Latest / Black Fridays: Business Growth for Entrepreneurs, Creators & Professionals / How to Get Funding for Your Small Business - Ep. 199 w/ Warren Galloway Jr.

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How to Get Funding for Your Small Business - Ep. 199 w/ Warren Galloway Jr. · Black Fridays: Business Growth for Entrepreneurs, Creators & Professionals

0:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Once I realized who was actually lending money in our neighborhoods here in Detroit, I realized there was nobody else that was the face of Michael Lending.
0:09
[SPEAKER_02]: Nobody who can be such a matter expert to talk about this small type of lending deck is very helpful.
0:16
[SPEAKER_02]: and helping large businesses and provide an access to capital for businesses to scale and grow.
0:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Don't let grants be the driving force for your business all about passion and desire to get out there and sell your product or your service.
0:29
[SPEAKER_02]: What happens is sometimes they need the resources they mean mentoring coaching.
0:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Maybe they're financial records on that order.
0:35
[SPEAKER_02]: So they're the bookkeeper in account and coming to help them.
0:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Maybe they legally did their signing back contract.
0:41
[SPEAKER_02]: But business
0:43
[SPEAKER_02]: tell business owners, let's say here, a business plan, you know, that's your roadmap.
0:48
[SPEAKER_01]: If you don't have a business plan, don't make a looking ahead and know what you're trying to do.
0:51
[SPEAKER_02]: My legacy is the impact that I have in the community with this conference.
0:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Providing resources.
1:17
[SPEAKER_01]: work in professionals, creators, entrepreneurs, I need you out of tap the enter.
1:20
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1:30
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1:36
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1:38
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1:41
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1:47
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1:50
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1:55
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1:55
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1:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Now let's go ahead and get back into the episode.
2:02
[SPEAKER_02]: What up, though, Black Friday family.
2:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back to another installment of the Black Friday podcast.
2:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Before we get into today's episode, hit the like button, subscribe, drop a comment, since some videos to family friends are loved ones, so they won't keep this thing going.
2:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Now that we got that business out of the way, let's talk about money a little bit.
2:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And I feel like I got the perfect person in here, just in case you ever needed a long, Mr. Warren Galaway, the founder of the MicroLone Conference.
2:25
[SPEAKER_01]: How are you doing today?
2:26
[SPEAKER_02]: Just fine, sir.
2:27
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you.
2:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for being here and it's I'm grateful to be able to have this conversation because we literally met at the chase Again, coach and there we go.
2:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah perfect safe the chase coaching for impact Graduation ceremony and so I got a chance to connect there and then didn't even know that I was talking to the person who I had got asked to speak at his conference So that was that was a bit of a crazy experience, but I'm glad that we did get a chance to talking meet
2:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Which led to us being here.
2:58
[SPEAKER_01]: So what love to be able to talk to you more obviously about the conference about your background and so forth But before we go any further, I got to get you gave me the definition when we met so I got to make sure everybody else get the same information What is a micro loan like could you break that down for so the SBA defines a micro loan as being Business funding and that is provided by a nonprofit
3:25
[SPEAKER_02]: and the amount is typically $50,000 or less, as well as they have what I call relax underwriting criteria.
3:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And in terms of micro loans, so you are the founder of the micro loan conference.
3:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Right.
3:38
[SPEAKER_01]: And, but you have a pretty extensive background.
3:41
[SPEAKER_01]: So I learned before we start recording, you got it.
3:44
[SPEAKER_01]: You got it.
3:44
[SPEAKER_01]: You got it.
3:44
[SPEAKER_01]: JD, you've been in law school, you work in financial industry.
3:47
[SPEAKER_01]: You have 13 books, your author, entrepreneurs.
3:50
[SPEAKER_01]: So you have different lanes of expertise, but why focus on micro loan specifically, like that's very, very niche and specific.
3:58
[SPEAKER_02]: So it goes back to my last big corporate job.
4:03
[SPEAKER_02]: I was one of the department for E-Trade.
4:06
[SPEAKER_02]: A lot of people know E-Trade because it's a big stock company, but they also own the bank.
4:10
[SPEAKER_02]: So I ran a community development for them nationwide.
4:13
[SPEAKER_02]: But I was only there for a short period of time because like a lot of entrepreneurs working in Copeland America, you know, once you crack that glass ceiling, it's like, okay, is this what it is?
4:22
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I go out and do my own.
4:24
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I was working in Arlington, Virginia and living in Alexandria with my family.
4:30
[SPEAKER_02]: So I decided to go into business for myself, but I hadn't been in the DC area long enough to kind of build a roll of decks of clients and connections, so we made a decision to come back to Detroit.
4:44
[SPEAKER_02]: And that was end to the 2005.
4:47
[SPEAKER_02]: So I came back to Detroit, started a small business consulting firm.
4:52
[SPEAKER_02]: And while I was mentoring coaching clients in the city of Detroit, I started to see pockets of small developments taking place in the city.
5:03
[SPEAKER_02]: And, you know, banks have a very strict underwriting criteria, and it was not the banks that was doing them lately.
5:09
[SPEAKER_02]: I found out that it was the Michael Lenders and the CDFI Lenders.
5:12
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, CDFI Lenders stand for community development financial institutions.
5:16
[SPEAKER_02]: Those are not profit Lenders as well.
5:18
[SPEAKER_02]: The difference is they lend more to $50,000, but less than the bank.
5:22
[SPEAKER_02]: So you have Michael Lenders, you have CDFI Lenders, and you have banks.
5:26
[SPEAKER_02]: Those are the
5:29
[SPEAKER_02]: Once I realized who was actually lending money in our neighborhoods here in Detroit, I realized there was nobody else that was the face of Michael Lending.
5:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Nobody who can be just subject matter expert to talk about this small type of lending deck is very helpful and helping large businesses and providing access to capital for businesses to scale and grow.
5:51
[SPEAKER_02]: And so once I realized what this type of lending was, I say guess what, I'm going to be the face of it.
5:57
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's why Michael Linden is kind of my expertise.
6:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Love it.
6:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And could you talk to us about how micro loans and micro lending has been a huge benefit for small businesses, which you are dedicated to being able to support and uplift.
6:15
[SPEAKER_02]: very much so so I talk about microland is being part of the economic engine to revitalize our neighborhoods so you take a livenoy grant where you take uh... avenue fashion you take uh... Jefferson charmers uh... take to southwest Detroit if we want to really have impact in our neighborhoods microlending or or loans from cd fi lenders are going to be the way to go
6:41
[SPEAKER_02]: And I say that because they take on the risk that traditional financial institutions typically don't take on.
6:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, meaning they're willing to land to entrepreneurs who don't fit the normal underwriting criteria that you will have for a traditional financial institution.
6:56
[SPEAKER_02]: And I say traditional financial institutions don't say banks.
6:59
[SPEAKER_02]: That's because now, credit unions now are doing small business limits.
7:03
[SPEAKER_02]: So they're not banks, they're credit unions.
7:04
[SPEAKER_02]: So I had to use a general term.
7:10
[SPEAKER_02]: opens up a brick and mortar in an avenue of fashion or Jefferson Charmer's demos likely to hire people from the community.
