September 23, 2025 • 38 mins
Episode Resources:
- YouTube: Rios Business Funding
- Instagram: @riosbusinessadvisors
- TikTok: @riosbusinessadvisors
- Amazon: Decoding The Mystery of Business Credit
- Website: riosbusinessfunding.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ed Mathews (00:36):
Greetings and salutations, Real Estate
Undergrounders.
It is Ed Mathews with the RealEstate Underground.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday.
Thank you for all of yoursupport, as well as all the
folks that have subscribed to usthrough Apple and Spotify and
Amazon and Audible and all thoseother places.
It definitely helps us grow.
(00:57):
The one request I have is textus, let us know what topics
you're interested in, what assetclasses you want to hear about,
because we definitely want tobring on guests that speak to
those questions so that we canserve you even more than we do
today.
So, with that in mind, we havea unique guest today.
Usually we talk about we getgeeky about apartment buildings,
(01:19):
and there'll be some of that inthis conversation, but we've
invited Jimmy Rios of RiosBusiness Advisors to the show to
talk to us about businesscredit and a whole bunch of
other things.
So welcome to the show, jimmy.
Jimmy Rios (01:30):
I appreciate it, Ed.
I'm really happy to be here.
There's a lot of.
I'm always learning and I lovehearing from you and what I can
learn from you and advisorsversus see what I can parlay in
my years of being an understudyand learning and putting it out
there.
Ed Mathews (01:46):
Yeah, I appreciate that and thank you for your time
today.
I know you're super busy andit's early morning.
Where you are You're in Arizona, if memory serves.
So, for those folks who haven'tdiscovered you yet, I want you
to tell us a little bit aboutwho you are and what you do.
Jimmy Rios (01:58):
Sure.
So my name is Jimmy Rios.
I own Rios Business Advisors,but I also own Rios Business
Funding and Next Level Creditbuilding business and business
(02:21):
credit and being able toleverage properly and being able
to use good debt to be able tofurther their cause in whatever
endeavor or industry they're in.
So we're industry agnostic.
We can work with anyone andreally it's taking some
principles that many people justdidn't think about and putting
it together.
And we've studied the marketsfor 25 years and real estate was
(02:43):
was our backbone, is what westarted with.
We're licensed in mortgages,real estate insurance, so we've
taken a passion to real estatebecause it was where I got
everything started from.
It was where I found the needsof the holes in systems and
being able to help others plugthose holes for myself, and I
was able to do the things that Ineeded to do, not only as an
(03:05):
investor, as an owner ofproperties and helping others to
achieve those goals as well.
So we just branched it out andexpanded our business to be able
to help more people.
Definitely, real estate is ourpath.
Ed Mathews (03:17):
Something a former colleague of mine used to talk
about, jeffrey Moore.
He's talked about the bowlingpin strategy, which you start
with one thing, you getworld-class at it, and then
there are invariably one-offsthat serve that same customer
base and you add that capabilityover time and when you become
an old guy like me you've beendoing it for 25, 30 years then
(03:38):
you've built one heck of abusiness.
So congratulations on that.
I know this started in likeyour parents' kitchen, if memory
serves right, and so I want youto tell me about Jimmy Rios 25
years ago and the real estateguy and how you all got started.
Jimmy Rios (03:52):
Think back in the late nineties.
I graduated high school in 94.
And in 97, I started with anoutfit called commercial credit
out of Tempe, arizona.
They got bought out by SolomonSmith, barney and Travelers
Group, who became Citigroup.
Right In the late 90s there wasthe mega mergers.
And I was going to ASG as ayoung student, I didn't know
(04:13):
really what I wanted to do.
I was always in sales in someforeign format and I saw an ad
for a branch manager trainee atCommercial Credit.
I got the job and as I wasgoing to school I was working
there full-time doing both.
I really started falling inlove with it because I started
helping a lot of people, but italso started opening up my eyes
(04:34):
to many things I didn't like incorporate, in the commercial
world, where there was a lot oflimitations on how you can help
people was a lot of limitationson how you can help people.
And that's how it started in mymind that if I could do
something for these people of myown doing, how much better
would the world be.
It was a microcosm of themindset of what got me going in
(04:57):
developing different things inmy mind on this case study here
how can I help them?
And that actually was aprecursor.
It came from helping my parentsas immigrants, and maybe in the
first generation, ColombianAmerican, and helping them.
Their lack or lack ofconfidence in their language
skills forced them to ask me andmy brother to help them with
(05:19):
everything.
So we were constantly callinginsurance companies, mortgage
companies, tax companies, doingall these things for them.
When I went to work atcommercial credit, a lot of the
people that were coming throughwere Hispanic Latinos that
needed the same help, so theywould get denied for credit.
And then they would ask youknow, obviously, why didn't I
get denied?
There was just a genericcheckmark that you have to give
(05:44):
a reason and you see theseletters all the time right why
you got denied, but they don'ttell you how to fix the problem
or what really is the solution.
When I started my propertymanagement company from my
parents' Arizona room and theneventually led to Rios Financial
Group, I started seeing thatmany of these people it wasn't
that they had bad credit, it'sjust that the credit, the way it
(06:06):
was set up, wasn't showing theway it needed to show to get an
approval.
Well, we had to get them onpaper to be able to prove that.
So it forced me to start doingtaxes and setting things up,
because many of these werepaying their bills, making good
money, but it wasn't againflyable on paper.
So we had to get them out ofthe shadows and I had to start
constructing these taxes anddoing these things.
(06:29):
I became an underwriter to beable to learn the backend on how
loss mitigation and riskmanagement worked at a higher
level.
And when you start working inthe background and you start
seeing how these banksunderwrite and approve and do
those things, it gives you anupper hand because now you can
(06:52):
construct your picture like howunderwriters want to see it
right.
If you know the rules of thegame, you're going to win.
So a lot of people don't knowthat and they just go and throw
an application in and then theyget denied.
What if we construct everythingso that it falls in line with
what the bank or institutionwants to see Right?
Then it's a lot easier to getapproval or the conditions are
easier to meet, because you'vealready met many of those
(07:15):
conditions.
But, then we did hit the curvewhere everything was.
We blew up, and so I had topivot at that time myself and
figure out what I was going todo, because we were piranhas in
the wall, and so I had to pivotat that time myself and figure
out what I was going to do.
Because we were piranhas in theindustry, we couldn't get a job
in the mortgage field anymore,and so I went in for working in
car dealerships and learning thecredit game through the car
(07:37):
dealerships, and ultimately Ibuilt Next Level Credit, which
was a credit enrichment companywith the purpose of helping
people build their credit fromthe ashes and then build
business credit, which wasanother total concept that
nobody really wanted to diveinto because they didn't know.
Ed Mathews (07:55):
Yeah, I'd love to unpack that.
Let's talk about businesscredit.
One of the things thatchallenges a lot of investors,
myself included, is that we'renot bankable when they say okay,
give me your W-2,.
I haven't had a W-2 since 2018,and I'm not the only one, so
how do you attack that?
Jimmy Rios (08:16):
It's not just the act of doing the things that I
talk about in my book about howto get business credit.
It's the little things like theMAICS code that you give your
LLC.
So many of us will go out andsay I'm going to start a real
estate investment company, butin the scope of underwriting
they look at real estate as abig taboo.
But if you change it to aconsulting company and designate
the LLC as a consulting companyor even a SaaS, you know, or
(08:40):
just change the NAICS code,regardless of what you're really
selling, it makes wonders whenyou go present this.
So when we build websites andeverything around this concept
of banking, a business can befundable.
You can have two businesses,right, you can have a holdings
company and an LLC and yourholdings company can be the one
(09:02):
that gets funded.
So we build a fundable company.
You can still have a DBA andeven an LLC over here for the
day-to-day operations, but youcan still construct a fundable
company with all the attributesof a real company, even though
it's just sitting there.
Ed Mathews (09:18):
It's a holding company.
Typically, we have a holdingcompany and what we do is that's
where our intellectual propertygoes.
We have a holding company andwhat we do is that's where our
intellectual property goes.
All of our frameworks and thispodcast and the other podcasts
we run demo to dollars andeverything else.
So that's the holding company.
I'm curious what your thoughtson this.
Typically, when we have to movemoney between one of the
companies, it's a licensingagreement, right?
(09:39):
Yeah, exactly.
Jimmy Rios (09:41):
There's a lot of, and we have tax strategies on
our team that really pinpointthe strategy and how to just
take it up through the holdingscompany and then it's a lot
easier to be able to put itthrough.
