Episode 11- Business Credit with Paul Childers

In this episode of "Small Business, Big Moves,". Thomas Bennett  is joined by guest Paul Childers to explore creative strategies and innovative approaches that have propelled small businesses to new heights. Discover the power of business credit.

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Small Business Big Moves is a podcast where innovation meets entrepreneurship. Join Tom Bennett as he explores all things  business growth! From business funding and business tax credits to conversations with leaders who have grown successful and innovative businesses!

Transcript

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Welcome to Small Business Big Moves, a podcast where innovation meets entrepreneurship. I'm your host, Tom Bennett, and we'll explore all things business growth from business funding and business tax credits to conversations with leaders who have grown successful and innovative businesses. Welcome to the show. My guest today is Paul Childers. Paul, I'm excited to have you on the show. If you could introduce yourself. Yeah like you said, Paul Childress Blue Sky Biz Solutions is my, my company and I do business credit consulting or coaching and then I also do a little bit of the on the lending side as well, but I just try to marry those two worlds together and help business owners find success financially on loans and lending. Absolutely. Kind of piggybacking off that, that's what I really wanted to. Jump into today is business credit, right? The importance of business credit and making yourself a financeable business So I wanted to obviously jump into that but first wanted to really take it back to the beginning, right? I know obviously you've built a successful business wanted to kind of get a little background on What made you get into that and where you started saying? Hey, I can Really change some businesses lives with business credit Yeah you know, the beginnings come from my exposure to it when I was in automotive. I did sales General sales manager, finance manager and stuff for a Chevrolet dealership. And that was where my first exposure to business credit was. And it was kind of one of those deals where I had a customer come in. You know, they're a plumber, they had multiple vehicles and I got an approval back from GM. I was like, here, put them into a commercial portal. And like, I very vividly remember going, what is a commercial portal? Like we've never had this conversation before. I've never seen it before. So getting exposure to it there and then not even like a week later, another customer that was almost identical to a T to the one that we just did came in and he didn't get access to a commercial portal. I'm like, okay, like, what's going on here? And why are there 2 different like worlds of financing for businesses that are almost identical? Right? So it just kind of started a cascade of like questions that Led me into, diving into an understanding a little bit more about business credit to then when I decided to go out on my own, it was just kind of a natural step that this would be something that I could teach and consult on and help people with. Love it. I'm glad you shared that with me. And it definitely makes things easier when, like you said, you've already, you were kind of involved with it, pique your interest a little more. And then, like you said, went out and started on your own. So good for you for making that leap, citing stuff. Absolutely. Yeah, and then I know you and I, we see it and deal with it every day, right? Every business is completely different from a revenue standpoint, from a credit standpoint. Time in business, everything that you can think of, but when you take it all the way back, like we talked about on the business credit side, what are you looking for? What are you seeing and realizing, Hey, I can really help this business get to the next level. Yeah. You know, I usually enjoy spending most of my time working in like the home service side of things. That's kind of my background. I grew up small, rural. Real blue collar area. I married into a farm family. I live in a town of about 1400 people. So like, you know, really just like bread basket backbone of America type, like area that I live in a lot of blue collar guys. So it's just kind of like the people I am familiar with and comfortable with. And what I've found is that a lot of those guys. Just get stuff done however they can and they're very resourceful and incredibly intelligent at what they're doing and how they're solving problems for people. But because of that, and the fact that they're wearing a bunch of different cats is they seem to overlook the financial standpoint of it, knowing their P and L's understanding how to protect their personal credit, understanding how to get off of, risk exposure for themselves personally, and really leverage business credit, banking credit, and personal credit, all kind of in synergy with each other. And there's a really big gap in 500, 000 up to about 5 million where they're just, they literally are wearing. All of the hats, right? And they're just maybe starting to hire, maybe just starting to really grow and expand. And then they just get slammed into this wall of like, I can't get financing because I'm either over leveraged. I don't have any business credit. We've had some bad write offs before. We've had, you know, there's just any number of things. And so that's just kind of a niche and a gap that I've found out there that I've just naturally kind of been able to slide into. And I'm starting to work with several of them and help solve some of these problems. So, That's kind of like just the zone of. Businesses that I see this the most frequently with, especially because they've got a lot of equipment and vehicles, right? Like, they have the most exposure and they have the most need for the business credit side of things because it opens up a world of different opportunities for cash flowing that they haven't had before. Absolutely. I'm glad you shared that too, because that's spot on the right. I was just talking about that. A couple weeks back and you hit it right on the head with the five million range, right? It's like five hundred thousand to five million. It seems like when you're in that range, the more you make. You just go try to scale the business, but it's just continue higher spinning, right? You get oh, we went from 500, 000 to a million, so we're going to get a couple more trucks or some more equipment. Hire a couple more people. Revenue goes up, but then you