It has been a banner week for our collective entrepreneurial support team of Club E, the College of Entrepreneurship and the eFactory. In December's issue of ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE, (out today), Club E, the eFactory and the College of Entrepreneurship were featured in great articles, which you can read from the links below. It isn't often that a company or group of related enterprises are featured in two articles in the same issue of ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE and we are thrilled!
http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2008/december/198676.html
http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2008/december/198694.html
In other great news, the eFactory was picked by Microsoft to be their Network Partner in the launch of their new BizSpark Program. As part of our agreement, the eFactory is tasked to distribute Microsoft's "latest and greatest" bundled software package, plus 3 years of tech support to our select Club E and eFactory members...for FREE! The software package and tech support is valued at over $10,000 and will be a real boon to startups within the ranks of our membership. Check out the press release below that just went out...
eFactory and Microsoft Partner Up with the BizSpark Program
eFactory, LLC, the entrepreneur business development network, started by local Phoenix-based serial entrepreneur, Peter J. Burns, III announced today that the company had signed on as a Network Partner for the Microsoft BizSpark Program.
BizSpark is an innovative new program that unites startups with global entrepreneurial and technology resources in one community, with a common goal of supporting and accelerating the success of a new generation of high-potential Startups.
As a designated Network Partner, (there are only five in the State of Arizona), eFactory, LLC has the privilege of awarding a state-of-the-art Microsoft software package of development tools, platform technologies and production licenses and three years of tech support, with a market value of well over $10,000, FREE to select members from within its Club E Network community of over 7,000 entrepreneurs from across the country.
Dan Willis, Microsoft’s Platform Strategy Advisor for the State of Arizona, selected eFactory, LLC as one of its valued Network Partners for the BizSpark Program because of the company’s significant footprint in the Arizona entrepreneurial community and dedication to its thousands of small business members.
Mr. Willis states “Microsoft is delighted to partner with the eFactory and its innovative and energetic core team to bring additional tangible value to its Club E Network membership, through the offering of the BizSpark Program. Furthermore, Microsoft has agreed to sponsor a bi-weekly series of seminars at the eFactory and Club E headquarters where qualified speakers will share their knowledge on how to leverage technology for the benefit of entrepreneurship.”
Mr. Burns offered that his organization would soon be establishing the “eFactory Technology Group,” headed by software development expert and Club E member, Sarit Kommineni of SLK Holdings, LLC. The “eFactory Technology Group,” comprised of Club E Network software development companies, will receive the BizSpark software package, courtesy of the eFactory in exchange for interfacing with the software development needs and applications for other Club E Network member companies. “This is a winning combination for all parties involved,” Burns said.
Mr. Willis of Microsoft has also become the latest tenant in eFactory’s prototype office and Club E headquarters at 2625 East Rose Garden Lane in Phoenix. Additional eFactory locations in Gilbert, Chandler, Scottsdale and Goodyear are in the planning stages and are expected to be rolled out within the next twelve months. Each eFactory location is expected to offer the Microsoft BizSpark Program to select Club E Network members and the ongoing Microsoft-sponsored seminar series.
Microsoft BizSpark eFactory Club E Network
http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark www.clubefactory.com www.clubenetwork.com
Finally, to top off a banner series of great things happening, despite the calamity of the credit and equity markets...our brand new "VetMatch" Program that aligns eligible veterans with significant "Patriot Express Loan" dollars for start-up businesses has been launched. There is around $1B in financing available at very low interest (6% or so) on a 10 year amortization, with no collateral required. Our 7,000Club E members can access this start-up and expansion capital through carefully matched eligible veterans who will use their access to much needed capital and their skills sets to join forces with select entrepreneurs from within our ranks. Learn much more on the link below and get in touch.
http://www.clubefactory.com/
Life is too short to worry about things that are out of our hands. What we all can do something about, is to adjust our attitudes and move forward. Club E and the eFactory welcome one and all to join our ranks and move America forward together!
Best regards,
Peter
Peter J. Burns, III
Founder
Club Entrepreneur www.clubenetwork.com
Institute for Entrepreneurship www.instituteforentrepreneurship.com
eFactory www.clubefactory.com
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
No one is going to help entrepreneurs, except other entrepreneurs...
Vetpreneur Matching Program
By combining the extraordinary opportunity of making small business financing funds available to military veterans through the SBA’s Patriot Express Loan and then pairing up these veterans with entrepreneurs in need of capital, Club E and the eFactory can spearhead the effort to put America back on its feet.
The exact process by which this “Matching Program” can be actuated is detailed below in a recent blog I put out to fellow veterans. I just received word that fellow entrepreneur, Club E member and Marine veteran, Brooke Johnsen (http://www.linkedin.com/in/sonowealth) has agreed to become the Vetpreneur Matching Program’s first participant. I refer to Brooke as our “Poster Child” for this program because her enthusiasm and passion for entrepreneurship and helping others are the ingredients that we need to make this powerful program succeed in jump starting our beleaguered economy.
Brooke has agreed to use her status as a veteran to obtain a Patriot Express Loan, courtesy of the efforts of a consummate professional in this field who has obtained thousands of small business loans in the past several years and currently processes hundreds of Patriot Express Loans for veterans each month.
