Operation
True Potential
Operation
True Potential
Providing Safe
Housing
“Potentializing”
Properties
Bringing Hope
To Communities
The Vision
Long before he formally identified himself as a “potentializer” via famed entrepreneur coach Dan Sullivan’s Unique Ability program, Lance Edwards had visualized the highest possibilities in hundreds of investment properties and engaged in the hard work of upgrading them to their full income generating potential.
It simply goes with the territory of being an insightful investor and the bestselling author of “How To Make Big Money in Small Apartments” who educates hundreds of people each year on the intricacies of small apartment investing and the mindset required to succeed.
Yet at the end of 2020, when upon referral from a student he took the plunge on age a 44-unit property in across from a college in the small town of Fairmont, West Virginia, Lance was focused on the hard math of what it would take to make it profitable. So at first, it didn’t occur to him that it would become the foundation for Operation True Potential, one of the most meaningful, influential and transformational endeavors of his life. Pegging the building as one that “didn’t need a lot of rehab, just a lot of attention,” he and his team got to work on running off the dopeheads who lived and held court with dealers there, increasing occupancy from a ridiculously low 22%, cleaning up trash, vacuuming and generally trying to make it safe again for students and families.
OTP Distinctives
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A Collaborative Effort of Mom & Pop Entrepreneurs
aimed at transforming small multi-family communities for the better nationwide
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Bring out the True Potential
of each property
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Reward everyone in numerous ways
Residents, investors and the local community
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Grassroots private sector initiative
Where success is measured in both financial and social returns
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Leverage the classic American free enterprise system
In an innovative and inspiring way
In addition, Lance’s company, FCG, enables everyday people to realize and expand their own American Dream by collectively transforming these communities for the better, despite their experience or financial starting point. As he has told his students for years, despite the many challenges of getting started, “you’re only one deal away!”
“Potentializer”
The creation of Operation True Potential dovetails perfectly with Lance’s discovery via Dan Sullivan’s UA exercise of selfreflection and 360-degree assessment, from those who know him best, that his unique ability is what he’s labeled a “potentializer.” This means he can see the higher potential in everything, whether it be people, situations and business.
As showcased with his transformation of Fairmont and the second property transformed as part of OTP (Ridgewood Village Apartments in Moore, OK), he is excellent at converting that vision into a detailed action plan, communicating his intentions effectively and guiding others toward that vision.
Confidence Built on Experience
Lance’s confident belief that you can “drop me into any business and I will naturally identify a half dozen ways to improve it” has long manifested in the success of his company, which has won three Inc500 awards for fastest growing national company. Investing in and improving apartment buildings is an extension of his business, and each property becomes like an individual business itself. Lance’s ability to see the turnaround opportunities almost immediately is what allowed him and his team to raise rents $200 in the first five weeks of improvement at Ridgewood and raise Fairmont’s occupancy from 22% to 89%.
In essence, his formal announcement of Operation True Potential at the Fairmont Grand Opening was the latest display of his natural gift of potentializing properties, people and the surrounding community.
What the Future Holds
Moving forward, one of the keys to the ultimate success of OTP and the fulfillment of its mission is building a movement around these building and community transformations that can outlive him. The members of this movement will identify themselves as “potentializers.” The same way students of his programs have done for years, these members will use Lance’s training, resources and systems to unleash the power of entrepreneurship to transform small multi-family communities for the better nationwide.
Lance is a big believer in the power of the “hero’s journey,” a common narrative archetype that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, learns a lesson, wins a victory with that newfound knowledge and returns home transformed. His goal for the process of educating these “potentializers” is that they be empowered to live their own hero’s journey as they transform themselves along with the communities they invest in. In other words, he wants to potentialize not only properties, but people.
About Lance Edwards
Lance Edwards is a national authority on small apartments (2-100 unit properties) and best selling author of “How to Make Big Money in Small Apartments”. Besides leading Operation True Potential, he educates thousands each year on small apartment investing.
