And I Would Ride 3,000 Miles
SpinVox CEO Christina Domecq
If you’ve ever driven cross-country, you know there’s a lot of time to think. Perhaps in your musings you’ve wondered how long the trip might have taken had you made it on your trusty ten-speed. Would you ever have guessed eight days? That’s the record that Christina Domecq, founder and CEO of SpinVox, and racing partner Ian Rolls will be looking to break this weekend when they complete the Race Across America (RAAM), the “world’s toughest bike race.”
RAAM is one of the oldest and most respected endurance sporting events in the world. It’s longer than the Tour de France, climbs over 100,000 feet, and is run 24/7. It also raises more than $1,000,000 every year for charitable causes. This year, Christina and Ian’s team, SpinVox Adventurers, will be riding to raise $500,000 for ACCION USA to support our work with lower-income microentrepreneurs.
“As an entrepreneur who has created a trio of businesses in the last ten years I know the struggles that many business owners face in building a company from the ground up,” says Ms. Domecq. (SpinVox is Christina’s latest entrepreneurial adventure; the company has pioneered a way to convert voicemails into mobile phone SMS text messages and emails. We’re so happy she’s discovered ACCION USA!)
Check out Christina and Ian’s blog, spoken via SpinVox!
You can make a pledge to Team SpinVox’s campaign at www.accion.org/spinvox. Or just post a comment below and cheer on Christina and Ian to the finish. Go Team SpinVox Adventurers!
Tags: Donors, microfinance, spinvox
Martinis and Microlending: Get Involved with ACCION USA’s Microfinance Council
I love microfinance, especially the U.S. variety. And I love people that love microfinance—all varieties. That’s why I’m a big fan of the ACCION USA Microfinance Council, who co-hosted a great “bLENDer” event last night to celebrate ACCION USA’s Kiva partnership launch.
I’m plugging the Council because they provide great way for microfinance enthusiasts in the New York City area to get involved in the industry in a meaningful way. Aside from their always-crowded happy hours, the group hosts high profile speakers (including an upcoming event with Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez), and provides a myriad of volunteer opportunities. Volunteers are currently working directly with AUSA staff members on projects ranging from product development and new market expansion to translations and Website development.
Check out the group on AUSA’s Website, where there’s info on upcoming volunteer projects and how to join. If you do, get in touch—I’ll buy you a drink at their next happy hour!
Tags: bLENDer, kiva, Microfinance Council, volunteering
Person-to-Person Microfinance: It’s Good News for Everyone
A message from ACCION USA president and CEO Gina Harman
This morning, when Kiva.org opened it’s person-to-person lending platform to U.S.-based businesses, the Governor and First Lady of California were up, poised to be the first Kiva lender to make a loan to an American small business. Word has it that an earlier riser in New York City beat them to it, but regardless, that’s good for the borrower, and good for the state of California where healthy businesses, tax revenue and job creation must be high on the list of priorities.
That’s also good news for the rest of the country. There isn’t a Main Street in America that doesn’t need access to capital and lenders willing to provide it. That’s where Kiva.org and ACCION USA’s new partnership comes in. We don’t need a map to find Main Street, and lending is always on our minds. And now, microloans are available to U.S. entrepreneurs through an expert: Kiva.org . Kiva’s foray into U.S. microfinance will build awareness and provide those who want to invest in our economy a way to do that with nearly instant gratification. Kiva gives microentrepreneurs here in the U.S. a face, a name, and a chance to tell their stories. And nothing makes people believe in the power of lending a hand better than real life stories.
Lots of ACCION USA clients tell us they feel invisible because the banks won’t see them or the opportunity that a loan will create. Sometimes we at ACCION USA feel invisible too. We have been refining and improving the microfinance model since the early 1990’s but getting little credit for doing so successfully here in the U.S. Kiva will help put ACCION USA in the spotlight, too. And lenders will become microfinance advocates, spreading the word that there are organizations where the lending doors are open faster and farther than ever. From lender to borrower, we expect that this partnership will help those who need the help of ACCION USA find us. For that we are truly hopeful and grateful.