Brooke’s loan will stake one of the Phoenix-based Factory Club E member businesses that will be housed in our prototype eFactory facility at 2625 E. Rose Garden, Phoenix, Arizona. This start-up business will be mentored and supported by the staff and fellow entrepreneurs hosted in the eFactory facility, giving this company a far greater chance of success in the challenging entrepreneurial world. Brooke will contribute her field of expertise, namely sales and marketing, to this endeavor.
In exchange for providing the acces to the needed start-up capital for the selected enterprise, Brooke will receive a majority (51%) equity of this business, while her eligibility and loan is outstanding. With very attractive repayment terms (Principal and Interest) of only $64/mo per $5,000 in loan proceeds, our Vetpreneur Matching Program calls for the escrow of between 6 months and 12 months of the loan’s repayment. Additional proceeds will be used to subsidize the workstation office of the new company in the eFactory facility (www.clubefactory.com). The remaining funds will be used for operating capital, development of the initial web site and for other start-up costs.
Upon repayment of Brooke’s Patriot Express Loan in full, a previously negotiated re-purchase of stock agreement option between the entrepreneur and Brooke may be executed, giving control of the company back to the entrepreneur, if the option is exercised, leaving Brooke with a minority position for her help in getting this business off the ground, both financially as well as through her sales and marketing skill set.. Brooke could then use her Patriot Express Loan eligibility again in another select start-up enterprise through Club E and the eFactory and gain an additional equity in another start-up company, hopefully establishing a nice nest egg of cash flow and equities in a couple of successful start-ups for her contribution of access to start-up capital and her sales and marketing skills.
Small businesses that in this economy have little chance of getting started because of the current melt down in the credit market can now do so because of the Patriot Express Loan and its veteran supporters like Brooke Johnsen. Through the support of fellow Club E members (www.clubenetwork.com) and the mentoring, services and state-of-the-art physical facility of the eFactory (www.clubefactory.com) made available to the start-up through the Vetrpreneur Matching Program, we are confident that through these efforts, we can re-ignite the entrepreneurial spirit of America from the grass roots level.
Additionally, our participating veterans will have the opportunity to either start and nurture their own enterprises through the Patriot Express Loan or support select entrepreneurial ventures by helping them to get started, utilizing their eligibility, collecting cash flows and equities for their own future financial well-being in the process.
Fellow Veterans, let's help save America!
Posted by Peter Burns in Untagged
Club Entrepreneur, College of Entrepreneurship and eFactory
We are the only complete vertical integration of entrepreneurial camaraderie (www.clubenetwork.com), education (www.instituteforentrepreneurship.com) and supporting resource (www.clubefactory.com) for entrepreneurs on the planet.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Fellow Veterans, let's help save America!
I need your help on an important effort to help veterans and entrepreneurs, alike. In the past two weeks, I've help place 15 Patriot Express Loans for Club E members, who are veteran business owners. The loan processor has processed over 22,000 small business loans and on the lower level ($5k to $25k), she can turn around the funding to the borrower in as little as 5 days from the application.
In these days of economic chaos, our national small business community has been devastated by the meltdown in the banking industry. The one glimmer of hope for small business lending is the nearly $1 Billion in allocated Federal funds for the Patriot Express Loan. I have recently created a "Veteran/Entrepreneur Pairing Program," which utilizes a veteran's loan eligibility with a worthy entrepreneur's financial needs.
The veteran takes out a Patriot Express Loan on behalf of the selected entrepreneur's business needs in exchange for being a 51% (majority) owner in that enterprise, while the loan is outstanding. From the proceeds, we will escrow payments for 6 months to a year and install the selected entrepreneur's business into the eFactory, as a support and collaborative effort, giving this business the highest chance for success. The veteran contributes their respective skill set to the enterprise in a true effort to makke the business succeed.
At the time the entrepreneur's business has prospered to the point that the veteran's Patriot Express Loan has been repaid, by prior option agreement, the entrepreneur receives majority control back of his enterprise and the veteran stays in for a smaller equity that he retains, for having been the original funder of the entrepreneur's business. The veteran is now free to use his eligibility for another Patriot Express Loan and can repeat this scenario over and over again, gaining equities in thriving entrepreneurial ventures and helping to jump start our beleaguered economy from within.
Club E and the eFactory will select entrepreneur candidates for this program and oversee the entire process and support these selected businesses to profitability and success. I am asking for your consideration to help me launch this program by volunteering to use your Patriot Express Loan eligibility to prove out this powerful model for helping to return America to its rightful place as the economic leader of the free world and the home of entrepreneurship.
Will you help me?
Best regards,
Peter
http://www.clubefactory.com/html/vetpreneur.html
http://peterjburns.blogspot.com/2008/11/something-very-important-happened-at.html
Peter J. Burns, III
FounderClub Entrepreneur www.clubenetwork.com
Institute for Entrepreneurship www.instituteforentrepreneurship.com
eFactory www.clubefactory.com
Example of Club E Member Obtaining Patriot Express Loan
Nov 15
2008 SBA has $900M to lend Veteran-owned New and Expanding Businesses with the Patriot Express Loan: They
Posted by Roseann Higgins in Untagged
Steps to apply for the SBA Patriot Express Loan:
Personal story by an entrepreneur whose business was funded.
