Finding & Funding the Right Fit

Sarah Beth knew she wanted to build her own Estate Planning law practice and serve her clients the way NLBM taught but she had no idea how she would fund the venture.

“One of the biggest and most terrifying aspects of launching my practice directly out of law school was determining how I would fund my practice. To put it in perspective, I had never had a consistent job, because I had always been in school, so I did not have any consistent income history.

I was terrified of debt and had never even applied for a credit card. The only debt I had was my student loans. My credit score was in the mid-600s. To say the least, I knew I was not a great candidate for a business loan.”

Sarah Beth used NLBM’s coaching to shift her mindset around money so that she can start seeing the solutions that were available to her.

“Ultimately, I just followed the instructions provided in the NLBM materials to fund my practice. The first thing I did was get my mind right. I had a lot of negative feelings and fear about money that I needed to work through.

So, I looked at what I did have… I had some savings from working in law school and graduation gifts, which totaled about $4,000.

I also had an incredible support system. My partner had been providing for our needs previously and was willing to continue to do so while I launched my practice. By doing this, my immediate financial need for personal expenses was zero. 

By minimizing my personal expenses, I could put everything I had into my business. I was also fortunate enough to have a mother who could give me a loan of $6,000. I went to her under the guidance of Ali and the NLBM training materials.”

In addition to helping Sarah Beth transform her mindset and leverage the resources she already had, NLBM also gave her practical tools and training to successfully secure funding from outside sources. 

“Next, I created a business plan and used the cash flow forecast to determine my initial start-up costs and when I expected to see a profit. I used these documents once I started reaching out to banks for funding.

When I started to seek funding, I targeted local, community banks and credit unions. Initially, I contacted four banks and two business funding companies. The business credit companies said no simply because my credit score was so low, and because I had no real credit history. The banks, either via email or call, said no very quickly because I could not show at least 2 months of income history.

I was disheartened; however, I still had several outstanding bank applications..  

The fifth and final bank that I applied to contacted me a couple of weeks later and asked for a one-on-one meeting. I went in and discussed my business plan and my ultimate goals, then left with no determinative answer.

About a week and a half later, the loan office and senior vice president of that local bank gave me a call and said that although I had no real experience and could not show any income history, he was approving my line of credit request in full, unsecured, and with no cosigner.

I could not believe it. He told me that he recognized it as a risk but that after meeting with me, he could tell how passionate I was about my work and that he thought I would greatly serve our community. 

He said he thought ultimately, I would succeed, so he was willing to take a leap of faith with me and that he was happy to be a part of it. I received my business loan in January and launched [my law practice] on February 1st, 2023.”