Episode Highlights with Crystal Wallace (CMW Services)

In this episode, we dive into the world of business funding with our amazing guest, Crystal Wallace of CMW Services. Crystal keeps it real about all the different ways you can fund your business—grants, loans, equity, even self-funding—and breaks down how to think strategically instead of making decisions out of fear.

You’ll hear us chat about:

• The different types of funding (and which might be right for you).
• Why mindset matters—how shifting from fear to empowerment can totally change the game.
• The must-have “funding folder” that makes applying for money way less stressful.
• Why it’s not about chasing the biggest check but knowing your real financial needs.
• The importance of community and support systems when navigating the funding maze.

Crystal’s advice will leave you feeling ready to face funding with confidence, clarity, and a plan.

Big Takeaways:

• Don’t just go for money because you’re stressed—think long-term and align your funding with your goals.
• Know exactly what you need before asking for funding (investors and lenders will thank you).
• Stay organized—your future self will be grateful for that funding folder.
• Surround yourself with the right people and resources.

Resources & Links from this episode:

• cmwservices.com
• capitalconnectny.org
• score.org
• Bossyroc.com

Shoutouts to organizations mentioned:

CMW Services

BOSSY

Empire State Development

Capital Connect

Launch New York

WNY Economic Development Initiative

Pathstone

Pursuit Lending

Small Business Development Center

SCORE Buffalo

SCORE Rochester

Mentioned in this episode:

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Foreign.

Welcome back to Getting Real with Bossy, the podcast that tells you what it's really like to be a business owner.

And you are joining us in the midst of our Summer of Money podcast series.

And we are going to be talking to Crystal Wallace today from CMW Services, and she's going to talk today about funding, all the different types of funding you can get and how to do it smart, smartly, intelligently.

Smartly.

Intelligently.

How to do it smartly and not from a place of fear.

I mean, that is my drive.

I. I'm okay right now.

Summer, the end of summer is usually like the worst, but we've actually been.

We've been getting some big parties in, so I'm just rolling with it and being.

Being very grateful that, that it's, that it's not terrible because I'm about to go out for three months on surgery.

I mean, I will be able.

I'll be able to.

I can't wait for that episode.

I'll be able to work, but it's going to be.

And it's our busy season.

September, end of September through December is our season at both places.

And I'm going to be immobile.

Well, that's going to be a fun episode.

And right now, we just both got back into town.

Rochester survived without both of us here, surprisingly still standing.

And the cost of going on vacation is like.

Are we talking financial or like emotional cost?

Because I think they both need to be discussed at some point.

All of it.

It is so hard to go on vacation as a business owner, but I, I do it and I try to do it regularly because it is important for our families to faces and for us to.

To see our spouses and not in a business way.

We need it.

And our staff and our fam, we all need it.

We just need.

We need that time to regroup.

You can't do it here.

Yeah.

So it costs a lot.

It's stressful as all hell, but we do it.

And we're back and we are ready to.

To go forward and continue this amazing podcast series.

And we hope you guys learn a lot today and enjoy the episode.

FOREIGN.

Welcome back to Getting Real with Bossy.

Today we are here with Crystal Wallace from C. CMW Services.

Crystal, we are so glad to have you here with us today.

Thank you so much.

I'm happy to be here.

It's awful.

That's excellent.

Now, Crystal, we were so lucky to meet last year when Crystal presented at our seminar series.

Or no, it wasn't even our seminar series.

We had A full on conference last year.

So we were so glad to have you back.

We've been thinking about you ever since.

So we're grateful for you to be here and share your knowledge towards the end of our Summer of Money series.

Also, let's just side note, Crystal is on vacation.

I know.

So thank you for taking time out of your vacation.

We know how hard it is to vacation as a business owner and here you are doing a podcast interview.

So thank you.

Listen, the world is pretty big and the Internet works everywhere.

So I'm here.

So that's amazing.

Crystal, can you tell us a little bit about you and what you do?

Yes.

So hello everyone.

Crystal Wallace, the chief consulting strategist at CMW Services.

We help businesses form launch, fund and grow.

That covers a lot of different services, but mainly actual formation support the than helping companies get their launch and their, you know, some people, the whole launch thing is kind of a, you know, some people love it, some people don't.

But helping you get your business to a place where you're ready to actually receive whoever your clients or customers are.

That includes like back end systems and all that funding.

Funding, which is, I think what we're going to talk about today, you know, is helping businesses navigate how to get funding when they're ready for funding, when bootstrapping is necessary, like helping them understand what business funding is and what it isn't.

There's so many sources of information out there about funding and there's so many ways to do it.

We want to, I want to help businesses navigate that.

It can be pretty treacherous and then grow.

So I work with startups and I also work with businesses who have been established and helping them with everything from strategic planning, strategic management consulting and then also some change management as well as in some instances stepping in in a fractional capacity.

So yeah, we do a bit of everything.

However, strategic planning and strategic consulting is where we focus mainly.

So.

Very cool.

So what I know you said that funding is, is a, is a broad range, but since we're in our money series, can you give us like a brief overview of the different types of funding that are out there?

Absolutely.

So when I'll start, I guess with businesses always feel as if, okay, I need $100,000 so I can get started.

Right.

And they're like, where do I get it from there I was automatically think I'm going to go to a bank.

Where do I.

Well, I think most businesses or most entrepreneurs or business owners haven't taken the time to step back and say what type of funding do I need?