7:19
[SPEAKER_02]: So when you provide access to capital to those type of businesses who are going to be neighborhood-based businesses, those are the ones that are going to hire returning citizens or seniors or youth or the disabled or the low income.
7:35
[SPEAKER_02]: So why not push a product that will be very impactful in our own neighborhoods?
7:41
[SPEAKER_02]: When we were growing up, at least for me, I can remember back when they had Federals, and they had to do their research and they were fellows with big departments to go back in the day.
7:52
[SPEAKER_02]: And we used to just walk to the corner and go shopping.
7:55
[SPEAKER_02]: I lived a little annoying ground river, so we went to Oakland and Grand River.
7:58
[SPEAKER_02]: We did a shopping there.
7:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, we went downtown too, but we had neighborhood shopping.
8:03
[SPEAKER_02]: We don't have that type of big bugs retail in Detroit anymore in most urban areas.
8:08
[SPEAKER_02]: So now, to me, I look at as a opportunity for entrepreneurs who look like you and I.
8:14
[SPEAKER_02]: who can now start a business in those same builders that were big box retailers.
8:18
[SPEAKER_02]: And now instead of making money for them and letting them take it out the city, now we're circling that money back into her neighborhood.
8:25
[SPEAKER_02]: So Michael Linus, CDFI Linus, now can be used as a catalyst to allow business owners to become economic engines in their own community and provide employment opportunities.
8:34
[SPEAKER_01]: I love it and speaking of which as far as the micro loan conference this is something that you started back in 2019 and was able to start your first event and then of course you have some challenges as far as with COVID and things like that but now you're on an annual basis where you're able to roll this out and then even we'll talk a little bit about like the expansion piece of it but could you tell us about the inception of the micro loan conference and then where we are with
9:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely, so it kind of goes back to when I was telling you how I became the subject-many expert of Michael Lending.
9:09
[SPEAKER_02]: I just came up with this vision in 2015 and I kind of drew it out and I was like, man, what if I had a conference where I had a halt of Michael Lending's there?
9:17
[SPEAKER_02]: And at that time I was focusing on Michael Lending's.
9:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, and so I drew it up and I was, you know, I had a vision of my hair with hotel to have it in Detroit, but it fast forward.
9:27
[SPEAKER_02]: It wasn't to 2019 literally the first half of 2019.
9:31
[SPEAKER_02]: I was speaking to some coworkers at the time.
9:33
[SPEAKER_02]: I was working as what they call a capitalist strategist for tech town Detroit right there by Wayne State.
9:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.
9:39
[SPEAKER_02]: And, um, finding somebody say, well, um, and I'm bleeding that stapler who's the president's CEO.
9:51
[SPEAKER_02]: I immediately had six months to get the conference started.
9:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Matt had that conference.
9:55
[SPEAKER_02]: It was the most incredible thing to have a vision from 2015, come to fruition and be impactful.
10:03
[SPEAKER_02]: And so the conference started then.
10:06
[SPEAKER_02]: I said, I'm gonna do it every year and let it grow as we spoke off of Ly pandemic, March 2020, okay.
10:14
[SPEAKER_02]: So I had to count the one I had planned for 2022.
10:17
[SPEAKER_02]: So fast forward,
10:19
[SPEAKER_02]: I had to wait until 2022 to kind of test the waters because we still were in the pandemic.
10:23
[SPEAKER_02]: So I have my first conference outside of TechCow at Halloween, because you know, a great town.
10:30
[SPEAKER_02]: I had 300 guests, 60 workshops, 60 speakers, I took all safety precautions, mass, hand sanitizer, had a great, great conference.
10:39
[SPEAKER_02]: And finally, I said, well, let me get this complete out of the pandemic, which was hands 2025 and last year at 350 entrepreneurs, I had 80 speakers, I had 60 workshops, I gave way $5,000 at pitch competition.
10:51
[SPEAKER_02]: It was just incredible.
10:53
[SPEAKER_02]: So now I have this year's conference plan for October 13, 14, again, a Hollywood casino that I agreed to.
11:00
[SPEAKER_02]: But prior to that, I made my first expansion.
11:04
[SPEAKER_02]: I had my first ever conference.
11:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Michael on conference in Atlanta, with organization called Greater Wealth Work.
11:09
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's growing, playing on taking across the country and because I think I said early on in 2015, I was thinking of just Michael Minnes.
11:19
[SPEAKER_02]: Now has become truly an entrepreneur's resource conference.
11:23
[SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, entrepreneur.
11:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Have Michael Linnas, I'll see if I Linnas have traditional financial institutions.
11:27
[SPEAKER_02]: I have accredited news there, have accountants, I have lawyers, I have marketing people, I have social media people, I have HR people there, I have AI people there.
11:36
[SPEAKER_02]: It is a resource conference for two days.
11:39
[SPEAKER_02]: that allow entrepreneurs to be at the network with these resources and walk away with funding and support.
11:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so it's incredible thing to see it definitely is and I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to be able to come and speak on a market and do like a workshop of surrounding marketing and at first when I heard about the conference and then started doing my research and I was thinking I'm like, well,
12:01
[SPEAKER_01]: How does marketing and tying in with micro loans and micro lending with how to do to connect the base of what you're saying in terms of it become a more of a Astronorer's resource conference It all makes sense and then also the tying at least from where I would like for my information in land
12:19
[SPEAKER_01]: is you have to be able to sell yourself your business, your brand, in order to regardless of if you're going for a grant, if you're going for a micro loan, if you're going for a large scale loan, whatever entity it is, you have to be able to number one tell that story and you need to also be able to tie it back into what is the main goal that you're trying to accomplish, which is pretty much marketing.
12:41
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's really cool to hear that you say like how you're adding the additional resources around in the money where everybody's just like giving me giving me the money like I need I need funding like that's why everybody else for Norris say I need more funding to do x y and z but really it's it's probably if you dig a little bit deeper you it's less about the money and more about the avenues that you can go to be able to scale up and do better.
13:04
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, absolutely.
13:05
[SPEAKER_02]: A lot of entrepreneurs don't give me the money and the problems go away.
13:08
[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't happen like that.
13:10
[SPEAKER_02]: It really doesn't.
13:11
[SPEAKER_02]: What happens is sometimes they need the resources.
13:13
[SPEAKER_02]: They mean mentoring coaching.
13:16
[SPEAKER_02]: Maybe they're financial records on that order.
13:17
[SPEAKER_02]: So they need a bookkeeper in the county to come in to help.
13:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Or maybe they legally did their signing back contracts.
13:23
[SPEAKER_02]: Need a attorney to come in to review contract.
13:26
[SPEAKER_02]: Money isn't that always the issue.
13:28
[SPEAKER_02]: But that's what entrepreneurs think it is.
13:30
[SPEAKER_02]: It's giving me more money, the problems go away.
13:33
[SPEAKER_02]: But part of this conference is for them to understand because I have so many workshops that are taking place.
13:39
[SPEAKER_02]: They're here from somewhere who will talk about this, and money might never be your problem.
13:43
[SPEAKER_02]: It could be your books or a shabby.
