Transcripts For WABC Our World With Black Enterprise 2015112

So i took that aspect from it. I can only make one hamburger more. We follow that with a financial guru riding a wireless country. Well see how it is paying off. As i look for investment something that Warren Buffett has said which is that investment committees should be odd numbers and three is too many. And a hardworking dedication is driving this auto dealer fueling a powerful rise in profits. Ive been very, very fortunate to surround myself with a lot of very, very good people, not only good car people but just good individuals that are just hard working, dedicated, loyal, and they see the vision and what the dream is. Welcome back to our world with black enterprise. Becoming a successful entrepreneur or even a wealthy individual isnt easy. But if theres anyone who has the formula to get you there, it is my allaccess guest. Take a look. Michael lee chin is a selfmade business mogul, banker, investor and than throwphilanthropist. He left a career to pursue a career as a financial advisor, a lucrative decision for a jamaican jamaicanborn canadian. He once accumulated an estimated net worth of 2 billion. Today his portfolio of diversified companies spans across Financial Services, tourism, real estate, and health care. Hes also chairman of the National Commercial bank of jamaica and donates his time around the world to philanthropic work especially in education. I caught up with Michael Lee Chin at this years black Enterprise Entrepreneurs summit in atlanta, georgia. I know that at an early age you learned a lot about opportunity. And the importance of leveraging education. Yes. Tell us about that. First day in high school i was 11. And we were in an old room and we were being addressed by the equivalent of the governor of the state. And he said, ladies boys and once. I thought whoa what if when my one opportunity comes knocking im sleeping . So for the next 12 years i didnt sleep, i didnt eat. Im looking for my one opportunity. Until this friend of mine said, no, no, no. He was wrong. Mike, every day there are opportunities. But, unfortunately for most people, opportunities are and when there is a crisis, how you feel. I said awful. Because youre focusing on the first component of the chinese definition of the word crisis. Which is crisis equals danger plus opportunity. You cant have an opportunity unless there is a crisis. Interesting. Thats what my lesson thats a big lesson in life. Whenever there is a crisis, i look and feel awful. I ask myself the question where are are the opportunities. And clearly thats how you built your career. Yes. So again, i was a bouncer at the university. At the universitys pub. 1977. Hour. This friend came in, mike tonight i made 200. The next night he came in and said, mike, tonight i made 400. I said, whoa, thats 160 hours of bouncing. Whatever hes doing, im going to take it out. I went to this local Mutual Fund Fund companys office and they gave me this test which i mightily failed, however they must have been desperate to hire me. I became a mutual fund salesman at 26 in canada. So that was my beginning. So 26 selling investments in canada. I would imagine you stood out like a sore thumb. Yes. And canada wasnt that multicultural as it is today. Table, which the prospects kitchen table, from the family, i would ask myself a question. Is there is a formula that you practice consequently you get wealth every time . That was my quest. Did you find it . Yes. Clearly you did. Yes. Can you share that with us . Yes. I recognize that successful people, they will know three they make decisions based on having a sound framework that to them is a religion. Secondly, theyre very disciplined towards their religion which keeps their behavior consistent and minimize mistakes. And lastly, successful people, they are access. That threepronged philosophy applies outside of business, i am assuming. The life. The life. Every professional, every business has to do three things sustainable. Number one, we have to build the best reputation possible. And you build the best reputation possible by having stated values and the consistent value system. Number two, every professional, every business has to be conscious about every day in the marketplace. And number three, every business, every professional has to be 100 sensitive, am i i discovered that everywhere the people, person, create their wealth by being five things. Number one, they all want afy highquality businesses. Number two, they make sure that they really understand those few businesses. Number three, they make sure that those few businesses are always in strong longterm growth industries. Number four, they use other peoples money. And number five, their attitude is simply that theyre going to hold these businesses for the long run. Opm. Other peoples money. Yes, love that. How do we, minority entrepreneurs, gain access to other peoples money . Well, what i had to do, paul, was recognize what my strengths were. So what i knew best was generate cash flow. And what i needed to do was transform this cash flow into a mountain of assets. So i know that later on in your career you acquired National Commercial bank of jamaica. Yes. Why was that such a personal acquisition for you . National commercial bank was being shopped globally. Nobody wanted it. They dont associate jamaica as a mecca for great investment. So we bought it in 2002. Our main competitor, canadian multinational bank. The challenge was how do you take on a muletinational with a 54 marked share when you have a 24 market share. Today we have a 41 market share and competitors have 36 market profitable. I need to ask you this. What have you sacrificed . If youre passionate about what youre doing, you dont feel like youre sacrificing. Your passion really protects you against feeling sorry for yourself. Right . Because youre driven. So the big question in my mind has always been what am i a disciple of . What would i be a martyr for . What are my principles . What is my religion . Up next, we reveal this years 100 companies of the year, our nations largest one day it appears. Is that a dark spot . New gold bond dark spot minimizing cream for body. Targeted treatment results begin in 4 weeks. Gold bond. Welcome back. When this ceo took a jump shot into the fast food business, he had no idea two decades later hed win by become being the secondlargest wendys franchisee in the country. This years black Enterprise Industrial Service company of the years. Ulysses bridgman jr. Spent 12 years in the National Basketball association. Now he is using that experience in his position as ceo of manna, owner of a series of fast food restaurants. Playing a team game, you cant win the game by yourself. Yeah, you may make a lastsecond shot, but someone has to set that up. Your teammates have to set that up to help you do that. I can only make one hamburger but as a group we did do a lot more. In 1988 this basketball player turned businessman found that his transition from the easy. Theyd want to talk about basketball or whats going on in the nba. But when it got to business, they kind of moved you to the side, lets that you can to somebody thats involved in the business or knows the business. They didnt really think that to speak. You have to make them look at you in a way that they think, oh, he does know what hes doing, he does understand business, he does understand numbers, he