just kind of keep, keep scaling, but you might not be doing the best things with the money to really get to that. Next level or like to your point when you don't have the business credit established and you may be taking Maxing out those personal credit cards or going that route. That doesn't help either. So that's, I'm glad you shared that now. I know, obviously you mentioned working in that type of industry and working with those people building those relationships. Are you seeing that a lot of them, I think you touched on a little bit, but a lot of them aren't really familiar with the business credit, right? Or how important that actually can be to the business. Yeah, I think the thing that stands out to me is the amount of them that think business credit is having a business credit card, right? Like Amex, Chasing Capital One, whatever it is, right? They're like, oh yeah, I've got business credit and they will pull out a credit card or tell me they got a credit card. And I'm like, no, there's two, they're very different things. Maybe they do have some, accounts and they think they're reporting, but then when we start to talk a little bit more and find out that they're not even sure if they have a Dunn's and Bradstreet number, I'm like, okay, we need to find if you have that, because that's kind of your, your EINs, your business social security number, but that Dunn's and Bradstreet is your API key to get into the business credit world. So if you don't have that, like you're not reporting. So. It's a pretty high number of guys that either assume they've got it and don't, or just don't even know what it is. I've never heard about it before. So yeah, it's definitely just trying to be as. outwardly educational about it as I can. You know, if you follow me at all, you see, I post pretty constantly about, about it. And there's a lot of people out there claiming they do business credit that aren't doing business credit. And there's some people that are doing business credit, but they're charging way, way too much for what the actual service is and not providing a full understanding of the financial status of businesses either. So there's a lot of ways in this industry to. To be misinformed and misled, so it's just trying to be consistent and be truthful about it is where I sit, so. 100%. that's all we can do, right, is just be be upfront with everyone and be authentic, have that integrity, right, because like you said, we see it all the time on these posts and ads, people promoting something that's, that's not even a real thing or not even going to help a business grow. So I see what you share. I see how consistent you are. Providing value. So I got to get to give credit where it's due. I love seeing what you got going on, but no, I mean, it's true, right? With the business credit, I, we both talked to business owners all day. To that point, like, oh, I have this Amex Platinum card, or I have these credit cards through my business, so I definitely have business credit, or to the other side, I have the the Dun Bradstreet set up, so I'm all set, but like you said, you gotta kind of marry the two together, just because you have the Duns doesn't mean you have a good good business credit score, and just because you have these business credit cards doesn't mean that you have a bad business credit score. Good business score as well. So having people like you out there that can really provide that value to them and break it down And just open up so many more Opportunities to these business owners is an incredible thing Yep. 100%. It's it's definitely a gateway that more people need to have access to and more people need to be educated on what exactly it is, right? The amount of times I post in some groups where I've got people that will be like, Oh, you're just you're just another one of those MCA guys trying to do predatory lending. It's like, no, actually it's the opposite of that. I'm actually trying to get people into a lot better financial lending position if you understood. What this actually wanted you to get that, but I understand the confusion too. Absolutely. And then I know we obviously talk about where you started, right? What got you into the business? How consistent you've been with it and growing it, just continuing to grow it. But what, I know we obviously always see, you and I always see the wins all over Facebook and all over the internet, which is a great thing to see, but any like setbacks or struggles that you've gone through personally going through this journey and really jumping out on your own? Yeah, man, you know really, I'm only in like my 10th month of being really out on my own, right? So, I mean, the first year is always a year of experience and learning. Leaving a W2 job. I left the job amicably with a tire, egg tire company where I was the sales director. And was making good W2 money and had been with them for a little bit. We, you know, grew from about 20 million up to about just under 30 million, right? Around 30 million a year. So I got a lot of exposure to like really good growth and really, you know, good leadership practices. So when I shifted into my own business, even through the months where things weren't really going the way I wanted to, I just kind of went back and relied on some of the things that I'd learned from my time in the car dealership, right? Right. If anybody's ever come up through automotive, you just know that sometimes it's just all hustle and it doesn't always go your way, but if you're just out talking to people and making yourself busy, things happen. And so that's just kind of the way I, I went into 23 was just my word for the year was embrace and really just embrace change, embrace new. New adventures and new challenges. And it has been absolutely an up and down year for the better, right? The people I've met, I've got partial ownership now and I'm roofing a solar company and we're working on some other projects as well. My, I got connected with a business partner that is able to do some private equity and earn money. You know, resource for my, my businesses, whether I'm getting paid out or not, my, my whole thing is I want to get solutions solved. So the, you know, the biggest challenge I've had this year is just really consistency really on my own personal routines. You know, getting up early, taking care of my own health and still trying to run a business and do it all on my own. I've learned that I'm not great at marketing, so that will be a place that I hire as much as I like to think I am good. I have a lot of knowledge, but I'm not great