One of the most memorable pitches, Nicholson remembered, was when Anibar Perez described how he started out selling his wife’s tamales door to door in his El Verano neighborhood in the Sonoma Valley.
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In every pitch, Nicholson and the La Luz microloan committee look for the passion and commitment at the heart of the business, plus the stories of the people who are driving the narrative. If they pass the first hurdle, they get a chance to pitch their business - it’s their “Shark Tank” moment, although not usually as dramatic. To streamline the process, a La Luz microloan coordinator walks applicants through each step, gathering bank statements and credit reports while helping them create a business plan, chart projections and describe exactly how they intend to use the loan proceeds.
They already believe in themselves, but now they can see that others believe in them.” ‘Shark Tank’ moment And we’re not giving them so much a life jacket as we’re giving them paddles, to keep going and to get there faster. “You have people who have already taken a lot of risk - they’ve already jumped off the diving board, so to speak, and they’re out there swimming. Instead, we are helping to accelerate people who already have a business,” he said. “But at La Luz, we aren’t a venture capital fund or a fund that is focused on inspiring people to become entrepreneurs. As a former New York private equity investor who now works as managing director for Sonoma Brands, overseeing lines such as KRAVE jerky, Guayaki Yerba Mate and Smashmallow, he’s accustomed to working with entrepreneurs looking to launch a business. “It is the rawest, truest form of entrepreneurship,” said Brian Nicholson, a La Luz board member who has served two years on the microloan committee. Since 2014, La Luz has issued 32 microloans totaling $807,500, boosting Sonoma Valley auto shops, restaurants, contractors, builders, landscapers and house cleaners while creating more than 150 jobs. That microloan allowed the couple to buy the equipment they needed to offer more services and hire two employees. He and his wife, Alison, have expanded their Sonoma Auto Spa business with mobile detail units and by adding customers in Marin County, too, washing every make and model from Hondas to Ferraris.īeyond the unintended motivation, what really solidified the small business was a $25,000 microloan last year from La Luz Center, the Sonoma Valley-based nonprofit that offers family services, economic advancement and other community resources. Two years later, Jimenez is no longer blindly knocking on doors. “I told myself, ‘OK, this is not going to stop me.’ And I used it as motivation.” Instead of firing back a reply, he took it as inspiration. What gives you the right to knock on my door?” Ivan Jimenez will never forget the time he knocked on a door to ask the homeowners if they wanted their car detailed and a woman told him, “Go back to Mexico.