And there's funding typically sits in like three buckets.

So there's grant funding which everyone is always looking for.

And you know, it can, sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not.

There's a lot of different types of grant funding so we can talk about that a little bit.

There's debt financing which most people are most accustomed to.

So whether you're working with a bank, whether you're working with institutions such as a community development financial institution which I'll talk a little bit more about and I have affiliation with that help you with loans, credit products, something that businesses need.

And a lot of times people I feel like that's a cuss word because they view have such a negative view on debt.

So debt financing is a really great way to fund your business.

It's just navigating what that looks like for your business needs.

And then there's equity financing which is money that you don't necessarily have to pay back but there is an expectation from the investor of a return.

So and that can be anything from angel investing from seed funding to full on venture capitalists where folks are sharks or I like to say dolphins are providing your business with their expertise but also their money to see you fund and grow rapidly.

Like that's the whole point.

So typical funding and then there's self funding and we not not self the credit tool but you are your business and the owner is putting money into the business to help see it grow.

And the revenues that the business might generate also are being put back to the business.

So that's bootstrapping and then personal owner investment into the business is considered, it's an investment but it's the owner is putting their equity stake in there.

So those are the three and a half to four different buckets in which funding sits.

And I know especially with banks, I know banks want to see the owner putting money in.

You know, if the bank's going to give you money, they want to know that you have something on the line because then you're more willing to want.

To keep the business going in the game.

And it's not just banks.

I'm going to say anyone who is trying to give you money, a grant, another investor, even potential partners, they're going to want to see what your investment into your business is.

And there's so many schools of thought because some again some people have seen these tiktoks go to XYZ bank and they have a no doc loan for 100k.

So just start your LLC and do this and.

And you know, those are methods.

Right.

But I'm a strategic planner.

I'm a strategist.

I feel like you got to have a plan, walking into it to know what you need to do.

And so hopefully podcast today, we can navigate with some.

That looks like for some folks.

Yeah, I'm trying to find that statistic from the other day about, like, how many women are bootstrapping and not going with traditional funding to start their business.

But it's quite high.

It is very high.

Men who just walk into a bank or 6 inches.

So this is very important, very important topic today.

Yeah.

So I really want to start.

So what.

What is the thing you.

You see more most often?

Well, I think since we started with grants, I'll start there.

You know, we went through a pretty interesting time about four or five years ago.

Call Covid.

Right.

And.

And during that time, there was a of lot of opportunity for a small business.

It was kind of unprecedented where you had the opportunity to.

Businesses had the opportunity to get all kinds of grant funding.

And it was very atypical in our country's history, and I would say it could be considered atypical moving forward.

Grant business grants have always been available, and they did.

They kind of sit in different ranges.

So you'll have grants that are from public and private sector.

Private sector.

So public grants, sometimes they're like, through your municipality or where you live.

Right.

Your county might have a grant.

Your city might have a grant for small businesses.

And there's a lot of criteria you would need to meet in order to qualify for that.

Then they're like specific grants.

So maybe, I know in the city of Buffalo, there's often been grants for.

For signage or marketing or even building revitalization.

So some aspects of your.

Your business might be able to receive funding to help you, you know, market grow, build commerce.

It's all centered around economic development.

But then you also have some at the state level as well.

So they're the shout out to Empire State Development if we're in New York State.

So.

So New York State ESD has a lot of grant programs.

They're very numerous, but they're very specific.

Right.

So there are some for clean energy.

There are some for, you know, startups who are looking to take on equity investment.

There are some for, you know, businesses that are going to help bring commerce into some of our, like, border regions.

So there are tons and tons of grants out there.

There.

You just have to see what you qualify for.

One of the caveats, I would say or grants are, I would say, let's call it a cautionary sale.

So knowing how much time you want to invest in a grant, to apply for a grant, then they're the private sector grants.

So corporations, nonprofit organizations, they might have grant funding for specific types of businesses, maybe demographically diverse businesses or businesses in a certain industry.

Trade organizations and trade associations also have, or maybe their members.

So if you are a part of the Horticulturalists of America, I'm just making that up.

There might be a grant for your business for specific, you know, need or something that they find is a need in the industry.

And so they might be offering grants for that.

There's literally grants everywhere, but they always require research and then they also require a lot of your personal and your business's information.

And you always have to have this trade off of how much information do I want to share about me and my business to be able to get $5,000.

Now, in the grand scheme of life, if you're just starting out, $5,000 could be make or break your business.

Right.

And so, but if you have aspirations and goals to be making way more than $5,000, you have to understand what's the trade off for your, for your time, your energy, your information, your privacy and your money.

That's a really, really good point.

So I don't think people, think people understand that sometimes.

Yeah.

And it's one that a lot of folks who work in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, like we have to balance that because sometimes nonprofit organizations are those who have funding for clients, like for, you know, a specific population, whether it's underserved, whether it's economically disadvantaged or it's in a specific sector, they need information because they have to report that information back to whomever gave them the money.

So you are, you know, giving up some level of your privacy when you are looking at applying for these grants.

Now the same can be said for loans, the same can be said for equity, but it's just.

And with grants, grants are considered what we call non dilutive.

So are most loans.

So it means that you're not giving up any ownership in your business.

Right.

So the expectation is that not having to pay that back, you know, and not giving up any ownership can be very appealing.

But what are you giving up?

Are you, you're giving up your time, you're giving up key information, you're giving up quite a bit in order to be able to provide, you know, potentially get some funding.

