What Lenders Really Look for in Your Business

In this episode of Chamber Amplified from the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, Doug Jenkins talks with Christie Tunison of Fifth Third Bank about what businesses need to know when it comes to financing, lending, and building a strong financial foundation.

From startups to established companies, many businesses run into challenges when applying for funding. Christie shares insight into what lenders are really looking for - and why factors like cash flow, credit, and business planning can make or break a financing decision.

The conversation covers:

•  The biggest financing challenges businesses are facing right now 
•  Why cash flow is one of the most important metrics lenders evaluate 
•  The role of a business plan and why “granular” detail matters 
•  Common reasons businesses get declined for loans 
•  Why “no” often means “not right now” and what to do next 
•  How business owners can improve their chances of approval 
•  Free resources available to help businesses grow and prepare for financing 

If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, or leader thinking about growth, expansion, or improving your financial position, this episode offers practical insights you can apply right away.

Music and sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

Transcript

Welcome And The Big Promise

Doug Jenkins 0:04

Hello everyone and welcome back to Chamber Amplified, brought to you by the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. I'm your host, Doug Jenkins. Each week here on the podcast, we're talking about the things that matter the most to local businesses and organizations, from workforce and leadership development to marketing, IT issues, and the everyday realities of running something that serves our community. Today we're focusing on the world of small business finance. If you've ever been told no when applying for financing, well, this episode is for you. I'm joined by Christy Tunison from Fit Third Bank. We're going to be talking about what banks are actually looking for when they evaluate a business. There's a big theme here. Sometimes it's not a no, it's a not right now. Those are two entirely different things. We're going to break down the biggest hurdles that businesses face, from cash flow to credit to business plans. That's a big topic of conversation in this episode. And maybe most importantly, how to position yourself to get approved next time. If you're a business owner thinking about growth, expansion, or just getting your financial house in order, there's a lot of insight in this one for you. If you enjoy the podcast, don't forget to leave us a rating and review and share the episode with others. It's real easy to do it now. The show is on YouTube. You can put that link out on your social media, and it's an easy way to spread the message. Now let's get into it. Joining on the podcast today from Fifth Third Bank, Christie Tunison joins us. Christie, thank you for taking time out of here today to join us on Chamber Amplified.

Speaker 1 1:33

Oh, you're very welcome. I'm so happy to be here. Thanks for the opportunity.

Doug Jenkins 1:37

Everybody is always happy to do a podcast, even if they've never done one before. So I appreciate that. Uh before we get into what we want to talk about today, let's just talk, tell people a little bit about what you do at Fifth Third.

Speaker 1 1:48

Yeah, I am a business banking relationship manager here at Fifth Third. What that essentially means is I assist businesses with annual revenues from five to ten million dollars because they have more unique granular needs. So it's really important to have someone to be an advocate for them at the bank. I assist with lending, deposits, cash flow conversations, and really being a collaborator to understand where their business has been and where they want it to go into the future. So I can make sure I'm offering the right solutions and linking them up to other community partners that might be able to help them take their business to the next level as well.

Doug Jenkins 2:28

You said something that really stood out to me there is being an advocate for the person at the bank. And I don't I don't know if people think about that sometimes as their bank being an advocate for their business. What is it that you're able to do to really be that person who's fighting for that business alongside them?

Speaker 1 2:49

Well, you know, I'm really glad that you bring that up because I feel like many people do not realize that and and don't leverage the partnerships with their bankers and their relationship managers. Why my role is important, especially for lending, is I need to be able to tell the story. The underwriter for your loan is going to want to hear and understand your story. And that's often told in financial numbers. But to have someone like me to really go out on a limb and explain, you know, this is what they've done, this is what they're looking to accomplish, and this is where I've worked with them, and here we are now. And, you know, what can we do as a lender to help them take that to the next level? So that's really what I mean by advocate is I'm your feet on the ground with the bank to understand and push for those solutions for you. Um, and that's not just when it comes to lending, that could be treasury management solutions as well. Maybe you want to have the ability to credit or debit your customer. You know, we can have those conversations to really streamline the financials and take some of that legwork off of you as a business owner or the business owner themselves. Um, and that's what I mean by being an advocate. And and not only that internally with the bank, but in the community as well. You know, I'm very community-driven, community-centric. I know you are as well. Um, and and I feel it's important for me to build my brand in the community because what I can do is meet those CPAs and do some of that vetting and that legwork for you or for the business owner. So if they come to me and say, you know, I am looking to move to this type of system, or I need a CPA that can do this for me, or maybe I'm looking at merchant solutions and I just need a second opinion on that. You know, that's where I want to give myself an arsenal of people around me. So when a business owner comes my way, I can refer back in that way too. So just advocating on many different levels internally and in the marketplace as well.

