Denise Eldred
3028 Sundance Circle
Harker Heights, TX  76548
254-690-8140

Denise Eldred came into my office as a pre-venture.    She was just getting ready to retire from the army after twenty years of service, and she wanted to open a Jamaican Baker and Restaurant.  She had saved $25,000 and we calculated that to get started sufficiently she would  need another $20,000 to $25,000.  She met all the criteria to get this small loan.  She had money, excellent credit, and plenty of collateral.  On top of all that, she a well-written business plan and an excellent credit rating.  However, when she went to the back, they declined her request for a loan.

She and I had several counseling meetings at first on how to get the loan, and then we switched paths to figure out how to make the restaurant possibly run on less start-up money.  Realistically, we both knew that starting with $25,000 wasn’t going to make.  The banks were offering no real  help and I suggested the familiar back up plan of family and friends.  They came through with another $10,000, and Denise decided to go ahead.  

Her specialty restaurant opened using her grandmother’s recipes and business was fairly good and steady.  Then, when a neighboring business caught fire, the damage to her place forced her to move to a new location.   Using Reference USA, we found another location that would have the disposable income and the traffic to hopefully support her Jamaican eatery.  

She is still doing business today, wrapping up her first year.  Assistance has been provided to her for well over a year and continues to this day.    The overall effect of the counseling has provided her the confidence and knowledge to proceed into a new area, as well as how to establish pricing that customers could live with and that she could profit from.