Buying into Entrepreneurship - 2018 Fall-Winter Spectrum Magazine

BUYING INTO ENTREPRENEURSHIP By Miriam W. Tarver There’s a background conversation within NABA that two members would like to amplify, and restaurant, and a Duck Donuts. “We then advance to an action phase. understand the levers to pull on “There’s a lot of interest in and the story behind numbers.” entrepreneurship and in business That should make for a successful ownership as a whole in the business owner, he said, but “it NABA membership,” said Justin doesn’t make you a marketing A. Butler, owner/operator at expert, it doesn’t make you a sales Checkerberry Holdings. “One of the things we know for expert.” sure is there are more than just It’s possible though, to take that financial Justin and I who own businesses,” expertise and apply it to business ownership. said Jeannine K. Brown, CEO and owner It helps, Butler said, to “have an affinity for a of Everyday Lead, an Atlanta-based executive particular product or industry.” coaching and consulting firm that specializes in And having access to those other businesses also diversity and inclusion. means access to a broader network of people with In addition, there are members who would like to varying fields of expertise. test the entrepreneurial waters for themselves or their clients but are unsure how to get started. Entrepreneurship, said Brown, Brown and Butler say members shouldn’t have who has also owned real estate and to look any further than their own professional a larger consultancy, involves both association. At the 2018 NABA National Convention, ownership and investment. The goal is the two outlined their proposal for tapping into to have equity in businesses that can the knowledge and resources of the membership. drive wealth-building, she said, “even if They presented slides highlighting the benefits we don’t have direct ownership and run of networking to establish business ownership to the business ourselves.” increase family wealth. The goal, said Butler, is to “identify those who are She said she knows a lot of people who have interested, figure out where the niche is, and figure generated significant wealth by making a financial out how to harness the skillsets, the capital that investment in other companies. exists and the marketplace, and form some level of The question for many is how to do that. ecosystem where entrepreneurship and business “What we want to do,” Brown said, “is help people ownership can flourish” within NABA. explore from the ideation phase (and) sitting around And they are not talking just about owning thinking about jumping into this business venture accounting or other financial services firms. (and) to being able to scale their businesses, and “Our skill set as financial professionals gives us then at some point maybe sell it.” a lot of visibility in different industries,” said She laid out the problem she and Butler are working Butler, who has an ownership stake in residential to address: “How do we start educating, having and commercial real estate, a Rita’s Italian Ice, a 12 SPECTRUM | WINTER/FALL 2018

more intentional conversations around business “There’s a service part to this, and there’s definitely ownership within the association as a whole? All an income component to it as well. And I think of this is around building wealth. So how can we for NABA, there’s a huge opportunity to expand help our members build wealth through business the brand,” Brown said. “Our members are going ownership, both from an education standpoint somewhere else to get this information, and we (and) being able to work with NABA to create need to make sure that we can provide it for them.” an educational platform for people who are The people who could be connected through this interested in entrepreneurship, who are currently initiative are already within the association, Butler entrepreneurs or business owners (and) and added, as are the businesses that could provide or getting them the resources that they need through request help. He said accounting-based businesses micro-lending and capital equipment, to coaches, get a spotlight already and he would like to give consulting, all the different areas that we’d like to similar visibility to others. One company, for provide services?” example, does inventory for airlines, and there are Butler expounded on the need to be savvy in “folks that are building mobile apps on a regular acquiring resources for a business. “Business basis, and own restaurants and bakeries, all these success is driven off of capitalization,” he said. “I sorts of things. understand where you can go to get capital and There are people who are doing this on a day-in where you can’t. You may bank with a large financial and day-out basis. I think it’s important that the institution, and all of your assets might be there, but organization knows this, where there may be an that’s probably not the best source of debt capital interest in financially supporting these businesses for you.” through equity investments or debt instruments, Using the knowledge of people who have had that we match these business owners with capital successes in securing capital through other avenues, that exists inside the organization.” such as local lenders and community reinvestment Such partnerships within NABA have been formed funds, would be an advantage, he said. “That kind already, Butler said, to get businesses off the ground of capital comes with a connection and experiences or to the next phase. as well.” “We’re all interested in these opportunities,” Butler That’s just some of the knowledge he and Brown said, “but we have to know that these opportunities would like to share with fellow NABA members. exist and there has to be a network to bring them all “We really want to make sure that we can provide together.” information, and that people go into business and The conversation now, he and Brown agreed, is they understand the whole life cycle of being able to around what role NABA would play in that next sustain their ideas and their dreams and the vision step of showcasing businesses and making the for the company,” Brown said. connections. ▲ FALL/WINTER 2018 | SPECTRUM 13