Al Hodge is a 1988 graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). Additionally, Al Hodge is a 1998 graduate of The Economic Development Institute of the University of Oklahoma and is certified by the National Development Council (NDC) as an Economic Development Finance Professional.
SBA awarded Al its 1993 Financial Services Advocate of the Year for the State of Louisiana and its 2000 Financial Services Advocate of the Year for the State of Arkansas.
Today Al Hodge is Executive Vice President and heads the lending division of Arkansas Capital Corporation Group where he is a very active SBA 7(a), SBA 504 and USDA B&I Lender.
Kerry and guest Al Hodge from Arkansas Capital Corp. discuss small business lending, financial information for entrepreneurs and more. Up In Your Business is a Radio Show by FlagandBanner.com
Podcast Links
State of Arkansas Business Center – this resource is from the state and offers links to various government information, permits, licensing, verification, directories and more.
Kerry’s Business Plan advice – Kerry wrote an article for Brave Magazine about how to write a business plan, complete with a template.
A-Z index for Business from the IRS – This resource has everything you need for all types of businesses from Sole Proprietor to Corporations and more. The documents and resources can help you find everything you need to make your business legal.
Small Business Administration – The Small Business Administration is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Full Transcript: EPISODE 04 - Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy - Guest: Al Hodge of Arkansas Capital Corp.
[INTRODUCTION]
[0:00:09.1] TB: Welcome to Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy. Be sure to stay tuned till the end of the show to hear how you can get a copy of this program and other helpful documents.
Now, it's time for Kerry McCoy to get all up in your business.
[INTERVIEW]
[0:00:03.3]TB: Welcome to Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy. Be sure to stay tuned till the end of the show to hear how you can get a copy of this program and other helpful documents. Now, it’s time for Kerry McCoy to get all up in your business.
[0:00:18.9] KM: Hello, you’re listening to Kerry McCoy, it’s time for me to get all up in your business. For the next hour, via phone and email, I will be, to the best of my ability, answering questions and giving advice to small business owners and to people who dream of owning a small business. You may be asking yourself, “What makes this lady qualified to do this?” I’ll tell you, experience.
In a minute, you can email or call and ask me anything. My experiences deep and wide and my advice is free. 40 years ago which is $400 I started Arkansas Flag & Banner. Since then it's morphed into simply flagandbanner.com with sales nearing 4 million. That's worth saying again. I started Arkansas Flag & Banner with just $400 and today we have sales nearing 4 million.
I started by selling flags door-to-door and then went to telemarketing, next mail order and catalog sales, and today we rely heavily on the internet. In addition, over the last 40 years, I've navigated flag and banner through two recessions and two wars.
When people find out I’m that woman who owns Arkansas Flag & Banner, they often say, “Oh! I’ve heard about you,” and begin asking the business advice, and I amaze even myself with all the knowledge I've gained.
If you call me for advice, you will not be given textbook answers or theory, but you will be given candid advice from my real world experience, so be prepared for the truth. It's not always easy to see here. For instance, you may not want to hear this. In business there are very few overnight successes. Starting and owning a business takes persistence, perseverance, and patience. For instance, when I started Arkansas Flag & Banner, I supplemented my income by waitressing all while I pedaled my flags door-to-door. After nine years — Did you hear me? Nine years working a part-time job, the company began to grow and solely support me.
My first hire was a bookkeeper to handle the clerical side of the business. My first expansion was to begin manufacturing of custom flags, so a sewing department developed. The next decade ushered in Desert Storm war, flags were scarce, so a screen-printing department was hardly built to meet the consumer demands.
In addition to sales and manufacturing, Flag & Banner now has a purchasing department, a shipping department, technology department, marketing department, call center and retail store, and I spearheaded the development of every one of these departments. My experience is deep and wide and my advice is free. Unbelievable!
Before we start taking calls, I want to introduce you to the people at the table. We have Tim Bowen our technicians who’ll be taking your calls and pushing the buttons. Say hi, Tim.
[0:03:15.3] TB: Hi, Tim!
[0:03:18.1] KM: My guest today is Al Hodge, from Arkansas Capital Corporation. Al received his BA from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He continued his education at the University of Oklahoma studying economic development in financial services. Al has been named Advocate of The Year by both the Louisiana and Arkansas SBA Financial Services and AY Magazine named him one of the most powerful man in 2015.
In addition, Al is passionate about his work with United Cerebral Palsy of Arkansas, and on the wall Arkansas Capital in the River market, he gleefully displays and hosts Second Friday Art in support of local artists. Welcome to the table, Al Hodge.
[0:04:08.4] AH: Thank you, Kerry.
[0:04:10.7] KM: Before we get down to the nuts and bolts of business, tell our listeners what Arkansas Capital Corporation Group is and does.
[0:04:20.8] AH: Well, we've been around since 1957. We are a private nonprofit economic development finance organization. We really do not compete with our local bankers. We do fund loans in partnership with our local bankers and we primarily do deals that fall outside of conventional bank policy.
[0:04:41.9] KM: That’s how I met you.
[0:04:42.9] AH: That's right. That was a long time ago.
[0:04:44.8] KM: I like that unconventional stuff.
[0:04:47.6] AH: Oh, love unconventional.
[0:04:50.0] KM: I really want to talk about Al the man, but we’re not going to have time, because when I was putting together questions for you, it was like four or five pages of questions. I'm going to start questions that I think the listeners want to hear. At the end of the program, if we get to talk about Al the man and what drives you what motivates you, we’ll do that. Your brain is so full of information that all these small business owners and want to be small business owners need to know. My first question; is there one thing you see in all entrepreneurs?
[0:05:24.4] AH: One thing in all entrepreneurs. Let's see. Yes, I see drive. I see motivation. Sometimes there’s a lack of planning, but most of all I see the drive and the motivation and that’s where I like to see in my entrepreneurs. Are they really willing to sacrifice? Just like you. You're talking about what you did. You waited on tables for nine years while you sold your flags door-to-door. That’s what I want to see. People are willing to do anything in order to get their business up and running. That shows true commitment.
[0:05:55.8] KM: Before we go to the next question, I want to tell — Because I think people want to ask you a lot of questions. I want to tell people how they can do that. You're listening to Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy on KABF. My guest today is Al Hodge from the Arkansas Capital Corporation Group. If you’ve got questions or comments for either of us, call —
[0:06:13.9] TB: 501-433-0088.
[0:06:17.9] KM: Or you can email questions.
[0:06:19.2] TB: At upyourbusiness.org.
[0:06:21.0] KM: And that’s questions with an S.
[0:06:22.6] TB: That is correct.
