After getting some R&R, I had a three hour appointment with one of my favorite people–Dani.

Dani is the VP at Columbia Bank and handles all of our business banking. She is simply amazing! I never thought bankers could play this role; a role of helping you build vision, challenging you to think bigger, and then helping you make it all happen. Dani is this and so much more.

2008 for Me Ra Koh Photography is going to be crazy! We’ve had some big opportunities come knocking in the last few weeks, and as soon as I can spill the beans I will. But one of the first people I called is Dani. I want her to help me project in every way possible so we can maximize every bit of investment we make whether it’s our time or dollar. So yesterday, I brought every thing to the meeting from our personal budget to our business budget. We looked over every dollar that is spent and how it is spent.

Building a business is not only exciting but takes a ton of discipline and a team of people helping you. Our team is made up of our banker, Dani, our lawyer, our CPA and our bookkeeper. Dani challenged Brian and I with a couple of things and gave us both homework, and when I looked sad, she said “Me Ra, there’s no crying in banking!” 🙂 Your right Dani! There is no crying in banking! These are good challenges, challenges that help you grow!

The truth is I need a third party, someone that is not emotionally involved, to take a hard look at our numbers and make sure we are maximizing all our efforts. If I don’t do this, I’m spinning my wheels and losing time with Brian and the kids as well as money.

At the end of our time together, Dani told me that 66% of small businesses fail in the first two years. She sees this happen time and time again, and it’s for the same three reasons;

1. They don’t have a plan for their business.

2. They don’t understand cash flow.

3. OR, they have a plan for their business but they don’t work it out or have accountability to make that plan happen. (aka, someone like Dani to kick you in the rear if you aren’t maximizing your efforts)

One thing I challenged the women this weekend with was a five year plan. We laughed a little because some of them are just getting into taking portrait photos, but in all seriousness, you need a five year plan for your business. You need a five year plan where you dream big and out of the box. You need a banker that can support you either with good, sound counsel and/or direct capital. Maybe at first the banker can only give counsel and support, but it’s so good to build relationship with a banker so that when and if the times comes that you need to borrow money, you have a bank that believes in you and wants to help you succeed.

Dani and I tossed the idea around of putting our heads together and creating a Banking 101 Kit for people starting a small business. There is so much to know, and it’s not rocket science, but if you don’t know where to go for the info or how to get it, you can just feel lost. Anyone interested in a kit like this?

We have some other new 101 Kits coming out in the next few months, the Getting Published Kit and the Mom’s Survival Kit. But first we have a few trips to do. If you can believe this, our little family hits Vail, Vegas, LA and Thailand in the next five weeks! 🙂

Back to today’s blog…

It’s still January. If you have a small business of any kind, call up your local commercial bank and set up a time to introduce yourself and see if you can learn more about cash flow, projections, and budgeting. You won’t regret it! It’s one of the best things we’ve done–by far!

Tomorrow I’ll post all the photos from this weekend’s workshop! Yeah!! Wait till you see!

And thanks Dani! I just love you!