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Meet Dan Shelhamer

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Shelhamer.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Dan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there
 My story into entrepreneurship started when I was 12 years ago. I was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs. I have always loved cars and have an attention to detail. I put the two together and started ‘Dan’s Detailing’ out of my parent’s garage and even spoke on a WGN Chicago radio show talking about what kids were doing with their summers to earn some cash. I ended up going onto Illinois State University where I graduated with a degree in Business Management and Organizational Leadership. After college, I went to work for Enterprise Rent-A-Car (because they have an excellent corporate structure, and they give you all the tools to be your own boss! HAHA).  But seriously, I definitely got to cut my teeth and improve my sales game.  After a year at Enterprise, I transitioned into medical sales with Stericycle for six years. I love sales, and the grind of it, but always knew I wanted to be my boss and be in control of my financial future.  I didn’t want to make someone else rich.

When I was at Stericycle, I knew there had to be a better way to prosperity than just chasing your quota every month for the rest of my working days. I wanted to live life on my terms and not wait until I was 65 years old to enjoy it. After doing some research, I came across 2 things that have since changed my life. One of those things is a social networking and educational site called Bigger Pockets. It’s a LinkedIn but for Real Estate Investors. I listened to their podcast religiously and read all the books I could get my hands on about real estate and how to create passive income and generational wealth.

One of those books I read turned out to be the other thing that has completely changed my life and my mindset. Rich Dad Poor Dad, written by Robert Kiyosaki, changed the way I thought about money and taught me how to get ahead and take control of my own life. All of the businesses I have started come back to principle in this book of acquiring assets that produce cashflow. Cash is not king…..CASHFLOW IS KING.

Shortly thereafter, I started buying rental properties in the suburbs of Chicago, and real estate has since become a huge passion for me.

One of my favorite things that I enjoy is traveling.  My wife & I took a trip out to Scottsdale in 2014 (neither of us had ever been to AZ), and we instantly fell in love with everything this amazing state has to offer. We quickly started thinking “this is somewhere we could see ourselves living”. We talked about it with friends and family (which I don’t think anyone took us seriously). Once we got engaged in 2016, we started putting together a plan to move out here as soon as we got married. We moved to Old Town Scottsdale in September of 2018, and my family has now since moved here and my wife’s family is currently building a house in Arizona.

Before moving, I had heard of this site called Turo where you can rent out your cars (Like Airbnb but for your car). As soon as I moved, I listed me and my wife’s cars on the platform. I quickly went from two cars up to five cars within about two months and focused on luxury vehicles.

After moving to Scottsdale, I knew that it would be difficult to continue to buy single family homes back in Illinois, and none of the properties I looked at in Arizona seemed to bring the returns I was looking for. I knew I needed to take the next step into multifamily investing. I connected with an awesome network of multifamily investors and we ended up closing on a 76-unit apartment building in Phoenix. I look forward to growing my portfolio with apartment buildings while providing people with a great place to live.

My most recent business venture has been into healthy vending machines, with my company called Mesa Healthy Vending. I have been interested in vending machines for years, and the passive income they can generate. I was looking at several franchise opportunities including an upscale gym & a healthy pet food store, but after doing some research on healthy vending I decided it was the right fit for me. I am looking forward to growing this business in my community and providing schools, workplaces, and hotels with healthier options.

Has it been a smooth road?
No, it certainly hasn’t been a smooth road the whole way. I think that’s why so many people who are unhappy with their “jobs” are scared to leap into entrepreneurship. It is filled with peaks and valleys, but I have always tried to push forward no matter what. I have had to deal with the naysayers and the people who think you are crazy for going after what you truly want in life. I am currently dealing with an eviction that has been anything but smooth, but I refuse to fail. I either succeed or learn something from my mishaps, but I always come out better because of it. You have to know what your WHY is to be an entrepreneur. It can’t all be about you and it can’t all be about money. There has to be a bigger reason for why you are doing what you are doing, and that WHY will get you through those tough times.

Tell us more about the business.
It sounds cliché but I always put the customer first. I want to treat them the way I would want to be treated. I try to separate myself from a customer experience standpoint and based on my feedback and reviews from them, I feel like I do a really good job of that. My car rental customers always get a cold bottle of water as soon as I meet them. My company motto is “an unforgettable experience”, and everything I do is based on that. When people go on vacation, they hardly every remember their car rental experience. I want to change that, and make it one of the most enjoyable parts of their trip. Small details make all the difference.  There is gum, Kleenex, and phone chargers in the car for them.  I also can deliver the vehicle to them, all within an hour window.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
One of the reasons I got into the businesses I did, is because I see them only growing in the future. Real Estate has been around for thousands of years, and more people are now renting than ever before. Healthy vending has been on the rise for the past decade as consumers are reading nutritional labels on everything. Parents and schools are now very aware of what is in the food they are having, and our country has had a major shift towards eating better. Cars have also become so costly that people are turning to the sharing economy with companies like Uber, Airbnb, and now Turo. I only see massive growth in store for the car rental industry.

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Image Credit:
Devon Belanger (all car photos)

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