After a year of traveling, it’s good to be back with the energetic team at Grow in a new capacity as Lending Manager. I missed working with colleagues who care deeply about our small business owners, want to see them flourish and continue to offer their greatest value to our community. After previously working at Grow as a Business Development Officer where I coached entrepreneurs, I’m excited to be in this role guiding the loan process and helping to make it as accessible and relational of an experience it can be for our potential borrowers. This is an exciting time to be at Grow, we are pushing the boundaries of what it means to assess risk and redefine how we get to “yes,” especially for people who have been systematically excluded from the capital markets. While that’s the bigger impact we all look for, there’s nothing like seeing an entrepreneur walk out our doors with the resources they need to realize and sustain their business goals, knowing that we have their back every step of the way. That’s the moment we live for, understanding that it’s part of a much bigger picture of financial security for themselves and their families, and ultimately, our community.

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John F. Hendershot is an American entrepreneur, former executive, and business coach with a passion for social entrepreneurship. He is the founder of iNFable socks, iNFable sports, iNFable publishing, and Mosaic Money. John has also authored several books, including The Entre-Hustler’s Planner, and was the founding partner of the 2 Business Guys Mastermind podcast.

With experience serving in roles such as CEO, CFO, and Board of Directors member, John brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. He has started businesses and bought businesses that were already operational in various industries, including construction, e-commerce, and financial services. John also has experience as the former CEO/ Partner of DIG-IT, INC, which had divisions in horizontal directional drilling for telecommunications, electrical and natural gas pipelines, foundation drilling for electrical substation, DIG-IT Hydro Excavating, and DIG-IT Trucking along with several other ventures.

As a business coach, John offers practical guidance without fluff. He understands the challenges and stresses of business ownership, having grown a multimillion-dollar business with nearly fifty team members. He believes in the value of social entrepreneurship and its positive impact on society.

John deeply cares about his clients’ success and the sense of purpose and contribution that come with entrepreneurship. He believes there is a formula to being successful as an Entre-Hustler and is dedicated to walking alongside his clients to help them achieve their goals.

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Request for Proposals

Task: Program and Workshop Facilitation and Content Creation
Due: January 30, 2023 by 5PM EST

Background

Grow is a CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) that is committed to providing responsible and accessible loans that expand economic opportunity for small business owners. Grow is headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI with a service area spanning nine counties: Kent, Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Montcalm, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Ottawa. We acknowledge the historical harm of traditional financial systems and combat this by providing capital to small business owners and entrepreneurs who have been systemically excluded. We strive to provide capital and knowledge that is informed through curiosity and authentic relationships. In addition to business loans, we offer business advising and targeted programming for entrepreneurs in West Michigan in partnership with our network of local expert entrepreneurs and practitioners. It is critical that our programming is on trend and that it aligns with the emerging and ongoing needs of entrepreneurs. The purpose of this Request for Proposals is to solicit fresh ideas for programming content and facilitation from local small business owners, organizations, and industry experts.

Submittals

Proposals should be submitted electronically no later than January 30th at 5pm EST. Any proposals received after this date will be returned to the sender. Questions and inquiries are welcome. We encourage proposals for programming that can be presented in languages other than English, and are able to respond to questions in both English and Spanish.

Questions and submissions should be sent to:

Lauren Conrad – Director of Programs: lconrad@growbusiness.org

Scope of Work

Grow is seeking industry professionals who can develop and implement cutting edge programming with the goal of small business enhancement and elevation. Examples of past workshop topics include: business marketing, legal support, business plan creation, managing economic ups and downs, lending 101, and more. Additional examples can be found on Grow’s website: https://growbusiness.org/events-calendar/.

Proposals should include:

• An overview of the topic and why it is relevant and supportive to Grow’s target audience.
• A PowerPoint presentation that supports effective delivery of the content.
• A brief description of the bidder’s facilitation/presentation style and experience.
• A proposed plan for content delivery (in person vs virtual, ideal number of participants, etc).