The other piece is how competitive is this big grant?

Like a lot of these grants are so competitive.

You're competing with literally hundreds of, sometimes tens of thousands of people, sometimes hundreds of thousands of thousands of people.

I will refrain from using certain, you know, there's certain databases that are out there and then who is behind.

So y' all gonna get me on my little.

It's a really interesting point that what is your privacy worth to you?

Because really, when it comes down to it, everything is so personal, especially with money and how we're spending in our business and what we value and how we want to do it.

But we talk a lot about time and the time you put into things, right.

A lot of grants you have to follow up.

There's not only the time, if you get it, you have to follow all these procedures post grant and you might.

Have some reporting measurement measures.

And then there could be like, if you don't meet the requirements, even after the grant, they might want that money back.

So you really have to know the ins and outs of it.

One thing I can say, and we'll, I know we're on grants, I'll move over to debt in a minute.

No matter what type of funding you are looking for, you need to have what's known as like a funding folder, right?

And it's like a key set of documents that are typically needed for any type of funding you're going to go for.

So what makes some grants easier for some people to get is that once they've created a system or like a folder that has all the key documents, all the key information in it, and so, and they actually have written out like narratives and things that can easily be placed into a grant application.

All grant applications are different, but it helps you to be able to apply because you understand, you know the language, so you're able to plot that in there, tweak it, how you need it for the particular grant, and then you can apply in mass for grants and see what happens.

So the other piece I wanted to bring up is that a lot of grants are research based.

So a lot of the grants you see at the federal level and even in the private level are based on some ongoing research that a business might be doing and that might fit some entrepreneurs, but that's not necessarily going to fit all entrepreneurs.

And so I recommend that you meet with someone who understands how to navigate that process if you're really interested in going after grants.

A small plug for, you know, CMW services, if you're interested.

But you know, just getting an understanding of what type of documentation, what type of question questions are going to be asked what's the format?

There's literally a format when you're going after grants, even proposals.

And I know we're not really talking about that right now, but like going after different types of contracts, there's a format that you need to follow in order for it to even be considered or reviewed or considered success.

You know, get into the running.

And so long and short of it is you.

Grants are really great if you can get them.

They typically require a lot of your time, a lot of your energy, and a lot of your information.

Should I shoot over to debt a little bit?

Yeah, I mean, I think that's the.

That's the natural step.

So again, sometimes debt is considered a curse word.

And the.

Just because so many people have negative connotations when it comes to money, they have negative connotations when it comes to lending and borrowing.

And maybe they got that first credit card when they were in college and they did a horrible job with their credit.

And so it.

Maybe it took some time.

Right.

I saw this commercial, commercial as a taco was haunting them 20 years later because they wanted freshman in college.

And that's because there's just.

So this.

There's so little financial readiness taught unless it's taught to you on purpose.

Right.

So so many of us don't necessarily understand how credit works, how debt works.

And small plug.

I'm also a credit support specialist, so that's something we could talk about.

But so many people don't understand how it works.

And so business credit is in some ways a reflection of your personal credit.

And you really have to establish personal credit first before you go after business credit.

But not in all cases.

But going back to just debt in general, you want to have an understanding of your financial relationships.

Number one, so that's your own personal finance relationship with money.

But then also the financial institutions that you are connected to, debt does have to be paid back.

Like you're literally taking on an obligation or an interesting take.

You're taking on obligation and a promise to pay whomever's lending you money back with interest by a certain period of time.

Right.

And so your credit worthiness is like your history.

It's saying, hey, you know, I did these things before.

And so you can feel confident or not so confident giving me money.

Now, when it comes to debt financing, I sit in a couple different spaces.

So through one of my client connections, I'm a part.

I work with a group of people called Capital Connect, which fund small businesses throughout all throughout New York State.

It's a consortium of four community development financial institutions, or CDFIs.

And due to redlining and discriminatory practices in the past by banks in certain areas, in certain demographic and economically depressed areas, we have these institutions that are supposed to work with and make funding and capital accessible for all.

So specifically, we work with the those who are in small business and who are looking to scale and grow their businesses.

So launch New York Westminster Economic Development Initiative, which is solely based in Buffalo, the enterprise center at Pathstone and Pursuit Lending.

We all have a different geographic reach.

Pursuit Lending has the largest reach that can lend to all of New York State.

Pathstone is focused on Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Puerto Rico.

Launch New York covers 27 counties, 35 counties actually, in all of New York State.

So western New York, upstate, the southern tier, part of the capital Region.

And then, as I said, Westminster is solely located in Buffalo and Niagara counties.

But we have a tool called capitalconnectny.org and if you go to that website, you can type in, you know, you literally fill out a small application and it sends you to all four of those institutions.

By doing so, you're connected with the institution that has the lending instruments that are best for you.

So you're gonna provide a little bit of information, not too much, but just a little bit something that you would provide to your bank if you went to fill out a loan application.

So not too much social.

None of that's required.

Just really how long you've been in business.

What, what are you looking for in terms of funding?

Do you need other support?

And we get you matched, and we're connected with a lot of the organizations within the ecosystem that do business development.

So some of those other needs that a lot of businesses have can also be satisfied through that.

But with debt financing, you got to pay it back.

And no matter what type of financing you need, you always need to understand what you're using it for.

A use of funds is so important.

Many business owners say, I need $100,000, but they can't tell you what do to use it for.

