'm sure I could flip snowblowers or lawnmowers or cars or something like that. But I'm not handy. I'm just. I have the ability to relocate stuff. And some coaches were just so perfect where I could just accurately be like, that's 300 bucks to me and they only want 60 for it. Perfect, let's do that.
- [10:57]
B
So let's double click on that. A part of what. So friends, like, the reason why. I think you've seen why I've got Tim on the line today. I want to inspire you to think like, hey, you could in part time make a little extra a month. And I'm going to get to that with Tim. I'm going to. We're going to hammer down on. Okay, what exactly would be some of the first steps that you take? But. But let's unpack a little bit more. You've talked about once. This insight, which I think is just a stellar insight that's obviously at the core of your business. It's this whole timing thing. Like, people, you know, they think a couch is worth certain amount, but they're moving on X date and the value of that couch goes down. But then it's literally the reverse. Someone on the other side.
- [11:40]
C
The.
- [11:40]
B
They have an empty living room and they're like, I need something here. Unpack that a little more. Kind of double click on that value exchange and how you're in the middle of that. Talk us through what that looks like.
- [11:52]
C
Yeah, there's a gap. There's a gap in the marketplace. On the one end, we've got people who need it picked up and their options are hope that someone will pay the price that they want. And then if they hit a deadline, then their option is junk. Removal or put it to the curb. And so there's a gap to fill there. And then on the other side, there's a gap of people who need a couch dropped off but can't do it themselves. Like, how many. What's the population of people that own a truck that can actually do it is probably less than 10%. Most people have cars and hatchbacks and SUVs and stuff like that. And then there's also the. How many people can lift a couch? I would say easily less than half the population. And so there's just this huge gap that can be filled. And so by just committing to being the dude, you can help a lot of people solve a lot of problems. And there's a little slice in it for you too.
- [12:44]
B
So one of the things I've heard you say is that you have found this process of buying couches and then, you know, sitting on them for a while, maybe cleaning them a little bit, and then turning around, selling them is really flexible. Talk us through that. You know, it feels like you're, you know, you're. You have some time control. Talk us through what that looks like for you in your current world.
- [13:05]
C
Yeah, the time freedom. Crazy. And that was the appeal in the beginning was, guys, I didn't want to be strapped to a location, a building to. To make money, I had to be away from my wife and kids. But when it. Couches took off so fast that the first time I flipped a couch, I immediately called the scheduling office and reneged on all my overtime as I cancel all my tutorials.
- [13:25]
B
Oh, wow.
- [13:26]
C
I'm just doing my 10 shifts. Right. And. And then it didn't take too long before I wanted to quit so fast. Man, I wanted to be out of there. My, my, my passion for the, like, I was so replaceable. Like, as soon as. If I'm gone, someone's going to fill the shift. Like. But there was a. There was a huge. There was a need that. And it was fun for me, too. It was a game. I forget the question.
- [13:52]
B
Yeah, I was just talking about the time flexibility, like, how you feel like it's, you know, you have a fair amount of time freedom. Part of what I'm trying to get to is pastors are busy people, church workers are busy people. Is this even the kind of thing that they could fit into, you know, and existing as like a side hustle kind of thing?
- [14:09]
C
Yes. Yeah. The time freedom is crazy. And so on the buying side, I'm just letting people know when I'm available. And sometimes I'll Tie it up with, with a $50 deposit so that they can market sold with confidence and they know that I'm not going to ghost on them and that I have the peace of mind of nice, that's mine for when I need it. And I'll squeeze them for a deadline so that I make sure that I'm providing the service of reliable pickup in a manner that works for them. But yeah, I'm just stacking pickups when it's convenient for me. And in this current season it's during school hours, so I'll drop the kids off at school and then rip south and grab some stuff. But in that season it was, I'm available in the evening and so I would come home from school, sorry, work from my nursing job and my wife would pack up, we pack up a little cooler bag of like a road picnic of dinner. We had a one year old baby at the time and, and oh, that summer there's a lot of 50% off pizzas. Pizza Hut had a, the, the apps. We had all, all the apps. Lots of dinners. And Costco was clutch too. But yeah, just when I had availability, I would acquire inventory and then they'd sell when they sell. And, and again, full flexibility of okay, I'm available at this time. I can squeeze in a delivery or someone come pick it up. But yeah, the, the time freedom is crazy and it's sweet to, to, to just dabble in profits instead of relying on a wage.
