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small business owners

Think investing is all about personal gain? Think again.

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Like so many immigrants, Leanna Wilson's parents came to America following the "American Dream."

Her father owned a small bakery in his homeland of Jamaica, but when the family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, their dream of a successful business didn't pan out exactly as they had hoped.

Leah Smith, Wilson's cousin, also has small-business roots, although her parents chose to stay in Jamaica. And despite being gutsy entrepreneurs, they never managed to thrive financially either.

But this didn't stop Wilson and Smith from growing and deciding to follow in their parents' entrepreneurial footsteps and become business partners.

Wilson and Smith. Photo courtesy of the Rockefeller Foundation/Upworthy.

"I don’t know when it is that we decided to start a business," Wilson says. "I think we always knew. Maybe it’s just in the blood."

They started a small company called GroupOut — a dining concierge service that helps groups navigate party and event planning in the often spatially constricted New York City.

Their joint backgrounds in corporate event planning, finance, and design helped Wilson and Smith's business take off, and soon enough, they were turning a profit.

[rebelmouse-image 19398057 dam="1" original_size="808x526" caption="Photo via GroupOut, used with permission." expand=1]Photo via GroupOut, used with permission.

Suddenly, they were presented with a problem they'd never imagined — what should they do with the excess money? Enter impact investing.

Simply put, impact investing allows investors to focus their capital on causes or organizations that create social change while still seeing a return on their investment, just like they would with any other investment. For socially conscious individuals like Wilson and Smith, it's a win-win.

"We always wanted GroupOut to have a social impact," Wilson explains. "We’ve struggled with finding the right way to do it."

Wilson and Smith are not alone in their desire to put their money toward a better world.

According to a survey by the United States Treasury, millennials are choosing to invest in organizations and projects that prioritize the greater good more than any generation before them. Not only are they simply more driven by activism, many are still struggling with things like student debt and shrinking job pools, so they're less trusting of traditional investment practices.

Young women making art at the YWCA Chicago. Photo courtesy of the YMCA/Rockefeller Foundation.

It's likely the reason why they're interested in having their investment dollars focus on causes that align with nonprofits like the YWCA and NAACP, whose mission is to empower women and eliminate racism.

That's where Impact Shares came in for Wilson and Smith.

Impact Shares is a nonprofit financial advisor that helps people invest in companies that are aligned with the social causes they care about because they partner with nonprofits — such as the YWCA and NAACP — to create a financial portfolio of socially responsible companies. This provides an incentive for companies included in that portfolio to continue to be an engine for progress and it creates a roadmap for others to do the same

It also directly benefits nonprofits, like the YWCA and NAACP, financially too. When investing, there is management fee that usually goes to Wall Street, but with Impact Shares, that fee goes back to the nonprofits as a charitable contribution.

Photo courtesy of the Rockefeller Foundation/Upworthy.

This makes Impact Shares a win-win-win for all parties concerned.

"Impact Shares is putting forth a new model for the next generation of finance," Adam Connaker, Senior Program Associate in Innovative Finance and Impact Investing at The Rockefeller Foundation, writes in an email. "One where investors can partner with leading nonprofits to give them a voice on corporate citizenship."

"Other Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) ETFs (Exchange Trade Funds) have made small charitable contributions, but this one goes to the next level by engaging the non-profits deeply and giving them the entire net management fee as a donation to support the incredible work they do on behalf of vulnerable populations," he continues.

Members of the YWCA Chicago. Photo courtesy of the YMCA/Rockefeller Foundation.

The YWCA ETF launched on August 27th and NAACP's was formally listed on July 18th for any other investors who might be interested in making an impact on women's empowerment.

If this is the future of investing, the world is in for some major improvements in social good organizations big and small.

For more on Wilson and Smith's story, check out the video below:

These millennial entrepreneurs want to invest their hard-earned money while also using it to make a social impact.
Posted by Upworthy on Friday, November 30, 2018

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Plenty of obstacles get in the way of new businesses. She overcame them all.

True

30 years ago, Jane Goh did something bold and relatively rare: She started a new business while raising her young family. It was a risk she had to take.

It was 1987, and business in Singapore and Malaysia was booming. It didn't matter what they were selling; these new upstart businesses all needed promotional materials — and Goh knew it. Even though she'd just started raising her young family, this opportunity wouldn't wait. She founded the RJ Paper company.

For the past 30 years, the company has served Singapore and Malaysia’s creative class, providing them with tools to promote their own businesses and create their own projects. This includes everything from print materials to packaging to custom manufacturing.

50 Colours have arrived.. 🌈 #colorplan
A photo posted by RJ Paper SG (@rjpapersg) on Apr 28, 2016 at 6:10pm PDT

In the past few years, she’s pushed her company toward sustainable paper offerings, choosing to work exclusively with paper mills and suppliers approved by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international certification recognizing responsible management of the world's forests.

Goh's forward-thinking leadership, coupled with her eager mentorship of local Singaporean artists and creatives, are two of three ways she set herself apart from other entrepreneurs.