Prepared by Roseann Higgins for the company, SPIES
US Navy Veteran, (LT & prior to DIRCOM, Chief Petty Officer)
1st Club E Member Patriot Express Loan Recipientlater.
Before I learned all of the details about the Patriot Express Loan Initiative (PELI), Peter Burns, serial entrepreneur and Founder of Club E (Entrepreneur) introduced me to one of the sharpest veteran supporters, Sue Malone, of "Strategies for Small Business," a participating lender for the PELI.
Peter dialed the number and handed his phone to me! I left a message, because it was after 5 pm. By mid-morning the next day, I had talked with Clifford and then Sue Malone. Sue LOVES Veterans and aggressively supports small business legislation. Her goal is to make 5,000 PELI loans.
Your first step may be a phone call to their office to ask questions I had. Well, the questions YOU have.
I had applied for a loan two weeks beforehand, with USAA. I missed qualifying for a $25K Line of Credit by 5 points on my credit score. They informed me if I had applied six months ago, I would have qualified. They said I could reapply in 60 days, after I raised my score.
But I am ready to take SPIES to the next level NOW. When you and your business are ready, you know it with every fiber.
When I started SPIES, I researched four months, full time, until I became an expert on the dating industry and found what the introduction service industry was missing. I combined three professions: matchmaker, headhunter and agent and created romance headhunting(SM) to provide private, personal introductions for the especially selective.
On June 21st, 1994, with the help of the Small Business Development Center (look them up for your area!), focus groups and due diligence and men who just said, "Roseann, enough research. You're meeting women at all these events you go to that we want to meet. We'll pay you!"
I've attended over 6,000 events, looking for people my clients want to date. I have a 95% success rate, over 40=2 0people have fallen in love with the first person I've found for them! This loan will help prepare SPIES for the next level. There are new services SPIES' clientele are going to love! I am expanding matchmaking to include what I've been doing for free during the last 14 years - professional matchmaking for businesses, a new Entrepreneurs' Forum (1st one was held AT eFactory-thank you eFactory!), and a re-launch of a newly designed and newly named (to be revealed) Women's Power Lunch-which has expansion plans to 25 cities. This is all in early stages. Keep checking the http://www.especiallyselective.com/ and http://www.roseannhiggins.com/ Websites and right here at Club E's blog!
While USAA's LOC interest rate would have been 4.79, the PELI is about 9% total, with Wall Street Journal Prime added in. If I would have borrowed more, the interest rate would have gone down.
But that's much better than 20% on a credit card!
I never applied for an SBA loan. I started SPIES in 1994 and it's kept its head above water.
But, like I said, it's time to rock! You've got to compete.
I always thought SBA would ask for way more paperwork and information than I could easily provide. They did not ask for a Profit & Loss Statement or an Income Statement. They also did not ask for tax returns.
The SBA Patriot Express Loan Initiative is a special program to HELP Veterans qualify to start and grow small businesses.
I can't guarantee you'll qualify. I'm sure they look at your credit and your ability to repay. Having a rental property seemed not to help that much. They cared about my stated income, both average monthly and annual. Your business has to be at least 51% Veteran Owned. You have to state that on your application and who your partners are, if you have them. I'm a sole proprietor and 100% Veteran owned, so it was simple.
I received the application by email the on a Tuesday, right after I talked with Clifford.
I UPS overnighted it, to expedite processing. You can fax it and then mail in the signed loan docs, too, to save the $28 I spent. But it felt good to apply and get it out and see what happens.
The reason this is called Express is SBA processes these loans FAST. As do the participating lenders. I understand the first loan under this program, when Congress appropriated the funds for Veteran loans in June 2007, it took 10 minutes to be approved! I don't think they got the money that moment, but who knows?
My PELI application was preapproved the day after I applied.
When they got my loan docs the next day, I received final approval!
And they meant it!
I blew it, though, and the loan was delayed because I didn't20see all of the attachments they sent. You do need a business checking account. I've been in business since June 21, 1994, so I voided a check. You can register a tradename and take it to your bank and open a business checking account in one day as a dba (Tom Smith dba "Best New Business Name I can Think Of that Applies to my New Business"), Sole Proprietorship, even if you want to incorporate later.
They need a DD-214. That took some digging. It can be a photocopy. And a photocopy of your driver's license. And all their forms, signed everywhere they tell you to sign. They need original signatures. I made copies of everything. Even if you are preapproved, your lender, in this case, Superior Financial Group, cannot get a loan number from the SBA, until they receive your original signature loan docs.
Feel free to give Sue and Cliff a call: (925) 899-8449.
Email info@Strategiesforsmallbusiness.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tell them Roseann told you about them! Not that they will do anything differently.
