In today's episode, Elzie Flenard engages in a captivating conversation with business expert Will Roundtree. Together, they dive deep into the realm of business credit, funding strategies, and the art of managing finances.

Throughout the conversation, the importance of structured business approaches is underscored. Will advocates for businesses to operate with a focus on customer experience, result-oriented processes, and scalability. The episode encapsulates the essence of wealth-building through creative financing.

Will's journey from personal credit struggles to mastering creative financing and building a financial education empire is both inspiring and educational. This episode provides valuable insights into the world of business credit, funding strategies, and the mindset required for financial success. Tune in, learn, and transform your approach to business and finance.

Highlights:

02:31 - The banks know that nine out of ten businesses will fail year one through three, and the likelihood of a business being open past year one through three is about 10%. And so the odds are stacked against most people. So, when people go to the bank and the first thing they say is, "Oh, let me go get a small business loan," it's almost like looking for Bigfoot; it's almost nonexistent. But then, a lot of times, people will say, "Well, let me try to go for an SBA loan." Less than 1% of businesses ever get approved for SBA loans, especially in the black community, because a lot of those businesses don't have their paperwork in order.

11:35 - I started studying economics because I often say that one of the reasons why a lot of small businesses, especially in our communities, don't make it is that we don't learn the economics of things. We hear about financial literacy, but I think that economics is the second part of that. And so in my four-step Roundtree methodology, I call it that there's four things that you need to focus on, or four steps. Number one is mindset. Number two is understanding the power of credit. Number three is knowing the cost of money. That's the economic part, which eventually will help you build assets and wealth.

29:14 - A lot of times I meet so many people who go and get capital or want to go into business, and they're so busy looking at everybody else's lens that they are trying to hurry up and get there, not knowing that the person who you're looking at probably has been in the game or running this race for 20 years, like myself. So, stop trying to compare yourself to somebody who's on chapter 20 and you're still in the introductory stage of your book or in your journey.

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Books: Credit is King, Full Time CEO