- [15:36]
B
Right?
- [15:36]
C
Yeah, time freedom's awesome.
- [15:38]
B
Well, you talked about the fact that you're, you know, your brother was telling you you're good at negotiations. I know there are people that are listening in today that are feeling like, oh, there's no way that I would be good at negotiations. Obviously you've got to buy the thing for considerably lower than what you're selling it for. Talk us through even just a couple, help us get over that hurdle in our brains. That man, I just don't know that.
- [16:00]
C
I could do that. Yeah. So the first thing is I'm scrolling a lot and not, not frequently. I'm not glued to my phone, but when I do it, I lock in. Like today was the shopping session and it was headphones in with some instrumental music just kind of vibing. And I'm probably scrolling looking at probably 400, 500 couches and all message, probably 20 to 30 of them because a lot of them are crap. A lot of them are actually new. There's no opportunity with new coaches. Like there's lots of warehouse stuff that's still on Facebook, Marketplace and stuff like that. But the What I'm looking for is very specific. I'm looking for private sales from real people. You got to be able to spot the scammers and weed them out. And I'm looking for couches that I would want in my lockers. I'm not worried about the price whatsoever, because the price is super subjective, and it's just kind of like what they're hoping for. It's not actually what they're necessarily going to get, so the price is irrelevant. I'm just looking at pictures, and I'm compiling lists of couches that I would want, and I'm starting conversations so that it's kind of like I'm. I'm. It's like I'm offering my service. I'm starting the conversation to see why they're selling it, if there's a deadline and if they would be someone who would be receptive to my service. And it's kind of like they're paying me for my reliable pickup service with a smoking deal on the couch. And so I have to get them there. And it's not just. I can't just go around lowballing everybody because you burn a bridge and you hurt feelings. So I'm starting conversations, and I'm filling in the gaps on the item. So I'll read the description and see what's missing. Like, did they specify that there's pets in the house? I want to know, is there pets? Are there smokers in the house? Does it need any repairs? Does it need any stain removal or restoration? If it's leather? And I'm filling in all the gaps. So I have a complete picture of what it is that I'm actually buying. And that's all kind of like a trauma response from my many, many drives of shame, of getting asked the right questions. And so it's definitely preventing the drive of shame. Um, and I'm just running through these scripts that I have, and it would sound like it's a lot of typing, but I've actually made keyboard shortcuts for all of it. So my opening question is, I'll never say, hi, is this still available? Because everybody hates being asked, hi, is this still available on Facebook Marketplace. Right. Because they've made it up where it's just like, hi, is this still available? But that upsets people, which is fair, because it's annoying. But. But at the same time, most people don't have empathy for the fact that how else are they going to start the conversation? Why would you ask questions if you've got someone lined up for it. So I'll ask the exact same question, but in a way that annoys nobody. And I'll say, is anyone scheduled to pick this up? It's the same question.
- [18:54]
B
Same question, just in a different way.