Many of us have LLCs for eachproperty we own.
It's kind of temporary laws,the schedules and everything
like that.
So you got to really startthinking outside the box instead
(10:04):
of being inside the box andonly think one way.
You really got to break downthat box and start thinking
differently.
Because this is about more thanjust what am I doing with this?
Because many of us will failwith one right.
Let's structure ourselvesbetter from the get-go so we can
do more.
Because now, if I'm going to goand leverage, I don't have to
(10:25):
just go through a hard moneyroute, even though that's a very
normal thing to do.
What if we position ourselvesin a way that we can get the
funding that's needed properly,like the big boys do?
Ed Mathews (10:36):
right, yeah, so let's walk through that.
So we're launching a softwareas a service company called Ella
Vista that serves real estateinvestors and brokers with back
office automation, voicemailsystem or AI voice agent systems
, things like that and we'relaunching that probably in a
couple of three weeks.
So by the time this is live,this show is live, ella Vista
(10:57):
will exist so we can talk aboutit.
So we've started this SaaScompany.
So how do I create a companythat has business credit?
Walk me through the framework.
Jimmy Rios (11:09):
Yeah, so there's two answers to that, right, because
we had the slow round and wehad the fast round, right?
Ed Mathews (11:14):
Fast is always better.
Jimmy Rios (11:15):
We built corporations that already have
basically all the bells andwhistles.
We even put a personalguarantor.
We've done everything that wetalked about in my book so that
you don't have to go through theslow process.
Right, and when we talk aboutexpensive, we're talking about
living investment $50,000, andwe get you $500,000 in lines of
(11:36):
credit with 0% interest for twoyears, right, so, right out of
the gate, you're getting abusiness in a box that has all
the acumen, everything that'sneeded, to, within 90 days,
start part-lining that money anddoing the things you need to do
right.
Ed Mathews (11:51):
I heard you say personal guarantor, which we can
talk about that in a sec.
But so when you say that, doesthat mean that I've got to have
a 750 FICO score?
Like how does that work?
Jimmy Rios (12:02):
Yeah.
And then for usually anindividual, if they're going to
start their business credit,they got to start with some
personal credit right To be apersonal guarantee and then
develop the non-personalguarantee side where, if we
construct a business with a CFOon your business as the PG, you
now don't have a liabilitypersonally to be able to get the
(12:26):
funding that you need.
So by constructing it the way wedo, we limit the liability of
the corporation right out thegate.
You get a tax write-off ininvesting in yourself in your
business, right, but now youhave basically everything set up
to be able to fund yourself.
So now you borrow from yourself, right Off the line of credit
that's given to that company Bthat we've constructed.
(12:47):
And now you have a lendingentity right that you use for
all your lending purposes, right, and we even do multiples of
these.
You don't have to just do one.
On average, we'd lend $500,000for that business.
So personal guaranteeinganything is more of just a way
to get in, and then within aboutsix months, we start giving
(13:11):
real business credit under thebusiness without having to
personally guarantee anything.
Ed Mathews (13:16):
Track record.
Jimmy Rios (13:17):
You do, but it takes a while to be able to build the
big, high levels of creditright.
You'll get the U lines and theAmazons and you'll get the
smaller credit.
But if you're trying to go bigtime, where you need these
bigger tranches of money, thoseare difficult to get
non-recourse and we donon-recourse funding and
recourse funding right.
(13:37):
But if you want to try to buildquickly and you have the
capital, or even come in withjoint partners in doing it, it's
a very smart way to elevateyour business quickly and get
all the attributes acumen theyneed without having to go the
slow ride.
The slow ride is advisable toanyone.
If you have a business, buildyour business credit, get a
(13:58):
Donnie Bradstreet number andstart building on your credit.
There's a lot of tools.
My website includedrealbusinessfundingcom that will
give you tips and tricks to doit.
But if you really want to putsteroids into this thing, do it
in a way that's going to get youthere legally, very well
structured and with guidance andmentors like myself who've done
(14:22):
it and are doing it, and aheart of love.
And now you're working togethersmarter because, listen, I was
an underwriter for many years.
Right, I know the game, therules of the right.
I know the rules of the game.
If you know the rules of thegame, you're going to win right.
So why work harder in trying toget approvals and whatnot if
you don't know that side?
Let somebody else take thebrunt on what needs to be done
(14:43):
and get you the results.
Ed Mathews (14:45):
Okay, Right on man.
So in terms of the $50,000, theinvestment to get to the line
of credit, what's the valueexchange there?
So I write you a check for 50Kor series of payments, whatever
so what am I?
Getting for that.
Jimmy Rios (15:00):
You're getting a full-blown business that's
already aged over four years onpaper.
You're going to have a CFO.
You're going to have DunBradstreet.
You're going to have a websitethat has all the acumen.
You're going to get a privateaddress not tied to your home, a
phone number listed with 411,and there's going to be trade
lines that are going to beseasoned and added to the
(15:23):
business credit so that it showslines that, even though they're
just trade lines on paper, theysuffice the risk mitigation
strategies that the banks use tobe able to approve.
So when you go to an AmericanExpress block to get X amount of
money, they're going to approveit based on the picture that's
presented Well, different thanif you had excellent credit and
(15:45):
you go and try to get this onyour own.
You might get some variance ofit, but because we worked with
these industries, theseinstitutions, for so long, they
know the quality of clients thatwe bring through the gate, so
they're more apt to give us anapproval because of the quality
of our clients that we'vedeveloped.
80% of everything that you seeout there is based on
(16:06):
presentation.
Ed Mathews (16:08):
Okay.
So you mentioned a couple ofthings that I'd like to
understand.
So Ella Vista is a company thatwas founded in 2025.
So how does that work?
Do you have a catalog of LLCsin your back pocket?
Yeah, okay.
So walk me through that.
And the big question I have ishow is that legal?
No, this has been done foryears.
We're not talking through barshere, so obviously it's legal.
Jimmy Rios (16:32):
Yeah, no, because I'm a business broker as well.
Right, so I'll buy and sellbusinesses all the time.
And it's really like when yousell a home and you transfer the
title of that home, that homewas seasoned for a number of
years under your domain, underyour possession, and all of a
sudden you transfer it over.
There's still a historicalfactor there, but you're the new
(16:55):
owner.
We do the same with businesses.
Businesses have built throughtheir EIN X amount of credit and
if I go and sell that business,we still are able to transfer
those assets to the new owner,right?
So on paper, we'll do all thelegal movements to bring that
business under the new ownershipand then we still have the
fundable characteristics of thebusiness.
And that's what the banks arelooking at is they don't really
(17:16):
care.
You can have a business out ofWyoming and you don't even know
who the owners are.
It's all about following thatpathway and making a business
transferable and fundable forthe client, and that's what we
do.
We walk through the whole phase.
There's companies out therethat will sell you a business,
but it's like when you have atrust.
(17:37):
If you don't find the trust, itdoesn't do you any good.
It's just sitting there like ashell.
It doesn't do anything untilyou fund it.
So we need to fund thatbusiness and get actual trade
lines and monies attached tothat business so it makes it
worthwhile.
You're not just putting $50,000to work for nothing.
It has to be very put to work,of course.
Ed Mathews (18:00):
Like I said, it's a value exchange.
Jimmy Rios (18:01):
Yeah, I think that's where the missing link is out
there and people say that's anadded money.
I can go online and I can finda shell corp for $1,500 or
whatever you I.
I have probably 10 businesseson paper and I could sell if I
wanted to, but that's not afundable business.
They haven't done all the work.
You still have to work to getthat company funded and doing
(18:22):
the things it needs to do inyour thing.
That can take time.
So if you have a company likemine who does the work on the
back end and has the season foryou, then we always have a
season amount of companies readyto go.
In fact, when we go andadvertise for our personal
(18:43):
guarantors, they get paid reallywell inside of our program.
So they're vested in wanting tobecome part of this because
they have passive income comingfrom using their credit, because
they have passive income comingfrom using their credit and it
works really well becausethere's parameters put in place
so they can't do anything withthat.
Credit belongs to the companybut it's very systematically
used in the way we do it so thatyou can keep growing your
business.
Ed Mathews (19:03):
Okay, that was actually my next line of
questions is you also mentioneda CFO.
How do you compensate thepersonal guarantor?
I assume the PG and the CFO arethe same person.
Yeah, Okay, so how do youcompensate that person?