And while you're waiting, you may want to peruse this information from the SBA's Website. You may want to do as I did, and visit the SBA office. I went in after I applied for the loan. They were so helpful. They WANT to provide every small business person with resources to grow. That's what they are paid to do. And they are small business evangelists. I can't thank the Arizona SBA Office staff enough! I worked with Jim Pipper, Robert Blaney, Cathleen Lease, Jerry Dukaskis and their incredible office secretary, Danine (it's pronounced Dan'-i-nay).
I send you wishes for great entrepreneurial success. I hope my story helped you. Please pass this along to all of the Veteran current and future entrepreneurs you know. I'm told the $900 Million sitting and waiting for Veterans (I didn't confirm that with the SBA office in Washington, but I was told that was the amount still available) may not last forever. With Presidential elections, programs can always change with a new Administration.
PATRIOT EXPRESS LOAN INITIATIVE
The new Patriot Express loan is offered by SBA's network of participating lenders nationwide and features our fastest turnaround time for loan approvals. Loans are available up to $500,000 and qualify for SBA's maximum guaranty of up to 85 percent for loans of $150,000 or less and up to 75 percent for loans over $150,000 up to $500,000. For loans above $350,000, lenders are required to take all available collateral.
The Patriot Express loan can be used for most business purposes, including start-up, expansion, equipment purchases, working capital, inventory or business-occupied real-estate purchases.
Patriot Express loans feature SBA's lowest interest rates for business loans, generally 2.25 percent to 4.75 percent over prime depending upon the size and maturity of the loan.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced the SBA's Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative for veterans and members of the military community wanting to establish or expand small businesses.
Eligible military community members include:
* Veterans
* Service-disabled veterans
* Active-duty service members eligible for the military's Transition Assistance Program
* Reservists and National Guard members
* Current spouses of any of the above
* The widowed spouse of a service member or veteran who died during service or of a service-connected disability
SBA has Veterans' business development officers in district offices in every state and territory able to provide military community members fu ll access to the SBA's range of programs and services.
SBA's Veteran's representative in Arizona is Jim Pipper who can be reached at 602-745-7200 or by email at james.pipper@sba.gov. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Tell him Roseann Higgins sent you. He is happy to help any Veteran.
I'd love to hear from you if you get funded as a result of someone sending you this email. Send me a photo of you ( Roseann@especiallyselective.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and something you bought to grow your company with the money the PELI affords you. And don't get into debt if you don't have to.
Peter J. Burns, III
Founder
Club Entrepreneur www.clubenetwork.com
Institute for Entrepreneurship www.instituteforentrepreneurship.com
eFactory www.clubefactory.com
602 725 1584
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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By combining the extraordinary opportunity of making small business financing funds available to military veterans through the SBA’s Patriot Express Loan and then pairing up these veterans with entrepreneurs in need of capital, Club E and the eFactory can spearhead the effort to put America back on its feet.
The exact process by which this “Matching Program” can be actuated is detailed below in a recent blog I put out to fellow veterans. I just received word that fellow entrepreneur, Club E member and Marine veteran, Brooke Johnsen (http://www.linkedin.com/in/sonowealth) has agreed to become the Vetpreneur Matching Program’s first participant. I refer to Brooke as our “Poster Child” for this program because her enthusiasm and passion for entrepreneurship and helping others are the ingredients that we need to make this powerful program succeed in jump starting our beleaguered economy.
Brooke has agreed to use her status as a veteran to obtain a Patriot Express Loan, courtesy of the efforts of a consummate professional in this field who has obtained thousands of small business loans in the past several years and currently processes hundreds of Patriot Express Loans for veterans each month.
Brooke’s loan will stake one of the Phoenix-based Factory Club E member businesses that will be housed in our prototype eFactory facility at 2625 E. Rose Garden, Phoenix, Arizona. This start-up business will be mentored and supported by the staff and fellow entrepreneurs hosted in the eFactory facility, giving this company a far greater chance of success in the challenging entrepreneurial world. Brooke will contribute her field of expertise, namely sales and marketing, to this endeavor.
In exchange for providing the acces to the needed start-up capital for the selected enterprise, Brooke will receive a majority (51%) equity of this business, while her eligibility and loan is outstanding. With very attractive repayment terms (Principal and Interest) of only $64/mo per $5,000 in loan proceeds, our Vetpreneur Matching Program calls for the escrow of between 6 months and 12 months of the loan’s repayment. Additional proceeds will be used to subsidize the workstation office of the new company in the eFactory facility (www.clubefactory.com). The remaining funds will be used for operating capital, development of the initial web site and for other start-up costs.
Upon repayment of Brooke’s Patriot Express Loan in full, a previously negotiated re-purchase of stock agreement option between the entrepreneur and Brooke may be executed, giving control of the company back to the entrepreneur, if the option is exercised, leaving Brooke with a minority position for her help in getting this business off the ground, both financially as well as through her sales and marketing skill set.. Brooke could then use her Patriot Express Loan eligibility again in another select start-up enterprise through Club E and the eFactory and gain an additional equity in another start-up company, hopefully establishing a nice nest egg of cash flow and equities in a couple of successful start-ups for her contribution of access to start-up capital and her sales and marketing skills.