at making that knowledge into a Words and phrases that people just want to jump onto and follow. So it's, that's definitely been my first year is just learning what it is that I'm good and skilled at and how do I exist and, and stay in that area. Right. And I think that's. That's the biggest key you take away, whether you feel your first year of a successful or not as successful, if you found an identified where you struggle and then have a plan to get off of that as fast as you can so that your company can thrive, because if you live in a spot where you're not loving it, you'll kill yourself and you'll kill your company. a hundred percent. exactly. And it happens all the time, right? That's why they say, right, like 80 percent of these businesses fail in the like first five years and even after like the first year or two. So yeah, that's it's exciting to see back to kind of what you've done in those first 10 months. Right. And we can obviously see that momentum building in the direction that you're continuing to take this. So we'd love to see that. And then back to the back to the W 2 point, right? I think you and I both had a, have a similar story and background. I spent about just under 10 years in corporate sales, right? And working for some of those larger companies everywhere from from SolarCity selling solar, and then into the like, HR payroll world. So I had a Okay. A lot of success telling you get that W2 pay, you get the commission on top of that, you get the benefits, you get all that good stuff. And I've always wanted to do something bigger. I've always wanted to do something more, but it's just like kind of what you mentioned, just taking that leap, right? You get something good going. How do you make that jump to the other side? And I, Yeah. Yeah. I actually got connected with Matt and Luigi while I was in the corporate world, and just really wanted to branch off and go all in on this, but it definitely took some time to make that leap, and then like you said, once you make that leap, you just kind of figure it out. There is a lot more that goes into it than when you're working that W2 job, and you can just Kind of get it done. But like you said, you got to really shift everything. You got to get those get the workouts in, focus on your health, get up a little earlier and really just kind of program the whole day. Cause it's you're running a business, you're not just doing deals. Yeah, it's exciting stuff. It is. And it is scary, especially if you got a family. You know, I've got I've been married by we're going on 15 years this summer. And then I've got 2 kids and 11 year old daughter and a 6 year old little boy. And you know, keeping that in the back and reminded you're kind of going out and doing stuff, especially on the days where you just really don't want to wake up and do anything. It's like, all right, like, You know, I went through a stretch in October where I did some transitioning and re shifting of the business. Didn't bring any income in in October, had really not that, a ton of income in November or December either. But, I think at the end of the day, if your internal drive for what you're doing, whether anybody else understands it or knows it, or believes in you or not is strong enough, you're going to find a way to get through really any change in any difficult situation. Just because you know that your dream is bigger than, the suffering you're going through at that moment. So sometimes it is just taking that leap of faith and believing in yourself. Absolutely. it's a powerful thing, right? When you have that dream, that vision, that why, however you look at it. Like you talked about the wife and the kids, it makes it a lot easier to get up and do the work on those days that you don't want to. So I 100 percent agree with that. I know we run in some of the same groups, right? We we try to get our brand out there as much as we can and just provide as much value to business owners and businesses out there, anything that you can kind of dedicate. A lot of that success you've had to where the 10 months in business kind of growing it to where you have. That's gotten you there. Yeah. It's really been a couple of things. I guess 1 of them is I've really focused on since about August. Putting together guides that are easy to follow and have clickable links to things that people can just get started on this process on their own and get a better understanding of it because not everybody is ready to have that conversation or to pay for a service, right? But sometimes people just need to get exposure to the world that you're in. And have just kind of some guided help and start to get an understanding for it and then let them come back into the fold again as they get more prepared for it. So like really just a lot of free value, a lot of free tips tying a little bit of the business credit back to like the lending world, right? Because I know there's some business credit gurus out there that will tell you that once you get business credit, personal guarantees come off of everything and that's not true, right? It's, it's really what it is, is understanding where To use and leverage business credit to protect your personal guarantee stuff, your personal credit, so that when you have the bigger opportunities and projects that come up, you have that credit freed up to be able to use and jump on those things because it's all about speed to market and business, right? The faster you can do something, the faster you're able to move and maneuver, the better off you're going to be. And if you don't have good. Business credit, good financials and good personal credit. You're going to be really slow to do anything. So, that's really where my focus and teaching has come from is like tying it together to like real world. Don't present, you know, pie in the sky type stuff. And then the other piece is just being consistent and being myself, whether you see me in person or you see me online, I'm the same guy. I collaborating with people, right? Like I love to, I'm definitely that guy that. I don't believe that I have any competitors. I believe I have a bunch of people that I should collaborate with. Right. And we should work together to make things easier and better for people. And that's really what's propelled me. I think the most. that's huge. I'm completely with you there it's a big thing when you get a large network and you can actually partner up with those people and benefit each other instead of just looking at it as competition. You know, obviously we all have competitors, but when