Trade Life Magazine

LIVING

A LEGACY PHIL NICAUD

Executive publishers

SECURE TRADE

225-500-1172

contact@securetrade.org securetrade.org

Managing editor SUZANNE POLK FOX

Copy editor CHAD RUIZ

Contributing writers

JOEY DUPONT

PHIL NICAUD

MICHAEL BLACHE

TRACY KELLY

SARAH SPIZALE

JAIME PINEDA

CHAD MOZILLY

Creative team

Director DIANNE WALLER

Design SUZANNE FOX

Production CLAIRE THOMAS

Our Mission

* Secure Trade Exchange Corporate offices are based at 2001 Lakeshore Drive in downtown Mandeville. Come by and have a cup of coffee and find out what trade can do for your business!

LOCAL * BUSINESS OWNERS

J OBS COMMUNITY

BUSINES S

When you buy from a small business, you are not helping a corporate CEO buy a third vacation home. You are helping a local parent put food on the table, pay for childcare, or pay for college. By trading with other small business owners through Secure Trade, you are supporting your local community. Our business owners want to do business with other local business owners who are doing business with them.

TRADING WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES

John Amanda

John owns a local plumbing company and eats at Amanda’s restaurant every day for lunch with his crew. Amanda’s pipes were damaged by the freeze last night, so she called John to come and repair them. Wouldn’t it make sense for her to just trade food for the plumbing instead of giving John cash for him to turn around and give back to them the next day when he comes back to eat at the restaurant?

AD

Julie owns the coffeehouse next door to Amanda’s and her pipes froze as well. She would love to trade with John to come fix her pipes also, but John doesn’t drink coffee. However, Amanda comes in every morning for coffee before opening the restaurant. Through the power of the Secure Trade platform, Julie is able to get John to repair her plumbing by paying him with Secure Trade dollars he can use at Amanda’s restaurant.

Trade typically brings business owners 10%—20% more cash flow to their businesses.

THROUGH THE POWER OF THE SECURE TRADE PLATFORM

Julie is able to get John to repair her plumbing by using her Secure Trade dollars instead of cash.

John uses his trade dollars at Amanda’s the next day for lunch instead of cash.

Amanda uses the trade dollars she receives from John to get her coffee each morning now instead of cash.

HOW IT WORKS

Sign up with Secure Trade.

Receive a Secure Trade debit card, along with an interest-free line of credit.

As a Secure Trade member, you’ll receive a barter card used to make purchases throughout the Secure Trade network, similar to a debit card from any bank. Members use their barter cards to make purchases with other trade members.

All transactions are tracked through the Secure Trade website, allowing members to trade freely without having to worry about keeping up with the receipts. An email is issued each time a transaction is made, and a record of it is made in your online trade bank register.

All transaction reports are available through your Secure Trade web portal, like any other bank.

The Secure Trade website is PCI compliant and follows the same banking procedures a normal bank follows. All of your deposits and withdrawals are exportable to QuickBooks™ making integrations seamless in your business.

Use your trade dollars to pay for the goods and services you would have otherwise used cash for throughout the month.

CREATING NEW BUSINESS

We list your business on our website and drive new customers to you from our group. Our members are able to use their trade card at your business, the same as you can use yours at their business.

If you are too busy to accept trade, you can always pause your account with our Standby Feature.

SECURE TRADE YOUR MONEY IS SAFE

Every trade dollar is 100% safe for up to $250,000 in trade and $25,000 in cash fees through the power of the agreement between Secure Trade Independent Companies or STIC© for short.

PUT YOUR BUSINESS TO WORK FOR YOU!

Most small business owners haven’t been on a family vacation in over two years.

Will you be able to send your children to college?

When was the last time you had the extra money to justify getting a massage?

Are you putting off car repairs until you have the extra cash to afford it?

Through trade, most business owners are able to generate 10-20% additional new business. You can use this extra income to set aside money for college, or even go on that vacation. What will you do with your extra income created by trade?

In The Sales IT'S ALL

Sales tells all. Show me your company’s sales and I will show you it's trajectory. The trajectory of Secure Trade could not be better in 2018. We closed the year with four regions (225, 985, 504, and 228), a growth of two new regions in one year. Those two new regions now have over 100 members each. Our existing regions have grown by 395 members this year, making us one of the largest, fastest growing trade exchanges in the country, with nearly 2,000 members and growing!

