You can find my professional profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/garyathomas
I am a former vice president of a specialty division, with a nationwide recruitment/consulting firm where I spent 12 years. Before being made V.P. of the startup division, that was focused on executive search within the Health Insurance Industry, I was a successful Senior Recruitment Consultant for 9.5 years. To gain limousine & car service industry experience, while still working for my previous firm I also worked part-time for 2 (now) competitor limousine companies for a combined total of almost 4 years, learning the industry from the inside. EXPRESSION LIMOUSINE, INC was founded on my standard & principle of providing professional customer focused service with specific attention to the details that drive customer loyalty and repeat business.

As  you will note from this blog, I previously challenged Mr. Mark Cuban (Billionaire, owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA Franchise) to make better use of his money and creative talents, as a role model to entrepreneurs, than racking up over a million dollars in fines from the NBA due to league conduct violations. Now I can’t take credit for it turning into what you will read below but Mr. Cuban has decided to create his own economic stimulus of sorts. After reading his offer and challenge let us know what you think of the idea, is it brazen, realistic, or anything else? – LimomanGary

From the blogmaverick: (Mark Cuban)

Feb 9th 2009 10:55PM Its easy to write about what the government or other people should do with our/their money. It’s harder to come up with a course of action that I can undertake on my own that possibly, somehow could make a difference. My first inclination is always to try to look “for the next big thing”. But the next big thing is just that, next. Its not now. Its Venture Capital. Its not self funding, renewal capital. Rather than trying to be a Venture Capitalist, I was looking for an idea that hopefully could inspire people to create businesses that could quickly become self funding. Businesses that just needed a jump start to get the ball rolling and create jobs. I’m a big believer that entrepreneurs will lead us out of this mess. I just needed a way to help. So here it is. Some people will love it, some will hate it. It is what it is. You must post your business plan here on my blogwhere I expect other people can and will comment on it. I also expect that other people will steal the idea and use it elsewhere. That is the idea. Call this an open source funding environment. If its a good idea and worth funding, we want it replicated elsewhere. The idea is not just to help you, but to figure out how to help the economy through hard work and ingenuity. If you come up with the idea and get funding, you have a head start. If you execute better than others, you could possibly make money at it. As you will see from the rules below, these are going to be businesses that are mostly driven by sweat equity. I will invest money in businesses presented here on this blog. No minimum, no maximum, but a very specific set of rules. Here they are: 1. It can be an existing business or a start up. 2. It can not be a business that generates any revenue from advertising. Why ? Because I want this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. Thats the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time. 3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days 4. It must be profitable within 90 days. 5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the funding stops 6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered 7. Everyone must work. The organization is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else 8. You must post your business plan here, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download 9. I make no promises that if your business is profitable, that I will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own 10. I will make no promises that I will be available to offer help. If I want to , I will. If not, I wont. 11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that I specify, and I have the ability to watch the funds flow and the opportunity to require that I cosign any outflows. 12. In your business plan , make sure to specify how much equity I will receive or how I will get a return on my money. 13. No mult-level marketing programs (added 2/10/09 1pm) I’msure I will come up with more rules as I see what comes along, if anything. As I find businesses I like, I will use the email address you provide before you post to get in contact with you. There will be a standard agreement, you can take it or leave it. Once I have done the standard agreement, I will post it here for all to see. This will definitely be a work in progress. Maybe it leads to great things, maybe it leads to nothing. We will find out. Im not going to claim a minimum or maximum amount or total I will invest. Im not promising I will definitely invest anything. If nothing comes along that I think is viable, thats the way it goes.

Hopefully I will invest in quite a few businesses that will lead to something more – Mark Cuban / http://blogmaverick.com/2009/02/09/the-mark-cuban-stimulus-plan-open-source-funding/

“Optimism is the foundation of courage” – Nicholas Murray Butler (1862-1947) an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. Butler was president of Columbia University during its period of greatest expansion, in which it acquired an international reputation as a center of research and scholarship, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and adviser to 7 presidents.

Limomangary’s thought on this quote of optimism:

If you are optimistic about whatever you endeavor to be, do or become you are already well founded in what you will need to complete the journey. If you haven’t yet found the reason to be optimistic I would suggest waiting to start on your path because without the Optimism to be Courageous, along a sometimes long and bumpy road to success, you will lack the tools necessary to continue on and not turn back!

According to some sources: Knowingly entering a Ponzi scheme, even at the last round of the scheme, can be rational in the economic sense if a government will likely bail out those participating in the Ponzi scheme.

A thought from limomangary in response: “Seeing this information and considering what has gone on with Wall Street and Investors this thought on Ponzi Schemes is one of those hmmm I wonder moments…to think that there is the possibility that some folks got into the Madoff mess knowing the loopholes and considering the possiblity of seeing both some gains from his Ponzi Scheme and then getting bailed out by authorities is a real possibility.” See the following article link I found on Yahoo Finance about this very topic: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Trustee-agrees-to-sell-part-apf-14774151.html

Let me know what you guys think about this?

This according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in an article By Tom Donohue, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce – April 21, 2009 (see the following article from their web-site: http://www.uschambermagazine.com/content/090421.htm?n=w)

“Small businesses not only generate 60% to 80% of net new job growth and most American innovations, but they will also be the ones to lead us out of this economic recession. That’s why the U.S. Chamber is committed to ensuring that small businesses have an environment in which they can grow and succeed. It’s also why we’re committed to highlighting the critical role that they play in our economy and in the pursuit of the American Dream.