13:46
[SPEAKER_02]: And in reality, if we get your books and order, you might show a profit.
13:50
[SPEAKER_02]: You just did not because you would like to keep in good books.
13:53
[SPEAKER_02]: Right.
13:53
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's those type of messages that entrepreneurs would get by coming to the conference.
13:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
14:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And we're going to talk more about microline and the conference in a little bit.
14:05
[SPEAKER_01]: But first, I want to introduce you my favorite part of Black Friday's for just Freestyle Fridays.
14:15
[SPEAKER_01]: So Mr. Warren, I'm going to need you to wrap Harvey you want to, Harvey gonna do this, you want to freestyle, top of the dawn, you want to give us some poetry, you want to sing a little bit, Harvey you want to, Harvey you want to do it, we open to it.
14:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh my god, now you didn't prepare me for this one, man, I grew up.
14:34
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm gonna repeat something that Martin Luther King said and I think it's important that we never ever forget this and his his I have a dreams speech he talks about a street sweeper.
14:52
[SPEAKER_02]: And what he says if you're going to be a street sweeper, be the best on street sweeper you can be.
14:57
[SPEAKER_02]: So all the heavens I ever remember you as the great street sweeper.
15:01
[SPEAKER_02]: And what he was saying is that no matter what you do, you do it to the greatest level of capacity that you can do it.
15:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Do it with greatness.
15:09
[SPEAKER_02]: You don't make it if you're a sweeper street, so whether you run a corporate office, so people who always remember you for being great.
15:15
[SPEAKER_02]: And so for me, that's impactful because when I'm trying to do here with the National Marketing Lone Coffee, there's a big great for my community, community that I grew up in.
15:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And so no matter what I do with this conference, I'm always going to do it the best of my ability, because just like that street sweeper, I want to be remembered for being a great conference planner and providing resources for entrepreneurs.
15:37
[SPEAKER_02]: I love that.
15:38
[SPEAKER_02]: I love that.
15:39
[SPEAKER_02]: That was great.
15:40
[SPEAKER_02]: That was great.
15:41
[SPEAKER_01]: But freestyle Friday is actually just rapid-fire questions, we ask to get to know a little bit more about you.
15:46
[SPEAKER_01]: But that was perfect though.
15:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:50
[SPEAKER_01]: That was perfect.
15:50
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a few on mine.
15:51
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll just ask you a few of those questions.
15:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
15:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
15:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
15:53
[SPEAKER_01]: All right.
15:53
[SPEAKER_01]: So first thing first is if you had, so I want to go back in the day because I have this conversation with somebody not to long ago because I was a Paul.
16:02
[SPEAKER_01]: I went to the store and chips were three for two dollars.
16:07
[SPEAKER_01]: And I grew up when they were, you can get.
16:11
[SPEAKER_01]: a bag of shit for a quarter.
16:12
[SPEAKER_01]: So four for a dollar.
16:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so yeah, so I grew up in that era.
16:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you back in the day, if you had $20, what would you do with that $20?
16:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I first thing I'm doing is going to skate because you got $20, you go skate in you the man, you got admissions skate, you get just skates, you can get pieces, you can play video games, you go buy you a little something.
16:35
[SPEAKER_01]: What would you do with $20 back in the day?
16:37
[UNKNOWN]: Hi.
16:37
[SPEAKER_02]: How old do I have to be during this period of time?
16:40
[SPEAKER_02]: It makes a difference in terms of what that 20 dollars is to do.
16:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's say this is a teenage one.
16:47
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so teenage one a twenty dollars.
16:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.
16:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Two directions.
16:50
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going.
16:50
[SPEAKER_02]: Remember I grew up on Monica living on Grand Rivers on cut the Grand River bus.
16:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so for me to go shopping.
16:56
[SPEAKER_02]: I will catch the Grand River bus going west and I will go up to to not Oakland Grand River because I walked there.
17:01
[SPEAKER_02]: The Greenfield Grand River.
17:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, to transfer it and go to no flan or Greenfield.
17:06
[SPEAKER_02]: I can go to Fairland.
17:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
17:08
[SPEAKER_02]: But for me as a youth grown up.
17:10
[SPEAKER_02]: There, back when retail was really strong in that corridor, Greenfield and Graham River, they used to be Asian on shop, and they used to sell Bruce Lee posters.
17:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
17:19
[SPEAKER_02]: So I used to go in there by my Bruce Lee posters.
17:21
[SPEAKER_02]: So for $20, I'm going there by every Bruce Lee poster.
17:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, like good.
17:25
[SPEAKER_02]: The other thing I would do if I had $20, I would go to opposite direction and come down town.
17:30
[SPEAKER_02]: Because at the time, there was a craft toy store right here in Washington, Boulevard.
17:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
17:36
[SPEAKER_02]: And back in, I had a electric football game.
17:39
[SPEAKER_02]: And I used to go in there and used to buy the electric football players for my electric football game.
17:44
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I just remember and I still would be believing in that.
17:48
[SPEAKER_02]: I still have it.
17:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
17:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Michigan Wolverines.
17:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.
17:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Go Blue.
17:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
17:53
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I have my...
17:55
[SPEAKER_02]: My Michigan Wolverines electric football players that I've had a electric football game that could put on there And I had Anthony Carter who was the wide receiver.
18:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep, and uh, who's uh, the guy who was Even a guy wangler.
18:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
18:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Wrangler was the quarterback and I still have that to this day So that's what I would do my 20-ounce depending on what direction I'm gonna remember.
18:14
[SPEAKER_02]: I would go.
18:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay
18:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And then we're talking about micro loans obviously, but I would love to know as far as let's talk about personal loans.
18:22
[SPEAKER_01]: So what is the amount that you're willing to part with?
18:25
[SPEAKER_01]: If somebody said, hey, Warren, I need X amount of dollars for you to not want it back.
18:33
[SPEAKER_02]: That's actually a really good question, because what you're really saying is, you know, when I get somebody 10,000, probably not, if I don't know you, yeah, but if they crowd funded and actually for 25, absolutely, I mean, they're 25, I guess what, if they accident of people to stick at that 10,000, because they're asking for a small amount versus that one large amount.
18:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
18:53
[SPEAKER_01]: I like that.
18:54
[SPEAKER_01]: But I really want to know like coming from your pocket, like you put out Joe while at nine, I was like, Warren, and I need $50.
19:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Is that too much, or you like, look, you're going to get my 50 back?
19:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Or like, what's that amount that you will in the go to?
19:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Or you don't, you don't have to.
19:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, first of all, it depends on the situation.
19:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
19:10
[SPEAKER_02]: If somebody doesn't eat with this fifty dollars to give them if I haven't I mean right that don't carry a lot of money because I think it's not electronic right when I do If somebody need help Listen here.
19:20
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm blessed, man.
19:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so if I got fifty dollars if I have a hundred dollars and it's gonna help out somebody I give it to I guess that's not that deep.
19:30
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's what we want to help out people
19:33
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what's up.
19:35
[SPEAKER_01]: I probably have a cap.