- [18:56]
C
So that's. That's my first shortcut, is good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whatever. And then any. And so on my keyboard, any with two Y's, expands into anyone scheduled to pick this up. And then the next one is, does it need any repairs or stain removal? That's if it's fabric. And that's does DU or do ss. And then do sss. Or with three S's, is doesn't need any repairs or restoration. That's if it's leather. And so it's just these quick little. My thumbs are just so cool. Just. I'm. I'm drafting up this quick little paragraph that fills in all the gaps, firing that over, and then. And then they'll reply and fill in the gaps, and then I park it. I pause the conversation by saying, okay, awesome. Thanks so much. Just starting to have a peek at options. Might get back to you. And that one line separates me from everybody on Facebook because most people ask a question, and then they just leave it on red. They got that little picture, that little tiny profile picture of yourself that says that, hey, he read it, but he's gone, and it's crickets. And it's a very, very infuriating experience. And that's kind of like, part of my service is that I am very, very different on Facebook Marketplace. Like, an experience. Selling to me is better than anybody because of how I talk. Like, I'll receive offers every day from people that don't use words. They just send a number. Like, I've got a couch listed for 1150, and someone just sends 700. No. No dollar sign, no question mark, no good morning, nothing like that. And. And that's a fair offer. Like, he's. Yeah, I paid. I paid a fifth of that. Like, the 700 is a fair offer, but I automatically hate this guy. I don't. I don't need. I don't hate him.
- [20:44]
B
Yes. No, I get what you.
- [20:45]
C
But it's immediately just like, dude.
- [20:48]
B
Yes.
- [20:48]
C
Like, say. Say hi. Say please. Yeah, even a question mark would be, you know, so that's the kind of people that I'm dealing with. And I've got thick skin, and I always operate on the mindset of, I do want to sell this guy. And I. And I do want to see him later today. So I'm not going to match his energy. I'm never, I'm never a thermometer. I'm always a thermostat. I always set the temperature in the room, you know.
- [21:13]
B
Yeah.
- [21:14]
C
And so that's a, that's a big factor. But yeah, running through those scripts and, and just getting people to their best price. And so after pausing it of thanks so much. Just starting to have a peek at options, I'll reconnect with them now. This is if their price is optimistic and it's not a price that I'm willing to pay. I'll slow play it a little bit by pausing the conversation and then I'll come back and then I'll hit them with my secret weapon is my polite lowball offer and the number. They might hate the number, but it comes gift wrapped in this like apologetic.
- [21:45]
B
Oh, you gotta tell me more that you're, you're setting that up. Well, you're like, what is the polite.
- [21:50]
C
Lowball off offer for me? I'm shopping in Toronto, which is like 90 minutes, two hours away. And so my apologetic offer is. It's so far. Is there any chance you'd consider this much? Any chance you'd consider for an out of towner? And then I just plug in the number and it's always received well. And even if they're firm, that's fine now. I know, but. Right. And honestly, if somebody accepts my offer, then I didn't offer low enough. Like I'm really pushing interesting. I'm flirting with the line between an optimistic offer and a rude offer. But because I'm so nice about it and it's, it's kind of like it's my secret weapon to get them to their best price. Because the worst way to get someone to their best price is what's your best price?
- [22:41]
B
Right.
- [22:43]
C
Like whenever someone asks me, it's again, it's just like, that's annoying. I don't like you.
- [22:46]
B
Yes, yes, right, right, right.
- [22:49]
C
To politely lowball. And then their counter is their best price. So I just want to squeeze them for their counter offer. And now I know what their best price is. Right.
- [22:58]
B
Okay, that's cool. There's a lot there. And I know friends, you're going to want to stay tuned because Tim's got an offer of some free help that he wants to give you that we're going to, we're going to get to here in a minute. So I know some of you are like, go back and ask questions on that. But I know that the free offer to help is going to help with some. Some of those things. What about negotiation on the other side? So I get a sense of what you're talking about to try to get them. You know, there's a time thing there, and we're going to wait and all that. But now on the other end, you're trying to obviously maximize or get the biggest money for that couch you just bought. What are some things we should be thinking about on that? How are you offering the couches in a way that, you know, captures people's imagination and says, like, oh, okay, that's this. I want to do business with this guy.
- [23:41]
C
So a big thing is where I'm selling it. It's almost like I have an import business. It's that I'm ripping down the city and I'm shopping in the Tesla BMW neighborhoods where nobody has trucks and they sell really slowly, and I'm loading a trailer and then bringing it home to the sticks where there's not as much supply. And I'm selling to people who do have pickup trucks. Like, where I live, there's lots of people with trucks and trailers, but they weren't doing that drive to the city, like, right, right. So I'm destroying a Toyota Highlander in kilometers, which is really hard to do. It's at 440, and she ain't quitting anytime soon. It's really great. So that is definitely, like, the fact that it feels like an import business. Feels like.