Say, for instance, I hire youto help me build credit for Ella
Vista We'll use that exampleagain and we don't actually have
(19:24):
a CFO.
You're looking at him, butright now the Vista would
acquire one of your companiesfor a minimal amount of money
and with that would come anoutside consultant who is the
CFO?
Or do they own equity in thatcompany?
Or is there a contract or like?
Jimmy Rios (19:42):
how does that contract?
There's a contract.
Let me explain something.
Everything that we do is verymuch done in a way that
eventually, everything is goingto get transferred over to you
Once we get the fundingmechanisms and everything in
place.
That CFO, it's a veryshort-lived contract.
Ed Mathews (20:00):
Yeah, it's probably the six months right, as soon as
you get the recourse, exactlyRight.
Jimmy Rios (20:06):
Because it's meant to solve a problem, so we need
to get funding to be able to paythese clients.
So it comes from the fundingthat we generate to pay all
these PGs as part of the totalcost of the program.
At the same time, one integralpiece of our puzzle that we
haven't talked about is our eyelevel hand level program.
What that means is we actuallyset up a third arm of income
(20:39):
that comes through ourinvestment firm to be able to
offset the debt that has beencreated when setting this up for
you, because you've alreadypaid $50,000 for a business that
hasn't produced $1 yet, you'reacquiring debt in the form of
having to pay a.
How do we pay this debt so thatwe can do the things we want to
do with our company?
And that's where our annualreturnable program becomes
imperative.
It becomes another source ofincome for your company to be
(21:00):
able to get rid of the debt, notjust the debt that's incurred
for this, but any other debtthat you have in your liability
column.
So now you position yourcompany in a very beautiful way
because, as a new SaaS in thebusiness, you can just focus on
using your lines of credit anddoing the things you need to do
to elevate your company whileusing the investment platform to
(21:22):
pay off that debt monthly.
So you're not worried aboutgenerating income from the
business so much as paying offthe debt over time, and we don
it in a way that within sixmonths to a year, all your debt
is paid off.
We want to help you keepgrowing and not be straddled
with the burden of debt thatmost companies have, because
most companies work backwardsright, myself included.
(21:45):
Every one of us have beenvictims of this.
We bootstrap ourselves rightPersonal credit or homes or
friends or family credit cards,whatever it takes.
We're very good at puttingtogether our vigilance and
getting things off the ground,but then making everything work
in a circular motion where it'snow, it's doing what it's
(22:05):
supposed to do.
That's not always the easiestpart.
As we scale, as we delegate, asmore needs of the companies are
coming out marketing, whateverwhere do we pull from?
If we don't have the necessarymeans to do that, then we start
pulling from our own person andthat's where we basically go
against the limited liabilityaspect of your company.
(22:27):
We want to keep everythinginside of a structure that keeps
you elevated, keeps you whole,so that if anything were to
happen over here, right, worstof the worst, you as a person is
okay and you can still keepgoing.
So why we build these systemsis always because we want to
have contingencies in place thatare always working in your
favor, regardless of whathappens with tariffs, the real
(22:48):
estate market We've kind of beenthrough these things COVID, all
these calamities, even the techboss in the late 90s.
I've been through all these andevery time that I never fooled
in my company when I always tooka setback and having to pivot
and go around, it took how manyyears for me to recover.
So I said I've got to putsomething in place that's always
(23:10):
going to be my backup plan sothat I'm always generating
income, irregardless of what'shappening with my day-to-day
operations.
Ed Mathews (23:17):
Got it.
Jimmy Rios (23:18):
That's where the high-level program was built on,
because I knew that companies.
I couldn't be the only companysuffering from that.
I knew that there washigh-level companies going
through that with just morezeros.
I like the brand.
Top that in at Google.
High-level to high-level.
You'll see me splattered allover the only ones in the
audience with a problem.
Ed Mathews (23:38):
Sitting right on my briefing sheet for the company
when I did my homework ongetting ready for this
conversation.
Okay, jimmy, this is reallyinteresting.
You mentioned a book, so tellme more about that before we get
into the lightning round.
The book's called.
Jimmy Rios (23:51):
Decoding the Mystery of Business Credit and what I
did was I took years of notes inthe market in that trajectory
when I lost everything myself.
I was probably the biggest casestudy because I had over 35
collection accounts, three repos, two cars that were taken.
I was like I had so muchwriting on real estate at the
(24:14):
time and I was so young that Ididn't realize that this could
happen.
So I learned from that chapterin my life which wreaked havoc.
It wasn't just from thefinancial standpoint.
It caused my divorce, it causedme to go into alcoholism and
recover from that and there's somany negatives that came from
it.
But there was a lot ofpositives too, because from the
(24:35):
calamities that I went through Ideveloped a plan to help myself
and help others.
And credit was a deep point.
It's hard to recover fromanything when everybody's
looking at you as basically onthe earth because of your credit
.
You're judged in so many ways,not only from a job perspective
now, but like getting a rental,even going to rent a car, and
(24:57):
there's so many different thingsthat happen with credit besides
building a business with credit, not all beside building a
business.
And so I said as I was goingthrough my calamities and
building myself up.
As I started building andrebuilding, I started seeing
that people would look at medifferent and when I would go
into a car dealership with goodcredit, I didn't get a car in 30
minutes to an hour, noquestions asked.
(25:18):
When I didn't have good credit,it would take me two hours and
they would ask for a ton ofmoney and I was getting the
worst rate.
Ed Mathews (25:26):
Oh yeah.
Jimmy Rios (25:26):
So you can only imagine what happens when we
start working with our home,with our cars, with our
businesses.
It's a domino effect.
So I built a program to helppeople take a step-by-step
approach, not only in helpingthem with their personal credit.
So we built a credit enrichmentcompany.
I call it enrichment becausethe connotation is positive, as
(25:47):
opposed to repeller, which theconnotation is that it's broken
and it's negative.
Right, they want to be rich andget you to a better level, and
many times it's because lack ofknowledge.
Right, we, for example, have alot of debt.
Right, we don't know how to fixthat.
But what if I told you that inconstructing your enrichment
package, we have investors whowill buy some of that debt for a
(26:09):
short period of time, so that Ican basically increase your
score by 150 points and get youwhere you need to be.
And now your debt to limitratios just are under 30%, where
they need to be.
And it constructs credit in away that is unfathomable to the
regular job, because they don'tknow the moving parts that
encompass our credit reportUnder the kimono.
(26:31):
You need to see your credit,understand the moving parts and
what composes credit.
If you don't know those basicblocks, then how are you going
to fix it?
You should.
There's professionals that knowhow to work the system and know
how to get this done quickerthan you trying to do it.
Part of this program is aboutconsistency.
Every month, no different thantrying to lose weight at the gym
(26:52):
.
You don't just go one day andhope that you lost 20 pounds.
You got to do your diet, yougot to work out every day, you
got to look at your map, right,all those little steps.
So why is it any different withmy program?
Next Level Credit is abouttaking those step-by-step
approaches and being able toelevate yourself, which is
doable.
You don't have to pay me.
People pay me because they buymy book and set it aside.
(27:14):
It's sitting there not doinganything for them.
They don't know how to putthings into action.
So if you can't put things intoaction, then you call me.
Let me put it into action foryou.
No, you can't put things intoaction, then you call me.
Let me put it into action foryou.
No different than to try to gochange your oil or change your
carburetor or whatever.
You don't have the time to doit, you pay somebody to do it
and right then.
Ed Mathews (27:33):
I value money.
Okay, so let's get into thelightning round.
I'm always curious about it.
Obviously, people who aresuccessful like you, the
mortgage is taken care of, thecar payments are good to go, the
kids have the college thingfigured out, and nevertheless
you get up on Monday morning andjump headfirst into the office,
and so I view that as purpose,and so I'm curious about what
(27:55):
gets you out of bed on Mondaymorning.
Jimmy Rios (27:57):
Well, I have a motto .
I said I'm your partner inprogress, right, and I have a
passion to help people in everywalks of life.
It's not just the money factor,but if I can help you
spiritually, emotionally,physically, based on years of
experience that I've had inovercoming a lot of negatives,
right, if I could do it, thenyou can do it too.
(28:19):
And many times people justdon't have that guide or that
help right, and so I wake upevery day with gratitude because
I have another day to reallyexplore my talents and
everything that god gives me todo, and so I find that there's a
lot of people out there thatneed our help right, and not
just in what I know, but inother facets.