[0:06:23.3] KM: If you don’t want to call in. Al, I’m at the dentist's office yesterday and we’re chitchatting, making small talk, and I tell her what I'm doing about my new radio show. Of course, like always, they say, “Oh! I’ve got a question.” She says that her husband is a want to be entrepreneur.
[0:06:43.1] AH: Great!
[0:06:43.6] KM: I know. He watches everything. He sees everything. He was to learn all he can learn, but he's not passionate about any one thing. She says, “How does he figure out what to start a business about and how does he begin?” I know what my answer would be to that, but I want to hear you’re your answer would be.
[0:07:02.4] AH: My answer is he needs to be looking at a franchise. Franchise businesses in America are some of the best entrepreneurial opportunities you can get into. If you really don't want to know — If you really don't know what you want to do but you want to own your own business, you want to work for yourself, be in control of your future, you really need to look at all of the opportunities that are available through franchises.
[0:07:29.6] KM: Wow! I wouldn’t have thought that.
[0:07:31.5] AH: That is the best place to start. It really is.
[0:07:34.0] KM: Ant they train you.
[0:07:35.1] AH: You’re trained by the franchisor. Every step of the way, you’re helped.
[0:07:43.0] KM: Do they finance it for you, or do they come to you and you find finance it?
[0:07:46.2] AH: Yeah. Companies like me and banks and other financing sources will finance franchised opportunities. Yes.
[0:07:53.1] KM: Do you deal directly with the person that wants to borrow the money?
[0:07:58.7] AH: Yes.
[0:07:58.3] KM: Because with me, I went through — When I first met you, I went through a bank. It was Twin City Bank I think at the time, and they sold my lung to you, and that’s how I made it.
[0:08:09.4] AH: Really, how it happened, was a lot of times when a bank cannot do what the borrower needs, they will contact us, because they know we can probably get it done. When I say they can’t get it done what you need is because of bank policy, because of federal regulations. Some reasons why.
[0:08:28.6] KM: Don't you have the same guidelines?
[0:08:29.7] AH: No, we really don’t. We’re not governed by the FDSE or the OCC or any other bank regulatory organization. We’re really governed by such agencies as the SBA, and as long as we’re following the SBA policy, we can do a lot that banks cannot do.
[0:08:46.0] KM: Would you say the SBA is your best partner?
[0:08:48.9] AH: As a lender? I say the SBA is my best partner. As a small business owner, it’d say the SBA is my best opportunity to do what I need to get done.
[0:08:59.0] KM: Interesting. You like franchises.
[0:09:01.3] AH: I like franchises a lot. There’s a great opportunity and most of them are already proven.
[0:09:06.7] KM: What about a partnership? What if somebody says, “My friend have a business and he needs some money and some capital infused into the business and I want to buy into this business as a partnership, and we’re friends.” Have you seen that very many times?
[0:09:22.1] AH: I've seen that a lot of times. Unfortunately, I've seen it break up friendship. I’d be very careful about going into a partnership because even if y’all are good friends going into the partnership, it doesn’t mean you’re going to remain good friends throughout the time.
[0:09:39.5] KM: Let's say you're not friends and you meet strictly as two people that have the same vision about a business and you're not particularly friends and you met on a business relationship. Do you do 50-50 in a partnership? Is that how you keep is there?
[0:09:52.6] AH: It all depends on who’s bringing the money to the table. The person with the money is one that’s going to be in control. I see that a lot with entrepreneurs. They have an idea but they have no money, and they want to get an investor, but the investor wants the majority of the company and they’re not willing to do. Well, I am sorry if you don't have the money, you're going to have to do what the investor is requiring of you to do if you want to go into business.
[0:10:18.5] KM: Money talks.
[0:10:19.7] AH: It really does.
[0:10:20.7] KM: The person who puts up the most money obviously owns the most of the business and gets the last say, and can you live with that? It’s a personality decision you have to make.
[0:10:27.7] AH: Absolutely. That’s exactly what it is.
[0:10:30.8] KM: Yeah. See, I can never do that.
[0:10:32.7] AH: That’s why I recommend you do that as a last resort.
[0:10:36.4] KM: Okay. Let's say that you decided you’re going to start a business and you want to know if you have a good idea. How do you know if you have a good idea? Where do you start?
[0:10:45.3] AH: You need to run it by people like me that are independent and don't have an interest in your business and just see if it's a good idea. People like me, we’ve been doing this for 30+ years. We’ve seen almost every kind of business come and go. A lot of people just want to run their plan by me and I'll take a look at I'll give you my honest opinion.
[0:11:06.0] KM: You really are saying you start with a business plan.
[0:11:09.5] AH: Correct. You have to start with a business plan.
[0:11:11.5] KM: It’s not how I started my business.
[0:11:12.8] AH: I know, and you’ve been very blessed, Kerry.
[0:11:17.2] KM: I’ve had a good banker.
[0:11:18.2] AH: Well, your plan was in your head and, luckily, your banker never required you to put it on paper.
[0:11:23.0] KM: Eventually, they did. I hope at the end of the show we get to talk about all the denials that I've had from you also. I think they call those unanswered prayers.
Is there a current business trend or a model that you see emerging right now? I know technology.
[0:11:42.2] AH: Definitely on technology, but services is really big right now, providing services to many many different kind of customers and clients.
[0:11:50.2] KM: That’s what I would have guessed. Service is one of those things you can't send overseas.
[0:11:55.9] AH: That is correct.
[0:11:57.4] KM: You have to do it right here. What’s the pitfalls of the service industry? Employees?
[0:12:02.9] AH: Employees are a big issue because your whole reputation is continued upon that person that's representing you out there in the public. Also, when you try to borrow money, service companies don't have a lot of fixed assets, so you don't have a lot of collateral. At times, it can be very hard for service oriented companies to borrow money. That's where the SBA comes in, because the SBA can help the lender mitigate that collateral risk.
[0:12:33.1] KM: How? How can an SBA not have to have collateral, because they’ve got some government backing that says you can take riskier loans?
[0:12:41.0] AH: Keep in mind that the SBA is a federal agency, so it does have the backing of the full faith credit of the United States government. What it does, it guarantees loans that lenders will make. There's two types of risks that SBA will mitigate for a lender, and that is term risk; the term of the loan, and also the collateral risk; which means if you don't have enough collateral to collateralize the loan that the borrower needs, it is not necessarily in your best interest to just accept what the bank will approve for you because — And a lot of times, that’s not enough. That’s when you look to the SBA to guarantee that loan.