- [24:23]
B
I just. I just want to interrupt you for a second here. This. Because that dynamic. This is a part of why I wanted to have you on the show, because one of the things that I've seen is, like, it's super common, like, super common for church leaders to not live in the community that they serve, because, frankly, they can't afford to live there because of that gap that I just told you about. There is a wage gap between what people make and the communities they serve in. And so they typically live, you know, 45 minutes an hour away. I actually think that that the fact that they're just driving into the office could be. And then going back to wherever they live could actually set them up for running this kind of business just because they're in and out of where they're at.
- [25:06]
C
Yeah, that would be cheating. If you could. If you could grab a couch on your way home from. On your way home from work to bring it back to the sticks, that would be awesome.
- [25:13]
B
Yeah. Yeah, I see that all the time. So the distance is one way. So there's like an import out output. Anything else that, you know, is kind of an interesting part of how you negotiate on to try to increase the, the, the price.
- [25:26]
C
Knowing what it's worth and how quickly it would sell is definitely a factor. And just patience wins on both sides.
- [25:35]
B
Right.
- [25:35]
C
Being the dude who can pick it up and someone is now they had their optimistic kick at the can and now it needs to go and their patience has run out. Patience wins there and then on the selling side too, where I don't. It's not in my foyer, it's not in my living room. The new coach hasn't arrived. It's in a storage locker ready to be picked up anytime. And my lockers are fairly affordable being in a rural spot. And so it's kind of like if we were playing poker. I'm holding aces. I can deliver it. I can sell to anybody. I'm not relying on people on the small demographic who can pick it up. I can sell to the Honda Civic crowd. I can sell to seniors who can't lift a couch themselves. I can finesse it into a patio door by myself. And so there's the skill gap there as well. And all of the hindrances that make selling a couch difficult are not a factor for me. I can lift them by myself. I can. I have the best trailer. I have storage lockers. They can take as long as they need to sell. And I live in a market where there's not as much supply. So it's just feels like cheating. Like I'm just really, really set up for it. And it's super easy to be patient.
- [26:48]
B
Now, I don't know if I'm going to force you to give away one of your secret weapons here, but talk about the videos that you shoot of the, you know, of the products, because I, to me, I think this is one of the things you do that I think is super unique. What is. What's unique about the videos that you might shoot? So you got this nice leather couch. It's like, you know, it sells for $5,000 somewhere else. You're selling it for whatever, 1500, 2000. What is that? What's actually in that video that might set your. Your listings apart?
- [27:14]
C
Yeah. So that was something that I feel like I pioneered. And since then, Facebook has now added a feature where you can add a video to a listing. But it's so nice to have. So I'm posting flattering photos. So it's a scroll stopper when they're on Marketplace and they'll inquire and Then my video is super, super honest. And the goal is for it to be so detailed that they could confidently say, okay, he just showed me all the reasons not to buy the couch because all my stuff is used. I'm not selling anything new. It's all pre owned. They all have some blemishes or some quirks or worn spots or something like that. But to include a video that shows all of the reasons not to buy it really, really greases the wheels because no one's coming to see a couch and then being disappointed when they get there. Everything was already shown. So they're coming to just give basically just come sit and sniff and make sure that it's something that they would want in their house or something they'd want to sit on for two hours a day. And, and so those videos really, really saved me so much time and gasoline. And since then they've added that where you can add a feature, so. Or where you can add a video into the listing. And so as long as the video is less than a minute, so I'm aiming for 59 seconds, I'll fill the whole thing. And I'm showing every inch of it and I'm packing it with dialog on the neighborhood that it came from. The people house. The, like a lot of time that's a selling feature of this. This couch came from North York. The house was ridiculous. They. It's one of those houses with three living rooms and this is the one that had the Christmas tree for a month a year. Like this was barely used. And I'm just packing it with dialog and really, really selling it. Yeah. And my goal is that I could deliver it with them like sight unseen, that they could firm up and that when that couch arrives, there are absolutely no surprises.