Note: Grow does not own the rights to any content that is submitted and will not save, share, or disseminate proposals that are not chosen.

Budget

The contractor must prepare a budget that clearly describes all costs and fees. All costs should be stated as one-time or non-recurring costs. All costs must be itemized and include an explanation. (For example, expense for content creation should be separate from expense for facilitation). Candidates are encouraged to submit multi-class offerings where appropriate. Candidates may be requested to offer their session more than one time throughout a calendar year. We exercise the right to accept the proposal in its entirety or adapt our requirements to align with the budget for this project. Contract terms and conditions will be negotiated upon selection of the winning bidder(s) for this RFP.

Facilitator Qualifications

All facilitators are expected to be familiar with Grow’s target market and share a desire to embrace, support, and have a working knowledge of the varied cultures that exist within our communities at large. Please tell us about yourself by including the following information:

• Name, address, and phone number
• How long have you been in your current industry/profession?
• What are your areas of expertise?
• Are you a business owner?
• Bio/Resume
• Two to three references who can speak to your expertise and/or your ability to engage an audience

Proposal Evaluation

The following criteria will be used in the consideration of proposals:

• Overall proposal suitability and relevancy. Proposal must meet the project scope of work and be presented in a clear and organized manner.
• Lived experience and expertise. Bidders should be able to demonstrate expertise in their industry and will be evaluated on their personal and professional experience as it pertains to the scope of this project.
• Social capital. Bidders will be evaluated on their demonstrated ability to connect with Grow’s target market, to generate interest, and to drive class attendance.
• Budget and value. Bidders will be evaluated on the cost of their bid based on the proposed work

Project Timeline

• January 30, 2023 at 5pm EST: All responses are due.
• February 2023: Evaluation of proposals is conducted. If additional information is needed, bidders will be notified during this time. Facilitators will be selected and invited to share a follow up conversation with Grow’s Director of Programs prior to final decisions.
• March 2023: Selection of proposals from winning bidder(s) will be made.

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Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women (GROW) recently rebranded as Grow, a change meant to reflect its updated mission: to provide responsible and accessible loans that expand economic opportunity for small business owners, regardless of their gender.

Read more at GRBJ

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For 30 years, the organization has helped women business owners in West Michigan. Grow, as it is now known, will continue to do that and expand its services.

As a microlender, the group has funded 69 businesses over the last two years, loaning $937,184 to the new companies. CEO Milinda Ysasi said they provide more than just a onetime loan: The group supports the company as they continue to expand and grow.

Read more at WoodTV8

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For more than 30 years the group has helped women business owners in West Michigan.

The new expansion is meant to broaden their reach to any business owners in systemically excluded communities who need help getting access to traditional lending.

Read more at Fox17

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The rebranding signals the nonprofit’s move towards inclusivity, as it expands its mission toward lending and mentorship opportunities to funding systemically excluded small businesses, regardless of an individual’s gender.

Read more at WGVU

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The organization will operate under a new name, Grow, to better highlight its capabilities and expanded mission. With the new name and brand, Grow strives to increase capital deployment across its nine-county region and educate stakeholders that lending is available to those who have been unable to connect to traditional lending, regardless of their gender.

Read more a Corp!

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Tara Jones-Williamson is the feminine Financial Success Coach and Lifestyle Designer behind Your Pretty Pennies, an online financial lifestyle brand dedicated to helping women pay off all of their debt in two years or less. She spoke with us about the philosophy behind her strategies, how single motherhood brought her into financial education and how beginners can create a foundation in their business to achieve their lifestyle dreams and financial success. 

GROW: Finances are intimidating for a lot of first-time entrepreneurs. Even with a lot of the education that is out there, a lot of people don’t yet have the financial vocabulary to fully participate and flourish.

Business owners hear a lot about how they need to keep their business and personal finances separate from the beginning. Can you talk about why that is important and what that looks like, especially if you are bootstrapping and might not be generating revenue yet?