[0:13:20.6] KM: I want to ask you what the first thing you should look at when you're starting to read a business plan? You can stew on that while I tell my listeners how they can call you. Again, you're listening to Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy on KABF. My guest today is Al Hodge from Arkansas Capital Corporation. If you’ve got questions or comments for either of us, you can call —
[0:13:40.4] TB: 501-433-0088 .
[0:13:43.5] KM: Or you can email us at
[0:13:45.9] TB: Questions@upyourbusiness.org.
[0:13:48.1] KM: The next thing that I asked you was what's the first thing you look at when you are starting? If someone comes to your door and they get an appointment with you, do you take everybody’s appointment that comes in you pretty much?
[0:14:00.1] AH: Yes. Pretty much so.
[0:14:01.3] KM: You have to say yes right now.
[0:14:03.5] AH: I usually do. It’s very few times that I have not accepted an appointment.
[0:14:08.8] KM: What is the first thing you look at when you start reading a business plan? The
cover letter?
[0:14:13.5] AH: No. I go directly to the financial statements.
[0:14:17.0] KM: Which one?
[0:14:17.8] AH: To the income statement, to the projections on the income statement. I want to see what’s going on what they’re projecting on their income and their expenses and their net profit. Then I read the assumptions to see if the assumptions go along with the numbers.
[0:14:32.5] KM: I have people ask me a lot to help them write a business plan, and they seem to think it’s a lot harder than it is. It sounds scary, but it's really simple.
[0:14:43.2] AH: Very much so.
[0:14:44.4] KM: Let’s just tell people how you write a business plan. First thing you do is decide how much you think you’re going to sell, right?
[0:14:51.6] AH: If you’re working on your projections, yes. Before you start putting numbers on paper, start putting your assumptions on paper; what is your product going to be? How much can you buy your product or service for? How much do you think you can sell your product and service for? We can collect some revenue numbers and some expense numbers.
[0:15:11.9] KM: You say I think let’ s just take the one you denied me on the last time and you can say why —
[0:15:18.1] AH: Which one was that?
[0:15:21.4] KM: I came to you with the Dreamland Ballroom a few years ago. All wound up about renovating the Dreamland Ballroom, and I made all these outlandish assumptions that you blew a hole in.
The very first thing I did was I said, “I think I can rent the Dreamland Ballroom every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, three nights a week, 52 weeks in the year, and I think that this is how much it will rent for each night based on market research of what other people will rent it for.” I put that down as my number that I had to sell. That was my revenue.
Then I went and got construction costs and I put down what my construction costs were and you said, “That note payment will be this much a month which was more,” then I was taking an income to renovate. It was going to be more expensive. Not to mention, paying overhead.
Then I started really blowing smoke up your skirt by saying, “Well, I think I can rent it in a day on Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesday, and I think I can do Sunday afternoons.” You’re like, “No. Quit trying to make the numbers work.” You’ve got to try not to make the numbers work. You got to be honest with yourself.
[0:16:34.0] AH: That is true. Lenders like me, we already have loans in our portfolio in almost every industry, and I have loans in my portfolio for events centers, so I know how often they rent, what their rent for or what the expense is associated with. It’s really kind of hard when somebody comes to you and says, “I’m going to rent it every blah-blah-blah, every day, every day.” It’s like, “No. You’re not going to rent it every day.”
[0:17:01.5] KM: Because I have experience and know that. That is something that’s different about you from every other person that I've interviewed so far on the show, is I’ve interviewed entrepreneurs who have been successful and had their own dream, but you see every entrepreneur. You see every business, every angle, and you're just a wealth of information for people to ask questions.
If you'd like to call and ask a question to Al or me on Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy, please call —
[0:17:30.0] TB: 501-433-0088.
[0:17:33.7] KM: We’ve put together the income statement. You’ve put down your assumptions. Then based on those assumptions, you’ve created your revenue, your income. Then the next thing you do is your cost of goods.
[0:17:33.7] AH: Correct.
[0:17:47.6] KM: Which that’s for only some businesses, but a service one would not really have that one because they don’t have to buy anything. That’s your cost of goods. Then you would do your income and then the next will become your operating expenses, which is your rent, utilities, the secretary. How much do you put down for miscellaneous? Do you tell people to put down on there? I always did 10%.
[0:18:09.7] AH: 10% is probably a good number, but I don't like — Lenders don't like to see miscellaneous.
[0:18:15.7] KM: That’s nice to know. I never knew that.
[0:18:19.1] AH: Miscellaneous is just a catchall and it’s like, “What is miscellaneous?”
[0:18:24.0] KM: That's for what I didn't of.
[0:18:26.4] AH: How do you know it's only 10%?
[0:18:27.9] KM: That's what I'm asking you. What should it be? How much are they off?
[0:18:31.7] AH: It should be zero and everything should be accounted for.
[0:18:35.9] KM: Have you ever had a business plan be perfect?
[0:18:38.8] AH: Oh! Perfect. No. There’s no such things as a perfect plan.
[0:18:42.1] KM: Yes, so I always decide there's going to be — I'm glad. I'm never putting that on another business plan. I'm glad you told me that. You should’ve told me that 10 years ago.
[0:18:50.4] AH: It’s easy to do your projections. If you have your business tax return, you can see all the different accounts that you pay.
[0:18:57.5] KM: But it’s a brand new business. You don’t have a tax return for this business. Yeah, if you’re doing projections for an existing business, that’s true. You can use the information from a year before. Which brings us to another thing, you don’t just do startup business.
[0:19:10.3] AH: No. We also do expansions. We do a lot of startups. We really do like startups, but we do a lot of expansions of existing operations.
[0:19:18.5] KM: In fact, you did that for me.
[0:19:20.4] AH: Correct.
[0:19:21.5] KM: You did a real estate for me one time. You helped me buy the Taborian Hall downtown.
[0:19:26.8] AH: Correct.
[0:19:27.5] KM: Then I did an equipment expenditure.
[0:19:31.4] AH: Correct.
[0:19:32.5] KM: I can’t believe you remember that.
[0:19:34.8] AH: How could I forget you, Kerry? I can’t forget you.
[0:19:36.7] KM: There you go. Good answer, Al. Good answer, Al. That’s right. You’ve reached a point. Do you think it’s better to use your own money or to use your lender’s money for expansions? I can never decide.
[0:19:51.4] AH: It all depends. It’s the opportunity cost of your money. If you can borrow it at a very reasonable rate with a reasonable repayment terms and you can make money off of that operation that you’re going to be using the money for, then I recommend you try to borrow it. Putting your own money in needs to happen on the frontend of the deal where you’re actually capitalizing your company. Once your company is adequately capitalized, it would be a rare instance that you would put your own money in at that point. Only if you could not borrow the money would you put your money in.
