Thinking about starting your own business but not sure where to begin? In this episode, Coach Jordan Higgins shares practical advice for turning passion into a sustainable business. From creating a business plan and separating personal and business finances to building your online presence, finding helpful resources and knowing when to seek funding, you’ll learn what to consider before taking the leap. Plus, discover why starting small, growing organically and managing financial risk can help set your business up for long-term success.

 

0:00:05.2 Lynne Jarman-Johnson: It’s Your Money Playbook here at Consumers Credit Union. And we have Coach Jordan with us today. We’ve got a great episode because it’s focusing on starting your own business. Want to go to the caller?

0:00:16.4 Coach Jordan: Yeah, let’s do it.

0:00:17.5 Emily: Hi, this is Emily. I just graduated college with a business degree and honestly, I’m sick of applying for jobs and getting rejected. I worked at a car detailing company to pay for school and I actually really enjoy the work. My parents have seen the great jobs I’ve done on their cars and keep telling me to start my own detailing business. I love the idea, but I’m scared. Like, is this even possible for someone like me? Will it put me in debt? Where do I start? Any advice would mean a lot. Thanks.

0:00:43.9 LJJ: This is exciting. We have a young entrepreneur who’s ready to go, has a business degree. Coach José, he’s got a few tips first and then we’re going to get right into our coach of the day.

0:00:55.3 Coach José: Thinking about launching your own business? That’s exciting and yes, a little intimidating. But it all begins with one key question. Are you building a dream or just creating a job for yourself? Knowing your why helps build something meaningful and sustainable. Pick a business that fits you. What are your strengths? What do you enjoy? The sweet spot is where passion meets opportunity. So now let’s get those ideas on paper. Write down your goals, sketch out your plan and talk to someone who gives honest feedback. Your brand matters too. A clean logo, a simple website and a few solid reviews can build trust fast. You’ve got the spark. Now let’s turn it into action. Wanna learn more? Let us know. Consumers, we’re your team to count on.

0:01:43.7 LJJ: Wow. Coach José has such great passion. And passion is what you need, I hear, but also a little business smarts. Coach Jordan, Emily calls in. She’s scared, but, man, she’s got a business degree backing her. What I heard her say was she really liked the potential business that she wants to start. How important is that?

0:02:02.8 Coach Jordan: Yeah. That’s huge. I mean, she has a great starting point of having something that she’s passionate about, something that she enjoys doing and also having experience with that. As well as she has that business degree to help her get on her feet. A lot of people, they might have a passion or maybe they get some schooling in, let’s say, being a car mechanic. It’s also very good to have that business background to get that business up and going.

0:02:25.8 LJJ: What is it that she should get together before she meets with you?

0:02:28.8 Coach Jordan: First thing to do would be to register your business. You can do that right online with the Michigan Secretary of State office. Another thing to do is have your driver’s license ready. And if you have a business operating agreement or business bylaws, bring those with you as well. And then it’s a really great idea to establish your checking account because that helps you to separate your business expenses and income from your personal expenses and income. And that’s very important come tax time.

0:02:59.9 LJJ: You hear about people who say, “Oh, I really want to start a business,” because they love X that they’re doing. But the business side of running a business is a lot deeper than I think many, many people think about. It’s like a day-to-day on running your business as well as doing your passion.

0:03:16.4 Coach Jordan: Right. Yeah. You might be an expert in a certain skill, but do you have that business acumen to then take that skill and make money and have a sustainable business to support you and your family?

0:03:28.0 LJJ: So one of the things, especially with how people now surf on their phone, they’ll look for a potential business like a detailing business. How do you set that up and how important is it that your website, your reviews are up to date and ready?

0:03:43.8 Coach Jordan: Yeah. That’s huge. I mean, I don’t know about you, but yeah, that’s the first thing I do is go to somebody’s website, look at the reviews. And so if you can really get that established, establish your social media presence. That’s how people find you and that’s how people are going to hear about you. And ask for those referrals, ask for those reviews. Don’t be shy about doing that because that’s going to really help your business get up and running.