19:36
[SPEAKER_01]: It's only a few people that could like actually get money from me if they was in the barn, but yeah, I think I have to have a cap because then I'm now I'm looking at your sideways like I don't want to get you this to $300 then I see you getting seafood balls and with the.
19:50
[SPEAKER_02]: But, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but
20:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Then who cares what they do after they get their money?
20:22
[SPEAKER_02]: I've already released them now expecting to get it back You know, I always joke somebody say it once before I give you this money Let me smell it cuz I don't want I want to come back actually my money.
20:32
[SPEAKER_02]: You say you're here.
20:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Just think you might I don't want to share it Remember what it's like
20:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, thank you for the wild words.
20:44
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna try to do better in future.
20:48
[SPEAKER_01]: But you know, everybody's situation is different.
20:49
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I've seen people, I mean, you look at the people who are at the corners and they're, you know, trying to scam you and everything.
20:54
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I've seen videos of folks on the corner, panhandling all day and get out and go around the corner and get a nice car.
21:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
21:03
[SPEAKER_02]: You know.
21:04
[SPEAKER_02]: But once you release that money, it is what it is, so I've learned in my life that the stress about things like that, if I'm going to help somebody just help them, you know, for open arms and keep moving, how they use it, they don't use it like the way they're supposed to, in the next time they might not get it.
21:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
21:21
[SPEAKER_02]: If I feel deep in my heart that they didn't use it the right the first time.
21:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Right.
21:24
[SPEAKER_02]: So.
21:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's about releasing what your expectations are as well as with that there we go.
21:29
[SPEAKER_01]: There we go.
21:29
[SPEAKER_01]: I like that.
21:30
[SPEAKER_01]: So thank you for protecting the freestyle Friday.
21:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for engaging in that and giving us a little bit more insight into your world.
21:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And now we'll have to be able to talk to you a little bit more about the conference itself.
21:42
[SPEAKER_01]: And we added a chat off camera about just the extent of putting together an event, especially when that you are working on.
21:49
[SPEAKER_01]: scaling and then, you know, hopefully breaking that record this year in terms of attendance thus far, but what amount of work goes into putting together the national micro-long conference?
21:59
[SPEAKER_02]: A lot of work, a lot of networking in the beginning.
22:01
[SPEAKER_02]: I always start planning six months in advance, that's critical, but really it's a lot of networking because you have the partner with the
22:12
[SPEAKER_02]: two who will encourage your entrepreneurs to come and three I had to do a lot of speaking engagements just like I'm here your podcast right now I've done other podcasts I've uh done speaking again did a big one last week um it requires a lot of time
22:28
[SPEAKER_02]: The great thing is I'm a great planner.
22:30
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's something I've been gifted with.
22:32
[SPEAKER_02]: So the planning of the conference is not difficult The other thing to have incredible team that works for me as well and and most of my volunteers some of them I do hard and do some some subject matter expertise things that they might be as you know like like AV I had a person as on my team here volunteer, but I'm also paying to the AV for the conference
22:51
[SPEAKER_02]: have the person who handles registration.
22:53
[SPEAKER_02]: She volunteers, but I pay her to run registration because that's the front line of the conference when you get up to elevator.
22:59
[SPEAKER_02]: I got to make sure that registration desk is in order.
23:01
[SPEAKER_02]: So I got to have somebody out there that's paid to do that.
23:04
[SPEAKER_02]: But for the most part, I have an incredible group of thinking about 12 people that kind of volunteer.
23:10
[SPEAKER_02]: It helped out with the conference.
23:11
[SPEAKER_02]: What I found is that the success of the conference people want to be apart.
23:15
[SPEAKER_02]: It won't be a part because they understand the impact it has on Detroiters who are entrepreneurs.
23:20
[SPEAKER_02]: And so when it comes to planning, it's not anything difficult for me to do.
23:25
[SPEAKER_02]: I just got to bring on the right part as I got the right team, bring on the right partners, and that my team will help execute it.
23:31
[SPEAKER_02]: But I do 9% of the planning myself, sampling on this with you.
23:35
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't even bring the team in the first four months.
23:37
[SPEAKER_02]: I bring it in two months beforehand.
23:39
[SPEAKER_02]: okay I like to make sure certain things are in place and then I'll bring them in like we had a dinner three weeks ago um and I just brought the team together and took them out to dinner and took about the conference and gave them all the the conference t-shirts and the whole bunch of other things so I'm thinking of for volunteering again but also more importantly helping make sure that this year's conference is going to be the best ever so for me planning that
24:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and you have sponsors for this conference, and so how is it being able to go out and seek out those sponsorships like what is that process usually like I know you just mentioned obviously it's a lot of networking, but do you have kind of like any secret sauce to help people possibly that they can leverage and put in a toolkit to be able to go out and like land sponsors for things that they may be doing.
24:31
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, so I have a venture coming from the financial services industry.
24:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
24:34
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
24:35
[SPEAKER_02]: So a lot of people know me.
24:36
[SPEAKER_02]: A lot of people know the work that I've done.
24:39
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's pre-conference.
24:41
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm maybe to lean on some of those relationships.
24:44
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, I don't know everybody.
24:45
[SPEAKER_02]: So that also requires me to go out there and network and let me go out there and seek out, do opportunities.
24:54
[SPEAKER_02]: But usually I get my foot in the door once I have a conversation, usually I got.
24:58
[SPEAKER_02]: because as passionately as I talk about the conference with you, I'm just as passive talking to them as well.
25:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Why they should be a partner, what impact will they have?
25:07
[SPEAKER_02]: So I lean on that and then I have a partner, my husband, John Petty, he worked in sales.
25:13
[SPEAKER_02]: And so last year, I hired him to help bring on a few people and he brought on.
25:17
[SPEAKER_02]: He's bringing us some more this year.
25:19
[SPEAKER_02]: But the big sponsors typically meet because a lot of people know who I am.
25:24
[SPEAKER_02]: And then understand the impact.
25:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And now,
25:25
[SPEAKER_02]: I guess somebody's saying sponsors come in every year.
25:27
[SPEAKER_02]: So when you put on a great conference, it's easier to sell because those sponsors say, this is a conference you need to be at to their peers.
25:35
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's where I'm at right now.
25:36
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, people are hearing about the conference.
25:38
[SPEAKER_02]: So I give my foot in the door, but typically I close.
25:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Do I close all of them?
25:44
[SPEAKER_02]: No.
25:45
[SPEAKER_02]: that just means that I'm gonna come back more vigorously next year to try to get you your sponsorship.
25:50
[SPEAKER_02]: So relationships, networking, connecting with the right people and being at the right events so people can know who you are.
26:03
[SPEAKER_01]: love it and then you mentioned pre-conference that because of people had the opportunity to know you or you've networked with them and that made me think of how were you able to develop your personal brand build up your personal brand in that industry and a financial space or otherwise that you know you were able to get some of that recognition where you had a what does it say your reputation procedure but have a positive one but as you're interacting with these folks
26:30
[SPEAKER_01]: prior to the conference and then how that's now helping you out with the conference.
26:34
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you'd be completely honest with me.
26:35
[SPEAKER_02]: You know what I think?
26:36
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, people know me just because I've been in banking for so long.