we can really meet up with people that do something similar to us or Get that collaboration going. It's a game changer for everyone. what you've been able to do with free value and free tips providing your services to these businesses. Can let's go over a little I guess like a little summary of business credit, what you're looking for when you, when you're starting with a business, kind of regardless of where they are and then really getting them to that point where like we talked about, they are financeable, they're ready to go out and make that big leap. Yeah you know, usually when I start talking to a business, I really want to understand where they're at, right? Like, what are, you know, one of the first questions I have after we kind of get a little bit of a get to know me conversation is like, what are your most immediate pressing needs? Right? Because we all know if you've worked with business owners long enough that if you don't address In some way that most burning desire that they have that like that thing that's burning a hole and they're, they can't sleep, they can't think until this one thing is solved, then you're not going to have a conversation about anything with them until you solve that. So I always start there, like, where are we at? Like, do you have immediate needs that we need to address? My network is probably big enough, whether you need a CPA, you need a lawyer, you need a tax strategist, you need a whatever that is, right? We can find somebody to address these immediate needs if you have them, but then also like what are your long term goals, right? Because sometimes people are really in a group and they've got everything going. Their business is clicking along and they're in a good spot. It's just maybe one or two tweaks, right? Like looking at their bank statements and going, okay, actually, we need to get a little bit more money into your bank account buried here. So that you look a little bit more stable in the financer's eyes and then let's look at your credit stuff Like how's your personal credit? Hey, by the way, I've got a guy Kevin Faulkner That's really great at helping with personal credit. Let's get you set up over there By the way, you just told me that you've got a fleet that you want to purchase here in the next six months Let's start building business credit right now. So when you go in and apply for that, it's going to be the easiest application and process that you've ever experienced in your entire life. Why? Because you've never had business credit before, so you don't even know what it's like when you have it. And it's an entirely different experience, an entirely different world. Let's get you off of those credit cards that your employees are running around with that are still tied to your personal guarantee. We've got to get you to at least 10 trade lines, right? And then, you know, just kind of explaining like this process to them and how it's different. You know, business credit is intentional. It likes to be used and it likes to be paid off. It's not like personal credit, where if you use it and pay it off, they still penalize you because They don't like to be used that much. Right? And it just is a, it's a little bit different of a world. It's a repetitive world. It's a redundant world. It's a really simple world. Once you know how to do it till you know how to do it, though, it's an extremely difficult and it's one of those like unknowns, right? It's, it's one of those things where, Like, for me, it was kind of with math, right Algebra 2 and stuff, until somebody was able to explain it in a way that was tangible, that I could place it in real world. It was just kind of like this, like, mythical, like, thing where I, like, this is the dumbest thing in the world, I don't know why I need this. Business credit is really kind of the same way until you can really grab it and make it tangible for somebody. It's kind of one of those things that like is like this like, oh, I know people have talked about it But I don't really know what it is. So it's really understanding their entire process and situation and then Making it a simple step into like here's what business credit is Here's the tangibleness of it and here's how you apply it to yourself and your business And how we build this into a actual Piece of your financial puzzle that will make your company that much stronger and get you closer to being able to, you know, grow easier. If you want to exit in the next like five to 10 years, like this is going to make your exit a lot easier and cleaner. And it's going to make your relationship with a lot of lenders and suppliers and stuff much simpler. So that's kind of the step that I take in the process. I walk people through with it. I love it. Yeah, that's great, I'm glad where you took that to because a lot of people aren't even thinking about business credit. And then when you take it all the way to the end with exiting the business and how much of a benefit that can be having that built up, there's just so many benefits that go into it. So I'm glad you walked them through that whole journey and what it can do for a business. Anything else that I didn't cover or that you wanted to leave the listeners with? the biggest takeaway I've gotten is whether you think, you know, something or don't know something, the sooner you take action and start asking questions, the better off you're going to be, especially if it's in regards to your financials, whether that's your personal credit, whether that's your cashflow, P& L business credit, it doesn't, you know, anything in that realm is the best that you can do is if you just don't feel confident about it is reach out and ask somebody. Because. I would say probably over half of the businesses that exist out there, probably more than that are going through the same thing, right? Like entrepreneurs tend to suffer in silence and that don't. Just be vocal and ask questions and somebody will help you. Absolutely. There's plenty of people out there to help. I know you and I obviously have plenty of connections that can help and all over the country, there's people that can help. So like you said, just, just reach out and take your business to the next level. Well, Paul, I appreciate you jumping on. That's going to be a wrap on this episode of small business, big moves. If you enjoyed this episode, what we ask is that you share this with people that could get value out of it. And in the meantime, you can find me all over social media at Thomas Bennett, and we look forward to seeing you all on the next episode.