[0:20:29.2] KM: I’ve been in business 40 years and my new goal that you told me to do about five years ago, you said, “Kerry, it’s time for you to quit borrowing money,” because I love to borrow and expand and borrow and expand. It’s exciting. It’s creative. I like the new part of all of that. I like having that goal, but you said, “Rain in it. Start saving money and using the money you have to invest back into the business.”
[0:20:56.1] AH: Correct.
[0:20:57.8] KM: That’s all you have to say about this. I’m listening. You say that I’m listening to you.
[0:21:02.6] AH: It all depends on where you are.
[0:21:04.1] KM: You’d be out of business if everybody did that.
[0:21:06.0] AH: Correct, but I was just — I talk to individuals. I’m not going to paint with a broad brush. In your situation, I thought it was very important for you to —
[0:21:16.9] KM: He means age.
[0:21:18.5] AH: Well, I’m not going to say that.
[0:21:19.3] KM: He meant age. At your age, you need to quit borrowing money.
[0:21:22.6] AH: I did not say that.
[0:21:24.3] KM: There is a point in time where you can only live so many more years. You got to stop. You can’t pay the note back I think is what he’s trying to say.
[0:21:30.4] AH: No. No. Absolutely not. There’s a time when you want to start thinking about, “What am I going to do to exit this company?” You have worked all of your life, Kerry, on this business. Now, the next strategy you need to work on is your exit strategy. How am I going to produce income by selling this business so I can go do something else? Something you’re great at.
[0:21:55.1] KM: Like the radio show?
[0:21:56.3] AH: Like the radio show.
[0:21:57.5] KM: There you go. Just another arm of the same thing. This is my mentoring show. I hope people are learning something from it. Is it hard to say no to a client?
[0:22:06.0] AH: Absolutely.
[0:22:07.3] KM: Really? You’re really doing unanswered prayers, though. You declining me was one of the best things that ever happened.
[0:22:16.1] AH: Thank you for saying that. A lot of people will not agree with that. They just think that bankers are all the same, but we’re not. A lot of times, the best thing that can happen to you is the answer is no. It’s the best thing.
[0:22:29.6] KM: Is there a more predominant age group that speaks to your original statement about entrepreneurs being ambitious?
[0:22:38.0] AH: Absolutely not. It’s all across ages. When I’m seeing a lot of as the economy changes, a lot of people in their 40s and 50s are losing their jobs to all kinds of different reasons, but they have very large 401 (k)s and they need to realize that they can actually take that 401 (k) and use it without penalty of interest to inject into their own business, and we’re seeing a lot of that.
[0:23:07.0] KM: Correct me if I’m wrong. You can borrow 50% up to 50,000. If you have $100,00 0 in your 401 (k), you can borrow $50,000 of it, and you have five years to pay back.
[0:23:25.3] AH: Again, those rules are governed by your 401 (k) that you have in place. I’m not going to talk about individual 401 (k). What am I going to say it is allowable through IRS to have a direct contribution out of your 401 (k) into your own C-corporation.
[0:23:46.3] KM: Yes. It has to be a C-corp.
[0:23:48.9] AH: And it has to be a C-corp, and that is a qualified investment. On behalf of your — Like investing into a mutual fund. You can do that with your own C-corp.
[0:23:58.9] KM: Again, speaking to people who are entrepreneurs that want to start off, and this may be across the board too. Do you think it’s better — For me, I was young and naïve. If I’d known what I known today, it might have been some more scared. Do you think it’s better to be young and naïve or do you think it’s better to be older and wiser?
[0:24:16.9] AH: I think at any age, I like young and naïve because they will plow through it, just like you did. You didn’t know better. You knew what you wanted. You plowed through it. When you’re older and wiser, you normally have somewhere with all behind you. You can make different decisions than being younger. You might have some money in investments. You might have money in retirement accounts or something that you can use to get started. It may be easier on you. It doesn’t matter if you’re old and wise or —
[0:24:49.7] KM: When you’re young, you don’t have so many — Like me, I didn’t have any children, so I didn’t have any responsibilities, and so I could life on a shoestring a lot better. It wasn’t scary. What get you up in the morning every day, Al? You’ve been doing this for 20 years or more.
[0:25:05.2] AH: 30 plus.
[0:25:06.4] KM: Oh, really? You need to update your website. I read about you. I thought it said — Really? That long?
[0:25:13.1] AH: Well, it’s been 20 years in Arkansas Capital.
[0:25:15.7] KM: Oh, I got you. That’s what it said at Arkansas Capital. You have a great website. If anybody wants to go there, what is the web address?
[0:25:21.5] AH: It’s arcapital.com.
[0:25:24.7] KM: It is a wealth of information, and I can tell y’all, they’re on there all the time updating it. I saw where cerebral palsy — I saw where you posted yesterday, $35,000.
[0:25:35.8] AH: Yeah. Arkansas Capital is very interested in helping charitable events. One of the events that we work on annually is the Once Upon A Time charity event for UCP of Arkansas. Another event that we work on is the Big Brothers, Big Sisters, which is next week. Their dinner is next week. On the 13th I think it is.
[0:25:59.4] KM: That’s a wonderful organization. When did that organization start?
[0:26:04.1] AH: I’d only be lying.
[0:26:06.8] KM: It seems like it’s really old.
[0:26:08.6] AH: Yes, it is an old organization. It started out as Big Brothers, and then they consolidated with Big Brothers, Big Sisters.
[0:26:15.9] KM: Yeah, it’s a great group. Talk about your Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Award. I always go to that event.
[0:26:26.9] AH: Thank you for supporting it. You’ve always been a big supporter of it.
[0:26:29.8] KM: I love it.
[0:26:30.7] AH: It’s a wonderful event. It’s a business plan competition. It’s been around since 2000. First, we just started doing in the State of Arkansas and then the Reynolds Foundation, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation got involved and started contributing to it and then asked us to expand the competition to Oklahoma and Nevada. Today, the competition, they have a single competition each one of the states on business plans for all four year colleges and above.
[0:27:02.5] KM: RJ was on here, and I think he was —
[0:27:05.0] AH: Yes. RJ participated in the first through second week.
[0:27:07.0] KM: Yeah, early.
[0:27:08.5] AH: Yeah.
[0:27:09.3] KM: We were thinking, you have to be a college graduate.
[0:27:13.7] AH: College graduate. No. In college.
[0:27:15.6] KM: You have to be in college.
[0:27:16.6] AH: Either undergraduate or graduate.
[0:27:18.4] KM: Your college has to be participating?
[0:27:20.7] AH: Yes, but all colleges do participate.
[0:27:23.3] KM: I noticed, I thought last year that there were some other states involved and that it was expanding.