- [29:06]
B
It's everything they asked for from your point of view. Like this isn't the only couch you're hoping to sell this week. And, and a part of the way that you have to protect your time and protect your business, frankly, is not having a bunch of people come and check out coaches and then decide, and then decide against it whether they're coming to your locker or you're driving it to their place. That's like the worst case scenario is they show up and they're like, oh, I don't want this. So you might as well be fully upfront and be like, hey, here's some stuff that's not great about it. And you do it in a really clever way. I love those videos. You helped me sell a car, which was Fantastic. And I love the video you did for, you know, for that because it was the same thing. It was this kind of like fun, you know. Here's five reasons why you shouldn't buy this, which, which is just endearing people, you know, lean in and want to hear more about that. Well, what about the lifting piece? So, you know, if you're not seeing one of these clips, Tim is a man of a certain size. He's got some girth to him. He can pick stuff up. But what if I can't? What if I'm not that guy? What if it more like me? You know, you're like, hey, I'm not sure that guy can pick up £20. Like, is that like. I know that's a part of what you're. You offer. Obviously it's a part of your advantage. But, you know, not everybody can do that. Talk us through that hesitation.
- [30:26]
C
Yeah. I don't think that it's a deal breaker for having success. I think that if you can carry in a stubborn load of groceries in from the house that you could make a lot of money flipping couches and feels like a very unique form of laziness. Like I'm the kind of guy that if I need to go start. Start the barbecue or go run and grab my wallet from the car, I'm gonna walk across the whole house and look for my flip flops instead of bending over and lacing up my boots that are right there. Like, it's a very unique form of laziness where I could jackknife, park the trailer up to the storage locker. I have the dolly, but I'd way rather just hey, just, just he man lift it myself. And I've got a lot of really good mechanics lifting it, Lifting a couch solo actually is not very heroic. And. And I've taught a lot of people how to do it. And there is, there are some heroic angles where, where the coach is on the ground and all four feet are on the ground to like clean and jerk it up overhead is that would definitely take some mass and some explosive power. But you can always also lift the couch up from the side until it's vertical and then kind of like let it teeter and fall on you in a safe manner. And the lift itself, like once it's up, it's. It's as easy as like portaging a canoe. It's not, it's not as heroic as it seems. And I'm still reliant on other people. I am a one man show. And it's not the money's not good enough to pay an employee to sit in the car with me for four hours for 30 seconds of actual work. And so that's one of my, one of my questions that I'm asking. People lift with two T's on my phone. Expands into is anyone available to help me lift it? I'll be alone. So I do need muscle. And if it's in the garage, I can do it solo. Like dragging a couch onto my trailer is easy enough. They slide very well. And I do have the dolly. If there's anything overly technical like the pullouts. It's nice to have a dolly. But yeah, a lot of the times there's people, there's someone there to help me lift it. And very, very rarely is it sorry I, I had back surgery or sorry, I'm, I'm a single senior lady or something like that. There's usually, and even, even when they say that, sometimes I'll press a little further, like, do you have a helpful neighbor? Do you have a son in law who could, that I could coordinate with? Yep. And a lot of the times I'm just handing it or I'm squeezing them for a cell phone number of whoever the, the muscle is. And now I'm on their schedule.
- [32:57]
B
Yeah, that's cool.
- [32:58]
C
So solo lifts are not required, but they are, they are helpful sometimes, especially at the locker when I'm by myself.
- [33:05]
B
So this is how many years you've been doing this full time? Like you. So you left nursing? You know, I know this goes way back to the beginning of the story. You left nursing and then how many times, how many years you've been doing this?
- [33:13]
C
July 2019, I borrowed the trailer from my brother and I did full time nursing plus evening couches for about a year. Pulled back from full time to part time, part time to casual. And I think it was May 2021. Like I did a year of COVID nursing and hated every second of it. Like as soon as Covid was announced, I wanted to be out of there, but I had mortgage approval on the brain and T4 income or W2 income for the Americans is much more preferred for lenders than self employed income. So I held on for that reason and eventually left just because I hated nursing. I was getting like ulcers on my ears from wearing masks all day. Just the charades of COVID were really, really ruining it for me.
