We hear this philosophy often, and I believe it to be true.  Think back to all those who have shaped your life, your thoughts, and your decisions: teachers and family, friends and mentors, coaches, neighbors, and pastors.  Sometimes, short, one-time experiences can be just as impactful. 

That is the hope of ACCION USA’s financial education team.  We aim to build lasting relationships with program participants, and often we do; individuals will attend a webinar, we’ll then invite them a speed coaching event, and they will eventually apply for a business loan.  Many times, though, we have only an hour – the length of a webinar or community workshop – to impact someone’s life. 

Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch (right) offers business advice to a Boston business owner at a recent financial education event.

With that understanding, ACCION USA recently developed and launched our first-ever financial education longitudinal impact survey.  We’ve gathered the names and contact information of financial education participants over the past year and half and are, through the end of July, surveying them on the quality, outcomes, and long-term impact of our financial education events. 

Thus far, the results are very positive.  Participants – even those from as far back as January 2009 – remember the events, remember what they learned, and can explain how the event content has since shaped their financial decisions.  I’m personally interviewing speed coaching participants, and nearly all remember specific business advice they received!  One man explained a coach’s advice to simplify his business logo, and another woman gushed about a coach’s suggestions to reach new clients with her niche business. 

Currently, we gather feedback at the end of each financial education event; it helps us understand the event’s immediate effect on participants.  But this longitudinal survey will be even more helpful by reporting the event’s long-lasting effects.  Does a woman now have a habit of making a budget?  Did she review her credit report for the first time and dispute an error?  Did she improve her credit score, qualifying herself for a small business loan?

Above all, the survey results will help ACCION USA learn what we are doing well and how we can change our programs to more effectively serve entrepreneurs. 

Stay tuned for the full survey report in August!

Erica, the manager of volunteer partnerships at ACCION USA, had pioneered a volunteer program at AUSA that allowed more than 400 people be part of the microfinance efforts in the United States.

During my first week at AUSA, I had see Erica run around the office welcoming and guiding our new batch of summer interns, on the phone assisting our volunteers, skipping lunch on Tuesday to help raise money by giving donation-based yoga classes and speaking with big passion about ACCION USA’s involvement with Kiva.

It turns out that many other ACCIONistas had seen the infectious personality and passion for our mission that Erica carries and a week later, during our monthly employee meeting, we received the news that Erica had been named Employee of the Month of June.

To learn more about what is like to work in microfinance or volunteerism, check out the fun video interview with Erica.

To Erica,

Great job and Congratulations!

By Amelie Busch

Students across the country have been participating in internships since the beginning of time—perfecting the art of getting coffee, kicking the printer when it’s down, and running downtown for… more coffee.

Luckily, I’m interning at ACCION USA in New York City, where getting “cawfee” is not the major task of my day. As a new “ACCIONista” I’ve been meeting with our Microfinance Council, attending weekly marketing team meetings, interviewing clients, and uploading client stories to our Kiva page. Later this month, I’ll also have the opportunity to travel to the ACCION USA Boston office for the annual Lending team meeting.

As the Kiva Intern, I’ve spent most of my summer working with our clients and Loan Consultants to get client stories posted on the Kiva website. Kiva’s been a great partnership for ACCION USA because it helps us lend to clients who fall just under our requirements. With the financial crisis, it’s been all about assessing our risk while still lending to eligible small businesses.

My favorite day, so far, at ACCION USA was when one of our clients, Jose, came into the office. He was meeting with his loan consultant, Elizabeth, to finalize and disburse his loan. Afterwards, I got to sit down with him and ask him about his business so that I could create his Kiva profile. It was great seeing the loan process come to life and meeting with such an inspirational micro-entrepreneur.

As an intern at ACCION USA, my experience has been eye-opening and rewarding. With the organization moving at 100 mph, like most people do in New York City, everyone plays a big role in keeping our vehicle on target. More information, trust and responsibilities are handed to me on a daily basis. With great employees, grateful clients and a fun working environment, this internship has made me feel far from the ‘bottom of the totem pole.’

Amelie Busch is serving as the Kiva Coordinator Intern for ACCION USA during Summer 2010. She is a rising senior at Elon University, studying Finance and Economics. She has a passion for microfinance and founded the Elon Microfinance Initiative – a student organization designed to promote the outreach and awareness of microfinance.

While ACCION USA has always provided credit tips and education throughout our loan process, we wanted to formalize these services and make them individualized. In February, we launched a ‘Credit Coaching Services’ pilot in Miami.  A Credit Coaching session is a chance for a business owner (or future business owner!) to sit down one-on-one with an ACCION USA credit expert to work on solving their specific credit issues and developing strategies for improving their credit profile.

ACCION USA Credit Coach Benjamin Himmelfarb walks a client through his credit report

The truth of the matter is that our current credit reporting system is flawed.  For the uninitiated, credit bureau reports can be really hard to read and understand.   The laws about consumer rights are complex, and credit companies and collections agencies often take advantage of that fact to break the rules.  Alarmingly, almost 50% of credit bureau reports contain errors!