Small businesses that in this economy have little chance of getting started because of the current melt down in the credit market can now do so because of the Patriot Express Loan and its veteran supporters like Brooke Johnsen. Through the support of fellow Club E members (www.clubenetwork.com) and the mentoring, services and state-of-the-art physical facility of the eFactory (www.clubefactory.com) made available to the start-up through the Vetrpreneur Matching Program, we are confident that through these efforts, we can re-ignite the entrepreneurial spirit of America from the grass roots level.
Additionally, our participating veterans will have the opportunity to either start and nurture their own enterprises through the Patriot Express Loan or support select entrepreneurial ventures by helping them to get started, utilizing their eligibility, collecting cash flows and equities for their own future financial well-being in the process.
Fellow Veterans, let's help save America!
Posted by Peter Burns in Untagged
Club Entrepreneur, College of Entrepreneurship and eFactory
We are the only complete vertical integration of entrepreneurial camaraderie (www.clubenetwork.com), education (www.instituteforentrepreneurship.com) and supporting resource (www.clubefactory.com) for entrepreneurs on the planet.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Fellow Veterans, let's help save America!
I need your help on an important effort to help veterans and entrepreneurs, alike. In the past two weeks, I've help place 15 Patriot Express Loans for Club E members, who are veteran business owners. The loan processor has processed over 22,000 small business loans and on the lower level ($5k to $25k), she can turn around the funding to the borrower in as little as 5 days from the application.
In these days of economic chaos, our national small business community has been devastated by the meltdown in the banking industry. The one glimmer of hope for small business lending is the nearly $1 Billion in allocated Federal funds for the Patriot Express Loan. I have recently created a "Veteran/Entrepreneur Pairing Program," which utilizes a veteran's loan eligibility with a worthy entrepreneur's financial needs.
The veteran takes out a Patriot Express Loan on behalf of the selected entrepreneur's business needs in exchange for being a 51% (majority) owner in that enterprise, while the loan is outstanding. From the proceeds, we will escrow payments for 6 months to a year and install the selected entrepreneur's business into the eFactory, as a support and collaborative effort, giving this business the highest chance for success. The veteran contributes their respective skill set to the enterprise in a true effort to makke the business succeed.
At the time the entrepreneur's business has prospered to the point that the veteran's Patriot Express Loan has been repaid, by prior option agreement, the entrepreneur receives majority control back of his enterprise and the veteran stays in for a smaller equity that he retains, for having been the original funder of the entrepreneur's business. The veteran is now free to use his eligibility for another Patriot Express Loan and can repeat this scenario over and over again, gaining equities in thriving entrepreneurial ventures and helping to jump start our beleaguered economy from within.
Club E and the eFactory will select entrepreneur candidates for this program and oversee the entire process and support these selected businesses to profitability and success. I am asking for your consideration to help me launch this program by volunteering to use your Patriot Express Loan eligibility to prove out this powerful model for helping to return America to its rightful place as the economic leader of the free world and the home of entrepreneurship.
Will you help me?
Best regards,
Peter
http://www.clubefactory.com/html/vetpreneur.html
http://peterjburns.blogspot.com/2008/11/something-very-important-happened-at.html
Peter J. Burns, III
FounderClub Entrepreneur www.clubenetwork.com
Institute for Entrepreneurship www.instituteforentrepreneurship.com
eFactory www.clubefactory.com
Example of Club E Member Obtaining Patriot Express Loan
Nov 15
2008 SBA has $900M to lend Veteran-owned New and Expanding Businesses with the Patriot Express Loan: They
Posted by Roseann Higgins in Untagged
Steps to apply for the SBA Patriot Express Loan:
Personal story by an entrepreneur whose business was funded.
Prepared by Roseann Higgins for the company, SPIES
US Navy Veteran, (LT & prior to DIRCOM, Chief Petty Officer)
1st Club E Member Patriot Express Loan Recipientlater.
Before I learned all of the details about the Patriot Express Loan Initiative (PELI), Peter Burns, serial entrepreneur and Founder of Club E (Entrepreneur) introduced me to one of the sharpest veteran supporters, Sue Malone, of "Strategies for Small Business," a participating lender for the PELI.
Peter dialed the number and handed his phone to me! I left a message, because it was after 5 pm. By mid-morning the next day, I had talked with Clifford and then Sue Malone. Sue LOVES Veterans and aggressively supports small business legislation. Her goal is to make 5,000 PELI loans.
Your first step may be a phone call to their office to ask questions I had. Well, the questions YOU have.
I had applied for a loan two weeks beforehand, with USAA. I missed qualifying for a $25K Line of Credit by 5 points on my credit score. They informed me if I had applied six months ago, I would have qualified. They said I could reapply in 60 days, after I raised my score.
But I am ready to take SPIES to the next level NOW. When you and your business are ready, you know it with every fiber.
When I started SPIES, I researched four months, full time, until I became an expert on the dating industry and found what the introduction service industry was missing. I combined three professions: matchmaker, headhunter and agent and created romance headhunting(SM) to provide private, personal introductions for the especially selective.
On June 21st, 1994, with the help of the Small Business Development Center (look them up for your area!), focus groups and due diligence and men who just said, "Roseann, enough research. You're meeting women at all these events you go to that we want to meet. We'll pay you!"