- [34:07]
B
I want to get to that, that help that you're, you know, you're offering, which is fantastic. But I want to think about like a Person that, you know, they, we want people to stay in their jobs. We don't want them necessarily to leave. And so somebody that wants to make maybe like an extra thousand bucks a month, maybe that's like, which is, you know, to lots of people, that is like a, that's a game changer. Like, that's like, that makes all the difference in the world. Give me a sense of what you think that would take to actually get to that point where, okay, yes, I could, you know, how much time do you think they would need to invest? You know, what would, what is that going to look like? How many couches do you think I'd have to move? You know, I know that's hard to say. It's like all North America wide. But give us a sense of the kind of the framework of. For an extra thousand bucks a month, what would that look like for somebody? Maybe it's like a youth pastor that's, that's listening in or an executive pastor or, you know, and they're like, hey, if I just had an extra thousand bucks that make a huge difference in my life, what, what would that look like?
- [35:03]
C
Sounds like five coaches to me.
- [35:05]
B
Five couches. Okay.
- [35:07]
C
Buy them for 50, sell them for 250 delivered. Yep. And that's, that's a great way to start, is just, just three seaters. Just rinse and repeat. Three seater, three seater, three seater. But the money is sets and sectionals. That's where my focus is. Okay. Okay. Now that does require trailer privilege. But with a, with a minivan you can pick up a three seater. Most three seaters will fit inside a Dodge Caravan or an Odyssey or a Toyota Sienna. And that's a really good way to start. Lean and mean. With a U Haul enclosed trailer, you just need a V6. All wheel drive is obviously preferred, especially if you have the kind of weather we do. But yeah, for 45 bucks for a U Haul enclosed, that's, that's insured so that you could get in an accident and you're not paying for it. Always take the insurance. Always. It's only like five bucks. But yeah, 45 bucks for a 12x6. And then you can pick up couch love seat twice. But yeah, just fill in those trailers. But yeah, starting lean with what you have available and scaling up when it's smart. And once you've proven that it's possible in your market as well. But everyone's using coaches, so I think it's get everywhere.
- [36:22]
B
Yeah. So five, so five couches. How many conversations do you think I'd have to get into to, to buy five couches maybe on that side first.
- [36:32]
C
I think. Yeah. With the numbers, I think that if you were to start 30 conversations a month that there would be, there would be five people that hit deadlines and they'd be like, yeah, sure, 50 bucks if you can actually show up, it's yours.
- [36:48]
B
Right. That's, that feels very doable. That doesn't feel like crazy out of reach. Like there's no way. That feels like a good, you know, a great starting point for sure.
- [36:56]
C
And nobody wants to do it. The barrier for entry is, is high enough that it's, it's basically a private little fishing pond.
- [37:05]
B
Right. So let's talk about. I want to. You're going to help people, which is amazing. And so you've put together some resources to help them kind of get the ball rolling on this front. And how do first of all tell us what it is and then talk to us about how we can get that contact information. We'll put links and all that in the show notes, but talk us through this.
- [37:25]
C
Yeah. So those scripts that I was talking about, I've made a Google Doc that is available. All you got to do is comment scripts on any of my videos and my little robot Tim will fire over, just squeeze you for an email and then I'll fire that over and it's a good little list and you can plug those in, just copy and paste and plug them into keyboard shortcuts in your phone and then you can use those and it doesn't have to be for couches. Like a lot of them are pretty couch specific but just using those as inspiration for starting conversations and getting people to their best price and making sure that you have all the information so you're making an informed purchase and there's not any surprises. And, and you'll see with the, with the flow of the conversation I really am just gifting the blueprint on getting people to their best price and yeah, and then in my, in my bio on Instagram I've also got the couch course and I've run that before as a high ticket offer and I had help from an agency to, to get leads and all that stuff and I didn't like it because I didn't like how much people were having to pay in order for me to afford that team. And I just want it to be an impulse buy price range. So for 100 bucks you can come along on a three month ride along with me while I'm pulling like 15,000 dollar months and the summer that I recorded, that was 2023 and I did 180k in sales with a gross profit. So just sales minus cost of goods was north of 100k I think after tax, I think it was like an 80k a year income. And I had a 3 year old with me the entire time. My wife had gone back to work and was using her teaching license and I had a little three year old in tow and I also got 75 rounds golf in that year. So it's.