0:04:03.9 LJJ: Here’s the question though. Coach José said, “Hey, give us a call. We want to help you. We’re your team to count on.” What resources are out there for people who really want to do it but are a little reticent because they just don’t have the background they think they need?

0:04:18.2 Coach Jordan: Yeah. There’s some great resources out there. The Michigan Small Business Development Center, they have on-staff consultants that you can set up appointments with for free that can help you establish a business plan and really get a good foundation for what your business is about, look at different opportunities in the market, see what competition is out there, establish what the different things that you truly need for your business to get started. And so they’re a great resource right in our community.

0:04:49.0 LJJ: One of the things you mentioned was the business plan. Is that something that some people, “Oh, I want to do this, I’m going to jump in,” but there’s no plan to really do it? “I’m just going to start.”

0:04:58.6 Coach Jordan: Yeah. Yeah. You want to be careful with that. You can know what you want to do and what you’re passionate about, but the plan helps you have a better path forward to know exactly where you’re going, what direction you want to take.

0:05:08.7 LJJ: I love the fact, too, about mentorships in business. There are so many organizations that provide mentorships. We love to say at Consumers, stop on in because we really do want to talk to you about where you want to go. How important is it to have that feedback consistently as you’re growing?

0:05:26.1 Coach Jordan: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. That’s huge. Here at Consumers, we’re passionate about education and we want to come alongside you, not just try to sell you on a loan, but say, “Hey, what do you truly need and how can we truly help you?” What are the products available that we can help you, whether it is a loan or maybe it’s something else that would better suit your needs for now?

0:05:45.3 LJJ: Jordan, let’s talk a little bit about someone who is ready to go and they come to you and you realize, “You know what? Maybe it’s not time for a loan,” but yet we’re not going to shut the door.

0:05:56.7 Coach Jordan: Right. Yeah. We try to be very specific in the reason why we can’t provide that loan so that the business knows, “These are the steps I need to take to be ready for a loan when that time comes.” And so, yeah. We’re not just going to send you out the door with a denial letter and say, “Good luck,” but, “Hey, maybe here’s some resources that would allow you to get to the place you need to get to,” or, “These are the different financial ratios that we look at that will allow you to get qualified for the loan,” and different things like that where we can be very personal in our approach to really help the member understand how it is that they can obtain that loan.

0:06:34.7 LJJ: Now let’s talk about the flip side of that. And it’s not just about lending. It’s about your whole banking relationship here at Consumers. And what are the products that we offer to help make business banking just smooth?

0:06:46.0 Coach Jordan: Yeah. Yeah. We offer a lot of treasury services. ACH, that helps with your payments. Business remote deposit capture, so being able to take snapshots of checks with your phones. Also check scanners and things like that so you don’t have to go to an office every time you need to deposit checks. So those are some treasury management services that we offer. We have all different types of accounts that you can open with us: money markets, checking accounts, savings accounts, as well as loan products: credit cards, lines of credit, term loans for equipment, vehicles, real estate loans. So a wide array of products and services that we offer.

0:07:23.9 LJJ: So we really want to hear from you.

0:07:25.6 Coach Jordan: We do.

0:07:25.8 LJJ: There’s so many articles out right now about, “Oh, an entrepreneur started a new business. They had AI do everything. Everything was great. They’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars by their first year.” The reality of that is the hard work that truly does have to go into this. This is not as easy as those articles you read about.

0:07:44.9 Coach Jordan: Yeah. Yeah. There’s a lot of get-rich-quick schemes out there. But I highly recommend start small, grow slowly. There is a thing of growing too quickly and getting out ahead of your skis. One thing that she talked about was, “Do I need to take on debt to start a business?” And I think that’s a misconception because people say, “Oh, I need a loan so I can get this and this and this.” But again, start small, because if you take out a loan, you’re trying to grow too fast, maybe you don’t have the income established to where you can make that loan payment yet. And so it’s, again, it’s good to start small and grow organically.

0:08:18.6 LJJ: When you’re talking about those growth goals that you have and you mentioned the business plan, is that something where people set up a six-month to a year to three years to five?