And so not being able to delineate that is a red flag for many, for investors, for grantors, and for financial institutions.

Because specifically the financial institution, they want to know how you can pay them back.

You want to know, and they want to know if the money they're providing you is giving you the opportunity to generate more revenue so that you can pay them back, because they want to get paid back.

So a lot of times businesses are wary of that because we really have to pinpoint where that weariness or that weariness comes from, I think is really a lack of understanding of their operations.

And yes, entrepreneurship can be a gamble in any way, right?

But if you know you have consistent cash flows coming in and you know you have consistent revenues and you've already mapped out how this use of funds can help you bolster that, like through your projections, which a financial institution is going to ask you for, you can have some confidence that this influx of money is going to help me yield this output in terms of revenue, in terms of production, in terms of sales.

And that that's what they're looking for.

So that, that binder, that packet I was talking about, financial institutions look for your, your personal information.

So your personal debt and financial obligations in most cases, as well as any obligations that your business has currently.

They're going to want to know, like your tax returns, see that you file.

They want to see that your business has been viable and has been in existence for a minute.

And they want to see your books.

That's another scary word for some business owners.

But whether you have an accountant or you're using a software or you have an Excel sheet, whatever it is, they want to see that you've accounted for what you've brought in.

A lot of times business owners might say, well, I have it all in my square.

I said, okay, well that's a start, right?

If you can show that you've been receiving, you have receipts and then maybe you can show how you pay for some things, that's a way for you to potentially, potentially, you know, get the ball rolling.

But they're going to want to see, most of them are wanting to see your actual financial statements, right?

And then also use of funds.

So how do you plan on using it?

How long do you think it's going to take you to see the conversion of what money you put into your business?

How is that going to turn into sales and, or revenues and then that's some indication on when you'll be able to potentially pay them back.

And then as long as you're a good, you're able to really start showing positive payment history to them.

That can unlock more funding for you.

And I think also understanding what type of funding you need is important.

Sometimes people automatically go to credit cards or to some other funding and get in where you fit in.

But for financial institutions, you might need a line of credit, specifically if you have a product based business or you need to purchase inventory a lot, you know, a line of credit or something that you can draw from when you're needed and then pay it back very quickly when you get your receipt of.

From your receivables.

That'll be really, that goes a long way to showing the bank, okay, you know, there is viability here with this business.

And they're going to continue to, you know, we can continue to lend to them.

They're going to continue to be a good steward of our money.

So I'll pause her.

Do you think a line of credit is a good place to start?

Um, I think a line of credit, I really think it's a.

Depends.

My answer is it depends, right?

If you need.

And then it also depends on the use of funds like so if you need to purchase a piece of equipment.

A line of credit is not what I would recommend.

I would recommend maybe a loan or an asset loan from your bank or from one of the other financial institutions to help you if you need to be able to manage cash flows for the next maybe three months or six months, maybe the line of credit.

Or you also look at some of the other types of financing that are out there that maybe your bank is not going to provide you.

But you always want to.

When it comes to debt financing, you always are measuring the cost of capital, so how much money you're going to be borrowing to the.

And also the, the time frame in which you have to repay that, comparing it with how that money is going to how fast you can pay it back, essentially.

And so sometimes if you need a quick influx of cash, but you know that you have guaranteed receivables coming in to cover it, you might take a higher interest, you might take money at a higher interest because you know that you're not going to hold it very long.

It's going to, you know, you're going to it pretty quickly.

But what I will say is it really does depend.

And that's why again, plugging capital connect, plugging talking to and having someone that you could talk to about money.

And there are you.

I want to share like you're not wasting people's time if you're trying to get the information you need.

Now, the Internet has a lot of great information, but if you need to talk to someone, book that free consultation, go into your financial institution, connect with capital, connect like I talked about previously, you know, take the time to just get the information you need so you can feel more informed.

If you need more guidance, that's when you need to talk to somebody who has a bit more time and availability.

That's when you work with a consultant, maybe like myself, to help you navigate what that process looks like.

And then given that this is, you know, bossy rock, what's your sister circle look like?

Like, what does your group of, you know, the folks that you work with, that you have camaraderie with, that you can, you know, maybe someone in your circle has navigated that path a little bit further down than you, and they can provide you some.

Some insight on how they navigate it, but you don't want to.

I find a lot of businesses are in isolation, so they're.

The business owners are, in their minds.

They're not thinking about all the research out there.

They don't know, and they.

There's so much information out there on the Internet that needs to be validated.

You want to talk to someone.

So I do recommend, like, taking the time to connect and talk to someone about what, what options are out there.

I think there's a level of.

We talk about the loneliness of entrepreneurship.

Yeah.

There's a level of it's expected that you know everything.

But when you're on your island and you're all alone and you're like, people expect me to know everything, but I don't know.

And then you just react.

Right.

And people are so stupid, scared so often to talk to people and to acknowledge that they don't know and to ask the questions.

And that's really what our focus is in this series is here are all these different people with all these different versions of conversations about money.

Talk to them or use this podcast to be like, hey, did you hear what they talked about?

What do you think about that?

Or have you ever done that?

And I think that's what, like you said, your sister circle, whatever you, your group is, and if you don't have one, find one.

There's so much community out there, questions.

And you need to talk about it because there is a lot of debt.

Debt isn't always scary.

It's terrifying.

But it's also, you know, something that's necessary, especially in business ownership.

And I think that that's really hard to navigate.

