Donna Lowry, host of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s “Lawmakers: Beyond the Dome,” served as moderator for a “Financially Fit” panel discussion at Dalton State College on April 4.
The “Fearless Fundraising for Your Small Business” event was hosted by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office and featured five guest commentators.
Among the speakers was Tyler Hudson, head coach and founder of Shankly Elite Training LLC.
He launched his limited liability company close to two years ago.
Born in Liverpool, England, Hudson certainly knows the campus well — he graduated from Dalton State College with two bachelor of science degrees in biology and health and wellness.
“In the U.K. and all over Europe, there’s no college system to play (soccer) — there’s a university system, but not high-level, competitive athletic department stuff,” he said. “A chain of events happened and I found myself running a business, so I started the company in June 2022 after analyzing the town and the need for soccer over several years before.”
Also participating in the panel discussion was Peter Matthews, area director of the University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center.
“I think, first off, that you need to realize it’s a process when you are packaging a loan, it’s not an event,” he said. “As business owners, they come in and they want it handled and finished up in just a matter of a day or two — and it’s just not that simple to put a complete loan package together to present to somebody.”
Unsurprisingly, Matthews said many people are overwhelmed by that process.
“Lenders are out there and they need to be able to evaluate your loan package under their criteria, but in sort of a standardized format so that it all looks pretty much the same to them,” he said. “But the information is yours and specific to your type of business.”
Furthermore, Matthews said there are clearly “right” and “wrong” times for individuals to apply — not to mention “constraints” for lenders themselves.
“You have to put yourself in the banker’s shoes,” he said. “They’ve got regulators that they have to meet certain standards of recording and getting information, they also have possibly concentrations in a particular industry, so they may not be able to invest in a particular type of industry at that point in time.”
Another commentator — Adam Shull, senior vice president and chief credit officer for North Georgia National Bank — discussed the importance of building relationships with bankers.
“A good banker would advise you on financial issues and that takes time,” he said. “Your money is one of the most intimate things to you as a person, it’s almost like it’s a member of your family in that it’s very close to us, it’s what provides us with things that we need and want. And to be able to talk to someone about that, openly and honestly, it takes a little time.”
Linden Jackson, an Operation Hope small business coach, said it’s vital that entrepreneurs should “intricately” understand their business.
“Because you want to be comfortable when you’re talking to bankers, I know sometimes it’s intimidating,” he said.
But it’s not just awareness of the financial piece that’s important, he continued.
“Really, it’s trying to show the passion, because that’s really what’s going to spread across,” he said. “That’s all going to help to make your package look good to the banker or whoever you’re coming to.”
Marguerite Pressley Davis, founder and CEO of Finance Savvy CEO, delved into the topic of equity-based fundraising.
She said that venture capital is hardly the only option available to entrepreneurs.
“The reality is that with venture capitalists, they invest in businesses that mainly have a proven track record of success,” she said. “Your business has to be at that stage where it’s actually ready to even receive half a million, a million, multiple millions — so there could be other equity routes that are more advantageous.”
For small businesses just getting started, Davis said that “angel investors” may be a better fit.
“They are individuals who may believe in a cause that your business has,” she said. “They may just believe in you as a founder.”
Their investments may be significantly smaller than the checks written by venture capitalists, she said, but they’re still an excellent way for fledgling entrepreneurs to get up and running.
“They’re to help you get started, they’re to help you maybe go out and find your first customer and do your discover,” she said. “They don’t have other individuals like regulators who are saying ‘Hey, we need to make sure this is going to get a return for you.’”
Then there’s the crowdfunding approach — which Davis said can be either debt- or equity-based.
“There are platforms such as IFundWomen and Republic and it allows you to tell the story of your business, creating videos, creating social excitement around what you’re doing,” she said. “They can write you check sizes anywhere from, call it $1,000 to $5,000 — you can give them certain services or products that you provide in turn for a piece of your company.”