- [39:15]
B
That just got some people's attention.
- [39:17]
C
Yeah, the time, freedom, stupid. The money is incredible. And it was. Yeah, that was a really, really fun year.
- [39:26]
B
Love it. So what we want to do is send people to your Instagram. Would that be the best? So the full time Flipper. The full time Flipper. And again, you can just comment on any one of his videos. Well, first of all, Tim's a great follow on social media. I've said this to lots of folks. It's just such a fun follow. You know, it makes something like flipping just like I was like, man, I think I could do that.
- [39:49]
C
And.
- [39:50]
B
But just comment scripts on any of those and we'll get access to those scripts. And then if you'll find the link to Tim-McLeod on there as well, which takes you to the course. It's only $100, friends. That's worth your investment. It'll. It'll really literally outline. There's a bunch we could have talked about today and there's a bunch of details to get into. It will drive into all of those literally. Just take his approach and just do it. Like just take his scripts, take the, what he's done and apply it and you'll for sure be able to find that extra thousand dollars a month or more, you know, down the road. So yeah, I would love that. Anywhere else we want to send them. So Instagram, the fulltime Flipper. Anything else about that?
- [40:32]
C
No, that's lots. That's good. And I was feeling pretty, pretty silly that I never asked to come on your podcast earlier because a lot of my students are in church ministry in the States and I think it's such a sweet side hustle. For me it was an escape from a job that I didn't like. But the fact of that most people need supplementary income is pretty across the board and especially in ministry. And a lot of my students have, have had that background and are still in it. And a lot of time the people that are in church ministry have an advantage of storage where the church like they're like Oh, I got free storage at my church. Pastor said the back room's available, and he said as long as I just keep a rotation of couches for the student ministry. Oh, yeah, there was a lot of advantages there for church leaders, but, yeah, it's awesome. Reliable supplementary income. And it's nice to not rely on your ministry for income. Like, people aren't in ministry for the big bucks. They're there because they. That is their purpose. That's their calling. But the pressure of having to rely on that for income isn't always the best.
- [41:42]
B
Well, and I do think, you know, I think folks who are in church ministry, a part of what I. Why, why I think this is great that we're talking about. This is. You might underestimate that even like a part of your core, it's like literally core to your business is like, be kind to people and, like, be helpful. And, you know, you don't need to be sleazy. You don't need to be, you know, some sort of like, oh, you're like a used car salesman of couches. No, that's not what it is at all. You're. You're just being kind and helpful and you want to try to close this gap, the market. And. And I think there's a lot of people in ministry who are like, oh, yeah, I could totally do that. I can make that happen for sure. So, Tim, I really appreciate this stewarding.
- [42:18]
C
Stewarding my gifts, you know.
- [42:20]
B
Yeah, that's great. So again, that is. If you just go to Instagram, the fulltime Flipper, you should follow them there and then comment scripts for any of those. Appreciate you being on the show today, sir. Thanks so much.
- [42:30]
C
Thanks, man.
- [42:31]
A
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Unseminary Podcast. If you found. If you found today's conversation helpful, I'd share it with a friend. In ministry, it's a simple way to spark new ideas and grow together. Also, don't Forget to visit unseminary.com to sign up for our email list. You'll get exclusive resources and practical tools delivered straight to your inbox to help you lead your church more effectively. Most importantly, take what you learned today and put it into action this week. Ministry impact starts with small, small, intentional steps. See you next time.