Good Neighbor Podcast: Rochester
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of Rochester
Good Neighbor Podcast: Rochester
EP#108 Ceed Lending with Belinda and Xana
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Unlock the potential of Michigan's small businesses with a special 40th-anniversary celebration of the Great Lakes Women's Business Council and their Ceed Lending initiative. Belinda and Xana join us, and together, we shatter the myths surrounding access to capital and technical assistance for local enterprises. Listen closely as we reveal how Ceed Lending is not just for women, and how a less-than-perfect credit score isn't the end of the road for entrepreneurial ambitions. Their role as a Community Development Financial Institution and an SBA micro-lender is pivotal, particularly for those who might otherwise be sidelined by conventional funding avenues.
This episode celebrates the tenacity of entrepreneurs and the strength of community as we walk you through a partnership with Ceed Lending that's akin to a business marathon, not a sprint. Find out the steps to engage with them, from understanding loan terms to integrating repayments within your business model. And we're not just talking shop; we shine a spotlight on the vibrant local businesses of Rochester. Be part of our show by nominating your favorite Rochester business heroes and hear their stories of success and resilience in our community-focused segment. Join us for an episode that's as much about financial wisdom as it is a tribute to the spirit of our local business landscape.
Seed Lending
Speaker 1This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Lisa Swiftney.
Speaker 2Hi everyone and welcome to episode number 108 of the Good Neighbor Podcast. Today, I have with us Belinda and Xana, and they are with Ceed Lending. Good morning ladies. How are you guys doing today? Good, good morning. Thank you for having us. Oh great. Well, why don't we first start off by you guys telling us a little bit about your business? What do you do?
Speaker 3Thank you. So again, my name is Belinda Turning-Tubois and I'm the Director of Lending for Ceed Lending. Ceed Lending is an initiative of the Great Lakes Women's Business Council. We are actually celebrating our 40th year this year, so we've been around for a while helping customers. We provide them with access to capital and technical assistance support.
Speaker 2And that is amazing, and it's nice to have you guys as a resource for our small businesses in Michigan. So tell our listeners about, I guess, the journey of the organization. How did it come to fruition and why.
Speaker 3Well, as I said, we've been around for 40 years. I haven't been here for 40 years. The organization started in Ann Arbor as a support organization for women business owners and shortly thereafter became an SBA micro lender as well, so again providing access to capital. We are an SBA micro lender as well as a CDFI, which is a community development financial institution, and both of those entities really have a focus on small businesses, those businesses that can't secure traditional funding in the marketplace.
Speaker 2That is like I said, that's amazing and it's awesome that we have a resource. So can you tell us a little bit about any myths or misconceptions that you hear about in your industry?
Speaker 3So I'm not going to hog the whole show here. I want to excite my pen, but I will say this as far as myths about our organization because we are a part of the Great Lakes Women's Business Council People often think we only do loans for women, but we do not. We do loans for men and women.
Speaker 4Ceed lending respects all genders, so we do loans for men and women, xenia do. You can't get a bank loan that you can't get a loan with a CDFI or a nonprofit, and we're set up a little different. We are not credit score driven, which means we're a little bit lenient when it comes to that. We also provide technical assistance, like Belinda says. So if we talk to an entrepreneur or a business owner and they're not quite ready for lending just yet, we have the support and services to help you grow your business and get your financials and your business plan together so that you are able to obtain a business loan at some point. So that's one of the largest misconceptions.
Speaker 2And that is a big misconception. So it is good to know that you will help people walk through their journey to get the funding that they need.
Speaker 3Yes, yes, and Lisa also, we stay with them the entire time that they're with us. As far as the loan, let's say you get a loan for five years, five year term. We're providing you that technical assistance the whole time. We like to think of ourselves as the silent partner in your business, so we like to celebrate your you know your successes and also call us when you're having trouble, so we can help work through those too help work through those too.
Speaker 2Wow, that's good. I'm going to change up these questions a little bit, because it kind of not all my questions pertain, but what I'd like to do is why don't you guys tell us a little bit about how would a person or a business person, or a business owner or an entrepreneur, how would they reach out to you and what would be the steps that they need to take to?
Speaker 4I guess you Sure, so I'll take that question, belinda. So the best way that we suggest contacting us is visiting our website, which is wwwseedlendingorg, and on there we have more information about all of our programs, all of our events and upcoming events that you're that are free to attend, but we also have an intake form on there that we suggest that people that are interested in the small business loans or our program fill out and then, once you submit that form, we do request that you give us 24 to 48 hours for a team member to reach out to you so we'll give you a phone call and we will talk with you about your lending needs, or whatever your small business needs are, to see if and how we can possibly help you.
