Latino Business Committee Learns About Credit, Preparation For Business

Glauco Ortolana said that many Latinos in Northeast Arkansas are chasing the American Dream.

About a dozen prospective Latino business owners spent Wednesday to learn how to start a business during a meeting of the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce Latino Business Committee.

“It is about the pursuit of happiness,” Ortolana, who wants to open a language school that will teach second languages to people. “A lot of people come to America because of it.”

As for his business idea, Ortolano said it will give him an opportunity to build something from the ground up.

“Although I am still learning the ropes in regards to opening a business and nothing is set in stone yet, I am considering my own language school so that I can become more independent on making decisions concerning curriculum design, policies, assessment and other aspects pertaining to language centers,” Ortolano said. “I also believe if such a business plan is well implemented, it could be financially rewarding as well.”

The committee was created earlier this year to help Latino-based businesses navigate the proverbial mine field on issues, ranging from starting a business to understanding credit scores.

Laura Miller, the center director for the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, and Rusty Guinn, who owns the Credit Bureau of Jonesboro, spoke to the group about ways to build a strong business.

Miller said the opportunity to start a business takes a lot of planning, from understanding your market to paying the tax man.

The center, which works out of the Arkansas State University College of Business, offers training, research and consulting help for prospective businesses.

Miller brought up two examples involving food – ice cream and building a drive-thru restaurant – to make her case for starting a new business.

She said a person who wants to open an ice cream shop has to first find out who the customers are. From there, the market might be inundated with other shops, restaurants and grocery stores. Also, there may be people who cannot eat ice cream due to their health or even may not like the summer treat, Miller said.

Miller then brought up an example of the drive-thru restaurant.

“You have to learn to meet the needs. There was a guy I know who wanted to open up a drive-thru. He found out many of his customers drove pick-up trucks. So he decided to build a drive-thru big enough for a pick-up truck to go through,” Miller said.

Miller also suggested that people interested in opening a business should develop a business plan before starting and also need to hire an accountant and tax attorney to deal with tax issues. There are many online sources for people to get additional information, Miller said.

Ortolano said he believes the location for his business – Jonesboro – is perfect.

“Jonesboro could be the ideal place for this venture – a college town which is growing rapidly and with a reasonable influx of international students that are attracted to here due to the lower cost of living and a fast growing university,” Ortolano said.

CREDIT HUGE
Guinn spoke to the group about credit.

He said those interested in starting a business need to look at their credit history first before going to a bank for a loan.

A credit report will provide a banker enough information to know about the person’s credit worthiness, Guinn said.

The report will show everything from bankruptcy filings to tax liens, not to mention paying bills like credit card payments on time.

He suggested that people pay their bills, especially bills tied to some sort of loan like a car payment, before the day they are due as well as paying all credit card bills by the first of the month. Guinn said most credit companies and banks look at a person’s record for the past two years and will compare it to one year in the future to decide whether or not to loan money or credit.

Guinn said federal law allows people to get a free credit check each year and that people should use that check to look for errors in the reports.

Ortolana, who is originally from Brazil and immigrated to the United States when he was in college, said working to establish credit is one of the best obstacles that businesses, especially Latino businesses, have on a daily basis.

Ortolana said Latinos are an entrepreneurial, hard working group of people.

“It is a matter of self-fulfillment to build a business as well as seeing a benefit,” Ortolana said. “Even if you do not reap the benefit all at once, you do see an opportunity for growth.”