When we started this group a little over four years ago, none of us had any idea how successful it would be. It started with a handful of founding members, in a small room at 940 O’Neal Lane in Baton Rouge. It’s so rewarding seeing all of their faces now, with such a large group around them going into 2019.

We are looking forward to the future. 2019 is going to be an amazing year of multiplication for us. We already have applications to start two new regions. The plan is to continue our expansion toward Florida and Texas until we have successfully established our currency as a national brand. With 293 area codes in the United States, it will take us some time to conquer them all, but it’s an exciting ride along the way.

I see a day where you will be able to use your trade card to rent a private jet to fly to New York for the weekend, have a limo pick you up in a private car, take in a play, stay at a five-star hotel and come back home all on trade!

The more places there are to use your trade dollar, the more valuable it is. Bottom line; Secure Trade is changing the way businesses do business through the power of one unified trade economy.

In The Numbers IT'S ALL

The Numbers

don’t lie. Show me a company’s numbers and I will show you it's future. We have had an excellent 2018, with our total gross trades up over 25% from last year. This year our total gross product, including sales and purchases for all regions from day one, has been $17,136,356,with $7,381,822 in 2018 alone. This makes Secure Trade's currency one of the most stable trade currencies in the world. Our referral program payouts are the highest ever at $126,628, paid out in referrals to date and $71,568 in 2018 alone. Most members understand how the referral program works; when you refer a new member, you receive 10% of all the cash that new member generates for the group for as long as both of you are a part of the group. I don’t know if members really ever experience that “aha” moment until they start seeing the money stack up in their rewards account.

For example, let’s say you own Hometown Painting and you refer Local Boy’s Plumbing into the group. Local Boy’s plumbing decides to buy a truck for $12,500 in the auction and wraps it for $2,500 at Wrapture Graphics with the money they earned doing jobs for the group. Local Boy’s spends $14,000 in trade and $1,400 in cash to make their purchases in the group. $140 in cash rewards goes directly into Hometown Painting's rewards account. Hometown can transfer these rewards to their CBA to cover their transaction fees or request a check to help cover business expenses. Our biggest referrer has received over $41,650.00 to date. Trajectory is up for Secure Trade with a projected $9,000,000 in combined trades for 2019. The sky's the limit, and we’re excited to see what the future will bring.

In The Technology IT'S ALL

It’snot only the Secure Trade network that is growing; our platform is growing too! With a transaction being performed every few minutes, the demand on our site is tremendous to say the least. As many of you know, we are one the few platforms in the trade industry who maintains a PCI Compliant status, enabling us to store customer data like credit card information and such on our site. Most members have no idea what all is entailed to keep current with these requirements. Our site is under constant construction, with code being written on a daily basis to keep up with the ever-changing world of high-tech cyber security. With this being said, I’m excited to give you a quick peek at what you can expect in the New Year on the technical side of things.

Securetrade.org is the website you access to conduct your business every day. It is our technical backbone, and we build it with four goals in mind: it must be Reliable, Fast, Secure, and Engaging. In computer geek terms, we’re building a full-blown Progressive Web Application (PWA). If you’ve not heard the term and are interested in web technology, give it a quick search!

All obligatory Silicon Valley buzzwords aside, we’ll shortly be releasing some features that further provide you with the best possible experience for trading and building relationships in a barter network. Want to find a new, highly "member-recommended" restaurant within 10 miles of where you’re standing? We’ve got you covered! Our new member profile page in our updated Directory is packed with new features such as member reviews, recommendations, “favoriting,” a more granular category search, and even distance filtering. You’ll be able to build a robust public profile page which will allow you to market your services even further with photos, reviews, custom offers and even videos!

It’s your business and we want to offer you the ability to share your business’ account with your partners and employees on your terms. Look for some new security related features which allow you to provide access to different parts of your dashboard to different folks. And we’re introducing Employee Benefit Cards, where you will be able to set up scheduled transfers of your trade dollars to your staff as standalone benefit accounts!