understands what hes trying to do. Moving into the Business World presented a challenge for this new ceo and his business partner. We made the mistake of opening a restaurant and neither one of us knowing the business. So we were relying upon someone else to run the business for us and we thought that would be successful. And i tell everybody, i use that the quickest way to failure. His longtime chief operating officer Paul Thompson feels bridgman has been passing along valuable life lessons as well. Hes a big brother. Hes a mentor. I learned i just really learned that it is always about the people. His people really believe in what hes trying to do. And they have. Going on 28 years. As the secondlargest franchisee of wendys restaurants, Manna Incorporated ranks 106 on the be 100 Industrial Service Companies List with 748 million in revenues, up nearly 19 from the previous year. You own about 240 wendys restaurants. We have 125 chilis restaurants. Were spread out through 16, 17 different states. Now his three children are making major assists and scoring big in the company. I think the fact that his background in sports built that competitive drive. I think all business leaders, theyre competitive. We were afforded different opportunities to learn the business at a young age, to expose us to what it means to kind of run your own business. Hes involved in the business from not just the top but from the bottomup. You can find him in any store any given time of the day or night. Hes not the type of boss that is just looking down from the mountaintop. Junior bridgman, as hes also known, hopes he and his children will continue the business for years to come. Nothing in life is given to you. You have to go out there and work hard. And if you do that, if youre doing what you want to do, then well be right back. Thats a firstrate queso dip havent been this lost in years gps recalculating shortest route do i really look like this . Never seen this one before chicken parm you taste so good i like it. Welcome back. Our next ceo makes a monumental achievement venturing into an industry very few dare to go as the 2015 black Enterprise Financial Services Company of the year. Appointed to president obamas National Infrastructure advisory council, david green is also making moves in the private equity space. My background has been mainly career and private equity seemed to be at least at the time the most appropriate Capital Formation process around the assets that i possessed. Green management, the firm he founded in 2007, has been getting Great Results as a major investor. In 2007, i raised 104 million of outside capital, put in 5 million of my own capital. It took 20 months and 183 meetings to get five people five people to say yes and three of them to actually cross the finish line. This year greens private equity firm is ranked number seven on the b. E. 100 Financial Services list with nearly 900 million under management, an increase of nearly 24 over the previous year. Building my firm, i would say the main challenges were initially the confidence that you could get it done and that sort of brought you to the point where you could take a shot at it are the same tools that are carry you through. Greens success is as much art as it is science. It begins with investing and ends with cash flow. As i look for investment opportunities, ive listened to something that Warren Buffett has said which is that investment committees should be odd numbers and three is too many. So at the end of the day, i make all the investment decisions. From that lesson, green learned the power of building a business with the right relationships and bringing the right people onboard. My Kitchen Cabinet of folks that have seen some of these things before, one or two of them said of course. It real didnt take more than those three words to recognize you are on the right path. For green, the secret to success was his past away from wall street and into the world communications. I think if there is any secret sauce, i dont think it is a secret. Principles and stuck to those and with blessings from above, and good people around you and a High Integrity approach to things, that the success is there. Still to come an auto dealer riding on a highway paved say with us. One day it appears. Is that a dark spot . New gold bond dark spot minimizing cream for body. Results begi welcome back. Our next ceo inherited a familyowned auto dealership and hes showing us whats fueling his tripledigit revenue growth. Hes the 2015 black enterprise auto dealer of the year. This year the Martin Automotive Group owner of this chevrolet cylinders. Weve expanded our footprint. Ive acquired two more dealerships for 2014 calendar year and then since then weve also added a mercedesbenz franchise and ive added a along. The last 18 months have been quite the hard work for me. For ceo michael martin, this started from the moment he stepped foot in his parents dealership. In high school, started selling cars on monday morning. Watched my dad through the business and watched the way the business grew, having the appreciation for the customer, wanting to be able to take care of people and really just appreciating the fact that they were at our place of business. And then there was something he noticed that made a huge impression early in his career. I saw the dealers that were africanamerican and minorities that looked like me. I thought heres an opportunity for me to do something with my life and make this a career as opposed to a job. And so at that point probably about four years into it i said, you know what . This is a real Career Opportunity and one day maybe i can run this store for my dad. And take it off his hands. But that wouldnt come easy. It meant expanding and that road is full with challenges for any africanamerican. You have people that have a hard time believing that you are actually the dealer and ive had people come in to say youre not the owner. You know, i am. But i think for the most part, you just have to do business. Weve got to overcome those objections. I think the biggest challenge that we face as africanamericans dealers, minority dealers, is simply capital. That can be challenging. But you learn how to overcome some of those things. That persistence has put him in the drivers seat at four dealerships making Martin Automotive Group number 18 on the b. E. 100s auto dealers list with more than 150 million in revenues, an incredible 164 increase over the previous year. None of this happens without the team and the staff in place. I mean ive been very, very fortunate to surround myself with a lot of very, very good people, not only good car people but just good individuals that are just hard working, dedicated, loyal, and they see the vision in what the dream is. He also points to Family Support as critical. His wife describes him as a humble man whos always open to new opportunities. Hes all ears when hes out there, whether its being with people out on the lot or being an executive with ford or chevy, he is always willing to learn from anybody. I think thats whats helped his success. For martin, his moving ahead means never letting road blocks get in the way. You just keep saying of course, you just keep pounding it, you just keep working your way through it. Thats the only secret i can give anyone. And that does it for this special edition of our world with black enterprise. Visit us on the web at