Epic Entrepreneurs
Welcome to Epic Entrepreneurs! What does it take to build a real and thriving business in today’s world? As entrepreneurs and business owners, we went into business to have more freedom of time and money. Yet, the path of growing a business isn’t always filled with sunshine and rainbows. In this chart-topping show, host Bill Gilliland; author of the best-selling book “The Coach Approach” leverages his decades of experience coaching proven entrepreneurs to make more money, grow the right teams, and find the freedom of EPIC Entrepreneurship.
Epic Entrepreneurs
If You Never Lose, You Never Win: Lessons in Business Growth with Tomas Villar
What does it take to build a real estate empire from nothing? Tomas Villar knows firsthand, having transformed from a 17-year-old high school dropout to the successful owner of Villar 360 Enterprises over the past 15 years.
Villar's business approach is remarkably straightforward yet powerful: he raises capital from investors, builds custom and semi-custom residential homes, sells the properties, returns the investors' money with interest, and retains the profit. This model has allowed him to expand into cabinetry and even become an investor himself, now owning rental properties that form the backbone of his retirement strategy.
The journey wasn't without challenges. Starting as an electrician with no business background, Villar worked double-duty for years—maintaining his day job Monday through Thursday while building his side business Friday through Sunday. "Taking the right steps every day of my life was key to being successful at some point," he reflects. His success didn't happen overnight, but rather through "countless days without sleeping" and an unwavering commitment to learning.
Perhaps the most powerful insight Villar shares is his perspective on failure and risk: "If you never lose, I think you never win." Coming from a poor family background, he approached entrepreneurship with the mindset that he had nothing to lose—a freedom that allowed him to take necessary risks. He credits much of his knowledge to mentors, particularly a successful businessman he met while doing electrical work, who taught him financial management principles that transformed his approach.
For those starting businesses without family wealth or connections, Villar offers refreshingly honest advice about work-life balance: "There's no balance when you're starting a business." His wife's understanding and support throughout their 20-year marriage proved crucial to his success. His pragmatic philosophy—"Follow the money first, then follow your dreams"—encapsulates his approach to building financial freedom.
Want to follow in Villar's footsteps? His advice is clear: combine trade skills with business education, surround yourself with the right people, treat your team well, and always pay on time. Most importantly, stay committed to your vision, even when exhaustion sets in. As Villar says, "Sometimes I feel like I want to walk away from everything, but the next day I wake up renewed and going at it."
Subscribe to Epic Entrepreneurs for more inspiring stories of business growth and practical wisdom from successful founders who've built something extraordinary from the ground up.
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Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am very excited. Today we have Tomas Villar from Villar 360 Enterprises, so welcome to the show. Tell us a little bit about what Villar 360 Enterprises is.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm glad to be talking to you right now. Well, our company does a little bit of everything. I mean my main business is handle investors' money through buying and selling real estate. So that's the core of my business. Also, on the side, I mean we build houses. We bring money in from investors, we build houses and then sell it and after everything is all the process is done, then we just return the investor money, money plus a plus a earn. They're making money out of investing in our company. So on the side, I have a cabinetry, custom cabinet business and nowadays I'm investing on my own. I do have rentals and a couple new houses that I'm building on my side. I do have rentals and a couple new houses that I'm building on my side, but that's what we do. Residential, it's mostly residential, custom and semi-custom.
Speaker 1:So residential, custom, semi-custom home, but you're mostly building it using someone else's money. Yes, building it using someone else's money. So you have investors that invest in a house. You'll build the house, then you sell the house and then you pay the investor back, whatever the deal is plus the interest, and then make a profit over and above all that.
Speaker 2:That's how we make our money.
Speaker 1:And then also you've grown it to a point where now you have enough money to be an investor yourself yeah, yeah, that's that, that was, uh, that's been always the goal and uh, and nowadays, that's what we're doing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how long you been at it well, you know, I've been on construction since I was 17. That was a couple years ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a couple, yeah no. So you've always been in construction.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've been in construction since I dropped out from high school.
Speaker 1:Well, how long have you been owning your own business?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I've been owning my own business for about, I would say, 14, 15 years.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I want people to get the feeling, I want people to understand that this is a good business, but to get where you want to get sometimes an overnight success takes 15 years.