Of course, it’s even faster than before, which means a quicker response while using less mobile data when you’re on the go. We hope you’ve found that it has always been reliable as we strive to keep a 99.99% uptime. If you ever have any ideas of how we could improve, we’re all ears.

By Chad Mozilly

FOLLOW

The Money

Liam Dixon with La Lou was one of the first members to join 985 Trade in 2016. She said she was a bit reluctant to join another group at the time because of cash flow, but would give us a shot. She immediately used her credit line to paint her front porch and spruce up her restaurant. Fast forward two years and she has been one of our best members in 985, participating in over $63,000 in trade transactions between purchases and sales.

Liam recently had an issue with her son's car in Baton Rouge, a 225 Trade market which trades seamlessly with 985. She had her vehicle towed by Browns Towing, a fellow trade member, repaired and put back on the road by O’Neal Car Care, all with her 985 Trade card.

Vince with O’Neal Car Care used the trade dollars he earned to buy some new flooring from Douglas flooring and have it installed, all by the power of trade.

Douglas flooring will use their trade dollars on some advertising more than likely, they haven’t decided yet.

The Marketplace

Most of our members have experienced the Marketplace in some form or fashion. For those of you who have not, you’re missing out! The Secure Trade Marketplace is like a combination of Facebook marketplace and eBay, but utilizing trade as your currency.

MEBAY STYLE AUCTIONS VS BLIND AUCTIONS

Gone are the days of sending out emails to have “blind auctions” for trade members. After all, how do you even know who your bidding against if the auction is blind?

For those of you who aren't familiar with the term “blind auction,” a blind auction is an auction where everyone bidding turns in a price they are willing to pay for an item. The person with the highest price wins. You don’t know who you’re bidding against or the price it is going for.

MThese old ways of bidding cause the prices to be inflated, plus you really never know if the person who wins actually outbid you or if they were buddies with the seller. I remember bidding on a blind auction before over the phone only to find out my business partner was on the other phone bidding against me.

Auction item:

2009 Dodge Half-Ton Four door truck

Seller: Louisiana Direct Buy

Purchaser: 225 House Painting

Winning bid: $12,600

Auction item:

Semi-Automatic Machine Pistol

Seller: 225 House Painting

Purchaser: Chaney Mechanical

Winning bid: $3,500

Auction item: : 2004 Mercedes E320

Seller: PGS Auto

Purchaser: Azalia Lakes

Winning bid: $7,000

Auction item: 2006 Volvo S60

Seller: Louisiana Direct Buy

Purchaser: Elsie’s Plate and Pie

Winning bid: $5,000

MFACEBOOK STYLE MARKETPLACE

With the Secure Trade platform, you see who is bidding against you. We also built in a feature to protect members from another person who doesn’t have the trade dollars available or who maybe isn’t serious about buying an item bidding you up. Members bidding on an item must have the amount available in their trade accounts as well as their CBA when placing a bid.

Secure Trades Marketplace items are constantly being updated. This is the place you will find everything from specials to physical items. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

1. Scroll through and find the item you want.

2. Click on the “buy now” button and the trade dollars will be deducted from your account.

3. Arrange to pick up the item. All trades are guaranteed by Secure Trade. If a member hasn’t come through with the goods? Feel free to reach out to us and we will help facilitate the transaction or get the trade back into your account.

Marketplace item: 2004 Volkswagen Passat

Seller: Flamjeaux Coffee Company

Purchaser: Glass Doctor

Winning bid: $3,500

Marketplace item: New Orleans Saints Tickets

Seller: Distinctive Smiles

MPurchaser: HighTek Construction

Winning bid: $600

POSTING

Click “sell.”

AN ITEM IS EASY:

Key in all of the item’s information. Be sure to decide between an auction or Marketplace sell.

Post your pictures directly from your phone. You will receive a notification when the item sells, along with the contact info of the person who purchased your item.

MMIT’S EASY AS 1,2,3

1. SCROLL THROUGH...

2. CLICK BUY NOW...

3. ARRANGE TO PICK UP....

*All trades are guaranteed by secure trade. If a member doesn’t come through with the goods, your trade transaction will be refunded immediately.