[0:27:28.8] AH: Once we have the Arkansas Competition, then we do take the winners from Arkansas and we take the winners from Oklahoma and we take the winners from Nevada and we compete among the three states.
[0:27:41.3] KM: Nevada. Why Nevada? You just like to go out there and gamble or something? I don’t know.
[0:27:45.4] AH: It’s driven by the Reynolds Foundation. The Reynolds Foundation only operates in three states, and that is Arkansas, Nevada, and Oklahoma. That’s why that is, by the foundation.
[0:27:58.8] KM: W talked about using borrowed money versus saving money a little bit, and I want to come back to that because I want to know how you know how much you got to borrow. Hold on. You’re listening to Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy on KABF. My guest today is Al Hodge from Arkansas Capital Corporation Group. If you’ve got questions or comment for either of us, call —
[0:28:19.1] TB: 501-433-0088.
[0:28:22.4] KM: Or you can email your questions to —
[0:28:24.6] TB: Questions@upyourbusiness.org.
[0:28:28.0] KM: Al, how do you know how much money to borrow when you come in there? You’ve done your income statement. You’ve got into the end.
[0:28:35.4] AH: If it’s on a startup business, I’m going to ask you, “How much money you bring into the table?” If the answer is zero, will then my answer is pretty quick too that you can borrow zero amount of money.
[0:28:47.6] KM: That’s what drives me crazy about bankers. When you need money, they won’t give you any. If you say, “If I had money, I wouldn’t be here.”
[0:28:53.6] AH: In the first place, Kerry, I don’t give money. I lend money.
[0:28:58.3] KM: Good. They don’t have to have money. They could have collateral. That’s what I always had. I’ve never had any money.
[0:29:02.1] AH: Correct. They had to have something at risk; money, collateral, something at risk. Keep in mind, there’s a difference between a startup business where you’ve never been in operations before and a business where you’ve been in business for several years. If you’re in business for several years and have a good capital base within your business and probably —
[0:29:21.0] KM: What does capital base mean?
[0:29:22.0] AH: An equity position. Retained earnings paid in capital, that sort of thing. You could probably get 100% financing on a lot of different items. If you’re a startup, you’re starting out with a zero equity base, so you have got to capitalize your company in order for a lender to be interested in lending you money.
[0:29:42.30] KM: You got to have a dog in the fight.
[0:29:43.6] AH: Correct. Yeah.
[0:29:45.1] KM: Yeah, that makes total sense.
[0:29:45.8] AH: The numbers are all over the board, but I’d say if you have 25% of what you need in personal cash that you can capitalize your company with, I think that’s a very good start.
[0:29:58.5] KM: Do you have a great track record for lending money? I guess you do or you wouldn’t still be there for 30 years. If you decide to lend somebody money, they can feel pretty good about themselves because you are betting on winners 90% of the time.
[0:30:13.1] AH: I would guess.
[0:30:14.1] KM: 99% of the time?
[0:30:15.8] AH: Our success rate is very very high, so we’re very very proud of that. We are doing higher risk credits because we’re doing loans that are really outside of bank policy. It is inherently higher risk. Our success record is very very nice.
[0:30:36.8] KM: When I started Arkansas Flag & Banner, I didn’t even know what an income statement was and I didn’t know what a balance sheet was and I still don’t know what a cash flow statement is. That’s just — I still don’t figure that out.
[0:30:47.4] AH: It’s how your cash flows through your company.
[0:30:50.1] KM: Yeah, I don’t know about that. I did notice this though, speaking of cash flow. There are lots of people that live on cash flow.
[0:31:00.3] AH: Correct. Cash flow is good.
[0:31:02.1] KM: Cash flow is good. Cash is king as I learned, but there are companies that live on cash flow. They’re really not making very much money. They’re living on cash flow, and I noticed that when we had 9/11 happen, and all the big box stores folded within three months. There were so many businesses that couldn’t last more than three months. When we had that downturn in the economy, people quit buying.
To me, I just thought they were living on cash flow too much. They didn’t have enough money in the bank. What do you think about that?
[0:31:34.4] AH: Keep in mind that cash flow should be your money in the bank. It should be like cash is king. When you sell a product and you generate a receivable and that receivable is collected, that cash goes into your operating account. That’s how the cash is flowing through your company.
What I get worried about is when I see people, small business owners, that have a very healthy net income but they have no cash.
[0:32:03.8] KM: They’re taking it all out.
[0:32:04.8] AH: Well, that’s one thing that could happen. Or the other thing is it could all be wrapped up in receivables and inventory. Your cash can be wrapped up in receivables and inventory. If you’re having difficulty collecting your receivables, that’s a very devastating thing. If it’s taking you beyond 30 days to collect your receivables, it’s taking you 45, 60, 90 days to collect a receivable, that is very dangerous. Even though you’re making a net profit, your profitability is all tied up in inventory and receivables.
[0:32:36.3] KM: That is such great advice.
[0:32:37.6] AH: That’s why you have to stay on top of your receivables all the time. You have to make sure you’re collecting and also make sure that you’re not buying too much inventory that you’re not carrying. Keep in mind, your cash is in that inventory.
[0:32:51.6] KM: Yes, and you pay taxes on them.
[0:32:53.1] AH: Not only that. It’s your lifeblood. If your inventory gets old and stale and it just doesn’t turn enough, you’re wasting your cash.
[0:33:02.4] KM: We’d like for Arkansas Flag & Banner’s inventory to turn every three months. Of course, it doesn’t, but that’s our goal. When it gets to be a year old, it is slashed. We try to identify it and slash it in pricing and move it.
[0:33:18.7] AH: That’s what you need to do. You need to get rid of inventory like that. Just get rid of it.
[0:33:23.2] KM: When I first started this business, our accounts receivables were astronomical, because everything was invoiced on net 30, and then we went to net 10. Now, everybody pays with credits upfront. The internet has completely changed the way our cash flow goes through the business because we get a credit card at the minute that they close out the shopping cart. Now, you do pay for that credit card.
[0:33:46.0] AH: Correct, and sometimes that can be steep.
[0:33:48.3] KM: I think it’s not as expensive as holding an accounts receivable for six weeks.
[0:33:54.4] AH: I would tend to agree with you on that one. Yes.
[0:33:56.3] KM: That’s a hard sale. People are like, “Why is that costing you money? It’s only been there for six weeks.” They don’t understand that you pay — I don’t even really know why it’s costing me money. Maybe because I pay interest on loans that I could be paying down and the interest is higher for a credit card. Your loan interest may be 7%, your credit card fee may be only 3%, so you got a 4% swing there. I’d rather get the credit card in, save 4%.