But, yeah, ask the questions and see what's out there.

Before we move on to debt fear.

I just had a question about interest rates.

Okay.

In this economy, I was way more open to debt before this economy because interest rates were so accessible.

Like, they weren't.

It didn't feel like you were getting robbed when you borrowed money, where now you're looking at the interest rates and you're like, oh, my gosh, like, it's going to take me so much longer to pay this back.

My Bills are going to be so much higher.

I.

Are there services like you had talked about, the services before for the underdeveloped areas and people doing business in those areas.

Do they have better interest rates?

That's a great question.

I will say that some.

It really depends on the product.

I'm not going to quote too many of what too many of the rates right now because they could have changed from the last time I had conversations with my team.

But I know that many of pursuit impacts don't have products that have fixed rates.

And so you're gonna.

You're borrowing money.

Unless you have prime credit, you're gonna expect to be somewhere in the 8 to the tens, right.

And it used to be the fours to the fives in terms of percentage.

So you have to set your expectation.

I was working with a client outside of, you know, a personal client that was not happy with the rates that he was getting and the quotes he was getting for the.

He wanted to refinance one of his properties or something like that, and he wasn't.

He kept like acknowledging.

I remember when I could just walk into a bank and they would just hand me.

When he said, we're not in that time or era right now.

We're not there.

Like you said, man, this rate is so high.

So you're gonna.

The longer you wait, this rate is just gonna increase.

And so sometimes we have to acknowledge the fact that this is where we are.

And if you wait, I mean, rates, yes, they could go down, they could plummet.

But then that's another signal that we might not.

We might not necessarily be in that.

But the longer you wait, more than likely the cost of capital is going to go up.

So you want to.

If you have a really good deal now, you can't compare it to the times when rates were super low.

You just can't.

Because that's not where.

That's not the environment we are in right now.

And you're competing with people who have the funds or who have the availability to get those types of funds now at the rate, and it's not going to cost them.

So you want to.

The other piece is you also want to weigh how much money you need to borrow.

Goes back to the whole use of funds.

People want to store up money for a rainy day.

Right.

But not when you're borrowing it at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13%.

Like, you don't.

You have to really weigh what's going to be best for you.

And really, those going back to the financial projections, going back to Having some form, something you can point to, to say, okay, I know it's not 100% accurate, but this at least gives me a bit more confidence that in this economy, in this time, I know I have these somewhat guaranteed options available to me, so I can feel confident at least taking this amount of money.

Does that make sense?

So you want to weigh the obligations that you have, you want to weigh the receipts that you have and make sure that you have some ability to pay that money back.

There are also, I want to touch on this Pathstone, wedi and I think now Pursuit all have starter loans for startups.

So you might not have any demonstrated sales, but you need some funding.

They do all look at your personal credit.

And so you also want to measure just when you're dealing with debt, you want to understand what they're looking at when they make a loan decision, what the underwriters are looking at.

So when you're first starting out, nine times out of 10, unless you have personal relationship with an institution like a bank, we'll talk about that in a minute, they're going to look at your personal credit, right?

They're going to run your credit.

And so that might not always be the defining factor for banks.

Typically it is, right?

For not many of the CDFIs that I work with, it is a factor, but it's not the only factor.

And so I think the lowest score that most of them look at is like a 580 in most cases, which is, you know, not credit at all.

Right.

So they recognize that you're getting started.

The rate is a little higher.

I think it's somewhere between 9 and 10%, but that's not horrible.

And some of the loans are as small as $500.

So depending on what you need the funds for, you can really get that little influx of capital.

And the repayment terms are so lenient.

So that's another thing.

When you're working with a cdfi, you get those, those benefits going to.

Now, if you have somewhat of a strong banking relationship, let's say you banked with local MNT for many years, fill in the name of the bank.

Most banks, if they have a business lending department, they're going to be apt to really draw on the strength of that relationship and offer you credit.

Even when maybe traditional, if you were just walking off the street, you might not be able to get that.

So you want to leverage what relationships you have, because I've seen it happen where they bypass certain requirements in order to be able to, to offer you, even if It's a minimal amount, something to just, you can get your foot in the door.

Right.

And you begin to build.

So like I said, when you're getting started, you're going to look at personal credit.

But that's the opportunity for you to build business credit.

And those profits profiles are separate.

If you are a personal guarantor for your, for your business credit, the decisions you make over here initially will factor.

But most of those loans will not report to your personal, they'll start to report to your business.

And that's what you want.

You want that, you want to build a business credit profile.

So you get to the point where you do not have to rely on your own personal credit to guarantee alone your business and the strength of your business can secure the funding that you need.

Right.

To continue to scale and grow.

Want to talk about equity financing?

Sure.

We all dream.

A lot of people I know and, and the thing is it's a lot more accessible than a lot than you think.

If you think.

Well, it is if you think at its basic form.

A partnership is a form of equity financing because you're splitting some of the initial investment and the risk of the, you know, company succeeding or failing with someone else.

Right.

And so they're investing something in order to have an equity stake in the business.

And as the business scales or grows, they stand to gain or lose.

So you're sharing some of that risk with someone.

But when you're looking to take on investors, when you're looking to take on individuals who are going to put in their time, energy and money into the business, you, some of the things that we talked about before aren't necessarily applicable.

Like some investors might want to see, they're going to want to see personal finance statements, but they're not necessarily going to see your credit score.

