Madison: They are their industry leaders. They have kept manufacturing in America. And, their industry recognizes them for their generosity of spirit, moral courage, and ethical leadership.

These people are quiet heroes and our new pioneers. They make the world a better place.

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.

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.

• 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).

• 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.

• 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!

• LOOK AT STEP 7: SUSTAINABILITY. Congratulations if you have returned from a failure or major setback with even greater strength and staying power. Also, review stories within your business type and those stories within Steps 6 & 8.

• CASES BY BUSINESS TYPE. Click on the heading to find all the business types and then click on your type of business to check out those case studies. This episode contributes insights into Home & Leisure, Metals - Steel, and Manufacturing.

• TRADE ASSOCIATIONS: 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.

• LOOK AT OTHER STORIES ABOUT BUYING A BUSINESS. Chris & Sara bought their business after thorough research. Chris wanted to develop a brand.
  To check out other episodes where the owner bought the business, click here.

• WATCH TV ABOUT VALUE CREATION: Turn off TV about people exploiting people. It brings us all down. To find SmallBusinessSchool, check your local PBS-member station. If you don't find us there, drop us a note and we will get it on your local government station for economic development. You can also check the rebroadcast of PBS-member station signals on DirecTV and Dish Network.

• Economic Development Commissions and Workforce Initiative: Be a partner with your local PBS-member station with this campaign for your small business owners to create "Just One More Job." Begin with this benefits statement. Always it'll be free from Small Business School..

• 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.

• 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.