That’s why many clients have found it very useful to review their Equifax, Experian, or Transunion report with a credit expert at ACCION USA.

ACCION USA staff worked with one woman who has owned a family restaurant for 20 years.  She had some financial difficulties a few years back and had a legal judgment filed against her by a credit card company.  When we reviewed her report, we found that even though the account was closed by the court, the credit card company was still reporting that she was paying late!  This was really affecting her credit score and history, but a few phone calls and dispute letters later we were able to make sure the company reported the account as closed.  She’s hoping to obtain business financing soon.

Of the folks who participate in a Credit Coaching session, some want to solve credit issues before they apply for business financing.  Some have experienced identity fraud and want to clear their name.  Some want to figure out how the best way to pay down debt.  But everybody leaves with the tools they need.

Remember, there is no such thing as a quick fix for credit problems, but knowledge is power!

If you know a business owner in need of coaching, or would like to sign up for a Credit Coaching session yourself, please contact Benjamin Himmelfarb at: bhimmelfarb@accionusa.org.

Show Me the Money event from ACCION USA on Vimeo.

by Amelie Busch

Business owners didn’t actually see dollar bills flying around at the ‘Show Me the Money’ event in June, but they did learn some great tools to see more of them in the future. ACCION USA and Citigroup hosted the event at LaGuardia College in Queens, NY, to respond to the economic uncertainty and lack of credit in the current financial crisis. The event was a big hit with its seven panelists and more than 70 attendees! Many came for the same reason: advice on building credit. Here’s what we learned from the panelists:

1. The rules of credit
   Florence Julliard of the East River Development Alliance mentioned three key strategies: always pay your bills on time, keep your credit card balances low, and be judicious about how often you apply for a loan.
2. Start your business with your own savings
   Brian Gurski of the LaGuardia Small Business Development Center spoke to the types of initial funding of the top 100 start-up businesses: 74% used their own personal savings!
3. Keep your cash flow positive
   Matt Norton of Citigroup stressed the importance of keeping your cash flow and ‘the bottom line’ positive.
4. Starting the loan process
   Elizabeth Bueno of ACCION USA told us what we’ll need to apply for a loan: three months of bank statements, two years of tax returns, a business certificate, and a separate accounting of business and personal expenses.
5. ACCION USA’s loans
   ACCION USA lends to microentrepreneurs for both personal and business loans. These loans range in size between $500 and $50,000.

At the end of the day, microentrepreneurs networked with panelists and other small business owners. The event was a great success, and many attendees soon contacted ACCION USA loan consultants to start the process of getting a loan. Our financial education events often open doors for many small businesses who thought a loan was out of their reach, by giving them the tools and contacts they need. Join us next time at one of ACCION USA’s upcoming events!

Amelie Busch is serving as the Kiva Coordinator Intern for ACCION USA during Summer 2010.

Have you ever had a day at work when it feels like everything falls apart, all at once? Recently, I began the day working with three potential loan applicants. Here at ACCION USA, our performance as loan consultants is partly measured by how many of these applicants get a loan. As the day progressed, I kept uncovering problems that each of these businesses had that I knew would stand in the way of them getting approved. Though I generally feel that my work at AUSA is

The author with Sarahi and her newborn baby

very meaningful, by 5 p.m., I was feeling pretty purposeless and frustrated. What did I deserve to be paid for, if my work was not translating to actual money in the hands of small business owners?

Shortly after my mini-breakdown, my client Sarahi came in to the office to get her loan for $1,500. This is one of the smallest loan sizes we give, and Sarahi was using it to start her own Green Cart business. Green Carts were developed by the City of New York to sell fresh fruits and vegetables in areas of the city where access to these kinds of foods is very limited. Sarahi’s loan would give her the initial investment she needed to buy a cart for her fruit so she could start selling in the Bronx.

As a loan consultant it is easy to put emphasis on the bigger loans (AUSA’s average is around $7,000) that help us reach our monthly lending goals. But the smaller loans are just as important. As my supervisor Wanda has repeated to me many times: every penny counts. That is exactly the right mentality that microfinance loan consultants need to have.

When Sarahi came to our office at 5 p.m. on Thursday with her husband and her newborn baby girl, I was reminded that their loan really counted, even though it was smaller than the other ones I had been working on all day. Sarahi, while pregnant, had trekked from her home in Queens to Manhattan to attend evening workshops on managing her food business and to work with me on her application. She was one of the most hard-working, ambitious clients I’ve lent to yet. Spending the end of the day with her last week reminded me why I do what I do. Sometimes I need my clients’ help as much as they need mine!

On Monday evening, ACCION USA and Samuel Adams staff traveled to Billings Forge Community Works, an organization making a splash in the Frog Hollow community through job training and education courses. Nearly 50 people with small food & beverage and hospitality businesses attended to rotate through 20-minute sessions with Samuel Adams experts in marketing & public relations, logo design, packaging, sales and distribution, along with local business development coaches, attorneys and accountants.