The third, and most important to her, is her family.

Goh says her children and seven grandchildren are the greatest achievement of her life. By placing work and family at the center of everything she does, Goh is able to balance both. Two generations of her family have grown up with the company, and one of her daughters works alongside her every day.

Being an entrepreneur is a tremendous risk — there are long hours, huge financial burdens, and heaps of uncertainty. But for female entrepreneurs, the risks are even greater.

The International Finance Corporation's 2011 report on female entrepreneurship in the developing world studied the social, economic, and financial factors that limit the success of women in business. It revealed that about one-third of all small and very small companies are owned by women.

A gift from the Temasek Poly Design Show 2016. Thank you for all the continued support. #designshow #design #temasekpoly #interstingpeoplecreateinterestingwork
A photo posted by RJ Paper SG (@rjpapersg) on Apr 13, 2016 at 7:02pm PDT

This isn’t a surprising figure. Women-owned business in developing countries often remain small, or are restricted to the home, as their owners attend to other priorities like managing their household or raising children.

The study also found that educational opportunities are still geared more toward male students, making it harder for women to learn the necessary skills to run a successful company. Even when women overcome those challenges, the study revealed that getting funding remains a huge barrier. Should they be able to get a loan at all, female entrepreneurs are much more likely to receive less money, face higher interest rates, and have to pay it back much sooner.

All of these are potential deal breakers for a new business. The confidence to push past them makes Goh’s story even more remarkable.

Every single one of the issues confronting female entrepreneurs today was even more prevalent 30 years ago. To face them with a clear mind and an open heart and to come out three decades later with a successful business and a thriving family is an incredible achievement.

For her part, Goh says she never wavered in her belief that everything would work out. She gives the following advice: "Work hard and have persistence. That is more than half the battle won."

With her past haunting her, this small-business owner was struggling. Until Marcus came along.

True

Small businesses keep this country afloat; over 50% of U. S. workers are employed by them.

And this is where Marcus Lemonis, aka "The Profit," comes in. He identifies small businesses that are in trouble and then helps them get their act together by investing in and owning part of the companies and — most importantly — by taking control and turning them into viable, profitable entities.

One such business named The Blue Jean Bar had up to 13 stores around the country at one point, but many of them floundered. So the owner, Lady Fuller, trimmed them down to three.

You'll discover, as she relates to Marcus in the clip below, her mother died at age 43 — when Lady was 9 years old — of suicide.

Lady, now age 40, is concerned she's going to be a failure by that same age, and it's coloring all of her actions as she runs the business.

“My mother passed away when I was 9, and she took her own life. She left me money, and I wanted to do something with her money that paid homage to her. …. She killed herself when she was 43. … I always felt like, that this business would be so successful by the time I reached her age."

Marcus sees her potential and that of the business itself, but he also sees her looking through the rear-view mirror at haunting failures and sadness, and he needs to help her look at the road ahead.

It's the kind of thing he does regularly on "The Profit," and he handles it deftly as he helps pull her out of the tailspin — but only after some growing pains, tears, and pushback from Lady.

The final transformation of their flagship store is remarkable, as is that of Lady herself.

Starting a small business takes guts, determination, and every bit of resilience that human beings have.

And the numbers show how they pay off. Here are some interesting statistics on small businesses to consider (for more, check out this post):

In 2012, 36% of small-business ownerswere women.
As of 2013, small businesses had created over 65% of new jobs since 1995.
There were, in 2013, nearly 28 million small businesses in the United States.
An estimated $68 of each $100 spent in a business returns to the local economy.

Let's all try to appreciate that and support them in our communities — shall we?

small business owners

Think investing is all about personal gain? Think again.

Like so many immigrants, Leanna Wilson's parents came to America following the "American Dream."

Suddenly, they were presented with a problem they'd never imagined — what should they do with the excess money? Enter impact investing.

Wilson and Smith are not alone in their desire to put their money toward a better world.

That's where Impact Shares came in for Wilson and Smith.

Trying for that work-life balance? This grandmother and entrepreneur has it figured out.

Plenty of obstacles get in the way of new businesses. She overcame them all.

30 years ago, Jane Goh did something bold and relatively rare: She started a new business while raising her young family. It was a risk she had to take.

Goh's forward-thinking leadership, coupled with her eager mentorship of local Singaporean artists and creatives, are two of three ways she set herself apart from other entrepreneurs.

Being an entrepreneur is a tremendous risk — there are long hours, huge financial burdens, and heaps of uncertainty. But for female entrepreneurs, the risks are even greater.

All of these are potential deal breakers for a new business. The confidence to push past them makes Goh’s story even more remarkable.

With her past haunting her, this small-business owner was struggling. Until Marcus came along.

Small businesses keep this country afloat; over 50% of U. S. workers are employed by them.

You'll discover, as she relates to Marcus in the clip below, her mother died at age 43 — when Lady was 9 years old — of suicide.

The final transformation of their flagship store is remarkable, as is that of Lady herself.

Starting a small business takes guts, determination, and every bit of resilience that human beings have.

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