I've attended over 6,000 events, looking for people my clients want to date. I have a 95% success rate, over 40=2 0people have fallen in love with the first person I've found for them! This loan will help prepare SPIES for the next level. There are new services SPIES' clientele are going to love! I am expanding matchmaking to include what I've been doing for free during the last 14 years - professional matchmaking for businesses, a new Entrepreneurs' Forum (1st one was held AT eFactory-thank you eFactory!), and a re-launch of a newly designed and newly named (to be revealed) Women's Power Lunch-which has expansion plans to 25 cities. This is all in early stages. Keep checking the http://www.especiallyselective.com/ and http://www.roseannhiggins.com/ Websites and right here at Club E's blog!
While USAA's LOC interest rate would have been 4.79, the PELI is about 9% total, with Wall Street Journal Prime added in. If I would have borrowed more, the interest rate would have gone down.
But that's much better than 20% on a credit card!
I never applied for an SBA loan. I started SPIES in 1994 and it's kept its head above water.
But, like I said, it's time to rock! You've got to compete.
I always thought SBA would ask for way more paperwork and information than I could easily provide. They did not ask for a Profit & Loss Statement or an Income Statement. They also did not ask for tax returns.
The SBA Patriot Express Loan Initiative is a special program to HELP Veterans qualify to start and grow small businesses.
I can't guarantee you'll qualify. I'm sure they look at your credit and your ability to repay. Having a rental property seemed not to help that much. They cared about my stated income, both average monthly and annual. Your business has to be at least 51% Veteran Owned. You have to state that on your application and who your partners are, if you have them. I'm a sole proprietor and 100% Veteran owned, so it was simple.
I received the application by email the on a Tuesday, right after I talked with Clifford.
I UPS overnighted it, to expedite processing. You can fax it and then mail in the signed loan docs, too, to save the $28 I spent. But it felt good to apply and get it out and see what happens.
The reason this is called Express is SBA processes these loans FAST. As do the participating lenders. I understand the first loan under this program, when Congress appropriated the funds for Veteran loans in June 2007, it took 10 minutes to be approved! I don't think they got the money that moment, but who knows?
My PELI application was preapproved the day after I applied.
When they got my loan docs the next day, I received final approval!
And they meant it!
I blew it, though, and the loan was delayed because I didn't20see all of the attachments they sent. You do need a business checking account. I've been in business since June 21, 1994, so I voided a check. You can register a tradename and take it to your bank and open a business checking account in one day as a dba (Tom Smith dba "Best New Business Name I can Think Of that Applies to my New Business"), Sole Proprietorship, even if you want to incorporate later.
They need a DD-214. That took some digging. It can be a photocopy. And a photocopy of your driver's license. And all their forms, signed everywhere they tell you to sign. They need original signatures. I made copies of everything. Even if you are preapproved, your lender, in this case, Superior Financial Group, cannot get a loan number from the SBA, until they receive your original signature loan docs.
Feel free to give Sue and Cliff a call: (925) 899-8449.
Email info@Strategiesforsmallbusiness.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tell them Roseann told you about them! Not that they will do anything differently.
And while you're waiting, you may want to peruse this information from the SBA's Website. You may want to do as I did, and visit the SBA office. I went in after I applied for the loan. They were so helpful. They WANT to provide every small business person with resources to grow. That's what they are paid to do. And they are small business evangelists. I can't thank the Arizona SBA Office staff enough! I worked with Jim Pipper, Robert Blaney, Cathleen Lease, Jerry Dukaskis and their incredible office secretary, Danine (it's pronounced Dan'-i-nay).
I send you wishes for great entrepreneurial success. I hope my story helped you. Please pass this along to all of the Veteran current and future entrepreneurs you know. I'm told the $900 Million sitting and waiting for Veterans (I didn't confirm that with the SBA office in Washington, but I was told that was the amount still available) may not last forever. With Presidential elections, programs can always change with a new Administration.
PATRIOT EXPRESS LOAN INITIATIVE
The new Patriot Express loan is offered by SBA's network of participating lenders nationwide and features our fastest turnaround time for loan approvals. Loans are available up to $500,000 and qualify for SBA's maximum guaranty of up to 85 percent for loans of $150,000 or less and up to 75 percent for loans over $150,000 up to $500,000. For loans above $350,000, lenders are required to take all available collateral.
The Patriot Express loan can be used for most business purposes, including start-up, expansion, equipment purchases, working capital, inventory or business-occupied real-estate purchases.
Patriot Express loans feature SBA's lowest interest rates for business loans, generally 2.25 percent to 4.75 percent over prime depending upon the size and maturity of the loan.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced the SBA's Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative for veterans and members of the military community wanting to establish or expand small businesses.
Eligible military community members include:
* Veterans
* Service-disabled veterans
* Active-duty service members eligible for the military's Transition Assistance Program
* Reservists and National Guard members
* Current spouses of any of the above
* The widowed spouse of a service member or veteran who died during service or of a service-connected disability
SBA has Veterans' business development officers in district offices in every state and territory able to provide military community members fu ll access to the SBA's range of programs and services.
