166 - Why Building Relationships With Your Bank Is Essential For Business Growth

Today's guest on this Scale Your Small Business episode is Paul Long, a business banking leader with 24 years of experience who works with business owners across Washington State. He is partnered with Gisa Credit Union (the second largest credit union in the state), where he is their SBA lending manager. His goal is to assist small businesses in restructuring their balance sheet, purchasing equipment, or acquiring another business. Here are the top takeaways from this episode: - Business owners are coming to the banker too late. They get themselves into a contract that they can't get out of and don't even know if they can get the loan or not.  - Be prepared financially and build a relationship with the banker before you need to do something large.  - A big obstacle to growing your business is too much debt. If you're thinking of growing, get out of the debt situation that you're in. In some cases you can do that, but in most cases it's not gonna work. To access the full video, show notes and resources from this episode, please visit https://scaleyoursmallbusiness.org/blog/.  If you have any comments or questions about the podcast, please connect with us using one of the options below: Website Link - https://www.jillianflodstrom.com Facebook Link -https://www.facebook.com/jillianflodstrom/ Instagram Link -https://www.instagram.com/jillianflodstrom/ Twitter Link - https://twitter.com/jflodstrom YouTube Link -https://www.youtube.com/c/JillianFlodstrom LinkedIn Link -https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillianflodstrom/ Pinterest Link -https://www.pinterest.com/jillianflodstrom/boards/ Clubhouse Link - jflodstrom