(28:39):
Maybe it's just to listen tosome help someone in so many
other ways.
So I do find that the law ofreciprocity is very heavy in my
heart and being able to giveback to the community, and so
I'm building communities, right.
My brother and I built acommunity in Medellin, colombia,
called Gringo Paisa, which isAmericans in Medellin.
(28:59):
There's over 26,000 Americansthat live in or have signed up
in Medellin that need guidanceon they want to live a better
life.
I'm starting to build one herecalled Vision to Victory on
Facebook, for being able to helppeople with the vision that
they have to be victorious intheir life, not just on the
financial part.
(29:20):
It's going to come if youfollow a set of guidelines and
be able to help people take thatvision and be victorious in
achieving their goals.
That's my passion project rightnow.
I'm living every day.
I have twin boys that are 16, adaughter that's 19.
I pride myself on being abeacon of light and hope in
their life.
Just yesterday, my daughtercalled me about a decision that
(29:42):
she had to make about a class,and it's very crucial that we
guide them in the proper way notmaking the decision for them,
but then those alternatives tomake the proper choices.
That's how I look at everythingthat I do with people as well.
I don't want to do the work forthem.
I need to give them the freewill.
The biggest gift that God givesus is to make that choice, but
(30:02):
informed.
It gives you more power to makea better choice.
Ed Mathews (30:07):
Right.
So I'm curious about mentorsthat you've had.
You've learned a lot and you'reclearly very smart, so I think
a lot of it has beenself-learned.
But I'm sure you've had folksthat have thrown an arm around
you at one point because theyliked you or any other reason,
and so I'm curious about thebest advice one of your mentors
(30:27):
gave you, and who was thatmentor?
Who gave you that advice?
Jimmy Rios (30:30):
I am a very spiritual person.
I don't think I'm very religiousper se, I can't quote scripture
well, but when I did talk to mybishop he gave me some really
good food for thought aboutbeing spiritually aligned and
understanding that for us to beable to lead others, we got to
do the right things ourselves.
So talking the talk and walkingthe walk and being that example
(30:52):
and I really took that to heartbecause I lived on the other
side of the equation, with egoand with all those other factors
I couldn't do any of the thingsI'm doing now if I didn't put
my ego in check and learn how tofind humility in everything
that I do and gratitude and Ithink that became my cornerstone
and my foundation to be able tohelp others and to be able to
(31:13):
give back, learning how toforgive and hold those
resentments at bay, forgivemyself and learn how to be a
better person, right.
Use the power of love to helpothers.
A better person, right.
Use the power of love to helpothers.
That really has been a catalystin helping me mold and build,
really overcome a lot ofobjections and problems that
occur in business too inbusiness and in marriage and
(31:35):
everything that we did I takethose things at heart?
Because if it wasn't for thatadvice and being able to really
own in on that, I don't know.
I think I would have probablyrecreated what I did back in the
day drinking again or doingother things and this really
helped me grounded.
Ed Mathews (31:52):
Excellent, congratulations on your journey.
I don't know a family thatisn't touched by addiction in
some way shape or form sohorrible.
So I'm also curious about,speaking of decisions, the
business decision that you madeand you're like, oh, that was a
mistake.
What was that kind of decisionthat you made business-wise that
you'd love to have back, andhow did you deal with it?
Jimmy Rios (32:13):
I got into wholesaling years ago and I made
many mistakes in that arena.
Right, because there'ssomething about wholesaling that
was very attractive to me.
Something about wholesalingthat was very attractive to me?
Sure, but if you don't have alot of time sometimes to make
the proper due diligence, you doneed to be very wary when you
do these things right, not to beswayed by the pretty things and
(32:35):
really dive deep into what itreally is.
Right, I named choices based onlooks and I thought, oh, it
looks great, it's a great area,blah, blah, blah.
And then I kind of find out Ineeded $25,000 of electrical
that was behind the walls or hada mold problem or a bunch of
different things.
I learned in that world toreally be more active and due
(32:58):
diligence and take a note, notbeing swayed so much.
And don't get me wrong, thereare opportunities that you're
going to have to take a chanceand a risk on.
I've learned to make better,more calculated risks in putting
my money to work, and so now Ithink a little bit differently.
As a young whippersnapper, Iwas very quick to act on certain
things.
You know what I do now.
(33:19):
I do listen to my wife a lotmore.
Ed Mathews (33:21):
Smart man.
Jimmy Rios (33:22):
I have an intuitive way of being that really leads
in a good way If you can learnto humble yourself and accept
that guidance as well, because Ilistened to a lot of people in
my circles.
Now I surround myself withsmarter and better people that
have good intention.
In the past I didn't right.
I surround myself with peoplethat I thought had the best
(33:43):
intentions of the world and theydid't.
It was all about money, and soI took away that and said look,
let's not focus on the moneyaspect.
The money will come.
Let's focus on the principlesand these little basic blocks
that I talk about.
Ed Mathews (33:56):
Yeah, besides your book, I'm curious how you take
in information.
Are you a reader?
Do you listen?
I'm a reader.
So what's that book on yournightstand these days?
Who's the author?
Jimmy Rios (34:05):
I went back into reading Rich Dad Poor Dad.
I had read Rich Dad Poor Dadyears ago in parts, but never
really studied it, and for themessage that it gives, I thought
it was about getting rich andit's not.
It's totally aboutunderstanding the mindset of
what goes behind that.
So for me it's always good tocome back a little more mature
(34:29):
in our world and take more outof it.
So I've been studying thatmantra and those ideas a lot
more and it's helped me a lot.
Ed Mathews (34:37):
Excellent and final question of the lightning round
how do you define success inyour own life?
Jimmy Rios (34:43):
For me, success is love right.
Success is finding love ineverything that we do and who
we're around.
Being able to help others islove.
I don't think love gets enoughattention out there and how it
should be used.
I think there's a lot of peoplethat need it.
I don't think we as individualsparlay that to others.
I think we're too selfish inhow we do things, where, if we
(35:06):
start thinking of love asanother way to help, it opens up
pathways in your life that youdidn't think were even possible.
For me, that becomes anothercornerstone that is very
important is being able to andlove is, in many forms, not what
I said earlier in being able toforgive, and that's part of the
love.
Being able to forgive and that'spart of the love being able to
including yourself act slow toanger right and think things
(35:29):
through on how you speak and howyou act on things right a lot
of those things are buildingblocks from love, and so I
really emulate that and reallytry to focus on that.
People say you're always so calmand I said look, I think of
Bruce Lee that said you need tobe like water.
You gotta be to be fluid.
No problem is really a problem.
Everything's perspective.
(35:50):
If you have a problem, let'sfind a solution.
Let's not hit the panic button.
Let's work through this, andthat fluidity in working through
everything has helped me a lotto stay above everything that I
do.
Ed Mathews (36:03):
Yeah, we call it around here.
We call it working the problem.
All right.
So when you're not talkingabout real estate or business
credit or any of the otherthings that you do
professionally, what do you liketo do for fun?
Jimmy Rios (36:13):
So me and my wife, we're travelers.
We love flying areas, foods,culture.
This year alone we've probablybeen to three or four places and
we're always working, but atthe same time, we're probably
been to three or four places andwe're always working, but at
the same time we're taking timeout to enjoy ourselves, because
we put different things in placeto be able to do that.
We do have kids, so we have tobalance all that.
(36:36):
I get my kids every other week,so we balance.
We just came back from a tripto Mexico.
We were just there two and ahalf days.
Then we took my brother and hehadn't been there in 10 years
and he had the best trip.
And so now you're partaking andsharing with others what you
enjoy, and it's a great deal.
Ed Mathews (36:52):
Hey, jimmy, I've really enjoyed getting to know
you and hear your story, and Ithink I learned quite a bit from
you today, so thank you forthat as well.
You need anything, let me knowoh you and I are going to have a
nice conversation offline aboutsomebody that I know who's near
and dear to me.
How can people get in touch andlearn more about you and your
business?
Jimmy Rios (37:08):
Yeah, so I always tell everybody to go to our
YouTube channel and subscribe atRios Business Funding.
I'm in Instagram and talk underat Rios Business Advisors and
you can reach me, text methrough there.
I'm constantly checking thatand get a lot of people that
come out through there.
(37:28):
It's usually the best way,easiest way, and then get my
book on Decoding the Mystery ofBusiness Credit through the
website atriosbusinessfundingcom.
We have an ebook in there.
You can also get it on Amazon.