Speaker 2:Like every business, I would think it takes a lot of years to build something successful in a. I never had any business background or anything. It was a little bit more challenging, but at the end I think taking the right steps in every day of my life was key to being successful at some point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I get it. So let me just ask you a couple questions about that. So if you had to start over from square one in the business, what would you do differently?
Speaker 2:I mean, I started as an electrician.
Speaker 2:Uh, I started in in a electrical company and then I started doing uh side work, uh side work on my side. So I used to work monday through thursday and then friday, saturday and sunday do it on my own. So till I got to the point on on that I could not handle both. I either stay on the company forever or just jump on my own, which, uh, that's what I decided when I was at that point. And I mean, if I always encourage people, if you have a way of being educated financially, I think that will be the first step that I will take if I have to do it from the beginning. But trade school will be awesome for whoever wants to start this kind of business. Take some kind of trade and combine with a little bit of business education. I think that will be a wonderful key to succeed in this, um, on this side of the the business I think trades are a great place to be.
Speaker 1:I'm aware we're always encouraging more and more people to go into the trades because, I mean, I was talking to a guy this morning. I mean, ai is not going to replace your electrician, just not happening yeah, definitely not, definitely not.
Speaker 2:Yeah and uh, and I always encourage uh the young generations to uh to take I mean I always tell people, um, uh, we have a program. I mean I have a little program that I run every now and then that we meet with uh young, with young entrepreneurs, and I just give them my side of the story or a little bit of my knowledge in order to encourage them to take the right steps to succeed on this type of business. But I mean, it's challenging, but it takes time, it does not happen next day. It takes, it takes a lot of years and it takes countless days without sleeping.
Speaker 1:A hundred percent. A hundred percent. What? What is some of your learnings as an owner and employer?
Speaker 2:Well making mistakes. I think that was part of my education. And handling money was a very challenging part of my side, because I had to learn from scratch how to manage my business, how to manage my money and how to create a scheme where I can work with people's money.
Speaker 1:I think that was the most challenging part, I mean how'd you come up with the scheme to use other people's money?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, taking I have always been related to. I have always been related to. I think the good thing on my side was that I always listened to people. I had a couple of friends that I consider teachers to me. They teach me a lot of financing and also how to handle my money.
Speaker 2:There's a guy from England that I love this guy so much. He's a nice guy. He teaches me how to handle my money. He has a successful business. He's a millionaire. I got to know him because I went to his house and did some electrical work. Then I sit on his table. Then we created good relationships and I used to go visit him every two, three days a week and talk about business and he always encouraged me about business and I always listened to him and he actually teach me a lot of things about business and that's how I got a lot more knowledge about it. Then, searching through Internet, google, youtube and spending time on my own trying to acquire more knowledge in order to apply it to my business. To apply it to my business, that's how I got to start creating my scheme and my tactics of getting people to invest in my business and I mean it took me one guy to actually believe on my own, on myself, and that's how everything came to life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, once you get one, they're like, wow, how'd he do that? Let me do it. Let me do that.
Speaker 2:And the good thing about this was that he spread the word to his friends. And then I got another investor on the boat and I got another one, till the point that right now I get to choose who I want to work with.
Speaker 1:I love that, yeah, I love that, yeah, I love that, yeah, because you can't do it all.
Speaker 2:Oh, definitely not, and right now I'm in the part of my life that I choose who I want to work with, and most of these investors. We became good friends and we have a really good relationship.
Speaker 1:Yeah, perfect. Yeah, you want to take care of their money, money and they want to take care of you, so it's win-win. Oh yeah, definitely, definitely. So what are some misconceptions about running a business and how do you address them?
Speaker 2:well, how did I put uh? The thing is, is uh failing and uh failing and on this, on this, uh on on business, some people things uh to, once you have a business set up, is it was everything is a, is a winning every day. But but it's actually.
Speaker 1:Not true right.
Speaker 2:Not true, not true at all. Back then it used to be some weeks, months that we're just losing money, and that was part of because I didn't understand exactly how a business needs to be run or how my numbers are supposed to come together. So I think those kind of mistakes and having a good funding on my back was a key. But I mean business is, I think if you never lose, I think you never win.
Speaker 1:That's the way I took it. Well, I love that. I'm going to write that down. If you never lose, I think you never win. That's the way I took it. Well, I love that. I'm gonna write that down.
