Todd Raufeisen has built a distinguished career by transforming commercial real estate opportunities into successful, long-term investments. As president and CEO of Dirt Dog Real Estate Company since 2023, he oversees every phase of commercial development, from identifying off-market properties to managing construction, tenant occupancy, and final asset sales. Todd Raufeisen’s work spans multiple states, where he collaborates with nationally recognized brands such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Dutch Bros, Jersey Mike’s, Advance Auto Parts, and Aldi.
With decades of experience, Todd Raufeisen has developed expertise in land acquisition, environmental due diligence, zoning approvals, lease negotiations, engineering coordination, and project management. He leads teams of contractors, engineers, investors, and business partners while managing an active pipeline of 30 to 50 development projects each year. During his career he has completed hundreds of commercial transactions.
Before launching Dirt Dog Real Estate Company, Todd Raufeisen held leadership positions with Raufeisen Development Company, Optimum Commercial Real Estate, and the Heeren Company, where he guided business growth and earned recognition for exceptional sales performance. His professional achievements extend beyond business, including years of volunteer service with Junior Achievement, his local chamber of commerce, and the John Deere Classic PGA Tour event. Today, he continues mentoring disadvantaged youth while applying his leadership experience to commercial real estate development across the United States.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
The greatest challenge and enjoyment about every day is that it is different. My projects, customers, and those I represent drive my day. I am also an organizational freak. I work off of numerous to-do lists that keep track of my objectives, the progress, and the next steps for success. I do this for my personal goals, projects, and the companies I represent. I am also a believer in that success follows measurement. So at the end of every day, I measure my productivity and then identify the steps to improve that productivity the next day. Days lead to weeks, which leads to months and years. Productivity and success are achieved by building on each day for the next day. The rest comes with time.
How do you bring ideas to life?
A single sheet of paper. I have always believed that if you cannot identify what you want to build or create on a single page of paper, you have no chance of success. Perhaps I learned that from creating ideas on a bar napkin when I was young. Once you have an ideal you then need to break it down into required steps to bring the idea to life. If you are making something, you have to review the materials, the manufacturing processes, testing, etc. So identify key steps. They may include manufacturing, software writing, testing, marketing—they may be numerous. From that list, you need to break down each benchmark into the steps to achieve it. I like to keep that number at no more than 10. Key steps. The next step is to attach a timetable to achieve each step. Once again measure your progress. A lot of great ideas get lost because they drift into the background. The second is a willingness to adapt. Markets change, technology changes so fast. You may have to adjust your benchmarks and timetable to adapt to the changes around you that you cannot control. Never lose sight of the finish line. The last step should be when the idea becomes reality—and there should be clear benefits identified when your idea comes to life. Those benefits are what keep you focused on the idea through time and challenges.
What’s one trend that excites you?
It both excites and scares me, but it is the growth of technology. One of the most critical aspects of life is to identify, understand, and grasp your strengths and weaknesses. The changes in technology and AI bring so many resources to your fingertips that used to take a lot of time and money to achieve. You can quickly address your weaknesses. As an example, I am an engineer. I am a math guy. I have tremendous talent with numbers and complex engineering challenges. At the same time, I struggle to write a letter with good grammar. I use AI to address those issues.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Faith. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Believe that tomorrow will be a great day because someone has your back. My faith has led to confidence. Life brings tremendous challenges. I have been through tremendous challenges. My faith allowed me not to give up, to keep striving, to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. It takes tremendous discipline to be productive—good habits repeated hourly and daily.
What advice would you give your younger self?
The advice I would give my younger self is to listen more and speak less, because you cannot truly hear someone when your mouth is moving. I would also emphasize the importance of kindness and understanding. You do not have to agree with everyone, but you should respect other people and their opinions, even when they differ from your own. Finally, I would encourage humility and remind myself that money is not everything. Happiness, friendship, and love are the things that matter most and provide what money cannot buy.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
I believe the University of Illinois football team will someday become a national champion, even though many people may be skeptical of that prediction. While the team has faced challenges and has not always received national recognition, I believe its history, dedicated players, passionate fans, and potential for growth could eventually lead to a championship season. I remain confident that, with strong leadership, consistent development, and determination, the Fighting Illini can compete at the highest level of college football.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
The one thing I repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do is pray. I pray for mercy and grace, especially during difficult times, and I believe prayer provides strength, guidance, comfort, and hope. Regardless of a person’s circumstances, taking time to pray can encourage reflection and help us face life with greater faith and humility.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Take a break to clear my mind. I walk my dog and smoke a cigar when I am off-track. Dogs are amazing. They love you everyday, they depend on you, and they support you with their love and attention. That time with an ally allows your mind to clear, allows you to hit the re-energize button, and bring focus back on the task you are attempting to achieve.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Business is built on relationships. Truly get to know your customers and clients. Find out about their lives and what they enjoy. Let the conversation be about them and where they want to be in life or what is important in their life. It is a small world. If you build strong personal relationships over time, you will be amazed how often those relationships come back to benefit you. I am in the real estate business and it is a relationship business. Some of my closest friends I have never done a deal with, but they have helped me on other deals as friends in ways I could never expect.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
One business idea I would be willing to give away is creating a coffee and beverage service designed to eliminate long drive-thru lines. The concept could combine mobile ordering, scheduled pickup times, express pickup stations, and strategically placed walk-up windows or delivery options. Customers could order ahead through an app, choose a specific pickup time, and quickly collect their coffee or drinks without waiting behind 18 cars. This system could improve convenience, reduce traffic congestion, and help businesses serve more customers efficiently.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
ChatGPT. It takes hours off financial spreadsheets and pro formulas and creates them in 5 minutes. It allows me as an entrepreneur to handle so much more work, as the one limiting factor in business is time. There are 24 hours in a day, right? You can’t change that you have to maximize the use of the available time. AI allows you to do that.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?/
My niece and her family of six had a labradoodle that recently passed after 16 years. I actually had Tucker for 2 months, as they had some issues with him snapping at one of their children. I found out quickly it was not the dog’s problem, but my niece’s problem. She was 4 at the time and is currently 7. When I brought Tucker back to their house, I spent the weekend teaching her how to handle a dog—how to stay “out of their space.” She loved Tucker and was a great student. When they had to put Tucker down, she was by his side through the entire process at the vet’s office. There is nothing worse than putting a dog down. I was so proud of her strength and courage. I spent $100 getting a portrait created of one of the last pictures of her with Tucker, which she can hang in her room to remember her first dog.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. It identifies a lot of factors that can affect your success that you cannot necessarily control. It just really provided a perspective on striving for success that I use to this day.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
Landman. It is all about the good and bad things in business and the impact that friends and other “activities” can have on how your business functions. It has humor and all of the other highlights and challenges of life.
Key learnings
- Never give up.
- Lean on your faith. God has your back.
- Create to-do lists every day.
- Performance follows measurement.
- Success is a journey, not a destination.