Ed Mathews (37:41):
Okay, fantastic, jimmy Rios.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
It's a pleasure to meet you, myfriend, and continued success.
Jimmy Rios (37:48):
Appreciate you.
Greetings and salutations, Real Estate
Undergrounders.
It is Ed Mathews with the RealEstate Underground.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday.
Thank you for all of yoursupport, as well as all the
folks that have subscribed to usthrough Apple and Spotify and
Amazon and Audible and all thoseother places.
It definitely helps us grow.
(00:57):
The one request I have is textus, let us know what topics
you're interested in, what assetclasses you want to hear about,
because we definitely want tobring on guests that speak to
those questions so that we canserve you even more than we do
today.
So, with that in mind, we havea unique guest today.
Usually we talk about we getgeeky about apartment buildings,
(01:19):
and there'll be some of that inthis conversation, but we've
invited Jimmy Rios of RiosBusiness Advisors to the show to
talk to us about businesscredit and a whole bunch of
other things.
So welcome to the show, jimmy.
Jimmy Rios (01:30):
I appreciate it, Ed.
I'm really happy to be here.
There's a lot of.
I'm always learning and I lovehearing from you and what I can
learn from you and advisorsversus see what I can parlay in
my years of being an understudyand learning and putting it out
there.
Ed Mathews (01:46):
Yeah, I appreciate that and thank you for your time
today.
I know you're super busy andit's early morning.
Where you are You're in Arizona, if memory serves.
So, for those folks who haven'tdiscovered you yet, I want you
to tell us a little bit aboutwho you are and what you do.
Jimmy Rios (01:58):
Sure.
So my name is Jimmy Rios.
I own Rios Business Advisors,but I also own Rios Business
Funding and Next Level Creditbuilding business and business
(02:21):
credit and being able toleverage properly and being able
to use good debt to be able tofurther their cause in whatever
endeavor or industry they're in.
So we're industry agnostic.
We can work with anyone andreally it's taking some
principles that many people justdidn't think about and putting
it together.
And we've studied the marketsfor 25 years and real estate was
(02:43):
was our backbone, is what westarted with.
We're licensed in mortgages,real estate insurance, so we've
taken a passion to real estatebecause it was where I got
everything started from.
It was where I found the needsof the holes in systems and
being able to help others plugthose holes for myself, and I
was able to do the things that Ineeded to do, not only as an
(03:05):
investor, as an owner ofproperties and helping others to
achieve those goals as well.
So we just branched it out andexpanded our business to be able
to help more people.
Definitely, real estate is ourpath.
Ed Mathews (03:17):
Something a former colleague of mine used to talk
about, jeffrey Moore.
He's talked about the bowlingpin strategy, which you start
with one thing, you getworld-class at it, and then
there are invariably one-offsthat serve that same customer
base and you add that capabilityover time and when you become
an old guy like me you've beendoing it for 25, 30 years then
(03:38):
you've built one heck of abusiness.
So congratulations on that.
I know this started in likeyour parents' kitchen, if memory
serves right, and so I want youto tell me about Jimmy Rios 25
years ago and the real estateguy and how you all got started.
Jimmy Rios (03:52):
Think back in the late nineties.
I graduated high school in 94.
And in 97, I started with anoutfit called commercial credit
out of Tempe, arizona.
They got bought out by SolomonSmith, barney and Travelers
Group, who became Citigroup.
Right In the late 90s there wasthe mega mergers.
And I was going to ASG as ayoung student, I didn't know
(04:13):
really what I wanted to do.
I was always in sales in someforeign format and I saw an ad
for a branch manager trainee atCommercial Credit.
I got the job and as I wasgoing to school I was working
there full-time doing both.
I really started falling inlove with it because I started
helping a lot of people, but italso started opening up my eyes
(04:34):
to many things I didn't like incorporate, in the commercial
world, where there was a lot oflimitations on how you can help
people was a lot of limitationson how you can help people.
And that's how it started in mymind that if I could do
something for these people of myown doing, how much better
would the world be.
It was a microcosm of themindset of what got me going in
(04:57):
developing different things inmy mind on this case study here
how can I help them?
And that actually was aprecursor.
It came from helping my parentsas immigrants, and maybe in the
first generation, ColombianAmerican, and helping them.
Their lack or lack ofconfidence in their language
skills forced them to ask me andmy brother to help them with
(05:19):
everything.
So we were constantly callinginsurance companies, mortgage
companies, tax companies, doingall these things for them.
When I went to work atcommercial credit, a lot of the
people that were coming throughwere Hispanic Latinos that
needed the same help, so theywould get denied for credit.
And then they would ask youknow, obviously, why didn't I
get denied?
There was just a genericcheckmark that you have to give
(05:44):
a reason and you see theseletters all the time right why
you got denied, but they don'ttell you how to fix the problem
or what really is the solution.
When I started my propertymanagement company from my
parents' Arizona room and theneventually led to Rios Financial
Group, I started seeing thatmany of these people it wasn't
that they had bad credit, it'sjust that the credit, the way it
(06:06):
was set up, wasn't showing theway it needed to show to get an
approval.
Well, we had to get them onpaper to be able to prove that.
So it forced me to start doingtaxes and setting things up,
because many of these werepaying their bills, making good
money, but it wasn't againflyable on paper.
So we had to get them out ofthe shadows and I had to start
constructing these taxes anddoing these things.
(06:29):
I became an underwriter to beable to learn the backend on how
loss mitigation and riskmanagement worked at a higher
level.
And when you start working inthe background and you start
seeing how these banksunderwrite and approve and do
those things, it gives you anupper hand because now you can
(06:52):
construct your picture like howunderwriters want to see it
right.
If you know the rules of thegame, you're going to win.
So a lot of people don't knowthat and they just go and throw
an application in and then theyget denied.
What if we construct everythingso that it falls in line with
what the bank or institutionwants to see Right?
Then it's a lot easier to getapproval or the conditions are
easier to meet, because you'vealready met many of those
(07:15):
conditions.
But, then we did hit the curvewhere everything was.
We blew up, and so I had topivot at that time myself and
figure out what I was going todo, because we were piranhas in
the wall, and so I had to pivotat that time myself and figure
out what I was going to do.
Because we were piranhas in theindustry, we couldn't get a job
in the mortgage field anymore,and so I went in for working in
car dealerships and learning thecredit game through the car
(07:37):
dealerships, and ultimately Ibuilt Next Level Credit, which
was a credit enrichment companywith the purpose of helping
people build their credit fromthe ashes and then build
business credit, which wasanother total concept that
nobody really wanted to diveinto because they didn't know.
Ed Mathews (07:55):
Yeah, I'd love to unpack that.
Let's talk about businesscredit.
One of the things thatchallenges a lot of investors,
myself included, is that we'renot bankable when they say okay,
give me your W-2,.
I haven't had a W-2 since 2018,and I'm not the only one, so
how do you attack that?
Jimmy Rios (08:16):
It's not just the act of doing the things that I
talk about in my book about howto get business credit.
It's the little things like theMAICS code that you give your
LLC.
So many of us will go out andsay I'm going to start a real
estate investment company, butin the scope of underwriting
they look at real estate as abig taboo.
But if you change it to aconsulting company and designate
the LLC as a consulting companyor even a SaaS, you know, or
(08:40):
just change the NAICS code,regardless of what you're really
selling, it makes wonders whenyou go present this.
So when we build websites andeverything around this concept
of banking, a business can befundable.
You can have two businesses,right, you can have a holdings
company and an LLC and yourholdings company can be the one
(09:02):
that gets funded.
So we build a fundable company.
You can still have a DBA andeven an LLC over here for the
day-to-day operations, but youcan still construct a fundable
company with all the attributesof a real company, even though
it's just sitting there.
Ed Mathews (09:18):
It's a holding company.
Typically, we have a holdingcompany and what we do is that's
where our intellectual propertygoes.
We have a holding company andwhat we do is that's where our
intellectual property goes.
All of our frameworks and thispodcast and the other podcasts
we run demo to dollars andeverything else.
So that's the holding company.
I'm curious what your thoughtson this.
Typically, when we have to movemoney between one of the
companies, it's a licensingagreement, right?
(09:39):
Yeah, exactly.
Jimmy Rios (09:41):
There's a lot of, and we have tax strategies on
our team that really pinpointthe strategy and how to just
take it up through the holdingscompany and then it's a lot
easier to be able to put itthrough.
Many of us have LLCs for eachproperty we own.
It's kind of temporary laws,the schedules and everything
like that.