[0:34:30.2] AH: That’s not exactly how it works, but it’s a lot better for you to get to — As long as you can afford to take that 3% hit on the credit card. As long as it’s built-in to your margins, it is a lot better for you to collect that through a credit card and go ahead and pay the fee. You just got to make sure that your margins are high enough for that.
[0:34:52.1] KM: You’re listening to Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy on KABF. My guest today is Al Hodge from Arkansas Capital Corporation. If you’ve got questions or comments for either of us, call —
[0:35:03.6] TB: 501-433-0088.
[0:35:06.5] KM: Or you can email us at —
[0:35:08.0] TB: Questions@upyourbusiness.org.
[0:35:11.2] KM: What is your favorite — This might get you in trouble.
[0:35:15.6] AH: Be careful, Kerry.
[0:35:16.4] KM: He likes it. What is your favorite lend you’ve ever done, your most successful?
[0:35:22.5] AH: Of course yours, Kerry.
[0:35:23.9] KM: Good answer, Al.
[0:35:24.6] AH: Oh my gosh! It’s Arkansas Flag & Banner.
[0:35:27.5] KM: Perfect.
[0:35:28.2] AH: Yeah!
[0:35:28.5] KM: No, really. What’s your most successful? You’ve done a lot, and this may be —
[0:35:33.0] AH: I’ve done a lot, and for privacy reasons we don’t talk about. I’m willing to talk about you, because you’re sitting here and you can tell me to shut up at any time.
[0:35:41.3] KM: That makes sense.
[0:35:41.8] AH: I really wouldn’t want to talk about. I will say that a lot of the times restaurants are very very hard to finance. Bankers really don’t like restaurants. We have a successful history of financing restaurants, both franchised restaurants and Mom & Pop owned restaurants. That’s one thing that we take very seriously is particular industries that we have seen a lot of success in.
[0:36:11.3] KM: I love your suggestion for people that are listening that may have missed the beginning of the show. If you want to be a small business owner and you can’t figure out exactly where your passion lies or life hasn’t led you down a path like it did me, then franchises are excellent opportunity.
[0:36:29.5] AH: Absolutely. They’re not all in just in the food businesses. They have franchises for every industry imaginable.
[0:36:37.9] KM: If you could sell candy bouquets.
[0:36:39.5] AH: Correct. Candy bouquets.
[0:36:41.0] KM: Who would have thought. Business is creative. It’s a lot more creative than I think people think.
[0:36:45.9] AH: It is.
[0:36:46.3] KM: People often say to me, “You’re so creative.” I say, “No. I’m not. I’m not creative at all.” But then when I think about it, I guess I am because business is a creative outlet. You’re building stuff. You’re growing things.
[0:37:01.5] AH: Kerry, you’ve also surrounded yourself with a bunch of creative people.
[0:37:05.3] KM: I do like creative people.
[0:37:06.5] AH: It’s not only what you’re capable of doing. It’s being able to delegate enough responsibility to others that are capable of doing as much or better than you. Know where your weaknesses are and hire those people that cover your weaknesses.
[0:37:21.2] KM: I don’t know how you can look at an income statement and really tell who’s going to be good and who’s not going to be good, because so much of it is about the person’s personality and their drive and then there’s the timing of the country and what happens economically in the country.
You’re lucky to do so good and be so good to make so many good lends. In addition to loaning money, you are a great networker.
[0:37:50.0] AH: I try to be. Networking is something that’s becoming more and more important on a daily basis, so we really do have to get out there, be part of the community and make sure people know who you are and what you do. That’s why I always wear my nametag. People say, “Al is always got that name — Do you mow the yard with your nametag on, Al?” That’s the cheapest form of advertising, is having a nametag, a nametag and a business card. It’s like a walking billboard.
[0:38:19.5] KM: I never have either one.
[0:38:20.7] AH: I know. Everybody should have a nametag on. I always have mine on.
[0:38:24.8] KM: Is it magnetic?
[0:38:25.3] AH: It’s magnetic.
[0:38:26.6] KM: Yeah, that’s the way to go.
[0:38:26.8] AH: Oh, baby. Yeah. I don’t use those pins anymore.
[0:38:31.7] KM: In the networking area, you do venture capital.
[0:38:36.0] AH: We do have a venture capital arm to Arkansas Capital Corporation. That’s Diamond State Ventures. Yes.
[0:38:42.2] KM: How do you decide — Is there something that triggers your brain when you say, “This is a business that a venture capitalist might be interested in.”
[0:38:51.0] AH: Number one, our venture capital entity that we have, we only do second stages and beyond investments. We’re looking for companies that are already established, have a track record and are looking to go to the next level. That’s where we like to be. Now, there are venture capitalists and angel investors that do startup companies, but we’re not that one. We’re second stage.
As long as we’re looking at a company that has a great management team in place and a good history of what they’ve done and they just need the money to make that next step. It’s a pretty easy call at that point.
[0:39:30.8] KM: You’re listening to Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy on KABF. My guest today is Al Hodge from Arkansas Capital Corporation Group. If you’ve got questions or comments for either of us, call —
[0:39:40.5] TB: 501-433-0088.
[0:39:43.1] KM: Or send an email to questions —
[0:39:45.3] AH: @upyourbusiness.org.
[0:39:47.0] KM: That’s questions with an S. Al, I don’t know if everybody knows how lending works.
[0:39:54.1] AH: It’s simple.
[0:39:54.6] KM: Is it really?
[0:39:55.6] AH: It’s the second oldest business in the world.
[0:39:58.5] KM: Oh, I know what the first one is.
[0:40:01.4] AH: That’s a different show, Kerry.
[0:40:06.6] KM: We talked a little bit about cash flow, which I don’t understand. We described to our listeners the income statement. I have to do this sometimes for my employees, because I just feel like part of being a small business owner is about mentoring to your employees, not just about covering your food in the microwave and putting your dish in the dishwasher and getting to work on time and wearing nice clothes and deodorant and combing your hair, but it’s also about how business works.
Every Monday morning at 7:00, we have a meeting with everybody in my company. We get together and I try to tell them something that I’ve learned that week or that month. One day, I realized that none of my employees knew the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet.
[0:40:53.1] AH: That’s interesting.
[0:40:54.2] KM: I don’t think I knew. My accountant — God love him. He was just so patient with me for so long teaching me income statements and balance sheets and C-corporations and S-corporations and all of that stuff. Can you tell them what a balance sheet is?
[0:41:12.3] AH: Look at it this way. A balance sheet is a photograph of something on a particular day. A balance sheet is on a day and it photographs your assets, your liabilities, and your net worth. On that particular day, you may have cash in your checking account.