Why Financing Gets Hard Now

Doug Jenkins 4:52

So that helps set the table for what we want to talk about today. And that is just talking about some of the issues maybe businesses see when they go to apply for financing or some of the headwinds maybe they're facing uh in the current environment. So I guess let's start there, just current events. Where are businesses having a hard time right now when it comes to their financing?

The Business Plan Lenders Need

Speaker 1 5:14

Cash flow, you know, it always comes down to cash flow and really understanding how to scale. And that's where having that business relationship with someone, and it doesn't have to be a banker, it could be someone else in your network, but having someone to have that perspective to identify any gaps, because when you're you're involved in your business, you might not see some of those things. Um, so that's where it's important to have that second opinion, that outside perspective, and really looking at the cash flow part of it. Another piece that I run into is sometimes we need collateral for our startups, and they don't have that yet because they're first starting up. So I want to be able to give them the right resources to go to, the right connections, so they can build their business plan or or what have you.

Doug Jenkins 6:02

Um and speaking of business plan, I'm glad you said that because I want to come right back to it. How huge is the business plan in this?

Speaker 1 6:11

And and I know um, and we can go through there's other reasons for um some of the hurdles that our businesses are facing, but uh what I run into a lot of the time is you come up with an idea, and you know, we want to make money, but we don't take the time to be granular on how we're going to take that idea and really bring it into fruition. And that's something that any lender is going to want to understand. What steps have you taken? What type of projections do you have? And really on a granular level, talk about, you know, this is where I am, these are the steps I'm taking to get where I'm going, this is what I'm projecting to achieve. And and and I mention granular because that's so important is to really have a firm grasp of the actions you're going to take to reach that end result. And I feel that sometimes our business owners, they are experts in what they do and they just want to go out there and do it, which is phenomenal. But we get to a point where we need to, or the business owner might need some capital to really take that business to the next level. And if they don't have that active business plan or projections or what have you to show a lender what they're doing, what kind of skin they have in the game, it's going to be harder to get an approval on that. Um, so so those are some of the hurdles I proactively see in the marketplace is they might not have the cash flow. Okay, let's identify that. Uh, and that could be identified through financials, but just something as simple as having a strong business plan can really take a business to the next level.

Doug Jenkins 7:48

And what's great about that is there are free resources in the community to do that. Uh, I don't know if you walk people through a business plan process or not, but you get you can check with your bank. You can also work through the Small Business Resource Center at uh Road State College. There are a number of ways to approach that. And I think it's tough for some people in the entrepreneurial mindset that one of the things you have is you have an idea and you probably don't have a lot of patience. You just want to launch. Uh, but I always like to tell people like I make a pretty mean Smash burger on the Blackstone at home. That doesn't mean I am ready to launch a restaurant for Smash Burgers in Findlay. By the way, I'm not doing that. I like I don't have the time or tolerance to do to do food service again. Uh but uh there's a lot of steps before you take this great recipe, great idea you have, and push it out, have the funding to have everything that you need in place. Uh slowing people down, I imagine, has to be something that you you do. Uh maybe sometimes isn't the most appreciated part of it, but is the very necessary part of it.

Turn A Decline Into Approval

Speaker 1 8:51

You're right. And you know, you mentioned community resources. There are so many free resources available. Um the SBDC, small that stands for Small Business Development Center, um, ECDI, they're a micro lender. Score, uh, score.org, if you if you're not familiar with SCORE, that is a network of retired entrepreneurs, professionals that are still in their career, and it's free. You know, they help with business planning, projections, legacy planning, really, wherever you are in your business life cycle, there are resources out there at no charge or limited fee that can help you really take your business to the next level. So I'm glad that you bring those up because that's something I'm really passionate about sharing. You know, it's it's never a no when I'm talking to my business clients. It's always a not right now if there is a declination. And I'm honest, and I think that's what our business owners need to do is be advocates for themselves. You know, if you have a lender and and you were declined for a loan, don't just take that. Go back and ask, okay, really understand what that declination was, what that decline reason was, and build out a plan so you can reapply in six months and achieve that financing. And to speak to a story on that briefly, yeah. I had a client come to me. She she owned a landscaping business, but her brother was a general contractor, and she recognized a need for someone to haul everything taken out of the houses and all and the renovations, you know, and he was paying someone else to do that. And she thought, well, I can start a company doing that. And she came to me, and uh, after she was declined for a loan, um, through another institution, mind you, and she didn't understand why she was declined, and she didn't really get the guidance either. So we took the time to read through the declination, and really all it came down to was the lender didn't really have a full picture of how she was going to achieve what she was talking about doing. Right. They wanted projections, they wanted a more detailed business plan. So we did take the time to work through that together. And she went back, um she reapplied the next month and was approved and was able to get that dump truck and start her business and and build out her revenue stream with another business because we know entrepreneurs have multiple streams coming in, they have that mindset. Um, and and that's again amazing to build out, but we really need to understand where their current business is and where they want to take it if we're gonna keep scaling and building out from there.