WHAT’S NEW FOR 2019

It’s been an exciting year in 225. We have added nearly 400 new members this year, all thanks to our amazing referral network.

2019 UPDATES

Renovations almost done:

As many of you know, we have been working hard to rebuild our flooded offices on O’Neal Lane, and we are almost finished! As many of you know we have been working hard to rebuild our flooded 225 offices on O’Neal lane, and we are almost finished! Feel free to stop by the O’neal office to check out our progress when you get a chance. Feel free to stop by the O’Neal office to check on the progress when you get a chance.

Our new 940 Business park:

In keeping with our core values of promoting entrepreneurship through small business, we are excited to announce the creation of 940 Business Park. 940 will be dedicated to small business owners who want an office to work out of, without all of the overhead. 940 will have 10 independent fully furnished office suites, two conference rooms with state-of-the-art conferencing equipment, a full-time receptionist, as well as access to day-to-day mentoring.

In addition to the Business Park, we will be offering complimentary entrepreneur training classes to our members in our spacious 50-seat training facility. This will also give us ample space to offer periodic lunches and learning opportunities for our members.

We are excited to see how much we can accomplish with this new space.

Deep Clean Inc

Deep Clean Inc

NEW MEMBERS

Barn Wood Creations

A&W Matthews Construction

John Scneider

John Scneider

Cabin Rentals

Zonda B

LeBlanc’s Electric

Geaux Ketoux

Tiger Signs

Santa

Year of Networking

The A Word From the Regional Director for 985 Trade

2018

was an amazing year in 985 Trade with 104 new members, over $1,000,000 in trade transactions and over $14,000 in cash rewards paid out to the referring members through our cash for referrals program. This all could not have been possible without you, our members. I have been really excited to witness business and personal relationships blossom over the past year. Our membership has truly become more than just an association. We have become a brotherhood, here to help each other conquer the di culties of being a small business owner. Our members have been very generous to our philanthropic members, as well with several thousands of trade dollars being donated to nonprofits like Ride of the Brotherhood/Camp NORA and others.

Our Marketplace was launched in early January and has become a wonderful opportunity for our members to buy or sell items online to other members for trade dollars. If you have not visited the Marketplace, I encourage you to check it out. There are great deals on everything from vehicles, to furniture, to unique one-of-a kind treasures.

This year has been the year of networking. We have had 346 members attend our networking events, with exchanged cash referrals of over $80,000 that we are aware of. Even more impressive is the mentorship by seasoned business owners who have shared their

experience with newer owners. This is what 985 Trade is really about.

This year, we have successfully negotiated group health care rates for our members with several national companies, as well as adding new health care partners like In and Out Urgent Care after-hours med clinic with three locations, and Exceptional Dental, with six locations in and around our area.

Our future is bright for 2019, with exciting plans to open another trade o ce in the Hammond market. We have made many strides in the Slidell market, and are really excited about our warm reception from the business owners there. We are projecting huge growth in the Slidell, Covington, and Hammond areas of 985. If you know of any businesses in or around this area who would be a good fit for our group, be sure to let us know.

In closing, I want to wish you all a great new year, and I look forward to working with you to make 985 Trade even better.

Michael Blache Regional Director

Big Cat Creations

Slidell Tax Care

Networking

Christmas985Party

PHIL NICAUD A LEGACY

I have had the privilege of knowing Phil Nicaud for over 15 years as a friend, brother in the Lord, and now coach. Phil has been married to the same woman for -----years, has five beautiful children, created—and is continuing to create—a thriving business helping other leaders grow their lives through relational leadership skills. Phil is a sought-after public speaker, presenting at events alongside some of America’s great speakers.

I believe you can judge a leader by the quality of the people surrounding them. In Phil’s case, this would include some of the top CEOs and business leaders in the country. Let’s hear what Phil has to say about getting our goals in order for 2019.

Joey: Everyone reading this article are entrepreneurs in some fashion. What would you say is the top defining quality of a successful entrepreneur?

Phil: The majority of my clients are entrepreneurs. When I think about what sets them apart from general business people, I would say that it is their ability to recognize opportunity and seize it. They are typically crystal clear about what they want and develop clear plans to help them get it. Most of my clients value innovation and have a gritty “get it done” spirit.

