Kevin DeMeritt started his career in international banking for WFI corporation in Beverly Hills, CA. In 1997, he founded Lear Capital, one of the nation’s largest precious metals companies. Kevin is also the co-founder and president of Wilshire Finance Partners, a real estate fund established in 2008.
DeMeritt holds a Bachelor’s Degree with an emphasis in business and economics from the University of Montana. A nationally recognized expert on financial markets, the economy and precious metals, he has been a guest commentator on more than 1,000 radio, podcasts and television. DeMeritt also published a book on economic cycles in 1997 called “The Bulls, the Bears and the Bust,” which used long-term economic cycles and interest rates to help predict the 2000 dot-com crash and the rise of commodities, including precious metals. Kevin is now working on updating the book.
Please tell us a little bit about your business – what is Lear Capital all about?
Lear Capital is one of the nation’s largest precious metals companies. We work with investors who are looking to diversify their savings and/or retirement accounts into precious metals. Lear is the only company that has a 24-hour Risk Free Purchase Guarantee, allowing customers to place an order and cancel for any reason within 24 hours.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company.
I was working at an international banking company where we established and capitalized new banks in different jurisdictions around the world. One of the challenges with banks outside the U.S. is working with different currencies that fluctuate against the U.S. dollar. We would have to account and hedge for those fluctuations. Gold was considered an alternative to the different currencies because it was easier to hedge and because the fluctuations were usually smaller than a particular country’s currency.
While researching the gold option, I became very intrigued by the history, stability, and potential gold and other precious metals could have for investors and their portfolio diversification. After putting a business plan together for a precious metals company over the course of 12 months, I finally took the leap and began the company.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
- Learn how to communicate effectively with your team. Be transparent, honest and communicate often. Most problems in the business can be traced back to someone not understanding the issue or not even being aware of the issue. The more productive communication that you have, the more productive everyone will be.
- Constantly work at your processes for hiring people. Nothing is more important than hiring the right person for a job. I believe if you hire right for your culture, you will build a stronger team that will all help pull in the same direction.
- Make sure you remember the customer is first. When you develop a product or service first confirm that you are building something they actually want, and then confirm with them that they are willing to pay the price you plan to charge.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
We stand out from the competition because of the type of products we offer and the transparency of our services. Lear offers very high-quality bullion coins and bars, as well as, unique precious metal and collectible coins . We offer a range of products, including some metals are that are rare in mintage giving them potential to increase dramatically in value over time. As far as transparency, we are the ONLY company that offers a 24-hour Risk-Free Purchase Guarantee. When anyone purchases from Lear we go over the exact metals, quantity and fees for the purchase on a recorded line.
After the transaction is confirmed and prices are locked in, we then send the customer their invoice outlining the same. From there, we want everyone to make sure what they agreed to is what is outlined on the invoice. If for any reason the customer would like to cancel the transaction, they have 24 hours to do so. For many investors, precious metals are new, and we want them to feel comfortable with the entire process.
In addition, we stand out from the competition because Lear Capital has been around for 25 years – more than double most of our competitors. During that time, we have conducted over $3 billion in trusted transactions with 91,000 satisfied customers. We have a 4.9-star rating on Trustpilot and are the No.1 reviewed precious metals dealer .
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
- Not spending the time to hire the right people for important positions. I learned that one of the biggest mistakes you can make in business is hiring a “C” level employee who isn’t right for the position. It’s better to spend 4-6 sessions with them inside and outside the office to make sure they are the right fit.
- Creating products that people either didn’t want or would not spend what you thought they were worth. I learned it’s better to do all of the research you can — outside friends and family — to get the right feedback about your product or service. It’s easy to fall in love with a great idea and think everyone else is going love it too. That is usually not the case. The second thing I learned is that even if everyone loves the idea or product they might not agree on what it’s worth.
- Not delegating enough. When you try to do everything yourself, the business is running you, not the other way around. You also have no time to communicate with others exactly what you are looking to accomplish, so they can help and get behind it. Ultimately, if you only communicate a portion of what you need or want, you only receive a portion of the project completed like you wanted it. It’s better to slow down, communicate effectively and get the job completed right the first time.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
I think all of my biggest challenges have come down to people. Some people who didn’t fit into the culture or didn’t really want to work as they had professed in the interviews. When you hire the wrong person, that one person can infect the entire division or even the entire company in ways you couldn’t have imagined.
You overcome this issue by writing out as best you can, what it is that you are looking for in a candidate. Spend as much time as possible thinking about the position and all of the important qualities you are looking for and WRITE them down. It is better to pass on people who are not going to fit inside your organization than hiring someone that isn’t going to work. You will have caused issues for both of you, and it can be very difficult to unwind.
If you started your business again, what things would you do differently?
I think there are two things that I would do differently. I would have hired the right people sooner, and I would have spent more time with the processes of the business. Sometimes the processes in the business are more of a differentiator in the industry than anything else. When your business is different than your competitors, either by being more customer focused or efficient, those processes become your advantage. Especially in a commoditized business.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs?
- Book: Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Podcast: Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman
- Online Course: Lean by The Lean Enterprise Institute
What helps you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business?
I think watching our people grow, overcome challenges and create new and exciting ideas that can drive the business for the next 5-10 years is exciting. If you are in business for the people and customers, the money will come and be much more than you expected. When you are in business for the money only, I think it’s easy to get burned out.
What is your favorite quote?
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it’s the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
People are your most important asset. Think about your first hires and how they are really going to fit in to your business over the next 3-5 years. In the beginning, don’t hire important positions too quickly just because you need more hands. It will be better to make do without until you can hire the right candidate rather than be limited later by the problems caused by a bad hire.
How do you personally overcome fear?
Don’t worry about things you can’t control When challenges emerge, I sit down and think about the worst possible scenario first. From there I think about all of the things in that worst case scenario that are unlikely to happen. When I have a list of what is left, I eliminate all of the issues I can’t control and work on the list of issues I can control. Usually, you feel much better by the time you get through the second step. .