It is a great day when the stories of two dozen U.S.-based microentrepreneurs generate investments from thousands around the world ready to see their dollars help a business survive and grow. It is a great day for ACCION USA when it can partner with a leader in its industry.
Microfinance for the Masses: ACCION USA Announces Partnership wtih Kiva.org
I’m not good at keeping secrets. That’s why I’m so excited to share a huge piece of ACCION USA news that we’ve had to keep quiet until now. ACCION USA been chosen as one of two field partners to join Kiva.org, the world’s first person-to-person microlending Website, in its pilot expansion to the United States.
Lenders from around the world can now lend online to entrepreneurs in the United States for a financial commitment as small as $25. ACCION USA’s 15 borrowers are already getting “funded” fast, and we’ll be adding new borrowers to the site everyday.
Kiva is an organization that’s truly bringing microfinance to Main Street, and as a leading U.S. microlender, ACCION USA is thrilled to be part of the pilot program. Kiva’s 500,000 lenders provide microfinance institutions (MFIs) like ACCION USA with capital at zero cost and zero risk, decreasing cost to the MFI and expanding the amount of dollars available to small businesses shut out of the financial mainstream.
The news broke at 8:30 this morning on a Good Morning America segment featuring Kiva’s president Premal Shah—we’re confident that many of America’s 10 million microbusinesses now know that microloan resources are available to help their operations grow.
ACCION USA is encouraging supporters to get involved with Kiva by making a loan to an ACCION USA borrower, donating directly to ACCION USA to help support Kiva-related lending activities, and learning more on our Website.
We’ll keep you updated on the launch and partnership this week—there will certainly be more news to share. But for now, there’s $25 burning a hole in my pocket and a few small business owners who could use it on Kiva.org…
Tags: good morning america, kiva, launch, premal shah
The Audacity of Hope … ACCION USA style
ACCION USA's Anh Nguyen and Luz Preciado at the "friendraiser" event.
It is easy to lose hope in the face of the economic recession, what with negative amortization and adjustable rate mortgages causing trouble for hundreds of thousands of homeowners. My local NPR station seems to herald the same gloomy news at the end of every month–unemployment is rising and foreclosure rates are holding steady—blah, blah, blah. So for our networking event on May 27th, ACCION USA in Miami decided to spin a positive note and highlight the many things we could do to help South Florida business owners in these difficult times. In other words, it was a night focused on the positive, bright future ahead.
Though it was stormy day in Miami, the “Positive Amortization Friendraiser” event began smoothly at the Little Haiti Cultural Center. After welcoming all attendees, including Florida Advisory Board members, member city and county economic development agencies, local bank representatives, and some of our non-profit partners in the community, program Director William Mateo reiterated ACCION USA’s mission and the impact we’ve had since launching the program in 2003. Check out the slide show we projected showing our very first Miami client (disbursed before we had put together all the office furniture!) as well as those that have grown to support local jobs. ACCION USA client Juliano Echeverria, co-owner of a t-shirt company , told us about the 3 families he supports through the job opportunities of his Miami-based company. Like many similar clients who were unable to obtain a bank loan to jumpstart their business, Juliano was very grateful for the option that ACCION USA provided.
Funky Urban
Funky Urban
Not wanting to only restate what our organization has done in the past, ACCION USA announced an upcoming series of activities, the Survive and Thrive campaign, to assist business owners in this environment with business survival techniques like guerrilla marketing, and budgeting and management tips. We recruited local professionals new to the concept of microlending in Miami to get involved and volunteer in some shape or form to the campaign.
What could you be doing to help small business owners in your local community? Consider donating your talents today!
Tags: funky urban, miami, positive amortization
Something’s Brewing in Union Square
There’s something unique ‘brewing’ in Somerville, MA’s Union Square. A visit paid to ACCION USA’s client, Adam Lantheaume, revealed a business that is shaking with creativity. The Boston Shaker Group, Inc., a specialty cocktail business that sells ingredients, mixes and ideas to restaurants and consumers, offers an impressive stock of imported garnishes, hard to find cocktail bitters, staple barware and cocktail books.