Credit Collateral And Clean Books

Doug Jenkins 11:42

Wouldn't uh wouldn't business owners do get declined? What are the things that surprise them that they didn't know were working against them? That's my one good question. That's my one hard question of the day. I I always get the one and we've we found it today.

Speaker 1 11:59

Well, you know, and I and I feel that they just a lot of times take those simple startup documents for granted. You know, a business plan, projections, because again, they the our underwriters are only gonna see the numbers, they need to understand the story, and that's why I come in. So I think that could be surprising when I when I come back and say, Well, we need a business plan, we need to be able to tell your story a little bit more in depth. You know, it's we need to just put some emotion into it and really show what you're looking to achieve and how you're going to do it, how you're gonna market yourself and build your brand. So I think that's something like you mentioned, they're not patient. I'm not patient. Who's patient?

Doug Jenkins 12:41

None of us are patient. We want that immediately. It's time to be patient, right?

Speaker 1 12:46

But we have to also challenge ourselves and take the time to dig in and really understand, okay, well, if this goes wrong, what am I gonna do? So I feel like that is a miss a lot, is just being granular on what their own action plan is. Uh, another piece of that could be credit, and and a lot of times it is credit. You know, when you're first starting out, or when our clients are first starting out, a lot of that business reputation is based on them personally. So if they have weak credit themselves, then maybe we need to start there first. You know, what can we do to build a better pattern so you know you're not carrying so much debt on your credit cards? Or, you know, what can we do to re to improve your payment ability and show that you can make consistent payment? Because our business owners, when you're starting out, the bank doesn't know what that business credit's gonna look like. They're gonna look at you as the business or as the business owner, uh, because most of the time the business owner is gonna guarantee whatever debt is extended or whatever loan is extended. So there's no there's no way to skip over it, really. It's really important to make sure that that personal credit is is ideal or in better conditions. Um I mentioned collateral towards the start of our call. A lot of times our clients might not have collateral, they might not have the building or the equipment or the accounts receivable to be able to secure a lending request. And that's where it's important to know what other resources are available out there. Um and I know you mentioned too the SBDC, the small business administration, you know, maybe we just need to be creative with how we extend that financing, but it's all going to come back down to tell me about your business and what you're gonna do to be successful and show that cash flow. And and I know I'm I'm going off on a tangent here, but a lot of times that's what the podcast is for.

Doug Jenkins 14:44

It's a tangent-based industry.

Speaker 1 14:45

I'll keep doing it. Profit, right? Like they'll tell me what their profit is, which is amazing. I love seeing that profit. But what cash flow comes down to is that's how we're gonna understand your ability to repay. So really making sure that the financials are clean, you know, our our clients are experts in what they do, but maybe not so much in the bookkeeping. So it's important to really surround yourself with a strong team of advisors, and it's hard to ask for help. And I understand that building a business is a courageous battle, it does take so much courage to really put yourself out there. But leaning on someone like a CPA or a bookkeeper or your relationship manager to really understand where those gaps might be in the finance and in your financials, because if your profit and loss and your balance sheet and your income statement, they all say one thing and your tax returns say another, then you need to be able to speak to that as a business owner and really understand that. And having someone that can explain to you the inner workings and you know, maybe we need to adjust here or shift this over here, that can really help align them to be able to secure financing in the future. Um, so keeping the financials clean and making sure they're consistent is also something that I run into. Um, because again, no patience, putting everything in a shoebox, saving receipts towards the end of the year, but there might come a time where you know you need to be able to show all of that. And um just making sure you're consistently proactively doing that is is huge.