The room was hardly able to contain the energy, as entrepreneurs soaked up valuable tips from coaches and networked with one another.  Clearly there is a demand for these kinds of opportunities in a city like Hartford, where small businesses are looking for ways in today’s economy to, as one participant put it in a recent article in the Hartford Courant , “get a better sense of how [to] take [the] business from point A to point B.”  I was inspired to see the dedication and enthusiasm with which businesses like Southern Relishes (who participated in Monday night’s speed coaching) seek to further establish and grow their businesses, having a positive impact in their local communities.

How wonderful it is for ACCION USA and Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream to provide a space that can help pave the way for entrepreneurial success.

Elements of financial education appear throughout the lending process. From teaching individuals about the high costs of payday loans to showing business owners how to separate their personal and business finances, ACCION USA equips and empowers entrepreneurs with the education to achieve their financial goals.

Every so often, one of those days comes along that brings you back to the roots of what you do. It’s that client, that partner, that sale or proposal – that something that stands out and reinforces your daily work. It’s what causes you to go home with a smile on your face.

I’m fortunate to work in a place where these days come frequently – weekly, not quarterly. At ACCION USA, our success comes from our clients, and you’ve probably seen our many client success stories. Read one, and you’ll see the power of matching a microloan with the entrepreneurial spirit. It’s exciting, and it’s inspiring.

What you might not see, though, is the added value of financial education – an element of ACCION USA’s service portfolio that makes us unique among microfinance organizations. Elements of our financial education program are weaved into each and every client success story. Whether the client attended a legal counseling workshop, used our online budgeting worksheet, or received a half-hour of technical assistance from a loan consultant, financial education is ever-present in our work.

One of our most recent success stories is a true testament to this service.

Greg’s journey with ACCION USA began in February 2009. He owns an answering service business and needed a loan to keep up with his growing list of clientele. When a damaged credit history and low credit score meant that he didn’t qualify for a loan, Greg demonstrated two characteristics that entrepreneurs tend to possess: persistence and a desire to learn. He contacted our Boston office, determined to understand how he could improve his credit history.

That call was the first of many. Throughout the next year, my colleague Melissa led Greg through the process of improving his score. With her guidance, Greg took control of his debt, improved his credit score over 60 points, and regularly called to check in with Melissa. And his hard work paid off: last month, Greg was approved for a loan.

Greg is proof that financial education can give hard-working, determined individuals the boost they need to realize their entrepreneurial dreams. And all I’m left to say is congratulations. Congratulations to Greg on his persistence and drive to grow his business. Congratulations to Melissa for her dedication.

And congratulations to all of ACCION USA’s supporters for helping connect them.  You make this all possible.

Micro-yoga is a 45 minute rejuvenating midday class full of stretching, deep breathing, and mind and body awareness techniques.

As a socially conscious nonprofit organization,  ACCION USA understands the value of healthy and happy staff. We had our first Micro-yoga class yesterday, and it was a delightful experience. We’re welcoming members of the public to the class—here are 5 great reasons to join us!

1. It’s low-cost! Your small donation for the class benefits ACCION USA
2. The serene 45 minute session gives you a major boost of energy and focus
3. It might be the only good reason you can find to step away from your desk
4. The inner peace you create during class cultivates good decision making
5. We’ll leave this fifth up to you to decide (feel free to comment)… Come and try is for yourself!

Check out www.accionusa.org/microyoga to learn more.

ACCION USA provides taxpayers with the financial education and resources they need to make smart, informed decisions about RALs.

And so it begins. Tax season. The time of year when tax prep software commercials sandwich prime time TV shows and your friends in the tax prep industry sleep on office couches. For many like myself, it’s another opportunity to procrastinate for four months and then spend my entire refund on priority mail.

Unfortunately, this time of year is also notorious for coercion and scheming, and the latest trend is in refund anticipation loans (RALs). A tax preparer may advertise these loans as “instant loans” or “instant refunds” – in reality, the only instant thing about them is the speed with which your real refund will shrink.

Here’s how it works: your tax preparer offers you a RAL; you accept the offer and sign a document, which is essentially a loan agreement authorizing the preparer to use your refund as a guarantee, with interest rates as high as 50-500% a year; the loan is (instantly!) approved; you walk away with fast cash but actually receive a significantly smaller refund; and the tax preparer makes one hefty profit.

Certainly, the tax prep industry provides a highly-demanded service for many, many people. But according to the Woodstock Institute, 8.67 million taxpayers received RALs in 2007. A RAL may very well have been an appropriate solution for some of these individuals, but I will venture to guess that they comprise only a small portion of that 8.67 million. What about the millions who are essentially handing over their hard-earned money? I believe the answer lies in education and empowerment.

ACCION USA’s financial education team is on top of this. We have already distributed an article addressing RALs, and we are featuring RALs in our online tip of the month. In addition to educating clients on the implications of refund anticipation loans, we also provide them with valuable resources, including smart alternatives to RALs, lists of free tax preparation locations (including our Miami, FL office), and helpful websites. These resources not only have the power to produce more informed taxpayers; but they also have the potential to mold a new generation of educated, responsible, and empowered consumers.

This type of generational change may not be instant – but in terms of the return, the investment is surely worth the wait.