INDEPENDENT NEWS

Corey's Story of starting a business

Published: Mon 14 Aug 2006 12:08 AM
One Borrower’s Story...
Corey Barron, ex-borrower of Just Dollars, shares his story of going into business...
Four years ago I had the idea of Adfence (temporary fencing and outdoor advertising at domestic and commercial building sites). After doing as much research into the ‘idea’ as I could possibly do, I just went for it. My first client was a mortgage broker who thought the idea was great as it was just the outdoor advertising product he was looking for - promoting his home loans on our fences that surrounded the building sites of new homes.
What made it great for me was it was my first cold call. How many times do you go out there and get a sale from your first cold call? Hardly ever!
That’s when I realised that the best form of research was actually going out there and selling the Adfence concept and seeing if it would work. After about 4 months I had 5 clients and things were looking very positive.
The research had worked and more importantly I had created a low but stable turn over on a set up budget of zero.
With everything looking so positive I went to the bank that I had been with for over 25 years for some financial assistance. I didn’t own a home, had no savings due a just completed OE, had a $1500.00 visa debt that was being paid off, but before my OE had a good employment history of earning and saving money. The result was the bank were not interested in my business idea let alone giving me any type of loan…. and all I required was $3000.00.
I was considered too high risk as my business was a new concept and I had no asset backing, even though I could show that the business was already earning money. The bank considered that it would be better if I started a business venture that had already been tried and tested such as opening a new café or shoe shop or burger bar! That’s right, a business that I had no idea about, had no passion for, and had countless competitors.
I’m not saying opening a café or shoe shop is a bad idea, I just couldn’t understand why a bank wouldn’t embrace a new idea and instead steer you down the road to starting a business in a competitive market.
So what do you do if you’ve got a great idea that works, has proved it can earn you an income but you just need a little bit of cash and maybe some assistance. Well I was lucky, or so I thought. Once again on the television I saw a business mentor scheme advertised that helps new and established businesses by getting ideas and assistance from external help. Great I thought… it would be good to speak to a business person to point me in the right direction with my new venture.
Upon further investigation I discovered that you had to have been in business for more than 6 months before you could access the mentor scheme.
As I didn’t fit this criteria, it was back to the drawing board.
I still believe the mentoring system is a great resource. There are probably reasons why they don’t assist people in that first 6 months but don’t discount it, as one thing I have found useful when starting up your own business is getting good advice, and if its free then it’s a bonus!
I then came across a brochure promoting the Just Dollars loan scheme. I soon had a meeting, applied for my required $3000.00, provided a sound business plan and an invoice for products for which the loan was required. No fuss or delay and straight to the point of getting the funds to which I soon had $3000.00 worth of stock and Adfence was on its way - thanks to Just Dollars!
Adfence is now a financially successful business in Christchurch that employs a full time staff member and another on contract. In June 05 Adfence began operating in Auckland with Hamilton and Tauranga to open in October 05 and looking at the possibility of Wellington at the end of 2006. By mid next year we should have 4 branches and have 6 – 7 people involved in the business.
Adfence
www.adfence.co.nz
From Just Dollars News Volume 13 Issue 1 August 2006
About Just Dollars…
Just Dollars is a Canterbury based community organisation set up in 1992 that exists to achieve positive social outcomes by providing small business loans (up to $10,000) to help people generate income and employment.
www.justdollars.org.nz
ENDS

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