New York City: Andy Murstein is a regular guy and there are great lessons for each of us within Medallion Financial. Even those of us who are not on the way to becoming a billion dollar business, this episode of the show is on the money.

This is a truly remarkable statement from Andy, "Medallion Financial is the largest SBA lender in the US to women and minority-owned companies. It has been lending money to disadvantaged business owners for over 50 years. In the taxi industry it has lent over 1 billion dollars and with zero loses."

Small Business Investment Company. Consider that extraordinary quote from Andy ... Medallion Financial became a very large Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) very quickly because they were already doing it! They were doing exactly what grandfather asked them to do: Work within your niche because there are riches in niches.

To find an SBIC near you, there are two primary resources, the SBA and the SBIC trade association: NASBIC or National Association of Small Business Investment Companies.

CONTACT:
Medallion Financial Corp.
(also d/b/a Medallion Funding Corporation)
437 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Tel: 212-328-2100; 877-MEDALLION
Fax: 212-328-2121
Email: Click here!
URL: http://www.medallionfinancial.com/
Ticker: TAXI (NASD)

Be sure to check out their publications about Capital Raising References for Small Business and their State Directory.

Also, check out the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC).

When Medallion qualified for the federal SBA guarantee program, it just gave them a little more elbow room.

By the time he turned 18 he was working for the US Marines.

They already had a long history of reading people. They could talk with a person for a minute and know if he/she would be a good credit risk. And, it is obvious from this episode that this ability to discern has been transferred from one generation to the next.

The USA is an empowerment zone, yet there is no free lunch. It still requires hard work and repayment. But, why not? Take your best ideas and join the party. It is the best dance there is. The dance of life is about value creation. Today, there are dozens of programs that help guarantee loans and match you with private placements through the SBA and SBICs and other government agencies.

Today, learn about the SBICs. But, plan to learn more about your government; if you don't, you'll be passing on many opportunities to leverage your assets.

To wit, there is a mandate in Congress that 23% of all government contracts go to small business! Just put these words in Google: 23% government contracts to small business (without quotes). Remember, though, the goal is to lower the cost of government. If you are going to take on some of the burden, be ready to compete, under-promise and over-deliver. Help disintermediate big government by taking on government contracts. Small business can easily out perform big business and bureaucrats. We, small business, are earmarked -- a legal requirement -- to receive 23% of all government contracts. In some departments in some agencies it is approaching 50%.

• GO FURTHER: Spend some time with the ten key points of the case study guide (just above in the green box) and each of the related transcript segments.

• Sweat Equity Works: Review the three generations of commitment and boldness to build a sustainable business and a family's legacy.
  1. The business is started by an immigrant taxi cab driver; he expands and develops a fleet of cabs.
  2. Even as the son expands the fleet, he begins selling, then financing, medallions.
  3. The grandson expands the financing and takes the business public (IPO) to become a bank.
  
  They have taken their own "sweat equity model" and have made it work for their customers, too.

• STEP 1: "I'm Going to Start a Business. You have to at least say these words to yourself. It is the first step and a big step.
  
  Medallion Funding is at STEP 8; they have broken ionto the mid-sized companies with over 500 employees.

• Business Type: You can study other episodes of the show by industry, i.e. Andy is in finance. Another billionaire success story is Ebby Halliday who gave all her wealth to others!

• JOIN, JOIN, JOIN: Your professional associations in your industry are your key to continuing education, market research, collaborations, strategic partnerships, capital and so much more ... often you'll find that you enjoy like-minded people and many will become friends for life. Here are a few of Andy's associations:
  • Government: SBA SBIC program
  • National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC)
  • National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC)
    • Capital Raising References for Small Business
    • Directory

• FIND YOUR STEP AND CHART A COURSE TO THE NEXT. If you already have a business, explore Steps 5 - 8. If you’re just getting started, spend time going through Steps 1 - 4. Three-dimensional business modelling is part of our research of critical ratios.

• 1500+ Questions and Answers within SmallBusinessSchool. Within every show there are about 15 questions and answers. Within the school, there is a place to record your answers to these questions. Your answers to the same questions that Hattie has asked all the other business owners become part of your own secure database where you have options to re-display your best answers within this site as your own profile page (that is this page), essentially an executive summary , a study guide and/or a transcript.

• FIRST PRINCIPLES: Starting a business is the road to economic independence for most of us average people. Read a little more to see why incorporating a business keeps the passion of the American revolution alive!

• Exit Strategy and Succession Planning. 70% of all businesses fail to pass the baton to the next generation. They fail to reach sustainability beyond their personality. That business is called a lifestyle business.
  
  If you want to be rewarded for all your hard work, by the time you hit 40 years of age, you had better have some ideas about your own exit strategy and a succession plan. By 50 years old, you should have the basic elements in place. By 55, we all should be working on it. By 60, we need to be harvesting some of our equity (ESOP - DPO - IPO). In the key point of the study guide just above, review points 5 and 6.
  
  Do you have a working succession plan? Do you have an exit strategy? More of us need to be spending the last phase of our life counseling and guiding the next generation to their successes.

• IPO - DPO. Read through Steps 6 & 7 & 8 and Money, i.e. each of the corresponding sections about capital. The case study guide, Key Idea 7, is also helpful.
  
  DPO: Put it in your future if you do not have family to pick up the reins. Use the equity in your business. You have to "use it or you'll lose it." IPO: Even if you have family coming in, as did Alvin with Andy, an IPO is the opening salvo for a billion dollar business. Can you think that big? Small Business School is public television's resource for continuing education for adults to help you walk up the eight steps from an idea to an exit strategy to start, run and grow a business. You will not live forever. We suggest the Risk Management Association, a consortium of 3000 banks and 16,000 other financial organizations. You can take courses with the RMA to learn how to calculate and interpret your key critical ratios. They also know, based on the annual results of over 150,000 loan docs, what the standard means -- key critical ratios -- are within your industry.
  
  Do you know how you measure up within your industry? There is no better group than the RMA to help you learn.

• MORE ABOUT FINANCES. We have a section about money and it can be useful. BUT -- and this is a big one -- we all need to know about RMA --The Risk Management Association. This is real insiders information on your financials so take note.
  
  This organization is the banker's banker. They know more about key critical ratios than anybody on earth. Over 3000 banks and 16000 other kinds of financial organizations contribute the essential financial data from their loan inventory to RMA's "Annual Statement Studies" to calculate key critical ratios for every major industry type (and for most subsets of business vis-a-vis the SIC and NAICS). With over 150,000 loans per year, that is statistical relevancy.
  
  Do you know the average key ratios within your industry? We haven't learned ours yet for the TV/Production Industry, so we all need to ask our banker. To really make a study of it, keep an eye out for the next seminar by RMA in your area. It'll be the best money you'll spend to understand the organic nature of your business, and learn what it is that your banker so quickly knows about your industry. For more, read online: RMA seminars, RMA history, and their small business scoring (i.e. used by the SBA for their Low Docs).
  
  If you'd like to study the history behind the RMA (it goes back to Robert Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence), click here.

• SUPPORT PUBLIC TELEVISION:
  Become a member of your local station. If you are already, great. If not and your business is doing well, consider joining the Producers' Club ($1000).