Whether you’re an experienced mixologist, an aspiring host of cocktail parties, or just happy about the prospect of enjoying a cocktail from home, The Boston Shaker Group, Inc. neatly packages the ingredients and the ‘know how’ to get the job done.
Adam is taking a creative approach to running his business by offering a variety of hands-on workshops to understand the ‘hows and whys’ of cocktails. He is also using social media to promote his business, creating profiles on Twitter, Facebook and online videos to build relationships with cocktail enthusiasts or simply curious followers. Adam is finding social networking sites to be an effective way to mobilize a large number of people around his business product, service or event. Some business owners, like Adam, consider offering incentives like product offers or discounts to those who become faithful followers on social networking sites.
The Boston Shaker Group, Inc. has benefited from Adam’s willingness to get out there and put into practice the magic formula for business owners: network, network, network (need I say network)? Adam’s business, The Boston Shaker Group, Inc., is on the cusp of expanding services through strategic partnerships that would allow for on-site product deliveries, collaboration on events, cross-promotion of products, and more!
Adam is a recipient of a loan from the ACCION USA/Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream program, which brings together Boston-based entrepreneurs in the food, beverage and hospitality industries. The program provides regular speed coaching events, the next of which is taking place on June 23rd at the Samuel Adams Brewery in Jamaica Plain. Don’t miss it! Come network alongside Adam.
Make sure to stay posted on new products and events offered by Adam Lantheaume and his business by subscribing to his newsletter and initiate a dialogue with Adam. I guarantee you will be shaking with interest!
Love for Local Brands
Who doesn’t like cupcakes? And pirates? (Johnny Depp as opposed to Somali of course) John Earle, the founder and creative mind behind Johnny Cupcakes t-shirts combined baking and cross-bones to create a brand of clothing that has catapulted in popularity far beyond what normal frosting is capable of. Johnny turned down big name companies who wanted to buy his brand, such as Urban Outfitters, because he believes in the power of keeping a brand limited AND building relationships with his customers. He says that he “treats every customer like they’re friends and family.” He quips that you don’t see Ralph Lauren eating pizza in his store with the customers. Or sponsoring events such as a midnight viewing of “The Wizard” (with Fred Savage) complete with on-movie-screen Nintendo battles at a local non-profit movie theater (Coolidge Theater).
Carlos Gonzalez-Plata, a retail clothing entrepreneur and ACCION USA client, knows all about connecting with customers for success. Carlos fled his native Colombia when guerilla forces tried to seize his farm and two restaurants and moved his family to Atlanta, GA. As he settled into his new community and spoke with fellow Colombians, he discovered that people wanted to keep up with Colombian fashion trends, but there weren’t any stores featuring Colombian clothes. So he founded Luna Fashions. Carlos’ business took off immediately, which is outstanding, but comes with its own problems. To keep enough inventory in stock, he applied for a business loan, but got rejection after rejection. Two factors were especially hurting Carlos’ application with traditional lenders: his very short credit history and the youth of his business. Many banks consider start-ups any business open less than 2 years, and this often hurts their chances at qualifying for a loan. ACCION USA does lend to start-up businesses. (And we consider a business established if it’s over 6 months in existence and profitable) Carlos saw an ad for our loans in the newspaper, applied, and received financing for increasing his inventory. He said, “ACCION USA’s help has been very good for me. It was much easier and cheaper.” Get more information on our small business loans
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Carlos at the counter of Luna Fashion
Recently Johnny Cupcakes was highlighted in an article on Inc. Magazine’s website. They are vying to be in the top 500 fastest-growing privately-owned companies in the US. Carlos has a full warehouse, an active catalogue business, and a storefront with dozens of sales people. Both Carlos and Johnny are successful because they know the people they sell clothing to. Add to that modesty, hard work, and compelling personal histories and you have a definite recipe for retail success micro-business style!
Tags: accion usa, alternative credit, Colombia, Johnny Cupcakes, microfinance, retail, small business