Porsha Brooks’ Post

How hard is it to change your life? For anyone it can be challenging to get the right footing. Lack of resources. Miseducation. Lack of vision & perception. These are just some of the factors that plague my community. Then you have someone like Deric Holloway, despite all obstacles he opened his own business. And I am happy to have helped him on his journey. I give all the love, support, and resources I can share. And Jack Wilson, keep doing the great things you do. Deric, congratulations truly. 

When I started my business all I knew was: I wanted to give business owners more lending options.   I had one broker who had a network of lenders that he worked with. And I had a list of leads to cold email.   That’s literally all I had.    Everything else came on my journey.

When I started my business I was ready to quit my 9-5 job.   COVID starting shutting things down at the end of March 2020. I got word I better bring my ass home from Jamaica or I may be stuck there.   Things started shutting down & my job started laying people off and the stay at home order was issued in NYS.   My job continued to pay us, but with lenders shutting down and PPP & EIDL loans starting up, they were losing money…so they cut everyone off.   I watered my trees and thought about my next move.    Well since I’m not getting paid anyway, I might as well go out on my own. And that’s exactly what I did.    I launched my business a couple months after the stay at home order was lifted.    Like many during this time I took advantage of refinancing my house, which took monthssssss, and forced me to have to go back to work after I already launched my own business because I needed a job on the books.   So I worked my 9-5 and ran my new business for about 4 months. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do.   𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞: Sometimes you have to do what is necessary to get to the next stage in your life.

My plan was never to show people how to get money to open a business. My career was supposed to look very different. However, my path led me to MCAs. Cold calling business owners and asking them if they needed high interest loans with short terms that you can get in 24 hours. Lol, of course I didn’t say it like this. I got good at my craft but naturally I wanted to help people get something better. I bounced around from bank loans to equipment financing, to lines of credit, to hard money loans to accounts receivable financing, and then I closed my first startup SBA loan. It was the first time I felt proud of the help I provided to a business owner.   𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞: Use this checklist as a tool to avoid predatory loans & help you get SBA funding to start & grow your dream business.

There have been networking opportunities that I’ve passed up. Too busy, too cold, too tired, too scared.   ... I can’t get those back. 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞: It's rare opportunities come around twice, take it the first time.

Writing came naturally to me. I used to write short stories when I was in junior high school. I also took writing classes in college. However, the very first startup loan that I funded, I didn’t write their business plan. They hired a third party to write it. But you better believe I studied it. I thought to myself I can do this and so I did. I began writing business plans for free, just to get the experience. I would have lenders look at them, eager for their feedback. With each one I got better and better at creating a document that can convince a lender that my client’s business will succeed. My business plans not only get businesses funded, but they also make them stronger by helping them to strategize the overall plan that will help them succeed.    𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞: Your business plan is not just a document. It’s your strategy.

There was not an exact moment that I was ready to start a business.    I worked for a company that helped people get Merchant Cash Advances. I didn’t know anything about the industry at the time so I learned everything I could. I learned my job, my supervisor’s job, & the sales assistants’ jobs. I learned some of our IT department’s jobs by accident. The CFO even took me in his office and taught me some things just because of the potential he saw in me.    Then COVID hit, and no one was getting paid. So, I decided to go out on my own. I saw the opportunity, and I took it, putting all my eggs in my own basket.    𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞: When you see an opportunity, take it. It’s rare that you’ll get it twice.

Have someone who knows the rules advocate for you. But if you don’t, here are 3 things to keep in mind when talking to SBA lenders… 1. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐁𝐀 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐫 “𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞” 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛. • We have lenders that do and lenders who don’t. • The last thing you want is to tell the lender a plan that gets you declined. 2. 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬. • You have to know when you have leverage. • Poor credit, no collateral, little liquidity… these are things that give you no bargaining power. • But you can still get multiple offers from lenders and compare them. 3. 𝐁𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫. • Once your file goes into review, questions are sure to follow. • For startups, a lot of these questions will revolve around your business plan and financial projections. • Just make sure you know the details & figures inside of them. • You don’t want to sound like you purchased these documents from Fiverr. ------------ My name is Porsha, if you need help getting cash to fund your startup, message me. 😊

A lot of people tell me $100k is the magic # to grow their business. So here is how to cash flow for $100k. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. (Your own $ you put into your project.) • Minority & women business owners need 5% or $5k. • Everyone else will need 10% or $10k. • Have this money in your bank account. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟏𝟓% 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞. • After you pay all of your personal expenses, you should have about 15% of your total monthly income leftover for the month. • If you are struggling to make ends meet, you may want to reduce your monthly expenses before applying. 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. • The best credit utilization is 30-35%.   • However, there are some lenders that just need to see it below 90% to feel comfortable enough to approve you. Cash flow is one of the most important requirements for an SBA loan.  If you meet this, you’re that much closer to being approved. ------------ My name is Porsha, if you need help getting cash to fund your startup, message me. 😊