Not Right Now Refinancing Strategy

Doug Jenkins 16:18

You mentioned something a little earlier, and and I I think maybe it speaks to this is that even if the funding isn't it's not the right time to do something with a loan or finance or whatever it is at the time, a no doesn't necessarily mean a no in this instance, it could mean not right now. It could be let's talk, let's talk about this in a year, let's talk to the EDIC, let's talk about uh uh some different opportunities. Uh and it seems like that's you're not just gonna say no, there's the door. Uh that's not how this works.

Speaker 1 16:50

Never. And if if you have a relationship or a bank or a manager or a banker that just gives you that flat no, well, maybe they're not comfortable having the conversation, or maybe they don't understand the declination, the decline reasoning. And that's where, again, it's important to have a banker or someone to go to where you can say, well, this is why I was declined. Maybe it was poor credit. Well, you know, let's talk about a strategy to rebuild your credit. You know, maybe you're they're overextended. I had a client one uh last year, actually, um, landscape, another landscaping business, and he purchased a lot of equipment and he was over-leveraged. And essentially what I mean by that is he was making a lot more payments than he was bringing in every month, and we really needed to understand how we can refinance some of that. Well, at the end of the day, we had to put that on pause and wait about six months for his season to be done so we can revisit it towards the end of the year. And he had a strong season and we were able to help him at that time. But again, it wasn't a no, it was a not right now. This is what we need to do. Let's pay down some of this debt, let's just put you in a better position towards the end of the year so we can refinance some of that. And that was really important for him because he purchased a lot of that equipment um in the last several years, and the interest rates have gone down. So just that simple refinance is going to help him lower his payment and overall pay a lot less interest. Um, but again, it wasn't a no, it was a not right now, and we revisit it later in the year.

Relationships Referrals And Next Steps

Doug Jenkins 18:25

I think it all comes back to it's something that that I've learned from working at the chamber and everything is businesses don't happen in a vacuum. Uh, they happen as a result of conversations and ideas and getting to know people and then having conversations with those new people you know and and everything like this. And and I think this speaks to you know, your the you know, lenders are a big part of that conversation. So don't be intimidated. Let's just go have that conversation if if you're looking to do the financing to start up or to expand or whatever it is. Uh it all comes back to being able to talk to people, I suppose.

Speaker 1 19:02

Yeah, relationship building is huge because if I'm out in the community and I know what your mission is and what you're trying to accomplish, and I come across someone else that says, hey, you know, I'm looking for security solutions, that's another reason to partner with your banker and let them be an advocate for you, not only in internally, of course, when we're trying to look at lending requests, but now I'm out in the community and I say, Oh, Joe over here has an amazing security company. I would love to make an introduction and put those pieces together because we do need that strong network around us. We don't operate in a vacuum. And whenever we can pull externally, internally, and just reinvent and be innovative in what we're doing, it's only going to lead to greater success down the road.

Doug Jenkins 19:47

Well, Christy, I appreciate your time today. People would want to talk to you about this and maybe get that conversation started. What's the best way to do that?

Speaker 1 19:54

You know, give me a call, um, shoot me a text. My cell phone number is um the best way to get a hold of me. 419-345-6883 is my number. Um, also, I relationship manager with Fifth Third. You know, I you can send me an email at ChristinePeriod Tunison at 53.com. Um, I'm more than happy to point you in the right direction, spend some time with you, give you some guidance, whatever I can do to help you build your brand and complete your business success.

Key Takeaways And Chamber Invite

Doug Jenkins 20:27

Well, again, uh a lot of great advice today. And again, it just boils down to talk to people. Talk to people. It's the way to get things done. Uh, we appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you so much. A few points before we call it a week on this podcast. Those financing decisions are rarely black and white when it comes to your business. There's usually a path forward, it's just about having that conversation about how to get forward. What is your next step? A strong business plan, that's huge. Clean financials, you want to have those too, but your business plan has to elaborate how you're going to get to where you want to be. You need to spend a good amount of time on that. And your banker should be a partner and an advocate for you in this entire process. It's less about just going there and saying, I need money. Having them in on what you're trying to do can make all of the difference. Again, at the end of the day, it all comes back to relationships and conversations. So you want to keep that in mind. That'll do it for another edition of Chamber Amplified. This is a free podcast available to the community, made possible by the investment of our members here at the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. If you're looking at ways to get your business involved in the community, a lot of times the chamber is the best place to get started. If you'd like to learn more about that, just send me an email, D Jenkins at Findlayhancock Chamber.com, and we can talk about how an investment in the chamber not only helps your business, but the business community as a whole. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time on Chamber Amplified from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce.