Gary O. Shelton’s late maternal grandfather, Lexington E. Sanders, died when Gary was only four years old and inspired him to become an entrepreneur. Lexington and his brother, Eugene R. Sanders, were landowners in the Jim Crow South, built and operated a funeral home, grocery store, and motel in Monticello Georgia. They also built the community center which has done much commendable work with the youth in Jasper County, resulting in the street Sanders HTS being named in his honor. Gary is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EZ Financial Group, LLC which helps real estate entrepreneurs and small business owners get their business set up the right way to meet lender and credit issuer approval requirements and provides access to working capital. He is also Vice-Chairman, Strather Academy: real estate developers teaching the next generation of urban developers.
Jules: What are the challenges that black entrepreneurs are facing today and how is the EZ Financial Group, LLC solving the problems?
Gary: Most people fail to evaluate where they are. You must know where you are before you can really determine your chances of getting what you want out of life.
Set a SMART goal:
Ø Specific
Ø Measurable
Ø Achievable
Ø Realistic
Ø Timely
Identify the benefits
Why do I want to do this?
Identify the obstacles which you’ve got to overcome
Spell out skills and knowledge required
Identify the people, the groups, and organizations to work with
Work out a plan of action
Set the date
Jules: What resources are you providing to clients?
Gary: When clients work with us, they’re not working with a faceless and gigantic banking organization. Right away, they’ll be assigned to their own personal Finance Officer who will work directly with them to develop their Finance Blueprint with all the funding options they can qualify for now.
And, their blueprint maps out the steps to get them even more (and perhaps even better) loans and credit lines in the future. It’s easier when you know what you want and need and how to boost your own business credit profile.
Once our client chooses the funding, they’d like from the options that they can qualify for, our team goes into action working with lenders and investors to get them approved.
Their Finance Officer helps them get approved, negotiates rates and terms, and helps them through all aspects of the funding process until their loan proceeds are in their bank account
Jules: Take us through the process.
Gary: Setup your business where it’s fundable by meeting lender approval criteria BEFORE you apply
Some Fundability factors include:
- The type of entity you have
- The type of phone number you use
- If your phone number is listed in certain directories
- They type of address you use for your business
- The types of licensing you may have
- The congruency of your records
- The types of references you have
- Whether your bank account is setup
- The way your website and email are setup
- Numbers you have like your EIN, DUNS, and BIN
Jules: Do you see any trends?
Gary: Recently, the National Federation of Independent Businesses released a report on small business economic trends. And that reality is, business owners are concerned. Hopes seem to be getting replaced with the possibility of a worst-case scenario.
According to the report, business owners are concerned about the growth of inflation. Other issues include finance and interest percentages, poor sales, and taxes. Contrast this to last year, when they were more preoccupied with the quality of labor.
Interestingly enough, the cost of fuel is not on the list, although energy could be under the overall inflation “umbrella”.
Jules: What will people notice when working with you?
Gary: We hold our clients by the hand while taking them through the fundability process.
Gary O. Shelton’s unique accomplishments include,
Raised over $5 million with crowdfunding for the first Obama/Biden
Campaign.
Acquired Source One Communications, a long-distance reseller, merged
with Lightcom International, the only Black-American owned facilities-based
telephone company in America, and grew revenue to over $70 million,
providing telephone service to the Department of Defense, the White
House, and Camp David.
Co-Founder, Mortgage America: Sold it to Ocwen Financial
Acquired E3 Engineering, and became a Tier 1 supplier to General Motors,
Ford, And Chrysler. Increased annual revenue from $8 million to $20
million in one year.
Developed Evergreen Estates Apartments (Renamed Renaissance Village
Apartments) 350 units, Detroit Michigan.
Completed 450+ buy, Fix & Flip transactions.
Provided investment advice and strategic planning consulting to The Lewis
Company for the $1 billion acquisition of the Beatrice Companies.
Provided strategic planning consulting to Don Barden the first Black-
American to own a Las Vegas casino and the first to own a major cable TV
franchise.
Co-Founder, Teeze: Won contract to provide design, marketing, and
fulfillment services to the Michigan State Lottery. Negotiated licensing
agreements with Lamborghini and General Motors to design custom logo t–
shirts, caps, leather jackets, polo shirts, sweatshirts, and pants. Then sold
apparel to car dealership service stores, Kmart, and Macy’s.
Jules: You are Vice-President of the Strather Academy. How is your partnership a win-win for clients?
Gary: I started acquiring income property with Herb Strather in the late 1970s. Since then, we’ve done over $2b in transactions. Our students at Strather Academy get the best of both of our experiences. Herb teaches how to structure an income property acquisition without using your own money and I teach how to get your real estate business fundable and have access to capital.
Jules: How is the Strather Academy and how you are helping to bridge the “racial wealth gap.”
Gary: I came back home to Detroit from Los Angeles to join my friend, Herb Strather, to mentor the next generation of urban developers. The experience of helping thousands of people to achieve their life goals has been awesome.
Jules: What advances are you seeing towards breaking down financial and socio-economic barriers?
Gary: Our life experiences have taught us that it doesn’t matter where you come from. You don’t get to pick your parents. You simply need to have a burning desire to accomplish something, plan, act, learn from your mistake, don’t make the same mistake twice, adjust, and most important never quit.
Jules: What is your advice for real estate entrepreneurs and small businesses before they walk through the door of EZ Financial Group, LLC?
Gary: Prepare to provide us with the intimate details about your business and personal life.
We believe:
- You should know EXACTLY how to get approved before applying
- All entrepreneurs should be able to obtain capital
- You should know what lenders know about you
- You should be able to access ALL funding options in one place
- You should have access to the same business credit building blueprint that large companies use
- You should be able to get the money you need when you need it
- You should get the most money at the best terms
Jules: What do you want your legacy to be?
Gary: I want to help many people live their dream.
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