Joey: What is the difference between setting long-term goals versus short-term goals?

Phil: The way I define a long-term goal is vision or a picture of a preferable future. The more you describe that future in vivid detail, the easier it is to develop your short-term and intermediate-term goals that can support the long-term vision. In my opinion, goal setting in the backdrop of a long-term vision is the best way to effectively plan.

Joey: What are some of the pitfalls you see in following your goals? What gets us off track?

Phil: Primarily when we are not clear about our “why,” many times we lack the necessary motivation to persevere when we don’t “feel”

Recognize opportunity and seize it!

like doing our disciplines or actions. Additionally, I find that it helps when writing goals to identify any potential obstacles or barriers to achieving those goals and develop plans to overcome them before you start. Lastly, in my experience, consistent systematic review is key to success. Set up an easy system and work that system. Some of my clients actually print their top goals for the year, frame them, and place them on their credenza. Others copy and paste their goals into a calendar event and set a recurring meeting with them weekly or monthly.

Joey: What tools do you use to set your life goals?

Phil: Michael Hyatt has an excellent life score assessment and corresponding videos that he has published. Brian Tracey has a proven goal-setting template and course.

The main idea to keep in mind when goal setting is to clarify your desired outcomes for the year in vivid detail, identify any barriers to success, develop the strategies you are willing to do to get those outcomes, and set up a review/ accountability process to ensure success.

Joey: How often do you recommend popping the hood on our goals, to see how the engine’s doing?

Phil: The majority of my clients divide their goals into pieces that can be accomplished over the year. Then they practice their “goal review” monthly to ensure progress.

Joey: Should your life goals ever change as you get closer to the point of Legacy?

Phil: I typically stay away from the word “should” but it is a great question. I have seen great peace in a person’s life when they live according to a designed plan and start that process early. Our goals naturally take on different desired outcomes as our seasons change, but it is definitely advantageous to start living intentionally as early as possible.

Joey: What nugget would you say you have gleaned from all of your years working with successful entrepreneurs?

Phil: I learned a valuable lesson from a wise farmer who once told me his 5 P’s to success: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.

This simple farmer lived his life according to the principle of the 5 Ps. He worked and lived with great intention, expecting a harvest on what he had sown. He also understood the seasons and what he could control and what he couldn’t. In the end, he did everything he could to prepare for a great harvest and trusted God for the results.

The fruit of living a designed and intentional life is not always the successful outcome you envisioned, but you do get to walk through life with no regret and great peace.

To your success in 2019, Phil

Most of my clients value innovation and have a gritty “get it done” spirit.

NEW MEMBERS

Gulf Coast Vinyl & Tint

Gulfportraits Photography Hall’s Engraving

Kim Gaughf Life Coach King Limo

Cross Crown Entertainment

Michelle Miller Notary

Cupcake Creations

King Limo Brandi’s Poochie Parlor

NEW MEMBERS

Personal Training by Joshua

Destiny Photography by Jim Tabor

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups pecans halves

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

In a heavy pot at least four and one-half inches deep, mix the buttermilk, sugar, baking soda and salt and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Place the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture turns brown and almost reaches the soft-ball stage of 232 degrees, about 35 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.

Add the butter, pecans and vanilla extract and beat until the mixture is glossy and thick. Spoon onto greased waxed paper. Cool completely. Store in an airtight tin or plastic storage bag.

Purchasing

aBusiness

Selling

A BUSINESS

Trade Life Magazine: When did you decide to sell your business?

Sarah: It was in January 2017.

Trade Life Magazine: How did you determine the value of your business? What steps did you take to sell your business? Did you hire a broker or did you do it on your own?

Sarah: I had a business broker come in and received an estimated appraisal, which was better than I expected. However, the business broker had a two-year contract with an expensive buyout. In fact, if I were able to sell it on my own, I would have had to pay him after the contract was signed. Obviously, I did not sign the contract; however, I was fortunate enough to get the estimated price and paperwork I needed to present to prospective buyers as part of my negotiations with the broker. The evaluation of price considers everything, such as sales, receivables, inventories, all assets, and all outstanding debt or liens. This really helped identify business threats and opportunities with a defined value. I also realized, it is wise to do your own evaluation on liquidation of assets and the lease contract for the building. As a

rule, my research turned up the fact that:

“Small businesses are typically worth 3 to 6 times their annual cash flow.”