Speaker 2:If you never lose, you never win, you have to take a shot, right, yeah, you have to take a shot. And and I mean from my background is we never have money in the family. So I I come from a very poor family and I think I didn't have anything else to lose.
Speaker 1:Ah interesting. You love business though, don't you? I can tell.
Speaker 2:Oh, definitely, definitely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you love it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's good to my family, to my daughter and some other people that always asking me for a little to share my knowledge. I always do it. I always share everything I could. I mean I just trying to pay back in life whatever I got.
Speaker 1:So I love that. So what do you attribute your growth to?
Speaker 2:I think dedication I work from, but well, I don't do it much right now, but I used to work from monday through sunday, every day, all day, and, and once I get back to my house I take a shower. Then I went, sit on my computer searching and trying to be I always trying to be ahead of the game. Always If I, I, usually if I don't know any, something about the, about the, about a situation, I always try to find the right people and always ask the question that I need to, that I need to know. I think looking for or searching for knowledge. I think that was the key.
Speaker 1:Education.
Speaker 2:Asking the right questions and trying to find and always be around the right people.
Speaker 1:I find and always be around the right people. Yeah, that's a common theme is mentors and you know, having people that are on your side and then getting education, however you want to get it. So that brings me to my next question, which is balance. Like, how do you balance personal life and business life? I mean, it seems like you might have it now, but it might have been tough in previous years.
Speaker 2:You know what? I've been married for 20 years. I've been with my wife for 20 years. We got together. I think I was 21 when we got together, 2021. There's no balance when you're starting a business. People tend to tell me that you need to find a balance, but right now that I'm 40 and I've been in the business for a while, I think when you're starting a business, unless you have a background that your family had money, I think that's the way you can balance it, but when you have no money, you have no other background. I think there's no balance. I think my wife understands that part and I always tell her well, we need to go and try to find it, and the help she gave me is she always understood that I had to be at it until we find it.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. Yeah, you got to have support at home. That's more important than I mean. Balance is, you know, harmony may be a better word. What qualities do you look for in employees and how do you foster a positive, productive work environment?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, right now we subcontract everything, right.
Speaker 1:Well, subs are employees too. So what do you look for in subs?
Speaker 2:Yeah Well most of my subcontractors are being around me for so many years. We rarely change subcontractors.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And a lot of these people are either in the family or long-time friends and always trying to be on the on the family oriented people.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:I have a mentor that always told me that if you want to find a good, a good partner or a good employee, find someone who has a stability in life, in his family he may need to be single or if he's going to be married, find out if he has actually a good relationship, because having a mental stability that gives you a better quality of employee or subcontractor they don't have any other problems, but work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have a client who he loves it when his employees buy a house, because then they know they've got something to work for and they're stable. So I thought that was an interesting way to look at it. But, yeah, I love that stability in the family. So do you interview their spouses to see?
Speaker 2:Well, no, not really. I just really like to sit with people before people with a just nice friendly conversation, always go through the family part, ask them just soft questions, and then I mean, and everything else just comes by nature. I mean I have been on this part for too long and I think to me it's just kind of easy, it's an easy way to find out. I mean I don't.
Speaker 1:I love that. I mean, I love you. Just sit down and ask them questions about their life and their family, Because if we're going to do business together, we got to be wide open and everybody's got to understand what the rules are. Right. Oh, yeah, definitely, yeah, yeah, no, I love that. I love that. Well, let me get your thoughts on. So BEPIC is you know, it's an anagram, it stands for stuff. So the B is you know I made it into B energy, you know, bring the energy, and it seems like you bring a lot of energy. What are your thoughts on bringing energy to the workplace?
Speaker 2:Well, you know our business, since we are mostly on the bigger homes and on the bigger builds, on the nicer builds. I've always been open to ideas. Like I have one of my foremans I always encourage them to bring their opinions to the table. My shop manager I always encourage him to bring new ideas to the cabinetry because I always like to diversify my ideas, uh, my ideas of of new, of new builds. And same with the same with my painter and same with other people. Like I always talk to my painter oh, what's, what's, uh, what's out there, what new colors people are trying, and he always brings his new ideas oh well, let's try this house, this color, it might look good. I've seen a lot of people doing this and that, and same with other people. I mean I'm a really open person on that part. I let people bring ideas to the table. I mean I always try to diversify. On that part, my word is not final.