SBA's Veteran's representative in Arizona is Jim Pipper who can be reached at 602-745-7200 or by email at james.pipper@sba.gov. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Tell him Roseann Higgins sent you. He is happy to help any Veteran.
I'd love to hear from you if you get funded as a result of someone sending you this email. Send me a photo of you ( Roseann@especiallyselective.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and something you bought to grow your company with the money the PELI affords you. And don't get into debt if you don't have to.
Peter J. Burns, III
Founder
Club Entrepreneur www.clubenetwork.com
Institute for Entrepreneurship www.instituteforentrepreneurship.com
eFactory www.clubefactory.com
602 725 1584
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Fellow Veterans, let's help save America!
I need your help on an important effort to help veterans and entrepreneurs, alike. In the past two weeks, I've help place 15 Patriot Express Loans for Club E members, who are veteran business owners. The loan processor, Sue Malone of the Bay area, has processed over 22,000 such loans and on the lower level ($5k to $25k), she can turn around the funding to the borrower in as little as 5 days from the application.
In these days of economic chaos, our national small business community has been devastated by the meltdown in the banking industry. The one glimmer of hope for small business lending is the nearly $1 Billion in allocated Federal funds for the Patriot Express Loan. I have recently created a "Veteran/Entrepreneur Pairing Program," which utilizes a veteran's loan eligibility with a worthy entrepreneur's financial needs.
The veteran takes out a Patriot Express Loan on behalf of the selected entrepreneur's business needs in exchange for being a 51% (majority) owner in that enterprise, while the loan is outstanding. From the proceeds, we will escrow payments for 6 months to a year and install the selected entrepreneur's business into the eFactory, as a support and collaborative effort, giving this business the highest chance for success.
At the time the entrepreneur's business has prospered to the point that the veteran's Patriot Express Loan has been repaid, by prior agreement,the entrepreneur receives majority control back of his enterprise and the veteran stays in for a smaller equity that he retains, for having been the original funder of the entrepreneur's business. The veteran is now free to use his eligibility for another Patriot Express Loan and can repeat this scenario over and over again, gaining equities in thriving entrepreneurial ventures and helping to jump start our beleaguered economy from within.
Club E and the eFactory will select entrepreneur candidates for this program and oversee the entire process and support these selected businesses to profitability and success. I am asking for your consideration to help me launch this program by volunteering to use your Patriot Express Loan eligibility to prove out this powerful model for helping to return America to its rightful place as the economic leader of the free world and the home of entrepreneurship.
Will you help me?
Best regards,
Peter
http://www.clubefactory.com/html/vetpreneur.html
http://peterjburns.blogspot.com/2008/11/something-very-important-happened-at.html
Peter J. Burns, III
Founder
Club Entrepreneur www.clubenetwork.com
Institute for Entrepreneurship www.instituteforentrepreneurship.com
eFactory www.clubefactory.com
602 725 1584
In these days of economic chaos, our national small business community has been devastated by the meltdown in the banking industry. The one glimmer of hope for small business lending is the nearly $1 Billion in allocated Federal funds for the Patriot Express Loan. I have recently created a "Veteran/Entrepreneur Pairing Program," which utilizes a veteran's loan eligibility with a worthy entrepreneur's financial needs.
The veteran takes out a Patriot Express Loan on behalf of the selected entrepreneur's business needs in exchange for being a 51% (majority) owner in that enterprise, while the loan is outstanding. From the proceeds, we will escrow payments for 6 months to a year and install the selected entrepreneur's business into the eFactory, as a support and collaborative effort, giving this business the highest chance for success.
At the time the entrepreneur's business has prospered to the point that the veteran's Patriot Express Loan has been repaid, by prior agreement,the entrepreneur receives majority control back of his enterprise and the veteran stays in for a smaller equity that he retains, for having been the original funder of the entrepreneur's business. The veteran is now free to use his eligibility for another Patriot Express Loan and can repeat this scenario over and over again, gaining equities in thriving entrepreneurial ventures and helping to jump start our beleaguered economy from within.
Club E and the eFactory will select entrepreneur candidates for this program and oversee the entire process and support these selected businesses to profitability and success. I am asking for your consideration to help me launch this program by volunteering to use your Patriot Express Loan eligibility to prove out this powerful model for helping to return America to its rightful place as the economic leader of the free world and the home of entrepreneurship.
Will you help me?
Best regards,
Peter
http://www.clubefactory.com/html/vetpreneur.html
http://peterjburns.blogspot.com/2008/11/something-very-important-happened-at.html
Peter J. Burns, III
Founder
Club Entrepreneur www.clubenetwork.com
Institute for Entrepreneurship www.instituteforentrepreneurship.com
eFactory www.clubefactory.com
602 725 1584
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Something very important happened at eFactory last Thursday...
As a kind of "point person" for all things entrepreneurial in Phoenix, my new hometown, many people with opportunities and entrepreneurs with challenges come into my orbit every day. Only two weeks ago, one of our new Club E members and a long time networker in the area came to see me in our new Club E headquarters and eFactory prototype in North Phoenix. This new friend had a great and established business that needed some minimal capital to expand into a lucrative new area and her bank had disappointed her...what's new with that scenario with entrepreneurs and their banks??? Anyway, in passing, Roseann Higgins had mentioned that she had proudly served our country as a member our our Navy for 10 years.
