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Monthly Archives

July 2017

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By Borrower Stories, CDFIs, CNote

Ingrid Murray – Prospect Cleaning Service – More than a loan, an investment in mutual success

Community lending – Helping small businesses grow

Running a small business is a huge challenge. Even with the best-laid business plan and capital to spare, if you want to follow the long road to success you are going to need some help. Be it financial planning or access to skilled employees, a small business’ ability to leverage this help is critical to surviving and growing. We spent time with Prospect Cleaning Service to learn more about their experience working with Pursuit, one of CNote’s CDFI partners. Read More

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By Small Businesses

Small Biz Story: MAFIA Bags, a small business with big ideas about sustainable design

MAFIA Bags is more than just a series of stylish, functional, and sturdy bags, totes, backpacks and accessories. It is a company which represents community and cohesiveness around two inspirational goals. To give new life to materials and to transform the way we do business.

Started in 2012 by brother and sister Marcos and Paz Mafia, MAFIA Bags began with an idea to upcycle used sails into backpacks. Their idea originated from the need for a durable backpack to carry their wetsuits while traveling to surfing locations around the world. And since day one, as they have perfected the design, MAFIA Bags has also fostered the tradition of community by bringing on friends and employing locally to scale the business. Even as the business has expanded from their hometown in Buenos Aires to a small rented garage in Outer Sunset and multiple locations around the world, MAFIA Bags has remained dedicated to maintaining its core values of sustainable design with minimal impact.

If you spend thirty minutes at their store in SoMa you will see this immediately. Your jaw will drop at the colorful variety of bags and totes hanging on the walls, which will make you doubt that these are made of upcycled materials. You will likely spend too much time exploring exhibits of past design collaborations with major brands like Airbnb, or you’ll marvel at the boxes of sails from around the world ready for assembly by any of their talented designers. It will be hard not to feel inspired.

For a small business based out of the bustling SoMa district in San Francisco, California, to continue their journey as a challenger brand may feel like a tall order. Yet, it is difficult to say that MAFIA has not lived up to the hype just yet.

Beginning with a successful Kickstarter campaign, MAFIA Bags has collaborated with many global brands. These include Patagonia, Sperry’s, Vans, the Stanford Design School and more local groups like SustainableSurf.org. On your next trip to Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Shibuya (Japan), San Francisco or London make sure to check out one of their retail locations where you can admire the innovative and stylish design. And if you don’t find yourself in any of these cities, you can check out each unique product line at one of their partner retail locations thanks to the past collaborations.

At the end of the day, amazing brands like MAFIA Bags give us hope that there is still opportunity for a small business to make an impact and grow through a sustainable business model. We thank the innovators at MAFIA Bags for leading the way.

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By Borrower Stories

Roberto Romeo – Michiko Studios – Giving Local Artists a Place to Create

Finding the space to create

While New York City is overflowing with artists and creatives, one thing the city is always short on is space. This is especially true for musicians who need rehearsal spaces that are both affordable and acoustically sound. That’s where Roberto Romeo (pictured) saw a tremendous opportunity to expand his small business and support the community of local musicians. Read More

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By CNote

Redesigning Finance in Detroit

An hour before my hotel alarm goes off, I’m thrown awake by a chorus of hammers, trucks and drills from the construction outside. Where am I? Right, Detroit. The city of a legendary decline and an even more legendary revival. I’ve heard enough “dark” stories to shape my groggy and not so pleasant image of this city – but it’s an image that will be shattered in just a few days.

About a month ago, CNote was invited to participate in the FinTech program sponsored by Village Capital and Paypal. The program focuses on supporting entrepreneurs creating innovative financial solutions for underserved communities and small businesses. It is in a perfect alignment with CNote and I was  excited for the opportunity to learn from other companies sharing a common mission to democratize finance. Detroit was chosen as a destination for the first program workshop. First skeptical of the choice, once we got there, it became clear why Detroit. On the way from the airport, we passed by urban farms – huge white greenhouses in once deserted parking lots at the borderline of downtown Detroit. Not exactly what I pictured about the city in dismay – I was intrigued.

compressed vilcap_1The next four days we spent together with other 11 companies, learning about the big problems each of us are solving, about huge numbers of underserved individuals and businesses seeking access to basic financial services, and solutions our companies are designing to correct the inequality. To say that it was inspiring is like saying Steve Jobs was just another businessman – each day after hours of intense discussions, hard questions, personal stories about what drives us and why we won’t stop, we left even more energized to work on what could change in the lives of millions.These are people who have been largely ignored by a massive unfeeling financial industry And yes, we are talking about millions…millions who don’t understand what they get charged in their medical costs, millions who can’t drive because they can’t get the car insurance, millions who don’t have emergency funds saved to start their lives after an earthquake, millions whose houses get damaged in the hurricanes, millions who are behind their financial goals, millions who don’t get access to capital to start their business, millions who became a victim of online fraud, millions who can’t pay expenses for the their families in their home countries…These are not just millions, but millions of individuals with their own goals, aspirations, desires, needs which must be respected and met no different from others who are more privileged. And that’s why Village Capital and PayPal brought us together in Detroit to help build the tools that will serve these faceless millions who have been overlooked too long.

As we were getting deeper and deeper into conversations about how broken the existing financial system is, and ways we intend to rebuild it to serve people and to proclaim financial inclusion and financial freedom, I suddenly had an “aha” moment – how symbolic it is to have these discussions in Detroit, the city that was brought down to its knees by human greed, the city that is being brought back to life by human faith, creativity and altruism. It takes a community to rebuild the city, so as the financial system. We could not be in a better company than 11 others in the Village Capital program. We at CNote are excited for what is to come, we hope you are too!

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By Borrower Stories

Fany Gerson – La Newyorkina – Seeing Opportunity When Others See a Challenge

Community Lender Helps Entrepreneur Grow Her Business

La Newyorkina is a place for handmade Mexican ice cream, paletas (ice pops), chamoyadas & other treats. It is also a fan favorite all around New York City. La Newyorkina is known for using unique flavors, fruits, and ingredients in its colorful paletas (Mexican popsicles). The journey to small business success wasn’t always sweet, but this story highlights just how integral a role community lenders can play in helping small businesses succeed, and the positive impact these loans can have on the communities they serve.
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