Obviously, this depends on the overall financial health, industry trends, market demands, cost of goods, and location.

Trade Life Magazine: What other advice can you give a potential business owner? Did you proceed with an “exit strategy”?

Sarah: If you are considering selling your business, I would highly recommend working on an exit plan even if you are not 100% on selling. This will give you the needed time to really create a good exit strategy with less pressure. In my case, it required several documents to be drawn up for the prospective new owners. I had to provide the profit and loss balance statement, tax returns, monthly expenses, a detailed list of all furniture, machines, merchandise, signage, even intellectual property.

Trade Life Magazine: When you found someone really interested in buying your business, what happened next? Did you transfer your lease, or just transfer the LLC?

Sarah Spizale

Sarah Spizale’s Exit Plan

Sarah: When we found our buyer, we sought legal advice to oversee the transaction with the Bill of Sale, Purchase Agreement, and other contracts.

A Purchase Agreement is generally drawn up between the two perspective parties laying out what all will be transferred and for what compensation. This document shows the “Intent to sale” as long as all of the stipulations are met.

A Bill of Sale is generally drawn up by an Attorney establishing the stipulations of the Purchase Agreement have been met and the business is transferring ownership.

Once the Purchase Agreement was drawn up, we set a closing date, and executed the cash sale by notary.

Our lease had an option to transfer it with the remaining time on the lease or create a new one with the new owner, and the new owners wanted a new lease agreement.

Trade Life Magazine: How did you deal with accounts receivable and payable? What did you learn from the whole process that may help somebody who is considering selling their business?

Sarah: The new owners told me the merchant accounts were switched the day after the Bill of Sale was signed and it should have been completed within five days. Later on, I found out they didn’t switch names with the Secretary of State and they couldn’t switch the bank account until the Secretary of State showed their names on it. On the Purchase agreement, it clearly stated the new owners were to take full ownership of the “existing” LLC. Unfortunately, the new owners didn’t understand this, opening a new LLC and requested that I close the old one with the Louisiana Secretary of State which a ects the bank account under the old LLC. After going back and forth with the new owners, I decided to go ahead and close the LLC and then close the bank account. This caused them to have issues with collecting money that should have been sent to them from the membership

account that should have been switched by them the day after purchase.

“A wise man learns from another man’s mistake, a smart man learns from his own mistakes and a stupid man learns from not even his own mistakes. In this case, I learned from my own mistakes!”

Trade Life Magazine: How was the overall experience of selling your business? How did you let your employees or customers know you were selling?

Sarah: The overall transition period was relatively easy because one of the owners had worked there so I didn’t have to train on the day-to-day operations. The new owners wanted to keep the employees on the job and requested that I didn’t inform the employees or the customers until the sale was finalized.

Trade Life Magazine: What are you doing now?

Sarah: After the sale, it was time to move on to my next business venture. I was already certified in Spray Tanning by Norvell. I LOVE to see women light up with confidence after getting a spray tan and I enjoy doing it. It’s almost like creating a piece of art except on a human body. Who wouldn’t want to look more toned and skinnier within five minutes?

For the love of spray tanning, I launched Beauty Time Express, a mobile spray tanning service, without the overhead I had before. In addition to spray tanning, I’m an exclusive seller of “Seek Natural Care” premium bath bombs and soaps. The products are sold online, at di erent business events, and we also o er customized corporate gifts.

Trade Life Magazine: We love your bath bombs; we used them as our corporate gifts this year and they worked great! All of our members loved them. Thank you so much for giving us a peak into your experience.

Sarah: By all means, I’m no expert in buying and selling businesses but this is my story. I hope it blesses and inspires you guys.

A BUSINESS

we developed a complex, unorthodox approach, but they recognized our past experience, success, and tenacious entrepreneurial energy. I have to say that our trade position as a financial tool leveraged the deal into approval on paper. Ultimately, we prayed a lot, and I believe it was God’s will for us to move in this direction. So I believe He placed these tools around us and put us into position to receive the wisdom to use them. I also believe He warmed the hearts of the decision makers.

