What Factors Help Position Your Business for Funding, a 20Fathoms Breakfast Lab

This Week at Breakfast Lab

Getting capital for your business is about more than checking a box. In this session, Chris Wendel of Venture North will walk through the traditional “5 Cs of Credit,” the foundation most lenders start from, and the other factors that actually move a lending decision one way or the other.

You’ll learn how to determine how much capital your business really needs, how to plan your cash flow around that number, and how to piece together a funding plan that draws on sources from inside and outside your business. Chris will also cover where that capital can come from right here in the Grand Traverse region, plus a quick look at how Venture North and other CDFIs can help.

We’ll Cover:

1. The traditional “5 Cs of Credit.” They’re a good foundation, but there are other factors that determine a lending decision.
2. Determining how much capital your business requires
3. Planning cash flow around those capital requirements (case study)
4. Solving the capital puzzle: piecing together a funding plan from inside and outside sources
5. Where capital comes from: funding options in the Grand Traverse region
6. A quick look at Venture North and CDFIs
7. Time for Q&A

About the Presenter

Chris Wendel is a Small Business Lender and Coach at Venture North, a mission-driven Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving Benzie, Leelanau, Grand Traverse, and Manistee counties.

Before Venture North, Chris worked as an advisor, lender, and relationship manager at Northern Initiatives, a CDFI based in Marquette, and served as a business consultant and regional director with the Michigan Small Business Development Center, where he focused on startups and food-related businesses. He also brings his own entrepreneurial background, having operated retail stores and published books.

Originally from western New York and a graduate of the University of Colorado, Chris now lives in Traverse City.