$30,000

Not a big loan but a community loan and that is what I do. I'm hoping to close this tomorrow. The story goes that two nice ladies came to my office, on the advice of their landlord after swinging and missing at a few other banks. You see 1. this isn't exactly the sweet spot loan amount for most banks, and 2. it was a start up, sort of. I say sort of because between the two of them there was more business experience than most folks have, they had reasonable projected cash flow, a supportive landlord, and a nice basket full of collateral.

So why two no's before they hit me? Guess it wasn't a sexy enough sized loan to warrant an extra few minutes to determine that they had the know how, reasonable projections and plenty of collateral. Throw in their landlord that is known to be helpful to start ups and I'm a bit lost as to why this made it all the way to me. I will say I'm glad they did get to me because it is certainly a feel good loan and I look forward to watching them prosper in our little downtown.

So PLEASE, read my older posts, and take the time to really listen to your clients. Here is my parting shot example: someone I used to work with said a hard "NO" to what eventually turned into Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and guess what? The founder of GMCR to this day reminds him of it (and won't do ANY business with him). Ouch. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we think we know that we forget that every business is different, and every person deserves a fair shake. Take the time to listen, advise, work through issues, and leave folks that you come across in a better place than you found them. Sometimes you get to say yes, but if you do say no make it a "soft" one or you could be closing doors for many years to come.