Tara Jones-Williamson: It is really important to separate them from a legal standpoint because if your business and personal finances are co-mingled and if something happens, the IRS can look at both your personal assets and your business assets. You need a business checking account and a business line of credit. Use those accounts for your business. Don’t fall into the trap of, “my business isn’t making a lot of money right now, so I am going to use my personal account for this.” If you start doing that, you will do it all the time. The reality is that you need to pay yourself, even if it is your personal money you are paying yourself with. So you need to build that paper trail of money from your personal account going to your business account to pay those expenses.

GROW: You talk about creating a business and financial plan to help support your desired lifestyle. Once people get into the nitty-gritty of solopreneurship, it can be easy to lose the big picture of why they started in the first place. Can you describe the philosophy behind your approach?

TJ-W: I work with a lot of women who are creating their businesses because they are passionate. Once they get into business it’s, “I have to hurry up and make money.” Or, “I have to do all of these mundane tasks.” They get into what I call “Entrepreneurship Poverty,” where their business is sucking all of their money. So every dollar they make, whether from their 9-5 or their business, goes right back into the business vs really creating a financial plan that supports the lifestyle they desire. I always tell women, “There is a person behind your business. Your business should work to support the lifestyle you desire, otherwise, just work a 9-5. ”

I am always highlighting how important that is. You have dreams, a family, a life, and you need a business model that supports that.

GROW: You talk about creating daily, weekly and monthly habits and routines to make book-keeping easy. How can someone who is starting from zero get started with those habits?

TJ-W: I want to start by saying that even though I love finance, I didn’t start that way. I was a biology major in college, and I thought I was going to go to med school. Yes, I liked math, but I didn’t have a background in accounting and bookkeeping. You don’t need to be amazing at numbers to keep your accounting easy and organized. I use QuickBooks and spreadsheets that I created myself that are very easy to use and understand (at the end of the webinar, I send out a link to the spreadsheets).

Those habits, rituals, routines, the weekly check-in with your money is a game-changer. When you go to a business class, they talk about clients and overhead and your KPI. All of those things are very important, but you also need very practical, day-to-day actions to stay on top of your accounting and booking keeping, especially if you aren’t in a place to hire an accountant.

There are a lot of things you can put on autopilot to where you can just check in and make sure things are running smoothly. Again, a lot of us do not need a complex system to where it is overwhelming and daunting. You just have to build it into your routine.

I am mostly looking forward to people taking away confidence in managing their money. My goal is that by the time people are done hearing my voice and seeing my face, that they feel confident enough to know that financial management is a skill that can be developed.

GROW: How did you come to start your business, Your Pretty Pennies?

TJ-W: It started with my financial journey, which started when I was 21 and in the middle of my college. I had my daughter, so I was a single mother in college. When I went back to school, alongside my biology degree, I started taking finance classes because I knew I needed to learn how to manage my money.

When I had her, I had $0 in the bank because I needed to buy everything I needed for when she was born. I became diligent about learning how to manage money. I got a minor in finance, which helped a little, but it was really all of the self-study I did. I looked into how to master savings, how to pay off massive amounts of debt, increase income and credit repair — all of these parts of personal finance that I was oblivious to. It was a learning curve for me. After I graduated college, I made a financial plan that allowed me to pay off $50,000 in debt in two years, all on my own income.

I made it my mission to help myself. It transformed into creating a blog to share my story and knowledge, then I helped people at my church with budgeting, saving and paying off debt. People started asking me to coach them, and I didn’t know anything about building a business. No one in my family had ever started a business, so that was a learning curve all on its own. It was very organic with my desire to help other women in the financial trenches, and being the person I needed all of those years ago.

GROW: What do you want people to take away from your webinar?
TW-J: I am mostly looking forward to people taking away confidence in managing their money. My goal is that by the time people are done hearing my voice and seeing my face, that they feel confident enough to know that financial management is a skill that can be developed. I want people to feel confident to be diligent and approach their finances without fear, shame or guilt. I want people to get excited to create the lifestyle they desire with their business.

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