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meet the business owners
ECONOMIC FORCES CAN SHAPE PERCEPTION
BANKS’ LATEST COMPETITION: TECH COMPANIES
VENTURE CAPITAL’S INCREASING APPEAL
All of this makes it crucial for financial services marketers to really understand the small business audience. They’re up against a host of perceptions and alternatives, but at the end of the day these owners want good customer service, technological convenience and someone to recognize their potential. Banks can offer all these things, and it’s up to marketers to communicate these benefits in a compelling and engaging way. The result could be a boon to banks, the businesses themselves and the economy at large.
Venus Quates, founder of Alabama-based tech company LaunchTech, is proof.
MASSIVE OPPORTUNITY FOR BANKS AND BUSINESSES
Banking on Small Business
CELEBRATING SMALL BUSINESS MONTH 2024
Five business owners explain why banks are in a unique position to help small businesses thrive
Schedule a free strategy brainstorm with our team by emailing imprint@imprintcontent.com or completing the contact form here.
Ready to build more meaningful relationships with your small business owner audience?
Lorem Sipsum
Dan Joe
Tom Jane
Lauren Alfred
Sean Blane
Averien Turner
Humble Clothing
Fashion
employees
PHOENIX, AZ
2007
FOUNDed in
2
Full-time
2
Part-time
BUSIEST MONTH
August
SLOWEST MONTH
June
Based in
MOST POPULAR ITEM
Unisex t-shirts
“Head Over Heels” Riesling
MOST POPULAR ITEM
BUSIEST MONTH
February
SLOWEST MONTH
August
Part-time
8
Full-time
1
employees
2014
FOUNDed in
Based in
CHICAGO, IL
Love Cork Screw
Wine maker, supplier
Chrishon Lampley
Space to connect
MOST POPULAR ITEM
BUSIEST MONTH
May/October
SLOWEST MONTH
August/December
Part-time
2
Full-time
4
employees
2010
FOUNDed in
Based in
NEW YORK, NY
Arrive
In-person fitness and training
Jared Kaplan
Cookies
MOST POPULAR ITEM
BUSIEST MONTH
December
SLOWEST MONTH
January
Part-time
5
Full-time
5
employees
2020
FOUNDed in
Based in
SEATTLE, WA
Bite Society
Packaged food and snacks
Lendy Hensley
IT Infrastructure Modernization and support
MOST POPULAR ITEM
BUSIEST MONTH
Every month
SLOWEST MONTH
Not applicable
Part-time
7
Full-time
35
employees
2016
FOUNDed in
Based in
Huntsville, AL
LaunchTech
Cybersecurity and tech
Venus Quates
Understanding this audience can inform messaging that better resonates. These business owners consider customer service to be the most important factor overall — far more than a convenient location, low fees and online banking capabilities.
Before Love Cork Screw founder Chrishon Lampley became the wine mogul she is today, she ran an art and wine bar in Chicago. Her relationship with her bank then was “complicated,” as she puts it, and soured her on banking in general. She’s since gravitated to venture capital for her financial needs. Why?
“They feel like true partners,” Lampley says.
It’s important for institutions to factor in business owners’ fierce sense of self-reliance. This attitude drives them to do their own research and identify ways to reduce friction in their day-to-day lives. All of this is not to mention that small business owners have more financial options than ever.
As a result, they are turning to one-stop technology vendors who can provide webhosting, invoicing, shipping labels, POS systems and whatever else they might need. Many of these vendors now offer loans and lines of credit, as well — their access to business data can give them unique insights into their needs.
Source: FederalReserve.gov
Average business loan
Average Small Business Administration-backed loan
$593,000
$53,000
Which bank features are “very important” to business owners?
Source: National Federation of Independent Business
Customer service
87%
of small business owners turned to online lenders in 2022.
32%
Source: Fundera.
Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Percentage of business owners who expect revenues to increase over the next year
Jared Kaplan
Arrive In-person fitness and training
Based in: New York, NY
Founded in:
2010
Humble Clothing Company Fashion
Based in: Phoenix, AZ
Founded in:
2007
Averien
Turner
Love Cork Screw Wine maker, supplier
Based in: Chicago, IL
Founded in:
2014
Chrishon Lampley
Bite Society Packaged foods and snacks
Based in: Seattle, WA
Founded in:
2020
Lendy Hensley
LaunchTech Enterprise IT and IT Security
Based in: Huntsville, AL
Founded in:
2020
Venus Quates
Small businesses drive the U.S. economy. Many of them depend on access to capital, credit and other financial services for growth — and banks are in a unique position to fuel that growth. However, businesses’ relationships with their banks can change over time as economic factors ebb and flow.
Jared Kaplan owns and operates a studio in New York City for health and wellness professionals who offer everything from physical therapy to Pilates and yoga.
“There were times when getting capital or a line of credit were relatively easy, then there were times when no matter what you did you just weren’t going to pass muster,” he said. “[Small business owners] know the reality: Change is constant.”
Banks that closely monitor these perceptions will have the biggest advantage in growing market share with this audience. For example, misconceptions about how bankers view them can hold business owners back from initiating a relationship.
Averien Turner started Humble Clothing Brand out of his trunk 18 years ago. Since then he’s opened a brick-and-mortar location and created a thriving e-commerce business, though banks haven’t played much of a role along the way.
“When it comes to banks, I understand that you have to have a bank account. But when it comes to the relationship it’s a little tougher, especially depending on your business.
Convenient location
66%
Online banking capabilities
66%
Low fees
62%
Competitive interest
rates
53%
1 CNN Money
Source: FederalReserve.gov
Economic pressures can have a dramatic impact on small businesses’ need for financing.
40%
20
0
-20
-40
-60
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2020*
2021
2022
2023
2024
50
40
60
70
80%
*More surveys were completed in the early months of the pandemic than in subsequent years.
2 Kansas City Federal Reserve
3 Financial Brand
4 Lendio
The five owners above give an undeniable voice to the
67%
Economic slowdown
Great Financial
Crisis
Covid-19 pandemic
For banks that are trying to build relationships with this audience, the right content can go a long way in convincing them to take that next step in their journey — whether it be booking an appointment, opening an account or simply contacting a representative for more information.
small businesses across the country with similar challenges, needs and goals.
33.1 million
Demand for small business loans
The wind is at bankers’ backs — SBOs feel overwhelmingly positive about the future.
Emerging from COVID-19 pandemic
FACTS
FACTS
FACTS
FACTS
FACTS
“We know the reality: Change is constant.”
“I feel like i’m not a cash cow.”
Fighting for their share
Only 20% of business loans in 2023 went to small businesses — and they were dramatically smaller than the average business loan.
“Venture capitalists feel like true partners.”
“I think I’ve turned to everyone but a loan shark.”
“The relationship we have now is fantastic.”
For example, from 2005 to 2008 total small business lending rose by more than $100 billion before steadily declining over the next five years.1 Similarly, small business lending spiked during the pandemic then dropped precipitously over the course of 2023.2 This leads to shifting perspectives of banks among business owners.
OWNERS CAN FEEL TOO SMALL TO MATTER
I do a clothing company with a clothing store, and it can be up and down. So I feel like I’m not a cash cow,” Turner said. “But ultimately small businesses make this world turn, so I feel that we’re very important.”
“Banks tend to stay away from marketing dollars. If you’re just financing development, but I’m a developed business already, then there’s really nothing you can do for me then in that sense. But that’s probably just my experience, and I feel like that can change.”
“I have a banker that understands the kind of business we’re in, and they’re well versed in the space. It has taken out a multitude of bottlenecks and pain points,” Quates said. “The relationship we have now is fantastic.”
After Lendy Hensley’s Seattle catering company ground to a halt during the pandemic, she and her cofounder pivoted the business into an e-commerce shop of consumer-packaged goods. She was surprised to learn the company that hosts her website and process payments also offered small business loans.
“I think I’ve turned to every source except maybe somebody in an alley who was an actual loan shark,” Hensley said. “Now the platform we built our site on can loan me money faster than a bank can with a lot less fuss. They’re more nimble.”