Autobiography - The Galindo Group

Ram Galindo THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN Page 150
allowed me to act directly as myself, and not through surrogates, as many others less
lucky than me had to do. I think this was of great comfort to my associates and
especially to my lenders. I made a good subject for credit, a most important condition,
for without funds nothing would have happened. In the eyes of my investors, it gave me
credibility, which accounted for their satisfaction and continued confidence in my
operations.
The glue that held together my ability to raise funds to seek opportunities in multifamily
was the evolution of an effective business plan. It became the second foundation pier. I
was able to achieve full vertical integration of the development, construction and
management stages of all the projects that eventually constituted the “Gardens
Properties” unit of my business. After I identified a desirable tract of land, I would form a
general partnership to acquire it. The development division of R. A. Galindo, Inc. would
be charged with the responsibility of producing a land use plan, obtaining all the
entitlements from local, state and federal regulators necessary to obtain the required
permits to build the project, to arrange for access and utilities and to find financing. We
would then subdivide it and form a limited partnership (L.P.) to build and operate an
apartment complex on one or more of the lots therein. The other lots would be for sale
to third parties. The L.P. would engage the construction division of R. A. Galindo, Inc. to
build the apartment project, and when finished, it would contract with its management
division to operate the complex. I personally guaranteed the development and
construction loans, reducing my investors’ exposure to only invested capital. Thus I was
able to retain complete control, and responsibility, for the full business cycle. Cid’s
piercing views and sage advice in these steps have been of great benefit to me. The
only excuse for failure was exterior macro-economic events beyond my control. The
amount of risk I was willing to take, in comparison to no risk to them, gave my investors
a healthy comfort level. But sometimes, in an effort to keep their costs from escalating, it
caused me personally to work at break-even levels or below.
The third foundation pier was the team of employees I was able to assemble. One of the
greatest challenges small business has is to find, attract, and retain qualified employees
out of the same pool of talent where large corporations and government agencies hire.
Instinctively, I knew I could not compete for the ready-made talent floating around. I
decided that it was better to train my own helpers while the operation was still small
enough to allow my direct involvement with them. In 1996 I was very lucky to find Claus
Wagner, a German administrator who happened to move to Bryan-College Station
following his daughter who was pursuing a degree at TAMU. With his help, accented by
his total dedication to work, exemplary honesty and “German” reliability, my office
became a very dependable institution. As I write this section, I am contemplating having
to get additional senior help, but the work of new executives will be based on that done
by those who have been part of my organization since the mid-1990s. The interest and
dedication this group displays is, indeed, one of the main reasons why my business is
moving forth again.
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