26:40
[SPEAKER_02]: Not banking, but the financial services industry for so long.
26:43
[SPEAKER_02]: But really when I wrote my first book, Business Book.
26:46
[SPEAKER_02]: My first Business Book was in 2016.
26:48
[SPEAKER_02]: It was called Tennis.
26:50
[SPEAKER_02]: He said to start in the business.
26:52
[SPEAKER_02]: And then, my most popular book now is how to success with a platform microphone law.
26:57
[SPEAKER_02]: And I use that as the syllabus for when I do my speaking engagements.
27:04
[SPEAKER_02]: And so, um...
27:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Because of that, I'm very high profile when people say, if you need money, you need to touch someone like who helped give you guys.
27:14
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't give money.
27:15
[SPEAKER_02]: I can help guide them in the process of accessing capital.
27:19
[SPEAKER_02]: And people know me that that won't know me because of that.
27:23
[SPEAKER_02]: And so as a result, doors open.
27:26
[SPEAKER_02]: And now allow me to go step in and talk to future partners as well.
27:31
[SPEAKER_02]: But I've done some great work that led up to it.
27:34
[SPEAKER_02]: I've worked in, I started on banking at National Bank of Detroit, which is normal in the rise.
27:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Now I'm a bank of America.
27:39
[SPEAKER_02]: I worked on a retail and investment side.
27:42
[SPEAKER_02]: I love when the law school came back.
27:44
[SPEAKER_02]: So I worked for Standard Federal Bank, which is now, I'm sorry.
27:49
[SPEAKER_02]: That's making a choice.
27:50
[SPEAKER_02]: Chase, Standard Federal Bank, is Bank of America.
27:54
[SPEAKER_02]: I did compliance regulatory mortgages and Community development and then I love there and I ran community development for Charter one bank for Michigan and then and there now citizens make no distrime when I leave they change names
28:15
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I love and I recommend you develop a E-Trade nationwide out of our Latin, Virginia.
28:20
[SPEAKER_02]: So everything has led up to me creating networks, relationships, building my subject matter expertise, opening doors for me, which led up to me writing a book about microphones because when I decided to become the face of
28:37
[SPEAKER_02]: Michael Linden, I had to write a book and I think for some reason when you write a book it gives you instant credibility.
28:43
[SPEAKER_02]: I already had great credibility, but yeah, I became an author.
28:46
[SPEAKER_02]: That just took it to a higher level.
28:48
[SPEAKER_02]: So now I get people's attention.
28:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and you've done that 13 times now.
28:53
[SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, we're going to three more.
28:56
[SPEAKER_01]: So when did you get bit by the book to become an author and then invest in that entrepreneurial venture yourself being that being an author?
29:05
[SPEAKER_02]: So, so I became out to pronounce myself back in 2005.
29:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, going into 2006.
29:10
[SPEAKER_02]: So, entrepreneurship bug hit me early on.
29:15
[SPEAKER_02]: The books just elevated me to hold another level.
29:18
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, half the books are business related.
29:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Other half are...
29:22
[SPEAKER_02]: different items.
29:23
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, whether it's the history of my great-great-grandmother who was born and who was a Native American.
29:30
[SPEAKER_02]: I wrote a book about the manatees and Florida.
29:34
[SPEAKER_02]: I wrote a book about African-American religion is that that must differ in the traditional Christian religion.
29:40
[SPEAKER_02]: I wrote a children's book about my mother-in-law and my mother how they survived the pandemic.
29:46
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm all over the place for them right now on the biography right now.
29:50
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, I'm probably 300 something pages I'm like, that's a lot about me.
29:54
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm putting out there Right now on the biography about my father was involved with the Civil race movement in the black power movement
30:02
[SPEAKER_02]: So, I just write about whatever comes to my heart, but major half of the books have been business related, and that's where a lot of my success is in terms of people getting in the know me because when I do these incredible workshops, using the books, kind of as the subdivision, I outline, you know, people buy the books and you're like, oh, I just guys legit.
30:24
[SPEAKER_01]: That's amazing and the fact that so you must have a passion for it clearly because you're about to do it 16 times.
30:32
[SPEAKER_02]: So it was the pandemic to be completely honest with you that really elevated my bookwriting.
30:40
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I had written a few before the pandemic.
30:42
[SPEAKER_02]: But I think I wrote like six books in the pandemic.
30:45
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I just elevated to another level.
30:47
[SPEAKER_02]: I said I'm going to get to 20 and
30:50
[SPEAKER_02]: time I come up with something a new subject I want to write a book about it so I was doing a pandemic that I kind of elevated things so that's really get that book for publishing books.
31:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Nice.
31:01
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
31:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And going back to micro loans would love to be able to understand your experience either when you are still in financial industry or since then since you've been a prioritized
31:16
[SPEAKER_01]: We talked about the importance on what micro loans can do for the small businesses in the community, but I'm thinking about we mentioned how entrepreneurs are always like funding.
31:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Just give me one need like I figure out the rest, but how they need to think about incorporating intentionally
31:41
[SPEAKER_01]: influx of cash or whatever you want to call it financial enhancement for the business so that they can be able to execute on the things that they do because you have grants, you have micro loans, you have like traditional loans, so I'm wondering like how they could create their own, I want to say use pie as an analogy or mix of those three in order to be able to help give their business a boost when they do need it.
32:06
[SPEAKER_02]: So when I do my workshops on how to properly access capital, I always start out talking about something to call a capital stacking and what you just explained to me is what we call a capital stacking.
32:16
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
32:17
[SPEAKER_02]: And what that means is capital stacking means you bring resources together to meet your capital need.
32:22
[SPEAKER_02]: They'll be multiple resources.
32:23
[SPEAKER_02]: It could be two or three loans.
32:24
[SPEAKER_02]: It could be a loan.
32:26
[SPEAKER_02]: It could be a grant.
32:28
[SPEAKER_02]: It could be a loan grant.
32:30
[SPEAKER_02]: You're equity in the business.
32:33
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's because you're doing your stack in different resources.
32:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Say your need is a $50,000, okay?
32:38
[SPEAKER_02]: And you've already put $10,000 that you could document, okay?
32:41
[SPEAKER_02]: You bring that $10,000 worth of receipts.
32:43
[SPEAKER_02]: That's equity in the business.
32:45
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, you've $40,000 more is what you need.
32:47
[SPEAKER_02]: You can get a loan if you're $20,000 and maybe you can get a grant.
32:50
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, there's not a lot of grants out there for startup businesses, but doing the pandemic, we had a lot of cost stabilization grants, but that's what you want to pursue.
32:58
[SPEAKER_02]: So, maybe you can give me grant money.
33:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Do you add that $20,000?
33:02
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, three different funding resources that to capital stack to meet your capital need.
33:07
[SPEAKER_02]: So would you explain to what I talk about all the times called capital stacking?
33:10
[SPEAKER_02]: Were you stack multiple risk funding resources to meet your minimal capital need?
33:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And how much of thinking about your overall revenue stream?
33:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Which I don't know if you could name that, you wouldn't deem that apart of revenue, right?
33:25
[SPEAKER_01]: In terms of micro loans or
33:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, yeah, okay.