It seems that everyone is chasing the tech industry windfall possibilities, such as search, social networking, and any other “next generation” development, in an effort to start or help fund the next: Microsoft, Google, facebook, etc. All wonderful ideas but bare in mind that the industry to one that is flooded with ideas, start-ups and money flooded into R&D which severely reduces the possibility of cornering the market and having the next ‘Big Idea’ happen.

As I see it and has been talked about for generations, the savvy investor looks for viable market penetration vs. entering a saturated market; that being the case many investment dollars and deal flow are not reaching under-served start-up & early-stage companies that operate in the service industry (keep in mind that of the world’s richest individuals, the industry most represented is service & or manufacturing of goods).

I would like to suggest that whether you are a major or minor investor, looking to buy low in this economy with potential to sell extremely high, you seek out companies that are service based that have strong development plans but are currently under-capitalized. Considering the current climate and call for entrepreneurship by our country’s new administration, the small company that is currently struggling and needs funding can be well positioned after weathering the storm. Those that are left standing will have endless possibilities for revenue generation when money begins to again hit the market and consumers begin to again loosen the purse straps.

Consider this fact that my early-stage company’s operation is within the 6.5 billion dollar Car & Limousine Service Industry, a 1% market capture rate translates into 65 million dollars in annual revenue.

I welcome any thoughts or comments, leave a comment on the blog or contact me:

garyt@expressionlimo.com / 866.546.6838

http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/18/smallbusiness/emergency_small_business_loans.smb/index.htm#According to an article on the CNNMoney web-site today (5.18.09) To kick off National Small Business Week, the government announced its timetable for a hotly awaited assistance program. WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) — An emergency loan program designed to shore up struggling-but-viable small businesses will open for applications in mid-June, the Small Business Administration announced Monday. The news came during a speech by SBA head Karen Mills kicking off the SBA’s annual National Small Business Week program of publicity and networking activities. Known as America’s Recovery Capital (ARC), the emergency loans were authorized in February’s stimulus bill. The SBA has been working since then to pull together guidance for the new program, which will back short-term loans of up to $35,000 that business owners can use to temporarily cover their payments on existing debt. No repayment on the ARC loans will be due for 12 months, and owners will have up to five years to repay them. The SBA plans to release guidance to banks by June 8 and will be ready to accept lender loan packages by June 15. Business owners will need to apply directly to banks for the loans, but the SBA will offer those banks a 100% guarantee on the ARC loans they make. If the business owner defaults, the SBA will pay off the loan. SBA Administrator Mills called the ARC loans “risky” and very different than the loans her agency typically backs. Aimed at businesses with “immediate financial hardship” but a past track record of financial success, the loans are intended to aid companies that “are in a situation where they just need a little extra help to bridge the troubled waters,” she said. Right now, many small businesses find themselves struggling against the economic tides. Mills acknowledged that her constituents are in trouble and looking to the government for help. “I have started to think of the SBA not just as a backbone for small business, but as an entire bone structure,” she said before a crowded audience at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington. Talk back: Could you use an ARC loan? Sworn in last month as the SBA’s leader, Mills’ talk on Monday marked one of her first public speeches in her new role. In her remarks, she said that the top three priorities for her agency are more progress on fulfilling the small business provisions of the American Recovery Act, revitalizing the agency, and “making the SBA the strongest possible voice for small businesses in the U.S.” The Recovery Act, better known as the stimulus bill, allocated $730 million for initiatives aimed at shoring up the country’s small business. So far, “the results are good,” Mills said. Since one stimulus provision took effect in mid-March, offering banks higher guarantees and waived fees on SBA-backed loans, the average weekly loan volume is up more than 25%, she said. But that increase comes against a dismal backdrop for small business lending. In the quarter ended March 31, the number of loans made through agency’s popular 7(a) loan program dropped 57% compared to the prior year, and several major lenders have sharply reduced their activity. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., the chair of the Senate’s small business committee, joined Mills in a small press conference after the public speech. Landrieu told reporters that it’s a top priority for the committee and the agency to determine why 50% of the nation’s banks aren’t partnering with the SBA. The SBA itself does not directly loan money, but works with partner banks to offer government-backed loans. “I would love to see any small business owner just walk around the corner to their local bank and say they’re looking to expand their business,” she said. “That bank should ask the SBA – would you be a partner with me?” Landrieu also said that finding a better health care solution for small businesses is a top priority for her. As for the agency, which employs 2,000 full-time workers, Mills said she plans to invest in “training, planning and better communication across the SBA … and for repeated calls to break down silos, to give up sacred turf.” Internal reform was also a priority for Mills’ predecessor, Steven Preston, who served as SBA chief from July 2006 to April 2008. After a 2005 government survey found that the SBA had the lowest employee morale of any major government agency, Preston devoted much of his energy to streamlining the agency and improving morale.

limomangary’s thought and response to the article:

As a small business owner currently boxed out of loans and deal flow because of a mess created by the people that were supposed to be smarter with letters like MBA & Ph.D behind their names. (I don’t begrudge them their success, rather I am distressed by such a colossal mess made and how difficult they have made things for the next generation of entrepreneurs) Let’s see if this newly introduced plan talked about in this article is actually a way for the distressed business to right it’s ship through an offering that actually takes into consideration that the business owner’s personal credit might now be in shambles because they so deeply believed in what they were creating and thus put all of their money in their business or that the business is distressed due to the current state of the economy? Will banks and SBA programs actually say we’ll help your small business based upon your idea and strong business plans and not based upon your current financial picture? To each we’ll see; I’ll be the 1st in line and will certainly report back on my findings, stay tuned….