[0:41:33.4] KM: That’s an asset.
[0:41:34.4] AH: That’s an asset, cash of $3,000. You may have receivables of $4,000. That’s another asset.
[0:41:40.0] KM: That’s an asset.
[0:41:41.1] AH: You may have inventories of $4,000.
[0:41:43.8] KM: Another asset.
[0:41:44.6] AH: Another asset. Then you might have some other current assets. In addition to that, other assets you might have or known as fixed assets, which should be real estate, machinery equipment, automobiles.
[0:41:57.7] KM: Computers.
[0:41:58.2] AH: Computers, those kinds of things. That’s all fixed assets. Then after that you may have another asset that is intangible. You may have some goodwill or —
[0:42:06.4] KM: Flagandbanner.com is an intangible asset.
[0:42:08.3] AH: It’s an intangible. The name itself has value. Those are your assets and you total those assets up and all those assets have a value. Then you look at your liabilities, the things that you owe. You may have payables from your vendors. You buy on a daily basis. You don’t pay cash. They invoice you. Those are payables. That is a liability. You may have a line of credit at the bank. That is a liability. You may have a mortgage on your building. Your mortgage will have two components in your liabilities. It will have a long-term portion and it will have a current portion. The current goes in the current portion of your liabilities and the long-term goes into the long-term portion of your liabilities. You have your assets, the you have your liabilities. You subtract in your liabilities from your assets and hopefully there’s a positive number there.
[0:43:01.3] KM: What’s that number called?
[0:43:03.0] AH: Well, it’s the net worth of your company.
[0:43:04.9] KM: It’s your net worth.
[0:43:05.8] AH: It’s your net worth. A net worth is made up of retained earnings and hopefully your business —
[0:43:11.0] KM: Retained earnings or what came over from the year before.
[0:43:13.7] AH: Come over from previous years, all the years. All the years before. Hopefully, that’s a positive number if your company has been profitable. If it has not been profitable and you’ve had losses, that number could show negatively, which in the banking world is not what you want to see. If you take your current assets, you subtract your — If you take your assets and you subtract your liabilities and you come up with a net worth, hopefully your net worth is positive, and on that particular day, that’s what’s a balance sheet is.
[0:43:49.5] KM: Your balance sheet has nothing to do with your daily expenses of rent, utilities.
[0:44:00.4] AH: Correct. That’s all on the income statement.
[0:44:02.0] KM: Payroll, cost of goods. I think it was very hard for me to really separate those two things. When they come to you to borrow money, you want an income statement.
[0:44:11.9] AH: And a balance sheet.
[0:44:12.2] KM: You want a balance sheet too?
[0:44:14.5] AH: Balance sheet and a cash flow statement. I want all three.
[0:44:16.6] KM: I’m hiring somebody for that cash flow statement.
[0:44:20.0] AH: You have your balance sheet, which is a photograph of your assets, your liability and your net worth on a particular day. One particular day. You have your income statement which covers a period of time. Your income statement covers if your fiscal year starts on January 1st of each year and ends on the December 31st. Your income statement will start on January 1st, and whatever month you’re in, you’ll stop at that month. Let’s say you’re stopping in the end of May. Your income statement will cover those five months, but your balance sheet just covers one day. Do you see the difference between those two?
[0:44:56.0] KM: Yes.
[0:44:57.9] AH: Then what happens on your cash flow statement is it’s the relationship between the balance sheet and the income statement.
[0:45:05.3] KM: You’re going to have to teach me that. Really. You are going to have to teach me that. I have never really spent the time to figure out what that one does. I never look at that one. How often do you think an existing business should look at their income statement and balance sheet? I know how much I look at mine. I know my ratios.
[0:45:21.0] AH: Every month. When you close out the month, you need to be looking at your balance sheet and your income statement and the cash flow of the company every month.
[0:45:30.6] KM: Every month. There’s specific ratios you can run that I was probably in business for a long time, but boy I realized that these bankers have these set of ratios that they run and there’s quick assets and —
[0:45:41.8] AH: Current ratio, the quick ratio, the days receivable. How many days do you have in receivables? That’s what you need to know.
[0:45:50.4] KM: That’s a big one.
[0:45:51.4] AH: Because if your receivables are lengthening out, if you’re supposed to have 30 days in receivables and you’re seeing it’s 45, it’s 60, it’s 90, you have a problem. Why are you not collecting it?
[0:46:02.0] KM: The longer it goes, the less likely it is that you’re going to collect it.
[0:46:04.8] AH: Correct.
[0:46:06.0] KM: I’m lucky that people that buy flags are pretty good people.
[0:46:08.5] AH: Good!
[0:46:09.4] KM: I know. It’s not like — I don’t know. Something, like I’m not renting furniture. I bet those people have a hard time collecting money for that.
We’ve described the income statement. We’ve described a balance sheet. We’ve described how often you should look at your ratios, and I do want to tell this one ratio that I think everybody should do every month that I do every month, and that is where you divide your payables into your assets.
[0:46:33.9] AH: Okay.
[0:46:34.5] KM: What’s that one called?
[0:46:35.6] AH: Payables into your assets. I don’t —
[0:46:40.3] KM: Your payables go into your current assets. Your current assets, so it’s your money and your receivables, which are your current assets, and I take what my current payables are and I divide it in there and that ratio, if it ever gets one to one, I need to borrow money.
[0:46:57.5] AH: That’s interesting.
[0:46:58.6] KM: It’s got a name to it. I think you taught it to me.
[0:47:02.7] AH: I don’t think I taught you that one.
[0:47:04.5] KM: That’s the one I really really like that I look at all the time, because I always want my — I never want to get below three to one. I always want my current assets to be three times that of my payables. If they ever get one to one, you need to borrow money. Another thing — We’re about to run out of time, but — What?
[0:47:21.5] AH: Borrow money. I mean not necessarily borrow money. You need to pay your vendors. Something is happening. If your payables are equivalent to what your receivables and your inventory is, there is an issue there.
[0:47:36.9] KM: Not inventory. Just my receivables and cash.
[0:47:39.0] AH: Receivables and cash.
[0:47:40.2] KM: It’s because my sales have gone down. My sales have gone down and I’m starting to know that and I’m starting to go and I’m starting to write my vendors and my payables are getting higher and my receivables and cash are getting lower. If you wait, and this is something I really think the listeners need to hear. If you wait till you are needing the money —
[0:48:00.5] AH: Oh it’s too late.