33:28
[SPEAKER_01]: So in turn, in addition, I should say to your revenue stream, your capital stack, what should that marriage look like for small businesses?
33:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I know I've learned.
33:40
[SPEAKER_01]: I should say that for some businesses or entrepreneurs that their play is I'm going after every grant.
33:47
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm enjoying whatever, uh, what they call them.
33:51
[SPEAKER_01]: a cohort I need to to be to be able to get this money like that that's that's the one making on my money yet right now it's these grants cohorts and possibly some some longs here and there but versus the revenue so like what should that matter so like between the capital stack and the revenue?
34:05
[SPEAKER_02]: So first of all, I'm not big on entrepreneurs pursuing grants because they're not a lot of grant programs.
34:10
[SPEAKER_02]: I especially, I've been in this industry for 20 years, kind of the Michael Lending CDFI, Lending World, and people always say, I'm gonna get a grant to start a business.
34:21
[SPEAKER_02]: I say, when you find a who, who's gonna provide that grant to you, let me know, because I've never met anyone who provide grants to start a business.
34:29
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
34:29
[SPEAKER_02]: When you just let nobody's come back to tell me where to get the grant money from.
34:33
[SPEAKER_02]: But the exceptions are in Detroit we have Motor City Match, okay, but even that is a gut filler, okay, okay, and you don't get into the back end So you got to bring all your capital stack resources to the table first before they put their money in there, okay, okay So even if there wasn't grand fun and you use Motor City Match, it had to be used strategically You're not gonna get it up front.
34:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.
34:55
[SPEAKER_02]: You're just not so that's goes back to why it's important to have a great capital stack of resources
35:02
[SPEAKER_02]: They're available.
35:03
[SPEAKER_02]: But the other thing why I say, even more to city match, don't let grants be the driving force for your business all about passion and desire to get out there and sell your product or your service.
35:14
[SPEAKER_02]: Grants have timelines.
35:17
[SPEAKER_02]: They have their own schedule, when they're going to give the money to you.
35:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
35:22
[SPEAKER_02]: When you can apply, it's their competitive.
35:26
[SPEAKER_02]: Most entrepreneurs don't have that time.
35:28
[SPEAKER_02]: Those are unknowns.
35:30
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, they'll tell you that they'll start reviewing it this month, maybe my hearing anything for four months.
35:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, if your business is already going another month or two and then I can give the grant money to announce the winners for four months, it doesn't have to lie with your business.
35:43
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I would say that anybody that is looking to get grant money wherever they get it from, look at as a bonus versus looking at as being an important part of that capital stack.
35:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
35:54
[SPEAKER_02]: And so a lot of people don't like getting loans.
35:59
[SPEAKER_02]: But I can tell you this, rich people use other folks money all the time and the reason is you got to be smart about it.
36:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
36:08
[SPEAKER_02]: What happens is if you have all this money and you put it all into your business, but you have no working capital when you open your business, you're in a tough financial position.
36:19
[SPEAKER_02]: Once you buy all the money,
36:21
[SPEAKER_02]: cover the cost of your build up to get your business up and keep your money in the bank.
36:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And then when your business is up and going, if you need additional cash, you could tap into your own money.
36:32
[SPEAKER_02]: And so it's all about just being smart and how you like your money.
36:36
[SPEAKER_02]: Now all dead is bad, that it really is a, my workshop that I do on how to success with a platform.
36:43
[SPEAKER_02]: Michael, I actually sent people to a metamorphist from just being an entrepreneur.
36:47
[SPEAKER_02]: We're an entrepreneur that has a strategic plan in terms of how they plan on accessing money.
36:51
[SPEAKER_02]: Success with success with the accessing money, but also identifying a right lender that's a fit for them.
36:56
[SPEAKER_02]: Because what happens a lot of people will apply for funding just because and get approved and get excited about it.
37:02
[SPEAKER_02]: But that might not be the right lender for you.
37:04
[SPEAKER_02]: So I try to kind of change that mindset when it comes to pursuing capital and I teach you the steps or the things you need to know or act during the process to get to the right lender as a fit for you.
37:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And how can these entrepreneurs, small business owners, putting themselves in a better position to be able to actually get accepted in terms of these micro loan funding opportunities?
37:22
[SPEAKER_01]: And we might be giving away a little bit of the, you know, what's going to happen at the conference.
37:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
37:39
[SPEAKER_02]: develop a strategy.
37:40
[SPEAKER_02]: You know how to wait for the conference.
37:42
[SPEAKER_02]: The conference is great because the resources are there.
37:44
[SPEAKER_02]: But they are going to teach you strategy as well.
37:47
[SPEAKER_02]: If you cannot make the conference, you can you can develop your own strategy of comparing the different lenders that are out there.
37:54
[SPEAKER_02]: What the underwriting criteria is, how much would a land would it lend to your type of business?
37:58
[SPEAKER_02]: Just come with a plan.
38:01
[SPEAKER_02]: You should be doing that.
38:02
[SPEAKER_02]: That's why it's important to have a business plan.
38:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Tell business owners, let's say here, a business plan, you know, that's your roadmap.
38:10
[SPEAKER_02]: If you don't have a business plan, don't make a looking ahead and know what you're trying to do.
38:14
[SPEAKER_02]: But that business plan isn't writing.
38:16
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's why if you don't have a business plan, most lenders, most folks that provide resources don't take you seriously.
38:22
[SPEAKER_02]: Because you haven't even thought it out and put it in the business, which is the most common document that all businesses should have.
38:28
[SPEAKER_02]: And so, um,
38:31
[SPEAKER_02]: I would love everybody to come to the council, but if they can't, this here, get that business plan done, create a strategy in terms of how you're going to work with lenders and you'll be okay.
38:40
[SPEAKER_01]: I love it.
38:42
[SPEAKER_01]: And in terms of the, um, you had mentioned the business plan for those entrepreneurs, is there, what about the finances?
38:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Because sometimes that's the part of business plans, sometimes like people don't include that part.
38:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Now the high school, I learned like you need to have like a projection of how your money is going to be made, but that's not always taught.
39:01
[SPEAKER_01]: In terms of business plan, how should those entrepreneurs be,
39:04
[SPEAKER_01]: how could they better take a look in at forecast and what they what they could be expecting in terms of whatever loan they might be going after.
39:13
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'll talk about this all the time.
39:14
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean a lot of entrepreneurs are good at what they do produce a product of service and that good with the other stuff.
39:19
[SPEAKER_02]: So there are resources out there to support you mentors and coaches that are out there.
39:24
[SPEAKER_02]: You mentioned earlier about cohort training, a lot of cohort training programs
39:31
[SPEAKER_02]: or something to call a train and just like a prosperous or ISM or best practices, they work to help you develop a business playing your own business.
39:39
[SPEAKER_02]: And then they'll have a financial professional who will help you build out your financial projections.
39:45
[SPEAKER_02]: Or you can just pay some ideas to do it for you.
39:47
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
39:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, if you pay some ideas to do it for you, it's important that you understand what's in those numbers.
39:52
[SPEAKER_02]: and what they mean, because that person who does your business plan and if you go sit down and meet with a lender, they're not going to be sitting there explaining those financials.