So you got to really startthinking outside the box instead
(10:04):
of being inside the box andonly think one way.
You really got to break downthat box and start thinking
differently.
Because this is about more thanjust what am I doing with this?
Because many of us will failwith one right.
Let's structure ourselvesbetter from the get-go so we can
do more.
Because now, if I'm going to goand leverage, I don't have to
(10:25):
just go through a hard moneyroute, even though that's a very
normal thing to do.
What if we position ourselvesin a way that we can get the
funding that's needed properly,like the big boys do?
Ed Mathews (10:36):
right, yeah, so let's walk through that.
So we're launching a softwareas a service company called Ella
Vista that serves real estateinvestors and brokers with back
office automation, voicemailsystem or AI voice agent systems
, things like that and we'relaunching that probably in a
couple of three weeks.
So by the time this is live,this show is live, ella Vista
(10:57):
will exist so we can talk aboutit.
So we've started this SaaScompany.
So how do I create a companythat has business credit?
Walk me through the framework.
Jimmy Rios (11:09):
Yeah, so there's two answers to that, right, because
we had the slow round and wehad the fast round, right?
Ed Mathews (11:14):
Fast is always better.
Jimmy Rios (11:15):
We built corporations that already have
basically all the bells andwhistles.
We even put a personalguarantor.
We've done everything that wetalked about in my book so that
you don't have to go through theslow process.
Right, and when we talk aboutexpensive, we're talking about
living investment $50,000, andwe get you $500,000 in lines of
(11:36):
credit with 0% interest for twoyears, right, so, right out of
the gate, you're getting abusiness in a box that has all
the acumen, everything that'sneeded, to, within 90 days,
start part-lining that money anddoing the things you need to do
right.
Ed Mathews (11:51):
I heard you say personal guarantor, which we can
talk about that in a sec.
But so when you say that, doesthat mean that I've got to have
a 750 FICO score?
Like how does that work?
Jimmy Rios (12:02):
Yeah.
And then for usually anindividual, if they're going to
start their business credit,they got to start with some
personal credit right To be apersonal guarantee and then
develop the non-personalguarantee side where, if we
construct a business with a CFOon your business as the PG, you
now don't have a liabilitypersonally to be able to get the
(12:26):
funding that you need.
So by constructing it the way wedo, we limit the liability of
the corporation right out thegate.
You get a tax write-off ininvesting in yourself in your
business, right, but now youhave basically everything set up
to be able to fund yourself.
So now you borrow from yourself, right Off the line of credit
that's given to that company Bthat we've constructed.
(12:47):
And now you have a lendingentity right that you use for
all your lending purposes, right, and we even do multiples of
these.
You don't have to just do one.
On average, we'd lend $500,000for that business.
So personal guaranteeinganything is more of just a way
to get in, and then within aboutsix months, we start giving
(13:11):
real business credit under thebusiness without having to
personally guarantee anything.
Ed Mathews (13:16):
Track record.
Jimmy Rios (13:17):
You do, but it takes a while to be able to build the
big, high levels of creditright.
You'll get the U lines and theAmazons and you'll get the
smaller credit.
But if you're trying to go bigtime, where you need these
bigger tranches of money, thoseare difficult to get
non-recourse and we donon-recourse funding and
recourse funding right.
(13:37):
But if you want to try to buildquickly and you have the
capital, or even come in withjoint partners in doing it, it's
a very smart way to elevateyour business quickly and get
all the attributes acumen theyneed without having to go the
slow ride.
The slow ride is advisable toanyone.
If you have a business, buildyour business credit, get a
(13:58):
Donnie Bradstreet number andstart building on your credit.
There's a lot of tools.
My website includedrealbusinessfundingcom that will
give you tips and tricks to doit.
But if you really want to putsteroids into this thing, do it
in a way that's going to get youthere legally, very well
structured and with guidance andmentors like myself who've done
(14:22):
it and are doing it, and aheart of love.
And now you're working togethersmarter because, listen, I was
an underwriter for many years.
Right, I know the game, therules of the right.
I know the rules of the game.
If you know the rules of thegame, you're going to win right.
So why work harder in trying toget approvals and whatnot if
you don't know that side?
Let somebody else take thebrunt on what needs to be done
(14:43):
and get you the results.
Ed Mathews (14:45):
Okay, Right on man.
So in terms of the $50,000, theinvestment to get to the line
of credit, what's the valueexchange there?
So I write you a check for 50Kor series of payments, whatever
so what am I?
Getting for that.
Jimmy Rios (15:00):
You're getting a full-blown business that's
already aged over four years onpaper.
You're going to have a CFO.
You're going to have DunBradstreet.
You're going to have a websitethat has all the acumen.
You're going to get a privateaddress not tied to your home, a
phone number listed with 411,and there's going to be trade
lines that are going to beseasoned and added to the
(15:23):
business credit so that it showslines that, even though they're
just trade lines on paper, theysuffice the risk mitigation
strategies that the banks use tobe able to approve.
So when you go to an AmericanExpress block to get X amount of
money, they're going to approveit based on the picture that's
presented Well, different thanif you had excellent credit and
(15:45):
you go and try to get this onyour own.
You might get some variance ofit, but because we worked with
these industries, theseinstitutions, for so long, they
know the quality of clients thatwe bring through the gate, so
they're more apt to give us anapproval because of the quality
of our clients that we'vedeveloped.
80% of everything that you seeout there is based on
(16:06):
presentation.
Ed Mathews (16:08):
Okay.
So you mentioned a couple ofthings that I'd like to
understand.
So Ella Vista is a company thatwas founded in 2025.
So how does that work?
Do you have a catalog of LLCsin your back pocket?
Yeah, okay.
So walk me through that.
And the big question I have ishow is that legal?
No, this has been done foryears.
We're not talking through barshere, so obviously it's legal.
Jimmy Rios (16:32):
Yeah, no, because I'm a business broker as well.
Right, so I'll buy and sellbusinesses all the time.
And it's really like when yousell a home and you transfer the
title of that home, that homewas seasoned for a number of
years under your domain, underyour possession, and all of a
sudden you transfer it over.
There's still a historicalfactor there, but you're the new
(16:55):
owner.
We do the same with businesses.
Businesses have built throughtheir EIN X amount of credit and
if I go and sell that business,we still are able to transfer
those assets to the new owner,right?
So on paper, we'll do all thelegal movements to bring that
business under the new ownershipand then we still have the
fundable characteristics of thebusiness.
And that's what the banks arelooking at is they don't really
(17:16):
care.
You can have a business out ofWyoming and you don't even know
who the owners are.
It's all about following thatpathway and making a business
transferable and fundable forthe client, and that's what we
do.
We walk through the whole phase.
There's companies out therethat will sell you a business,
but it's like when you have atrust.
(17:37):
If you don't find the trust, itdoesn't do you any good.
It's just sitting there like ashell.
It doesn't do anything untilyou fund it.
So we need to fund thatbusiness and get actual trade
lines and monies attached tothat business so it makes it
worthwhile.
You're not just putting $50,000to work for nothing.
It has to be very put to work,of course.
Ed Mathews (18:00):
Like I said, it's a value exchange.
Jimmy Rios (18:01):
Yeah, I think that's where the missing link is out
there and people say that's anadded money.
I can go online and I can finda shell corp for $1,500 or
whatever you I.
I have probably 10 businesseson paper and I could sell if I
wanted to, but that's not afundable business.
They haven't done all the work.
You still have to work to getthat company funded and doing
(18:22):
the things it needs to do inyour thing.
That can take time.
So if you have a company likemine who does the work on the
back end and has the season foryou, then we always have a
season amount of companies readyto go.
In fact, when we go andadvertise for our personal
(18:43):
guarantors, they get paid reallywell inside of our program.
So they're vested in wanting tobecome part of this because
they have passive income comingfrom using their credit, because
they have passive income comingfrom using their credit and it
works really well becausethere's parameters put in place
so they can't do anything withthat.
Credit belongs to the companybut it's very systematically
used in the way we do it so thatyou can keep growing your
business.
Ed Mathews (19:03):
Okay, that was actually my next line of
questions is you also mentioneda CFO.
How do you compensate thepersonal guarantor?
I assume the PG and the CFO arethe same person.
Yeah, Okay, so how do youcompensate that person?
Say, for instance, I hire youto help me build credit for Ella
Vista We'll use that exampleagain and we don't actually have
(19:24):
a CFO.
