Be Capital Ready

This year we’ve been fortunate to support several organizations launch capital-ready programs.

Being capital-ready from an entrepreneurial or small business perspective is somewhat different than it is coming from institutions such as banks, or community development financial institutions (CDFI), or SBA funded. And each of those institutions may have a different perspective of what training they provide to support entrepreneurs or small business owners.

From an entrepreneurial perspective, you’re looking looking to secure funding. Meanwhile, the lender is looking to ensure that they will be able to collect from the loans they have provided. While they may ask you to sign off your home or to guarantee the loan personally, they are not interested in your home your equipment — their interest is in assuring you will do whatever it takes to make the payments.

They are in the business of lending money, not selling and buying assets.

There’s also what we call EDOs or ESOs, institutions that support entrepreneurs or small business owners. They are looking to see if you could take advantage of some of the money available to help you professionalize, stabilize, or grow your business, offer employment within your community, or generate additional revenue to collect additional taxes.