40:00
[SPEAKER_02]: You need to know yourself.
40:02
[SPEAKER_02]: And so, there are a number of ways you can go to get those numbers done.
40:05
[SPEAKER_02]: If you're applying to a micro-lender or CDFI line, they don't want to see three years of financial projections.
40:10
[SPEAKER_02]: If you're going to a traditional financial institution like a bank or a crediting, they want to see five years of financial projections.
40:17
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's important to know.
40:19
[SPEAKER_02]: So, yeah, there are resources out there that will help you build out your financial projections.
40:26
[SPEAKER_02]: I believe that SBDC, Michigan Small Business and Developments, and I can also help you create some financial projections for your business as well.
40:33
[SPEAKER_01]: It should you be a conservative with those projections, or it should you be up in the cloud, so to speak.
40:41
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, first of all, it shouldn't be up in the cloud, it's the first thing because you won't get approved because your numbers are unrealistic because what happens is a lot of folks, they think, I'm being there for a year's entrepreneur, that's not realistic so what typically happens is you do research to see
41:10
[SPEAKER_02]: their first year to second year to third year.
41:13
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, there's statistical information as out there that's available for you.
41:16
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, because that's exactly what the linders do.
41:19
[SPEAKER_02]: So you had that skyd in a pie mine, Emma Gua, I'm different, making me in dollars.
41:24
[SPEAKER_02]: They're going to run your numbers against what a business summer to yours would typically do at this stage and say marketing and stuff and be like, and there's a huge difference.
41:31
[SPEAKER_02]: You're not going to be approved because that's not realistic.
41:33
[SPEAKER_02]: So the goal is to have, I call it an estimate, great estimates for a startup.
41:38
[SPEAKER_02]: We'll have an existing business.
41:40
[SPEAKER_02]: You have should have some financial reports already.
41:44
[SPEAKER_02]: And so you can use those as a step-estone to show how much growth you plan on having over time.
41:51
[SPEAKER_02]: And you could do more than with somebody else who's at a similar stage.
41:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Because now you actually have a base as the build it up on versus just seeing
42:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and are there any other resources that small businesses should type into whether locally or domestically that will be able to help get in better alignment in terms of putting together that business plan financials and then getting yourself prepared to go after those lending opportunities that that's your worth.
42:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely.
42:21
[SPEAKER_02]: I mentioned cohort training.
42:22
[SPEAKER_02]: You mentioned it as well.
42:24
[SPEAKER_02]: That's a great start right there because when I know about cohort trainings is that they have subject matter experts for everything that you need in your training to come talk to you and hope guide you and to operate in your business.
42:36
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm marketing a financial person.
42:38
[SPEAKER_02]: I typically people have me come into my access to capital because that's my area expertise.
42:44
[SPEAKER_02]: So core trainees I think are important because they teach you how to run a business and how and also prepare to access capital.
42:51
[SPEAKER_02]: Because a lot of people, they don't go through core training.
42:54
[SPEAKER_02]: They don't get to training to actually understand the back side of operating the business.
42:59
[SPEAKER_02]: They get that money and use it for a personal money.
43:01
[SPEAKER_02]: They can say, okay, no, if you get that $50,000 from a micro lender and you need it to buy stock.
43:08
[SPEAKER_02]: for your company.
43:09
[SPEAKER_02]: I'll play, pay somebody, you employ cost.
43:12
[SPEAKER_02]: That's what you should be utilized to money for.
43:14
[SPEAKER_02]: But unfortunately some entrepreneurs are net disciplined to utilize the money like this, so post.
43:20
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's what a cohort training is coming and because they teach you how to be disciplined and utilize that money to achieve what you wanted to achieve in that business plan that you wrote.
43:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
43:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And how important is it to be specific about what it is, what you're trying to do with the money that you might be receiving?
43:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I know some grants are kind of like, tell us exactly what you're going to do.
43:40
[SPEAKER_01]: You got to give us exact numbers and receipts and all that before we release anything to you.
43:44
[SPEAKER_01]: But in your experience, how important is it to be specific about I'm going to do X once I get Y amount of money.
43:52
[SPEAKER_02]: uh uh you had to be on point you had to explain to the penny how you plan to utilize that money uh we caught out of the sources and use the statement um that you should have in your business plan which explains where you get your money from and how you plan on spending that money
44:07
[SPEAKER_02]: and it has to be one point in terms of the allowable things that the lenders or the grander gives you money that they're willing to cover.
44:16
[SPEAKER_02]: And I felt a mention as well when you do your business plan, there's certain reports you should have in your financial projections.
44:22
[SPEAKER_02]: That's a sources and you just stay with that just explain.
44:26
[SPEAKER_02]: You need to have a break even analysis.
44:28
[SPEAKER_02]: You mean you have a cash flow, you need to have a balance sheet, you need to have ratios,
44:33
[SPEAKER_02]: These are things that the lenders are going to be looking for, or even if you want to see the mass, they're looking at that as well.
44:40
[SPEAKER_02]: So they're just certain standards of things that you need to have in the financial reporting, and anybody to give you any type of money.
44:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
44:48
[SPEAKER_01]: And then outside of the money aspect in terms of the comfort who I mentioned that there are resources that are going to be able to support people beyond the money or be able to help you scale up in terms of how much money that you get.
45:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you have any thoughts on what resources, small business owners might be missing, especially in our community from your years of being an industry where it's like, man, if you just had these three things, you would have been
45:18
[SPEAKER_02]: So there's a big one that a lot of entrepreneurs don't think about, which is human resource support, because your biggest expense probably is going to be your employee costs.
45:27
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
45:28
[SPEAKER_02]: And if you're especially in a retail industry, you're just going to be high turnover.
45:32
[SPEAKER_02]: So you need to get training of be able to tap into a resource that will help make sure that for my HR perspective that you have things in order.
45:41
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm not talking about just hiring your firing.
45:42
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm talking about operations manual.
45:46
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
45:46
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
45:47
[SPEAKER_02]: How someone is disciplined?
45:49
[SPEAKER_02]: How someone is promoted?
45:52
[SPEAKER_02]: What are some of the policies?
45:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Those are in HR manuals.
45:56
[SPEAKER_02]: And a lot of small businesses don't even think about that.
45:58
[SPEAKER_02]: And that know how critical and important the deal is for you to operate your business.
46:03
[SPEAKER_02]: We go into corporate America.
46:04
[SPEAKER_02]: They go give you HR manual.
46:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
46:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Everything is written that should be the exact same thing that you have in your business for the employees.
46:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Some people that I know that's entrepreneurs, they jokingly talk about like, I ain't got no HR, I'm HR, and I feel like what you said about being able to have an actual manual to be able to have the guidance in terms of protocols.
46:28
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're working with other people, even if you don't have like employee, so to speak, maybe this is something you have got lines, this is how work with partners, this is how work with contractors, this is how just being able to document like what your values are, what your rules and regulations are to do in business, because we all have them, we just might not be putting in a paper.
46:46
[SPEAKER_02]: No, no, I agree.
46:47
[SPEAKER_02]: I agree.