You're looking at him, butright now the Vista would
acquire one of your companiesfor a minimal amount of money
and with that would come anoutside consultant who is the
CFO?
Or do they own equity in thatcompany?
Or is there a contract or like?
Jimmy Rios (19:42):
how does that contract?
There's a contract.
Let me explain something.
Everything that we do is verymuch done in a way that
eventually, everything is goingto get transferred over to you
Once we get the fundingmechanisms and everything in
place.
That CFO, it's a veryshort-lived contract.
Ed Mathews (20:00):
Yeah, it's probably the six months right, as soon as
you get the recourse, exactlyRight.
Jimmy Rios (20:06):
Because it's meant to solve a problem, so we need
to get funding to be able to paythese clients.
So it comes from the fundingthat we generate to pay all
these PGs as part of the totalcost of the program.
At the same time, one integralpiece of our puzzle that we
haven't talked about is our eyelevel hand level program.
What that means is we actuallyset up a third arm of income
(20:39):
that comes through ourinvestment firm to be able to
offset the debt that has beencreated when setting this up for
you, because you've alreadypaid $50,000 for a business that
hasn't produced $1 yet, you'reacquiring debt in the form of
having to pay a.
How do we pay this debt so thatwe can do the things we want to
do with our company?
And that's where our annualreturnable program becomes
imperative.
It becomes another source ofincome for your company to be
(21:00):
able to get rid of the debt, notjust the debt that's incurred
for this, but any other debtthat you have in your liability
column.
So now you position yourcompany in a very beautiful way
because, as a new SaaS in thebusiness, you can just focus on
using your lines of credit anddoing the things you need to do
to elevate your company whileusing the investment platform to
(21:22):
pay off that debt monthly.
So you're not worried aboutgenerating income from the
business so much as paying offthe debt over time, and we don
it in a way that within sixmonths to a year, all your debt
is paid off.
We want to help you keepgrowing and not be straddled
with the burden of debt thatmost companies have, because
most companies work backwardsright, myself included.
(21:45):
Every one of us have beenvictims of this.
We bootstrap ourselves rightPersonal credit or homes or
friends or family credit cards,whatever it takes.
We're very good at puttingtogether our vigilance and
getting things off the ground,but then making everything work
in a circular motion where it'snow, it's doing what it's
(22:05):
supposed to do.
That's not always the easiestpart.
As we scale, as we delegate, asmore needs of the companies are
coming out marketing, whateverwhere do we pull from?
If we don't have the necessarymeans to do that, then we start
pulling from our own person andthat's where we basically go
against the limited liabilityaspect of your company.
(22:27):
We want to keep everythinginside of a structure that keeps
you elevated, keeps you whole,so that if anything were to
happen over here, right, worstof the worst, you as a person is
okay and you can still keepgoing.
So why we build these systemsis always because we want to
have contingencies in place thatare always working in your
favor, regardless of whathappens with tariffs, the real
(22:48):
estate market We've kind of beenthrough these things COVID, all
these calamities, even the techboss in the late 90s.
I've been through all these andevery time that I never fooled
in my company when I always tooka setback and having to pivot
and go around, it took how manyyears for me to recover.
So I said I've got to putsomething in place that's always
(23:10):
going to be my backup plan sothat I'm always generating
income, irregardless of what'shappening with my day-to-day
operations.
Ed Mathews (23:17):
Got it.
Jimmy Rios (23:18):
That's where the high-level program was built on,
because I knew that companies.
I couldn't be the only companysuffering from that.
I knew that there washigh-level companies going
through that with just morezeros.
I like the brand.
Top that in at Google.
High-level to high-level.
You'll see me splattered allover the only ones in the
audience with a problem.
Ed Mathews (23:38):
Sitting right on my briefing sheet for the company
when I did my homework ongetting ready for this
conversation.
Okay, jimmy, this is reallyinteresting.
You mentioned a book, so tellme more about that before we get
into the lightning round.
The book's called.
Jimmy Rios (23:51):
Decoding the Mystery of Business Credit and what I
did was I took years of notes inthe market in that trajectory
when I lost everything myself.
I was probably the biggest casestudy because I had over 35
collection accounts, three repos, two cars that were taken.
I was like I had so muchwriting on real estate at the
(24:14):
time and I was so young that Ididn't realize that this could
happen.
So I learned from that chapterin my life which wreaked havoc.
It wasn't just from thefinancial standpoint.
It caused my divorce, it causedme to go into alcoholism and
recover from that and there's somany negatives that came from
it.
But there was a lot ofpositives too, because from the
(24:35):
calamities that I went through Ideveloped a plan to help myself
and help others.
And credit was a deep point.
It's hard to recover fromanything when everybody's
looking at you as basically onthe earth because of your credit
.
You're judged in so many ways,not only from a job perspective
now, but like getting a rental,even going to rent a car, and
(24:57):
there's so many different thingsthat happen with credit besides
building a business with credit, not all beside building a
business.
And so I said as I was goingthrough my calamities and
building myself up.
As I started building andrebuilding, I started seeing
that people would look at medifferent and when I would go
into a car dealership with goodcredit, I didn't get a car in 30
minutes to an hour, noquestions asked.
(25:18):
When I didn't have good credit,it would take me two hours and
they would ask for a ton ofmoney and I was getting the
worst rate.
Ed Mathews (25:26):
Oh yeah.
Jimmy Rios (25:26):
So you can only imagine what happens when we
start working with our home,with our cars, with our
businesses.
It's a domino effect.
So I built a program to helppeople take a step-by-step
approach, not only in helpingthem with their personal credit.
So we built a credit enrichmentcompany.
I call it enrichment becausethe connotation is positive, as
(25:47):
opposed to repeller, which theconnotation is that it's broken
and it's negative.
Right, they want to be rich andget you to a better level, and
many times it's because lack ofknowledge.
Right, we, for example, have alot of debt.
Right, we don't know how to fixthat.
But what if I told you that inconstructing your enrichment
package, we have investors whowill buy some of that debt for a
(26:09):
short period of time, so that Ican basically increase your
score by 150 points and get youwhere you need to be.
And now your debt to limitratios just are under 30%, where
they need to be.
And it constructs credit in away that is unfathomable to the
regular job, because they don'tknow the moving parts that
encompass our credit reportUnder the kimono.
(26:31):
You need to see your credit,understand the moving parts and
what composes credit.
If you don't know those basicblocks, then how are you going
to fix it?
You should.
There's professionals that knowhow to work the system and know
how to get this done quickerthan you trying to do it.
Part of this program is aboutconsistency.
Every month, no different thantrying to lose weight at the gym
(26:52):
.
You don't just go one day andhope that you lost 20 pounds.
You got to do your diet, yougot to work out every day, you
got to look at your map, right,all those little steps.
So why is it any different withmy program?
Next Level Credit is abouttaking those step-by-step
approaches and being able toelevate yourself, which is
doable.
You don't have to pay me.
People pay me because they buymy book and set it aside.
(27:14):
It's sitting there not doinganything for them.
They don't know how to putthings into action.
So if you can't put things intoaction, then you call me.
Let me put it into action foryou.
No, you can't put things intoaction, then you call me.
Let me put it into action foryou.
No different than to try to gochange your oil or change your
carburetor or whatever.
You don't have the time to doit, you pay somebody to do it
and right then.
Ed Mathews (27:33):
I value money.
Okay, so let's get into thelightning round.
I'm always curious about it.
Obviously, people who aresuccessful like you, the
mortgage is taken care of, thecar payments are good to go, the
kids have the college thingfigured out, and nevertheless
you get up on Monday morning andjump headfirst into the office,
and so I view that as purpose,and so I'm curious about what
(27:55):
gets you out of bed on Mondaymorning.
Jimmy Rios (27:57):
Well, I have a motto .
I said I'm your partner inprogress, right, and I have a
passion to help people in everywalks of life.
It's not just the money factor,but if I can help you
spiritually, emotionally,physically, based on years of
experience that I've had inovercoming a lot of negatives,
right, if I could do it, thenyou can do it too.
(28:19):
And many times people justdon't have that guide or that
help right, and so I wake upevery day with gratitude because
I have another day to reallyexplore my talents and
everything that god gives me todo, and so I find that there's a
lot of people out there thatneed our help right, and not
just in what I know, but inother facets.
(28:39):
Maybe it's just to listen tosome help someone in so many
other ways.
So I do find that the law ofreciprocity is very heavy in my
heart and being able to giveback to the community, and so
I'm building communities, right.