Speaker 2That's great. And then I know you mentioned, Belinda, that a loan could be five years. What is a typical loan for a small business?
Speaker 3So that was just an example. Our typical loan term is up to six years. Our loan term is up to six years and we like to make the term, depending on the payment, fit the cash flow of the business. So that's the maximum. But you know, the payment could be a three-year term, could be a five-year term. We like to fit it nice and snug in the cash flow Example. We wouldn't want to do a 10-year loan, necessarily for six years, but if that's where it needed to be for cash flow, we would certainly consider that. Our interest rates for we have a couple of different loan programs At this time we're looking at an interest rate of 7% for our microloan and lift loan, the Oakland County Revolving Loan Fund, which we're very proud and excited to talk about that it is for Oakland County businesses only and that loan can be. That interest rate can be anywhere between 8% and 9% depending on what we are doing for the business. If we're purchasing equipment or providing, you know, working capital, the interest rate is going to vary.
Speaker 2And it's still better than credit card rates, right.
Speaker 3Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2So that's great. What is something that you would like our listeners to know about seed lending?
Speaker 3Well, I'm going to say that we are, as I mentioned earlier, we like to think of ourselves as partners with you and your business, partners with you and your business. We are not a bank, so we're not credit score driven. As Iksana said, we really are interested in the story. What is it the business owner is trying to accomplish, and we like to help get you there Now. I'll be honest, sometimes it may mean that we can't help you right now, today, but we can certainly give you some advice, point you in the right direction and circle back in two months, three months. So I think that is something that folks need to understand.
Speaker 3Not everyone is ready when they think they're ready and as experienced lenders, we recognize that. But we also recognize that we're working with entrepreneurs and they want to do it when they want to do it. So, you know, sometimes there's a balancing act between the two, but what's important that folks know is that we're here to help you and if it's a deal that we cannot do because we're very familiar with other lenders in the market, we'll pick up the phone and say hey, you know we can't do this, but we think this may be something that you have an appetite for that sounds really good, so you also could offer a lot of mentorship for a new business as well through your program.
Speaker 3That is correct. We actually have on our staff an individual called our Loan Client Success Coordinator and she works with our businesses from right before they close their loan all the way to the time they pay us off, and even with the small business, excuse me, with the Great Lakes Women's Business Council. There are training classes all the time for small businesses, whether they're virtual or in person, so we're always supporting small businesses in some way.
Speaker 2Now I know you mentioned Oakland County. You also serve other counties in Michigan as well. What counties also do you have?
Speaker 3So thanks for that question. We serve nine counties in Southeast Michigan. So again, we've already talked about Oakland County. We serve Hillsdale, jackson, lenawee, livingston, macomb, monroe, oakland, washtenaw and Wayne Wow that is great. Yes, most of our business is Wayne, oakland, macomb and Washtenaw, but we do serve those other counties as well.
Speaker 2Perfect. So I know you mentioned this before. So our listeners want to learn more and contact you. So the best way to contact you is to visit your website. Correct, correct, okay, and then why don't you go ahead and tell our listeners the website again?
Speaker 4Sure. So our website again is wwwseedlendingcom and seed is spelled with a C, not an S org, so it's seedlendingorg.
Speaker 2Perfect. Anything else you'd like our listeners to know about you guys or how to get in touch with you?
Speaker 3Well, lisa, we certainly appreciate the opportunity to be on the show today and just kind of give you know folks information about an opportunity that they may be able to, you know, work with themselves as a small business owner. We work with business owners that are starting as well as business owners that are looking to expand, so existing businesses. What we like to do is help businesses purchase assets, so equipment, inventory, machinery, those kinds of things, but again without going through a whole list of those things, just if business owners can walk away knowing that there is an opportunity out there for them. If their bank or credit union has told them they can't help them, that's where we come in.
Good Neighbor Podcast Rochester Business Help
Speaker 2That is amazing. Thank you, ladies, for your time today. It was a very it was a very good pleasure to meet with you and hear how you can help our local business owners.
Speaker 3Thank you as well, Lisa. Again, we appreciate you. We appreciate what you do.
Speaker 1Thank you, lisa. Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Rochester. To nominate your favorite local businesses To be featured on the show, go to GNPRochestercom. That's GNPRochestercom, or call 248-988-9640.