46:48
[SPEAKER_02]: But this thing's like that while you come out, you participate in network and events where I have to pronounce, and they talk about, you know, when you never were from another entrepreneur, what they went through, and you were like, oh, I didn't know anything about that.
46:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, you found out about resources.
47:00
[SPEAKER_02]: You found out where you might be lacking.
47:03
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, that's why you join trade organizations for the industry that you're in so that you can hear what a the latest trends of what resources available to support you as a as a rest of our all those things are important.
47:15
[SPEAKER_02]: And if you work in a side all you turn off your business and you don't get their network.
47:18
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm missing a lot of potential information and resources that will help you grow stabilize and scale your business.
47:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
47:27
[SPEAKER_01]: and then real quick how do you find that balance in terms of working actually working on your business and then getting out and networking because as you know, being working for yourself or building something you got living in my time and I see some people that do a lot of that working aspect and listed the business part and then of course you have people that overindexing the business part and listed the networking and don't get a chance to get as exposed.
47:49
[SPEAKER_01]: So how do you kind of find that balance or how have you been able to find that balance?
47:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Of for me, I mean, I live my life in networking.
47:55
[SPEAKER_02]: That is my life.
47:56
[SPEAKER_02]: So for entrepreneurs who have the, you know, um, at class I got to deal with during the day or they have a brick and mortar and a need to be in the store.
48:04
[SPEAKER_02]: It's just a matter of finding the events that work within your timeline that allow you to get what, in that work for a few hours or so.
48:12
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, Tomo, four or five hours, you know, and this is, maybe you could do it for a cup of hours a week or cup hours every two weeks.
48:19
[SPEAKER_02]: But you're getting out there, you're networking and finding out about resources.
48:23
[SPEAKER_02]: The reality of it is a lot of the resources out here these days isn't that what you know is who you know.
48:28
[SPEAKER_02]: that's why my confidence so important because you're coming to meet who you know good and relationship so when you lead a conference is it all is always going to be who you know because you've already created a relationship and you know that and guess what they believe in you because for two days you got a chance to break bread with them you hear them speak maybe you were in a pitch competition they were intrigued by what you're doing they want to support what you're doing you're becoming an economic engineering young community uh
48:53
[SPEAKER_02]: Those two days allow those resources to get to know you better and a lot of them be like listen That's who I want to support that's the type of business.
49:00
[SPEAKER_02]: I want to support.
49:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and so When we've been talking about the conference we've been talking about your background in financial industry and then also your work at the entrepreneur as a whole But I would love to be able to kind of
49:13
[SPEAKER_01]: be future forward looking a little bit and I would love for you because you told me all camera and it was a great answer so I won't I want people to hear it what I heard but what do you want your legacy to be when it's all said and done when you when you decide to sit down and retire what would you like for your legacy to be?
49:29
[SPEAKER_02]: While anticipate the retirees, let's, you know, okay, I'm gonna be gonna be like Miss J.A.
49:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Payment, I'm still gonna be getting around.
49:34
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, that's 99 years old.
49:37
[SPEAKER_02]: But my legacy is the impact that I have in the community with this conference.
49:41
[SPEAKER_02]: But by the resources, I mentioned to you earlier, for me, just growing up on Lebanon and Grand River, and then shopping at the Oakland Grand River, shopping district there, I realized that
49:57
[SPEAKER_02]: and bringing my talent expertise and networking to my own community, that I could be a change agent for that corridor, which has not been redeveloped yet.
50:06
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, because I have resources.
50:08
[SPEAKER_02]: I know people.
50:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, in fact, God.
50:09
[SPEAKER_02]: And I know people.
50:10
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I'm bringing that back to help those in those corridors and becoming, oh, I cannot be interested to completely revitalize and enable her that I grew up in.
50:21
[SPEAKER_02]: I want people to be empowered.
50:23
[SPEAKER_02]: The coffins, I talk about the coffins, but it's on how people to be empowered to know they have great powers and to think, despite any bruises you have in your credit or background or something like that, you still can be impactful.
50:39
[SPEAKER_02]: You just need direction to help you.
50:41
[SPEAKER_02]: How do I go this way so I can be part of the realization of my community?
50:46
[SPEAKER_02]: And so that's my legacy.
50:48
[SPEAKER_02]: My legacy is with this conference, because the group that trickle down the fact is I'm helping our entrepreneurs who are going back into the communities.
50:54
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's my legacy.
50:56
[SPEAKER_02]: And my goal is to convince your retire running the conference.
51:00
[SPEAKER_02]: But in the end, also seeing neighborhoods come back because I've supported some of the entrepreneurs who are in some of these neighborhoods bringing them back.
51:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I love it.
51:08
[SPEAKER_01]: I love it.
51:08
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's part of what Black Friday is all about being able to leave our communities and the people that we get a chance to encounter better than what we found them.
51:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And adding value or something to their livelihoods.
51:21
[SPEAKER_01]: So could you tell the good people where they could find you if they want to follow your journey?
51:25
[SPEAKER_01]: They want to obviously attend the conference.
51:27
[SPEAKER_01]: How can a website social media handles?
51:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Could you give us all that good information?
51:31
[SPEAKER_02]: So I do have websites, so if you want to find one of found out more information about me go to warnedgalloway.com.
51:39
[SPEAKER_02]: The conference is microlonconference.com.
51:42
[SPEAKER_02]: That's where you can see videos and in collateral material, not only this conference, but the previous conferences as well.
51:51
[SPEAKER_02]: There's also a discount code 50% of registration, which is MLC2650, that's MLC2650% of the registration.
52:11
[SPEAKER_02]: It was the networking conference on steroids.
52:14
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm hoping that more entrepreneurs will come this year.
52:18
[SPEAKER_02]: Last year we had 350 over two days.
52:21
[SPEAKER_02]: I had all these vendors there.
52:24
[SPEAKER_02]: We had fun, but we learned some of the sessions were packed.
52:28
[SPEAKER_02]: It's just, I'm trying to create an experience for entrepreneurs who do come.
52:32
[SPEAKER_02]: And so if you come,
52:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, sit back, expect to get a lot of resources, a lot of connections, but also enjoy the relationships that you develop.
52:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
52:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And, uh, great for that.
52:44
[SPEAKER_01]: We got a chance to be able to connect and then, uh, uh, event where we both obviously have something to come and graduated from the same.
52:51
[SPEAKER_01]: program, but to note that we were connected or about to be connected and didn't even know.
52:57
[SPEAKER_01]: And then getting a chance to hear your expertise in terms of the industry in terms of micro loans and how small businesses can be more strategic about their approach in terms of their capital as a whole.
53:08
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm grateful for the information and grateful for the connection and point now that we have and appreciate you for stopping by the podcast today.
53:15
[SPEAKER_02]: Also, thank you so much, Danza.
53:17
[SPEAKER_02]: I really appreciate you inviting me to be on this podcast.
53:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely, and I'm looking forward to presenting that to conference, so I know it's going to be a good time.
53:25
[SPEAKER_02]: Also, thank you, sir.
53:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Of course, everybody watching listening, we're going to tap in with y'all soon.
53:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Peace.