My brother and I built acommunity in Medellin, colombia,
called Gringo Paisa, which isAmericans in Medellin.
(28:59):
There's over 26,000 Americansthat live in or have signed up
in Medellin that need guidanceon they want to live a better
life.
I'm starting to build one herecalled Vision to Victory on
Facebook, for being able to helppeople with the vision that
they have to be victorious intheir life, not just on the
financial part.
(29:20):
It's going to come if youfollow a set of guidelines and
be able to help people take thatvision and be victorious in
achieving their goals.
That's my passion project rightnow.
I'm living every day.
I have twin boys that are 16, adaughter that's 19.
I pride myself on being abeacon of light and hope in
their life.
Just yesterday, my daughtercalled me about a decision that
(29:42):
she had to make about a class,and it's very crucial that we
guide them in the proper way notmaking the decision for them,
but then those alternatives tomake the proper choices.
That's how I look at everythingthat I do with people as well.
I don't want to do the work forthem.
I need to give them the freewill.
The biggest gift that God givesus is to make that choice, but
(30:02):
informed.
It gives you more power to makea better choice.
Ed Mathews (30:07):
Right.
So I'm curious about mentorsthat you've had.
You've learned a lot and you'reclearly very smart, so I think
a lot of it has beenself-learned.
But I'm sure you've had folksthat have thrown an arm around
you at one point because theyliked you or any other reason,
and so I'm curious about thebest advice one of your mentors
(30:27):
gave you, and who was thatmentor?
Who gave you that advice?
Jimmy Rios (30:30):
I am a very spiritual person.
I don't think I'm very religiousper se, I can't quote scripture
well, but when I did talk to mybishop he gave me some really
good food for thought aboutbeing spiritually aligned and
understanding that for us to beable to lead others, we got to
do the right things ourselves.
So talking the talk and walkingthe walk and being that example
(30:52):
and I really took that to heartbecause I lived on the other
side of the equation, with egoand with all those other factors
I couldn't do any of the thingsI'm doing now if I didn't put
my ego in check and learn how tofind humility in everything
that I do and gratitude and Ithink that became my cornerstone
and my foundation to be able tohelp others and to be able to
(31:13):
give back, learning how toforgive and hold those
resentments at bay, forgivemyself and learn how to be a
better person, right.
Use the power of love to helpothers.
A better person, right.
Use the power of love to helpothers.
That really has been a catalystin helping me mold and build,
really overcome a lot ofobjections and problems that
occur in business too inbusiness and in marriage and
(31:35):
everything that we did I takethose things at heart?
Because if it wasn't for thatadvice and being able to really
own in on that, I don't know.
I think I would have probablyrecreated what I did back in the
day drinking again or doingother things and this really
helped me grounded.
Ed Mathews (31:52):
Excellent, congratulations on your journey.
I don't know a family thatisn't touched by addiction in
some way shape or form sohorrible.
So I'm also curious about,speaking of decisions, the
business decision that you madeand you're like, oh, that was a
mistake.
What was that kind of decisionthat you made business-wise that
you'd love to have back, andhow did you deal with it?
Jimmy Rios (32:13):
I got into wholesaling years ago and I made
many mistakes in that arena.
Right, because there'ssomething about wholesaling that
was very attractive to me.
Something about wholesalingthat was very attractive to me?
Sure, but if you don't have alot of time sometimes to make
the proper due diligence, you doneed to be very wary when you
do these things right, not to beswayed by the pretty things and
(32:35):
really dive deep into what itreally is.
Right, I named choices based onlooks and I thought, oh, it
looks great, it's a great area,blah, blah, blah.
And then I kind of find out Ineeded $25,000 of electrical
that was behind the walls or hada mold problem or a bunch of
different things.
I learned in that world toreally be more active and due
(32:58):
diligence and take a note, notbeing swayed so much.
And don't get me wrong, thereare opportunities that you're
going to have to take a chanceand a risk on.
I've learned to make better,more calculated risks in putting
my money to work, and so now Ithink a little bit differently.
As a young whippersnapper, Iwas very quick to act on certain
things.
You know what I do now.
(33:19):
I do listen to my wife a lotmore.
Ed Mathews (33:21):
Smart man.
Jimmy Rios (33:22):
I have an intuitive way of being that really leads
in a good way If you can learnto humble yourself and accept
that guidance as well, because Ilistened to a lot of people in
my circles.
Now I surround myself withsmarter and better people that
have good intention.
In the past I didn't right.
I surround myself with peoplethat I thought had the best
(33:43):
intentions of the world and theydid't.
It was all about money, and soI took away that and said look,
let's not focus on the moneyaspect.
The money will come.
Let's focus on the principlesand these little basic blocks
that I talk about.
Ed Mathews (33:56):
Yeah, besides your book, I'm curious how you take
in information.
Are you a reader?
Do you listen?
I'm a reader.
So what's that book on yournightstand these days?
Who's the author?
Jimmy Rios (34:05):
I went back into reading Rich Dad Poor Dad.
I had read Rich Dad Poor Dadyears ago in parts, but never
really studied it, and for themessage that it gives, I thought
it was about getting rich andit's not.
It's totally aboutunderstanding the mindset of
what goes behind that.
So for me it's always good tocome back a little more mature
(34:29):
in our world and take more outof it.
So I've been studying thatmantra and those ideas a lot
more and it's helped me a lot.
Ed Mathews (34:37):
Excellent and final question of the lightning round
how do you define success inyour own life?
Jimmy Rios (34:43):
For me, success is love right.
Success is finding love ineverything that we do and who
we're around.
Being able to help others islove.
I don't think love gets enoughattention out there and how it
should be used.
I think there's a lot of peoplethat need it.
I don't think we as individualsparlay that to others.
I think we're too selfish inhow we do things, where, if we
(35:06):
start thinking of love asanother way to help, it opens up
pathways in your life that youdidn't think were even possible.
For me, that becomes anothercornerstone that is very
important is being able to andlove is, in many forms, not what
I said earlier in being able toforgive, and that's part of the
love.
Being able to forgive and that'spart of the love being able to
including yourself act slow toanger right and think things
(35:29):
through on how you speak and howyou act on things right a lot
of those things are buildingblocks from love, and so I
really emulate that and reallytry to focus on that.
People say you're always so calmand I said look, I think of
Bruce Lee that said you need tobe like water.
You gotta be to be fluid.
No problem is really a problem.
Everything's perspective.
(35:50):
If you have a problem, let'sfind a solution.
Let's not hit the panic button.
Let's work through this, andthat fluidity in working through
everything has helped me a lotto stay above everything that I
do.
Ed Mathews (36:03):
Yeah, we call it around here.
We call it working the problem.
All right.
So when you're not talkingabout real estate or business
credit or any of the otherthings that you do
professionally, what do you liketo do for fun?
Jimmy Rios (36:13):
So me and my wife, we're travelers.
We love flying areas, foods,culture.
This year alone we've probablybeen to three or four places and
we're always working, but atthe same time, we're probably
been to three or four places andwe're always working, but at
the same time we're taking timeout to enjoy ourselves, because
we put different things in placeto be able to do that.
We do have kids, so we have tobalance all that.
(36:36):
I get my kids every other week,so we balance.
We just came back from a tripto Mexico.
We were just there two and ahalf days.
Then we took my brother and hehadn't been there in 10 years
and he had the best trip.
And so now you're partaking andsharing with others what you
enjoy, and it's a great deal.
Ed Mathews (36:52):
Hey, jimmy, I've really enjoyed getting to know
you and hear your story, and Ithink I learned quite a bit from
you today, so thank you forthat as well.
You need anything, let me knowoh you and I are going to have a
nice conversation offline aboutsomebody that I know who's near
and dear to me.
How can people get in touch andlearn more about you and your
business?
Jimmy Rios (37:08):
Yeah, so I always tell everybody to go to our
YouTube channel and subscribe atRios Business Funding.
I'm in Instagram and talk underat Rios Business Advisors and
you can reach me, text methrough there.
I'm constantly checking thatand get a lot of people that
come out through there.
(37:28):
It's usually the best way,easiest way, and then get my
book on Decoding the Mystery ofBusiness Credit through the
website atriosbusinessfundingcom.
We have an ebook in there.
You can also get it on Amazon.
Ed Mathews (37:41):
Okay, fantastic, jimmy Rios.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
It's a pleasure to meet you, myfriend, and continued success.
Jimmy Rios (37:48):
Appreciate you.
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