I can't speak for all of them, but some, most of them won't.

They're looking to also understand what, what, what you want to use that money for.

And then you also have to understand what their, what their expectation is on return.

So whether or not they're expecting high, fast, rapid growth and so they're looking for millions of dollars in return as you hit some really large liquidity event or like let's say you sell your business or you go to IPO or if they're looking to grow with you, be a source of capital and they're looking to, you know, for long term connection.

So it's, there's looking at the opportunity for them to grow their own personal wealth.

They understand the Risk, they understand the reward and they're willing to invest time and energy to get you to a certain place.

There's also so, and there's so many different types of equity.

There's like I said, just general partnership like when you're splitting pieces of the pie, but they have equal stake or they have some proportionate stake.

There's angel investors, so they typically have a smaller piece of the piece pie but they're providing the money to help you get started, to get funded.

We typically call that like a friends and family round.

And that's typically at the stage where a startup is vetting their idea and so they so the money there's probably much higher risk because we don't know if the business is really going to be viable or not or the idea is going to be viable.

But you're willing to take that risk to see what happens.

And so that's definitely angel investing.

Then there's like small investment groups that are looking or even investment clubs that are looking to put in a certain amount of money to diversify, you know, their portfolio.

They're looking so they're willing to invest as like one investor, but it's multiple people.

Like a, they call it SPV or special purpose vehicle, but typically like it's one LLC that'll come in and invest into a business and they're, they have capital calls so they're like putting money in at a certain time.

They're typically a part of a fund and so they're investing in at a certain time.

And then you'll have VCs who have probably goo gobs of money and they are at some point looking to see this company go to an initial public offering or be acquired.

And so that's at a much.

That company is typically looking to fund at a much larger scale.

So.

And they're also looking to see that company fundraise multiple times.

So most, let's say, I think you really have to look at the nature of what you're offering as a business to determine what's going to be the best type of equity funding for you.

Most lifestyle Main street businesses probably are looking for partners, looking for silent partners, looking for angels, but folks who can help them scale to the next level.

Right.

And then companies that are deemed somewhat high growth, they're looking, they have a completely different trajectory in mind.

They're looking to exit.

They're always looking to potentially be at the place where they're making their money back in terms of investment of what they put into the business.

They don't necessarily have to be the one who's going to be the CEO at all times.

They're going to get a board of directors.

They're probably going to be a corporation and they're going to continue scaling beyond, beyond, you know, one fundraiser or two fundraises.

So the product and the service and what's being offered typically dictates the type of investor you're going to match with.

And the use of funds again determines the type of funding you're gonna choose.

So you wouldn't get an investor for you to purchase a piece of equipment because most that's better suited for debt financing because it has, you know, it's a fixed asset.

It's typically has a depreciation model that's connected to it and you're utilizing it to help you, you know, grow rapidly.

But not necessarily, it's not necessarily tied directly to revenues.

So an investor might, necessarily, might want to help you fund your next hire or a marketing campaign, something that has direct tied to increased revenues.

I would say a VC at least.

Now some investors, and some investors also want to know the relationship that a business has with debt.

So you don't want to get an investor to help you pay off debt unless you've had that conversation with your investor and they understand how their money's being used and what that's unlocking for them later on.

So everything is very, there are some general like tricks of the trade or rules of the road.

But when you get into the more personal, I won't call it personal, but relational kind of contracts, you determine what those terms are and then you work out those terms like that's, that's how you are engaging.

So grants, debt and equity all can play a really great role in like the capital stack of a company, how they're, how they're or business.

But you just got to know what card to play and how you want to, how you want to fund, how you want to grow and what that type of funding is going to provide you and what risks you're taking on by taking on that type of funding.

You just shared so much information.

Well, I know for the listeners, you can pause and rewind, you can take notes.

I'm an instructor, y'.

All.

So I'm sorry, this is.

And thank you.

Like you're giving this away for free.

Like you just did a complete overview for those out there that they don't know what their options are.

They're on their island, they're all alone.

They don't.

Let's, let's talk about that for a minute.

We do it all the time, especially as women, small business owners.

We bootstrap.

We're building the plane as we fly it, whatever.

Whatever phrase you want to use.

We do this because we have to do it.

And we figure it out.

We do it all the time.

But when it comes to money, it's dangerous.

It can be dangerous.

It can end your business.

And these things are out there.

And if you don't know what options there are and what you actually need, your money.

I'm so glad you said that because so many people are like, I just need the money.

Especially when Covid happened, oh, yeah, I got this money, get this money, get this money.

Like, but what are you using it for?

And it's all gone.

And.

And it could have been used differently and better for myself as well.

I think you just have to take a minute.

What do you need it for?

And what are the options you gave in three wonderful chunks?

And so many other options in those.

And I'm not saying, you know, hitting that email that comes to you every day from that one place, you know what I'm talking about?

It says, hello, and there are so many other options out there.

And you have to really think about what it is you need and find somebody like Crystal who can help you really figure out what it is.

Because not understanding and not talking to people that you care about can lead to very dangerous outcomes.

End Rant.

Can I.

Can I say, you know, no matter what you do, you never want to approach anything from a fear mindset.

Like, you can't.

And so to the point of, you know, being scared, you know, it's okay to be scared, but so many of us can back ourselves into a place of desperation because.

Because we have such fear about what we don't understand.

So feeling, taking the time to recognize there are people out there who aren't, who have your best interest at heart.