0:08:29.8 Coach Jordan: I mean, you want to be very detailed in the beginning of like a month-by-month projection to know exactly where you’re going. But then it’s also good to say, “Hey, what are my one-year goals? What are my three-year goals? What are my five-year goals?” to kind of give you a vision, but then also know that you can tweak that as you go.

0:08:47.0 LJJ: Tell me a little bit about the fact of funding startups. Many people will do the following: they might have a credit card, they may decide, “You know what, I’ve done this in my basement for a little while and now it’s time to get serious.” Where are the funding sources?

0:09:02.8 Coach Jordan: Again, I would recommend to start small and grow organically and get a couple years down the road before you truly look for some funding. That will allow you to get more established and to know what your need truly is, to know what that next piece of equipment is that will allow you to go to the next level in your business. There are some great funding sources. Of course, you can talk to us here at Consumers and we’d love to help you. There are also other organizations out in the community that provide grants and things like that. Again, the Michigan SBDC can help with that. So there are some great organizations that can really help.

0:09:43.2 LJJ: We love our partnership with SBDC. We do a lot of seminars. So make sure that you’re looking constantly at what are complimentary seminars, webinars, meetups that you can go to, to really get that experience alongside you. And I like that that’s what you said. You said “alongside you.” Tell me a little bit about your day-to-day. What do you like the best?

0:10:02.8 Coach Jordan: Yeah. I love just helping our business members. They come to us with all sorts of needs. Sometimes it is a loan, but sometimes there are other issues and I just love being able to help and also understand that when we provide a loan, it’s not just money going out the door from the credit union. It’s the business actually being able to buy a new building or a new piece of equipment that will really help their business thrive and help our community.

0:10:27.5 LJJ: We have an amazing array of products for our business members and our business service members. Many of our members are mom-and-pop kind of businesses. What do you see on a day-to-day basis? Is it surprising to some that would say, “Oh my gosh, this is a really large business,” or “This is a smaller business”?

0:10:45.9 Coach Jordan: Yeah. There are all kind of hidden gems out there in the community that maybe all it is is a little storefront, but they do so much more behind the scenes that we can’t see. So it is really cool to see just the different businesses that we have in the community that you wouldn’t necessarily think about or know about until you’re sitting in our seats.

0:11:03.9 LJJ: So we are going to wrap this up with the most important question and that is your top three tips to put into our money playbook for people like Emily who are really thinking about starting that new business.

0:11:14.4 Coach Jordan: Yes, yes. So number one, like I’ve said a couple times, start small, grow organically. Really try to build that way. Number two, learn as you go and that will help you understand what those needs might be down the road. Number three is manage your financial risk. Don’t take out a loan that you’re not ready for. Allow your business to grow organically in a way that allows you to support those loan payments when you’re ready for that.

0:11:40.7 LJJ: Can you tell me how important and touch on this transparency and open communication with your business partners are? Like making sure that if there is all of a sudden a sharp turn left, how to help people get back on the track.

0:11:56.3 Coach Jordan: Yes, yes. It’s huge. I mean, there’s going to be some of those situations that come up and we really pride ourselves on trying to help our members, especially in a smaller organization. We’re not a big, large bank, so we really pride ourselves on those personal relationships. And so that open communication, that transparency is huge in allowing us to know what’s going on with your business and being able to help in the ways that you truly need it.

0:12:23.2 LJJ: Especially before something happens, right? It’s really important. Somebody could have a sleepless night, pick up the phone so we can have some great dialogue.

0:12:32.7 Coach Jordan: Yes, absolutely. The midnight fire drills are not the best way to go about things, but, yeah, if you can let us know ahead of time, that’s huge. That allows us to get in front of the issue and really help you out.

0:12:42.4 LJJ: Well, this has been great. Thank you so much, Coach Jordan. And I’ll tell you what, this is Your Money Playbook. We’d like to thank Coach José. Emily, thank you for calling in today. And if you have a question about anything about finances, we’re going to answer it. 269-213-3360. We’re ready to take your phone call. It’s Your Money Playbook here at Consumers Credit Union.