Have Your Banker be Your Ally

I have been chatting with some young entrepreneurs lately, and I was reminded of one of the best things I ever did when I owned my court reporting business. I got to know my banker., Chris Burr., and considered him to be on my business team. I found Chris through a referral. He was working at a small regional bank at the time. My company needed a construction loan to do some major remodeling of my building.  I had been banking at BofA.  At BofA everyone seemed to be really young and “new” to the banking world.  I got the sense that the big banks consistently hire young people and let the seasoned people go.  I wanted a banker that I could talk to and trust and who would be around longer than six months so we could have history.

The first thing Chris said to me when I met him was, “Banks are in the business of making money.”  That might seem like an obvious statement, but as a client I was put on notice that Chris was a vendor that wanted my business.

I used to put banks (bankers) on a lofty pedestal believing they were heavily regulated and that every bank was the same, basically the same interest rates, fees, programs, blah, blah, blah. Bankers actually have an expertise into what special programs might be available, strategy regarding taxes, and can help get a loan pushed through their bank. Chris presented my P&Ls to the lending committee at his bank and got me the loan at a super competitive rate.

I knew how to run a court reporting business in and out.  Chris knew banking in and out. I relied on his expertise..  He educated me on electronic deposits when they first were in the market, gave me advice on building the business with a succession strategy. I asked Chris to keep me apprised of all new services and features that are offered to his banking clients, even those services may not seem applicable to my company.  Knowledge is power.

I believe having your banker as your ally leads to great success.