Like, it's a good thing for them to help you because it's helping everyone.

Like, the more informed you are, you can help inform someone else.

And so taking the time to understand your options can put you at a place of peace when you are approaching, okay, I need to get this funding.

Like, the scarcity mindset, the fear mindset, and working out of anxiety are horrible places to run your business.

Now, I know that as entrepreneurs, all three of us are entrepreneurs, all three of us are business owners.

Like, we'll have those months where, like, where are you?

Said she was going to pay me next week, so I get it.

But it's and that's, it's the mindset, it's the heart posture.

I know that this is gonna work out.

So you have to have a positive outcome.

And I'm gonna do everything I can to avail myself of the information I need so that I can make a decision and then have more faith than fear when you're approaching it.

I just, I feel like that's so important and I love you guys.

Always focus on focus.

So like I think the, the focus was the theme of the conference.

Yep, the conference last year.

So you know, what are you focused on if you're.

Yes, it can be very.

I'm, and I'm not negating the fact it can be very scary when you see bills coming in and you're like, okay, how am I going to pay that?

Like where is that coming from?

Where am I going to get the sources of funds?

But that's when you don't want desperation to take you to a hard money lender where the they are have take gouging your money every week.

And it's like as I've seen, I've heard and seen 71% that's interest.

Stop it.

Like you're done before you even start.

And you'll get the, like you talked about those emails you leverage even with harmony lenders.

I'm not, I'm not 100% against Harmony lenders.

They have their purpose and your utility when you need them, but you only use them when you know how to leverage them.

You do not use them when you are.

Your backup is up against the wall and you feel desperate.

So we want to avoid the desperation piece.

Talk to someone.

You have myself, you have all the other wonderful women who came on before me and who are coming on after me who can help you navigate.

I just gave you the name of an amazing organization and they, they want to lend.

Like these organizations that I talked about, they want to lend.

Launch New York is equity development.

So they're in their kind of a special case.

If you are in that high growth range, you'll talk to them.

But the other three, they want to lend.

Your bank wants to lend.

And we work with the banks.

Like we do not compete.

We find we're better together.

So take the time to reach out.

Like you said, we're not, we can't be island to ourselves.

And it's difficult when you are the only person doing all the things.

You're the accountant, you're the bookkeeper, you're the operations specialist, you are the customer service rep. You are everything to Your business.

Yes.

Take that.

It is.

It can be a lot.

But prioritize understanding what your options are so you can make an informed decision.

Decision as opposed to a decision based out of scarcity.

And thank you.

So that's just my.

I have one last question, if you're willing to share.

You talked about the little folder on your desktop.

And with all of this information and as we're navigating what our next steps are and where we want to go, what are the top things that you think every business owner should have in that folder ready to go?

You know, I think from our talk the last time I got had a checklist for you guys.

So let me see.

You definitely want to have.

Okay.

Your taxes.

Now, listen, let me come back on screen.

I'm sorry, I had the thing in front of my face.

You gotta have your tax returns.

That's like an important thing.

Even if you need to have your taxes, you need to have your books, so your uses, you know, your balance sheet and your income.

Income statement, or we call it profit and loss statement.

Either one, you got to show how you're making your money.

And there are templates out there that you can utilize, and there are organizations out there that you can utilize if you don't know how to do that.

The Small Business Development center, the one in Monroe County.

Oh, no, wait, it's not in Monroe.

Isn't a Monroe.

I think we have one.

Okay, I know there's one, and then there's one in Cattaraugas, and then you know, the Buff State.

If you're in Buffalo, wherever you are, there is a Small Business Development center near you because they're nationwide, they're ran by the sba.

Okay.

Or funded by the sba.

So your.

Your personal tax return, your business tax returns.

If you never filed taxes for your business before because it's fairly new, then your own personal tax returns.

You're going to want to know some aspect of your credit, right?

So your.

That's your personal know.

And if that's another.

I. I've meet so many people who say, I. I haven't looked at my credit scores.

I just don't want to know.

Pull off that band aid.

You got to know.

You got to know.

I mean, honestly, like, my Old Navy credit card sends me updates on my credit score.

Like, it's out there, it's accessible.

Like, it's everywhere, hidden.

But I, like, get updates.

I'm like, Old Navy's telling me, like, what my credit score is.

I get the same ones, right?

My Old Navy, my band of America, all of them.

They send me credit wise.

Oh, you have a hit on your credit.

Something happened.

Thank God for the monitoring.

Right?

We that's a whole conversation for another day.

You know in terms of how accurate those scores are.

But understand having some even credit karma, like it's not the best thing in the world but it gives you some understanding.

But talk to a specialist first.

Like if you need to know.

Yeah, we do.

I do a free consultation and depending on what it looks like, looks like we can get you set up properly to for financial readiness and success and credit success.

So but yes, understand what your credit history looks like and then personal finance, personal financial statement that might just be like you know, some of everyone, all of us don't have your budget.

That could just be your budget.

Right.

But on the side of your business, if you have books understanding what you did in the last quarter and then a business plan.

So if you don't have one of those, come see me or go to Score Score.

I work with Score Buffalo and sometimes Score Rochester.

You know they have a really comprehensive and I feel easy to use business plan template that I have actually utilized in my courses when I'm teaching my students.

I love it and it walks you through each of the components that you need.

Whether you need a huge business plan or a small one.

Another thing that you can use is business model Canvas.

But they're going to want to see that you have a plan in place for your business.