Speaker 1:I always let's bring everything together oh yeah, yeah, man, two heads are better than one and three are better than two. And yeah, I think you're, yeah, I think you're right. Okay, what about? I mean you're? Uh, we've already talked about this a little bit, but you know your thoughts on I think we've actually covered it. The E stands for education. You got any more thoughts about education?
Speaker 2:Well, like, like I said and this is one thing that I talk to my daughter every day is, if you have a real opportunity of getting educated, just be educated on something that it will generate a good income to you, and I'd be wrong. But I always tell my daughter is find out if whatever you want to go for is going to create you a good income, because if not, then just do something else. I always tell her is just do something else. I told her. I always tell her is just follow the money Once you have the money, then you follow your dreams.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. How about planning? What's your thoughts on planning? P stands for planning.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, my retirement plan and my planning for the future is rentals Right now. Rentals, I mean have a.
Speaker 1:Love it.
Speaker 2:Tested in other things and that will be my retirement plan. And I don't know, I might never retire, I might work forever, who knows?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't. Yeah, I'm not retiring anytime soon. What is um? I stands for inspiration, so, uh, you're definitely an inspiration. What are your thoughts on inspiration?
Speaker 2:well, uh, well, I uh, I have a lot of people that inspire me, uh to, to be on this side of the story and I'm always grateful for that and I mean they're always being good to me and I mean that's what I am right now and, like I said, I always try to help people on the way I can, because right now we live on a life that people don't care about other people and a lot of selfishness. I don't like none of that. I don't either.
Speaker 1:It's not working out, so the C stands for commitment. I don't like none of that and I just think I don't either. It doesn't. It does not working out. So the C stands for commitment. You obviously been committed to, to this growth. What are your thoughts on commitment?
Speaker 2:Well, I, I, I'm always committed to, to, to my plan. I, always, I sometimes I get tired, sometimes with my plan, sometimes I get tired. Sometimes, in a conversation with my wife, I always tell her I'm tired. Sometimes I feel like I want to just walk away from everything, but next day I wake up renewed and going at it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. Okay, yeah, well, in the early days you had to be committed because you needed to make a business grow. And yeah, now you're just yeah, that's paid off for you, so you're not going to change it. So what do you? I mean, you went into business pretty early or you've been working a long time. What do you wish you had known, or that somebody had told you before you went into business?
Speaker 2:Well, I think the legal part of all this part, I think that wouldn't be the big part, that I would study or do something before I ever get into it, because I mean, back then I even got scammed by other people and until this day I mean I still don't understand how people can survive making their money that way.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Having a little bit of a legal education. That wouldn't have been awesome back then and it cost me a lot of money, but I mean I finally got educated on a lot of this process. So I mean I took it as a learning lesson.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I guess the positive way to say it is you win some and you learn some, right, yeah? So yeah, you're going to learn. Either way, you're going to learn. So what other words of advice would you offer to other business owners who are looking to grow?
Speaker 2:would you offer to other business owners who are looking to grow? I think the key of our success, because there is a lot of people involved in my business I mean either a subcontractor or full-time employees I think treating your people right was the key of being successful. Your people right was of being successful. I mean, is employees treating them right? Subcontractors pay everyone on time? And I mean back then I used to show a lot to come to the end of the month. With all these bills getting accumulated every day, I mean be sure that everyone gets paid. That was key of success.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, you got to take care of your team, whether that's subs or employees like it. So if someone wanted to get a hold of you, what's the best way?
Speaker 2:Well, it could be either by email I usually do it through my email because I mean if someone gets really interested to interact with us, then I can just email them back, or I can give them my phone number either or we don't really advertise anything. Yeah, yeah, we got out of that part of the business. Now we we don't do it that much anymore. It's just mainly through investors, is we? Just when you see if the feeling is good, then then we move to something more formal.
Speaker 1:But if not, yeah, just yeah, we'll put your phone number in the show, in the show notes. If anybody wants to get a hold of you and your I mean your email, not your phone number well, we'll put both, and in that case so, uh, hey, man, this has been good. There's a lot of good knowledge here and a lot of good uh education. Really appreciate you being on the podcast thanks, thanks for having me yeah, hey, and until next time all the best.