- What’s in your wallet?
Yesterday I ran through my usual call volume of those who are starting businesses. I like taking the calls personally since I get a strong idea of what people are doing and thinking. One lady had called me about 3 weeks ago. She was very pleasant and had a moderately interesting idea for a business. The problem was that it was in somewhat of a saturated market. Combine that with a decline in consumer confidence and you have a recipie to find something else to do with your time.
The thing that got my interest yesterday was that I talked to several people about their new business venture and 2 people out of 30 said that they were working on a concept so that they can go present them to a bank for an SBA loan.
The thing to understand is that the credit market is not what it once was. I mean we had 2 banks fail and the FDIC took over just yesterday alone. Combine that with the fact that by September 30th of this year the National Deficit will hit a record of -$410,000,000,000.00. And banks want the government to bail out the banks? I understand that there are two different sides here. The banks are crying because they are failing but then they are not lending either and those who need loans can’t make ends meet.
I talked to another gentleman who said he had been trying to get a line of credit at the bank. He has great credit and even collateral in the form of real-estate. Guess what, No dice. Running a business and /or starting a business is more like walking a tightrope than a walk in the park.
Markets like this force guys like us to look at the world a little bit different. Most people would probably not want to start their idea if they could not get the loan they think they need to get started. I have had the experience of growing a company, sometimes it seems as a trickle. However, I have been able to get the business I have moving without the need of outside capital. Let’s face it. When its your money you tend to be less loose with the funds. Combine that with the fact that if you don’t know how to use money to begin with, you will be a disaster with someone else’s money.
The best advice is to try to work out a business plan that makes sense. Get a revenue stream running. Just prove that your system works. If you can do that it’s easier to get a private investor to help launch you to the next step. But if your too lazy to even try with your own money and sweat, Most investors will not give you the time of day. Could you blame them?