And the biggest thing is the use of funds break down.

I need $35,000, I need $25,000 to purchase this equipment.

I need $10,000 for to hire a part time person to operate it.

And then I need $5,000 to.

Wait, did I do that right?

To say 20,000 to purchase 10,000 for the operator and I need 5,000 for training.

And that's what it's using I'm utilizing it for.

But I know that if I get this equipment it's going to ramp up my production by 40 or 50% and I should be able and have expectation to pay you back within six months.

That's just I rattle that off my head.

But that someone can walk you through that so that you can be ready.

And what I love about our CDFI is that if you don't have this information, they'll work with you.

They'll send you to the resources so that you can get it all in place so you can come back to them because they want to lend you, your bank wants to lend you money the CDFIs.

When I'm leaving you money.

Investors are looking to invest.

They're just hedging their bets.

They want to make sure it's the right risk for them.

So people want to give you money, have that mindset.

They want to give me money.

I just have to make sure I'm giving them the right information.

So if we shift our mindset a little bit to not be so scared about it, recognize I have something that people need, I have something that people want.

So let me shift my mindset, make sure I'm prepared so that I can offer them the best solution for themselves.

Even, even if it's investing in me, even if it's providing me that loan money, I'm gonna help pay, I'm gonna provide them the money they need in the long run, whether it's paying back a loan or the returns that they're looking for.

So love it.

Well, Crystal, if someone's listening and they want to reach out to you, how do they reach you?

Awesome.

I sent over, hopefully y' all have the slide up there for me.

But on that QR code, on that slide, you can scan it.

It takes you directly into my intake form.

You can fill out some very, I don't take a lot of information, just some very key information about your business and what you're looking for support with.

You'll get an email, once you click submit, you'll get an email right back to book your 15 minute discovery.

Call with me and we can go over anything that you need to talk about.

So let's give some parameters.

So whether you need strategic planning services for your business, whether your business, if your business is informed and you need formation services, I can help you with that.

I do work with nonprofits.

I'm just going to throw that out there.

So if there are nonprofits who are looking to form, I do 501C formation.

And then if you are a form and establishment business and you're looking to have this conversation around funding, because that's what we're talking about today.

Let's sit down.

If you need credit support, put that in the link and then I'll probably shoot you another link right before we meet.

And if you want to, if you need strategic planning or organization services, you can fill that into the form as well.

So I'll.

It'll route you to, to the right link for me and the way to get the support that you, that you need.

Also, I think also I have my LinkedIn and my Instagram and my Facebook on there.

So you can connect with me on social platforms.

I do post, I do share tips.

I'm building a community I have not specifically for female Christ centered entrepreneurs because, because that's, that's, that's my real niche.

If you're looking to connect, I have, have some really great planning, some really great things in the works that are being planned.

So leading up to a retreat, I also have a course out there and I can, I found linked but I can probably send it over to you on how to supercharge your business strategy.

So many times people are working on their business but they haven't created a plan, they're just kind of winging it.

You know, they're out there taking things as they come and being very active instead of proactive.

So I have a course on how to supercharge your business strategy and I think what I'll do is I'll send over a link and I'll also send over a coupon code.

So if someone's interested in, you know, getting connected and taking that course and getting their business on track, it helps you walk through creating a strategic plan as well as outlining your goals and as well as understanding the next steps for your business.

Awesome.

So thank you, Crystal.

Thank you for giving us all of this information and time on your vacation.

I hope it is perfect outside and you get to enjoy the rest of it.

Wonderful.

I can see it right there.

It's beautiful.

So this, this is, is, this is a good, this is my pleasure.

A great way to spend my afternoon.

So thank you Crystal.

Awesome.

You're welcome.

All right.

Well that was Crystal Wallace from CMW Services.

I have so many notes.

That was so much information.

That was awesome.

And she did all of that on her vacation, which I'm very appreciative of.

So, so much information.

So hopefully there was something absolutely all of you in that fun thing.

People get so nervous about funding and it's comes from such a desperate moment when you're worried and you don't know how, how to pay that next payroll or something breaks.

And in business nothing is inexpensive, you know.

Well and I think it's.

We think about funding when we're at the bottom.

Like we need to think about funding like everything else when we're doing well.

Like just because you have the money in the bank doesn't mean that you're going to pay to replace your air conditioning units.

Just because you have the money in the bank doesn't mean you're going to buy a new piece of equipment because that money still is your cash flow that you need for everyday operations.

So I think that I know personally, I feel like, oh, I need funding now because I don't have any money.

Not, oh, I could use funding even though I've got money.

Well, I think that's why conversations like this are incredibly important.

And you all need to bookmark it because you need to think, if my walking cooler goes, this is the best thing to go for.

If my.

This, this, this, this, this is then.

So when these things do happen, you're not app.

You're not operating from that panic mode because you never.

It's okay, right?

And that is okay.

Absolutely.

And it's a great write off.

Parts of it are really important to have to your accountant.

Yeah.

Well, thank you everybody for listening.

I know that was a long episode, but you hopefully learned so much.

And like I said, pause, rewind, take notes.

And reach out to Crystal.

Absolutely.

And reach out to us@bossyrockrocmail.com or on our socials.

Bossy Rochester, we'd love to hear from you.

Share this with.

Share this with somebody that you think needs to hear it.

Be bold and then.

And then be bold.

Wow, this is awful.

We'll try again and then be bold and then be bossy.