Coincidentally, and btw, I don't believe in coincidences, I had made the acquaintence of Sue Malone, a San Francisco-based financier that specialized in the little known but very effective Patriot Express Loan for veteran business owners.On the low end request of $5k to $25k, Sue told me that she could literally get a veteran loan approved and funded within a matter of several days. Well, here was my chance to have Sue prove it with Roseann.
I immediately put Sue on the phone with Roseann and sure enough, Roseann was approved and funded the money she needed for her business within a matter of days. To thank me, Club E and the eFactory for helping her in her time of need, Roseann set about to put on an event commemorating her receipt of these much needed funds from the Patriot Express Loan to be held at our eFactory location...a scant four days later!
Only a woman with the determination, energy level and connections that Roseann Higgins has could have pulled it off and she did with flying colors...literally. Roseann actually enticed the Air Force Color Guard from Peoria High School to present at our event that brought 50 plus veterans and entrepreneurs and the Head of the both Arizona SBA and the Director of Veteran Affairs for the SBA who presented a 4 foot long facsimle check to Roseann in front of a very optimitic audience! What's more, we had several speakers and even an impromtu panel for an "Entrepreneurs Forum" who presented their own entrepreneurial stories and had a Q&A with the audience well into the night.
To say that this was energizing in this challenging economic time is a gross understatement. There was not only hope ignited in that group Thursday night but there was a determination to move forward with their entrepreneurial dreams and band together as fellow veterans and entrepreneurs alike to recapture what America has seemed to forget...it's entrepreneurial spirit of "Can Do!"
Sue Malone proved her ability to fund nearly 15 times more for my Club E members (so far) since I introduced her to Roseann Higgins only 2 weeks ago and it is my prediction that Club E and the eFactory members will do a great deal to make a substantial dent in the over $900 million sitting in Federal funds earmarked for our veteran business owners and even their entrepreneur partners. I am a veteran entrepreneur myself and I am making it my personal mission to fund as many small businesses starting out or expanding through this amazing program.
Please connect with me at pjb@clubenetwork.com with your small business financing needs, as a veteran with a business or not and as an entrepreneur with a financial need and I will do my best to get you some much needed business capital. Club E and the eFactory is busy putting together a Veteran/Entrepreneur matching program to allow the Patriot Express Loan-eligible veteran provide the capital for entrepreneur partners, if they don't have their own business to fund and want to help others.
Join us!
Best regards,
Peter J. Burns, III
Founder
Club E, eFactory
Coincidentally, and btw, I don't believe in coincidences, I had made the acquaintence of Sue Malone, a San Francisco-based financier that specialized in the little known but very effective Patriot Express Loan for veteran business owners.On the low end request of $5k to $25k, Sue told me that she could literally get a veteran loan approved and funded within a matter of several days. Well, here was my chance to have Sue prove it with Roseann.
I immediately put Sue on the phone with Roseann and sure enough, Roseann was approved and funded the money she needed for her business within a matter of days. To thank me, Club E and the eFactory for helping her in her time of need, Roseann set about to put on an event commemorating her receipt of these much needed funds from the Patriot Express Loan to be held at our eFactory location...a scant four days later!
Only a woman with the determination, energy level and connections that Roseann Higgins has could have pulled it off and she did with flying colors...literally. Roseann actually enticed the Air Force Color Guard from Peoria High School to present at our event that brought 50 plus veterans and entrepreneurs and the Head of the both Arizona SBA and the Director of Veteran Affairs for the SBA who presented a 4 foot long facsimle check to Roseann in front of a very optimitic audience! What's more, we had several speakers and even an impromtu panel for an "Entrepreneurs Forum" who presented their own entrepreneurial stories and had a Q&A with the audience well into the night.
To say that this was energizing in this challenging economic time is a gross understatement. There was not only hope ignited in that group Thursday night but there was a determination to move forward with their entrepreneurial dreams and band together as fellow veterans and entrepreneurs alike to recapture what America has seemed to forget...it's entrepreneurial spirit of "Can Do!"
Sue Malone proved her ability to fund nearly 15 times more for my Club E members (so far) since I introduced her to Roseann Higgins only 2 weeks ago and it is my prediction that Club E and the eFactory members will do a great deal to make a substantial dent in the over $900 million sitting in Federal funds earmarked for our veteran business owners and even their entrepreneur partners. I am a veteran entrepreneur myself and I am making it my personal mission to fund as many small businesses starting out or expanding through this amazing program.
Please connect with me at pjb@clubenetwork.com with your small business financing needs, as a veteran with a business or not and as an entrepreneur with a financial need and I will do my best to get you some much needed business capital. Club E and the eFactory is busy putting together a Veteran/Entrepreneur matching program to allow the Patriot Express Loan-eligible veteran provide the capital for entrepreneur partners, if they don't have their own business to fund and want to help others.
Join us!
Best regards,
Peter J. Burns, III
Founder
Club E, eFactory
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