97 - Village Bank: Arm in Arm with Business Owners

In this #poisedforexit episode, we caught up with Aleesha Webb, President of Village Bank. Aleesha has been on the show a couple of times in the past and always has great insight to share with you, our business owner audience, and this time was no exception. Aleesha said that business acquisitions have slowed down from her perspective and that there seems to be less "blue sky" in deal structure, with more collateral instead. Seller Carryback Notes are more common and when written properly can be quite beneficial for both parties. She said that a bank needs to know where the business is sitting financially at all times, in order to effectively advise them in the future, whether it's time to refinance, seek additional capital, pay off debt, or downsize expenses, a banker relationship for a business owner is vital. Having said that, we also talked about the overall team that a business owner needs to have in their corner when making big decisions to grow and expand. Aleesha said those businesses who have a strong financial team (both internal and external) to help the owners make sound decisions are the most successful and most well run of all their customers. Looking to the future, she said that inflation will drive new SBA loan programs for the smaller companies who seek that type of financing. Village Bank is writing more commercial real estate loans for its customers today; owners who sought larger space are buying vs leasing. Aleesha said that you should be able to ask your banker anything and share the whole picture without being afraid of them, because as your partner they want to help you succeed, which can only happen if they know the story! We would like to thank our sponsor for this week's episode: Village BankSunbelt AdvisorsFind Julie here: https://www.poisedforexit.comConnect with Julie Keyes, Keyestrategies LLCFounder, Consultant, Author, Pod-caster and Instructor