Small Business Loans When You’re Stuck
When my children were young, I read to them every night before bed. One of their favorite stories was a book called Stuck by Oliver Jeffers. This imaginative and clever story follows a young boy named Floyd who accidentally flies his kite into a tree. The kite gets stuck and even though he attempts to pull and tug on the kite string, he just cannot get it down.
Floyd doesn’t know what to do, so he decides to throw his favorite shoe in the tree in an effort to knock the kite loose. The shoe gets stuck, too. He throws his cat, Mitch, in the tree to knock his favorite shoe loose. Mitch gets stuck. Then, he tosses up a bucket of paint. Stuck. He throws a chair, his friend’s bicycle, and even the kitchen sink in the tree. Stuck. Stuck. Stuck.
Finally, he finds a ladder and he’s determined to figure this out, once and for all. But when he throws the ladder in the tree, it gets stuck too. This ridiculous story is a great analogy of what happens when we experience situations where we feel stuck. We work so hard to get unstuck but often don’t realize that we are trying the same approach, over and over again. Sometimes we have the tools at our fingertips but don’t know how to use them to solve the problem.
As a small business owner, you might feel stuck due to issues like poor cash flow, lack of profitability, or changes in the competitive landscape. It could be that your revenue has plateaued and you’re not sure how to take your business to the next level. Maybe you feel like you don’t have an adequate support network when it’s time to plan, strategize and navigate these challenges.
At Bankable, we help small businesses grow by providing business loans to those not quite ready for a traditional loan at a bank. As a nonprofit, mission-based lender, our loans are safe and affordable. Plus, they help entrepreneurs at any stage grow sound business foundations to make them Bankable for the future. We’ve built a team of experts that bring experience and talent to support our borrowers through 1-on-1 coaching, strategy development, bookkeeping, marketing, and more. We work to be a partner with you and use the tools and resources we have to help you grow your business.
In the end, Floyd throws so many things in the tree that there’s no more room for his kite and it falls to the ground. Although his adventure has a happy ending, his journey could have been different using something that was at his fingertips all along. As an entrepreneur, don’t spend your time doing the same thing over and over until you get unstuck. Let us help you with our proven approach that has helped thousands of entrepreneurs across the state of Indiana since 2010. Find out more at www.bankable.org
About the Author:
Jennifer Hall is a non-profit executive with over two decades of experience in lending and non-profit management. Jennifer serves as the Executive Director of Bankable, a certified SBA microlender, SBA Community Advantage Lender, and a CDFI.