[0:48:01.0] KM: It’s too late. I didn’t know that. You have to be forecasting monthly and you have to know if you’re going to need the money, and then you go to the banker or your bank and you say, “I need a line of credit against my inventory because —”
[0:48:17.7] AH: Or your receivables.
[0:48:18.5] KM: Or your receivables — To help me through this hard time that’s coming up. If you wait till it’s already —
[0:48:26.7] AH: You can’t borrow money for this Friday’s payroll, so to speak. You’ve got to be more progressive than that. You’ve got to be ready. You got to know that you’re going to need that.
[0:48:38.0] KM: I think that your banker likes to see that you are being proactive and that you’re looking at your stuff. That a lot of the times, I did make this mistake when I was young and I waited till I was already in trouble because I didn’t look at my income statements enough.
[0:48:53.5] AH: Correct! People wait too long. You’re exactly right.
[0:48:56.1] KM: Let’s talk about exiting your business. You like that. You’re good at that.
[0:49:01.9] AH: I think we need to have an exit strategy for everything that we do.
[0:49:07.5] KM: You picked out your funeral song yet?
[0:49:10.0] AH: Oh, I’ve known that for a long time. It’s called Simply The Best by Tina Turner.
[0:49:20.7] KM: Oh, I love that. I can’t even think of anything to say to that. It’s so good. I thought you were going to be serious, but maybe you are. I don’t know.
[0:49:28.4] AH: I am serious. Tina is my gal.
[0:49:31.6] KM: I thought it was The Pointer Sisters.
[0:49:33.8] AH: Oh, those too. I’ll take the Pointer Sisters too.
[0:49:36.7] KM: Or Toto.
[0:49:38.1] AH: Oh, I’m a big Toto fan.
[0:49:40.2] KM: See? This is how well I know him. I know the music genre he likes. Exiting your business. Every time you say that to me, I’d say, “I’m never exiting my business. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
[0:49:50.4] AH: You will exit one day. The good Lord is going to take you. You will exit your business. Will you do it before or after? It’s up to you.
[0:50:03.0] KM: I will be sitting in that office with a blank stare on my face till the day I die probably.
[0:50:10.0] AH: I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that. There are other things that you can do. You’ve been great at what you’ve done.
[0:50:16.9] KM: My radio show and the Dreamland Ballroom.
[0:50:19.9] AH: And the Dreamland Ballroom.
[0:50:20.9] KM: Which you came to last year. Thank you. You couldn’t believe how good the fundraiser was.
[0:50:24.1] AH: I came to the last two. They’re fabulous.
[0:50:27.1] KM: They are really really good. We have fundraiser a year. It’s November the 18th at Dancing in the Dreamland where we feature the dancers that — I love dance, and we feature dancers, local dancers. They never get enough notoriety, I don’t think. There are amateurs and professionals. It’s the only fundraiser we have a year for Dreamland Ballroom. Our goal is to get an elevator, because you wouldn’t lend me the money for one. And we need heat in there, as wouldn’t lend me the money for that either. Thank you. Thank you for that actually.
We’ve got a — I don’t know if you know this, but the Dreamland Ballroom — I know we’re running out of time. I can’t believe no one called in and asked you questions. I think you’re intimidating.
[0:51:09.2] AH: Oh, I hope not. But I do want to tell everybody about the Dreamland Ballroom. That is a wonderful facility, and every year I love the event Dancing Into Dreamland. It’s a great event, Kerry, that you’ve put on, and I love it.
[0:51:20.7] KM: It’s good feeling. It’s good people.
[0:51:22.5] AH: Oh, it’s fabulous.
[0:51:23.7] KM: I just don’t want to be around anybody that’s not open to embracing and loving all people, because it takes the whole — It takes everything. Today — I could talk to you forever, and you’ve got to come back.
[0:51:37.4] AH: I can’t believe it’s been an hour already.
[0:51:39.9] KM: I know. Ain’t it fun? I love this show. You have to come back because I think you really really got — Everything we said today needs to be almost said again.
[0:51:49.5] AH: We need to bring some bankers in here with us and I’ll be part of it and we’ll have a banker in here as well and well the difference between government guaranteed lending and traditional bank financing.
[0:52:00.8] KM: That will put everybody right to sleep.
[0:52:02.4] AH: Oh, no it won’t. It’s exciting. It’s exciting.
[0:52:06.8] KM: I’m surprised actually that you have haven’t ever birthed a business. As businesses as you see — Actually, you’ve birthed a million businesses
[0:52:15.1] AH: Yeah.
[0:52:15.7] KM: Because of that, you get a cigar for having that birthed. That came from Colonial Fine Wines and Spirits. They have a big humidor room out there. I’m going to have to get them to start getting me money for every —
[0:52:25.6] AH: It’s a Romeo and Juliet. You’ve paid a little bit of money for this.
[0:52:29.5] KM: It’s pretty too, isn’t it?
[0:52:30.4] AH: It’s beautiful. I’m going to smoke it tonight on my deck with a nice scotch.
[0:52:35.5] KM: Really?
[0:52:36.2] AH: Oh, yeah!
[0:52:37.5] KM: I love that. All right. Let’s close the show with my guest next week. I’m going to be out of town next week. My guest next week is RJ. He was my very first guest. He’s going to be the host and he’s bringing a surprise guest, so tune in next Friday. He’s so much fun. He’s done so much. Then after that, French Hill, Delta Bank & Trust. He is our congressman, and he is in town. It was kind of hard to get with his scheduler, but we figured it out. He’s in town on October the 21st, French Hill, and he’s funny. Gosh! He’s funny.
[0:53:11.6] AH: He’s a great man.
[0:53:12.7] KM: He’s a funny man too. We’re not going to talk too much politics. We’re going to talk about business.
[0:53:19.4] AH: Talk to him about banking.
[0:53:20.9] KM: There you go. More exciting stuff. Then after that, it’s Paula Dempsey from Dempsey Bakery, gluten-free. She also had a film production agency. She’s a long-time entrepreneur. Then in November, we got more, and I think we’re out of time. I hope that our listeners have learned something today that will help them up their business.
I’m Kerry McCoy. Until then, be brave and keep it up.
[END OF INTERVIEW]
[0:53:47.0] TB: You’ve been listening to Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy. Want to hear today’s program again or want someone else to benefit from it? Jot this down. Within 48 hours the podcast will be available at flagandbanner.com. Click the tab labeled “Radio Show”, there you’ll find today’s segments with links to resources you heard discussed on this program. Kerry’s goal: to help you live the American Dream.
Al Hodge is a 1988 graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). Additionally, Al Hodge is a 1998 graduate of The Economic Development Institute of the University of Oklahoma and is certified by the National Development Council (NDC) as an Economic Development Finance Professional. 
