It is pretty obvious to anyone not living under a rock that our world keeps spinning round and money is the fuel that keeps her going.  You can’t do anything without money.  And that includes starting a business.

A really successful businessman said once that the smartest thing he ever did was never invest a dollar in a business he started.  I don’t know that I agree that is the smartest thing but it is certainly what has kept his bank account full.

Here’s the thing.  If you don’t have anything to lose, how hard are you going to work at making your business great?  A personal investment in what you are building seems like a necessary check point to the whole process.  Granted, I have no money.  Let’s just say that I was pretty stupid in my 20’s and a lot of my income is tied up in America’s favorite accessory – credit card debt.  I will say that approaching 30 (the big day is Aug. 8th), I have come to realize the error of my ways and am working hard to correct oh so many wrongs.  Being currently “between opportunities” (see about me), that makes it a little tougher to make a dent.  But then, I have always been optimistic so I am pretty sure that in the end, I will win out over my debt.

The point here is that although I don’t really have the money to invest in my own business, the wonderful folks at the SBA (you don’t know it – google it) kindly informed me the other day that I will be responsible for coming up with 20% of the amount I am looking to borrow.  Yeah.  That means if I am borrowing $150,000 – I gotta come up with $30,000 and the bank will fork over the $120,000.  Scary.

Here is what I will say about financing the business.  This was my greatest fear in all of this.  Not the fact that I am essentially borrowing more than I paid for my house or that I will be responsible for paying the bank back, but that I might not be “worthy” enough for Mr. Lender to even consider giving me that kind of cash.  Back to the SBA guy…we sit down and he kindly asks me, “What kind of business do you want to start?”  I respond with my idea for a bakery-cafe in Knightdale.  He says, “Well, you got two things against you.  First, you want to open a restaurant and that is a scary risk for the bank.  Second, you have never owned a business before.”  Since I cannot change either of these facts, I inquire as to what I can do to overcome them.  He responds, “Write an amazing business plan and put yourself in the lender’s shoes.  Tell him how this isn’t a risk.”

Great – the business plan.  I have never written one.  How do I even know that I am on the right track?  Minimize the risk?  How do you even begin.  What if I get an exceptionally paranoid loan guy? What then?  And my big question of the day – how much does my personal credit history play into all of this?

I am not gonna lie folks – that is where he got scared.  First words out of his mouth – a lot.  Great.  But then he asked me if I knew my credit score.  YES! I am prepared. I am a good student.  I did my homework and know it is ___!  He looks me in the eye and says – you have nothing to worry about.  I cannot tell you how happy I was to hear those words.

Just don’t tell my mother she was right about how important good credit is ok?