Question: Did you keep all of the employees, or the location?

Tracy: The New Orleans franchisee had already sold their building, so we had to scramble to move and set up a new location. We owner financed some of their equipment and four service vehicles. Jennie and I took over the administration duties and hired all of their skilled labor. To date, all have remained. Overall, our sales have grown by approximately 300% from 2016 to the end of 2018, with no end in sight.

Question: Wow, that is amazing growth! What did you learn from the entire transaction? What do you wish you would have done di erently, and what do you think you would do the same?

Tracy: We learned to trust God with things beyond our control, and stand amazed at His faithfulness. Starting a business or buying a business is very similar to having or adopting a child. No

matter how much you plan, it seems like you’re never fully prepared, but that’s OK. We also relied heavily on our trade brokers and management at 225, 985, and 504 Trade, and they stood beside us at every turn to be trusted consultants to help in any way. Remember, they are very successful entrepreneurs as well, and provide insight and tactics we may not see. Plus, they are willing to dream and vision with you, and pray as well. Beyond that, with a growing network of thousands of businesses, we have networked with many other business owners who may never have interacted with us if we weren’t members of the group. To us, healthy business is nurtured by relationships, finance, communication, and trade massively strengthens all three. I haven’t conceived of a di erent way to do what we have accomplished so far.

So, to sum up your final question, we are where we are as a combination of the things we have done right and wrong to get here. So I probably wouldn’t change anything. Trade is still the first business tool I try to utilize; it has many facets beyond o setting cash expenditures.

Trade is still the first business tool I try to utilize; it has many facets beyond o setting cash expenditures.

Tracy Kelly

Jennie Kelly

504

NEW MEMBERS

Melba’s Mansion Melba’s Mansion

CONNECTING MEMBERS CONNECTING BUSINESSES

HEALTHCARE SECURE TRADE

Being part of SECURE TRADE means more buying power for you as the client. We have partnered with HUB International to offer group healthcare based on our 2,000+ member group!

HUB offers healthcare benefits through all healthcare providers available in Louisiana. Our group healthcare program qualifies for the mandatory minimum guidelines for healthcare as set out by the Department of Labor. This could save you as much as 50% over other traditional health insurance platforms.

Receive complimentary TeleMed services for every member in the group who participates in the Secure Trade healthcare plan!

Benefits of TeleMed:

• 24/7 online access to a medical professional

• Medical professional can call in prescriptions to any pharmacy

• TeleMed patients average 38% fewer hospital visits

• TeleMed patients average 63% fewer days if admitted to hospital

450+ employees

PLATINUM status with all major carriers

Multi - Year Strategy

GULF SOUTH FAST FACTS

TOP 6 global broker

2,400+ clients

14 offices in Gulf South

LARGEST consulting firm/broker in Louisiana

Best Practice Groups

• Small Group Deliverables

• Large Group Deliverables

• Professional Development & Training

• Sales Best Practice

Cost Containment Solutions

• Proprietary captive markets

• Medical management resources

• Reference/value based pricing

• Proprietary spousal management Programs

• Claims analytics

• Pharmacy consulting

• Wellness consulting

• Extensive reinsurance markets

• In-house ERISA Compliance Officers

HR/Benefits Technology Consulting

• Eliminating manual or labor-intensive processes

• Supporting the growth of the business, without adding staff

• Increasing efficiency by allow HR to focus on strategic business goals

• Minimizing costly data errors

• Ensuring compliance with new and current regulations

• Enabling enhanced support and service with software backed by dedicated technical support or a call center

• Preparing for audits - easier access to your data allows you to be proactive and more likely to pass

• Empowering defensibility in case of a lawsuit - consistent processes and integrated employee data make it easier to support and defend HR decisions during litigation

Actuarial Services/Analytics

• Ongoing experience reporting dashboards

• Fully insured to self-funded analysis

• Rate development and cost projections

• Underwriting and plan design modeling

• Benchmarking (industry, size, region)

• Prescription drug marketing and analysis

• Stop Loss Analysis

Compliance

• Access to compliance officers

• Compliance audits & action plans

• Ongoing compliance updates

• Seminars/webinars

Gulf South Footprint