As a leader in small business banking and a proud supporter of Minnesota’s small business community, attending the Main Street Summit gave me a renewed perspective on how we can continue to help entrepreneurs thrive. My journey through banking has always been about more than just providing financial services—it’s about creating opportunities and building relationships that support long-term growth.
It was an honor to not only attend but also share our story and journey through banking acquisitions to improve our communities. The event attendees were a wide variety of businesses and people from all over the United States. These were leaders and active hustlers in their industries. The energy and drive of these Main Street business leaders was both inspiring and reassuring, and it resonated with the community in a meaningful way.
My Takeways from the Summit:
Leaning into Compassion, Health, and Faith
A recurring theme throughout the Summit was that while profit is a driver of business, it is often fueled by compassion, faith, and healthier living. From John Coleman's launch of the event on the discussion of the habits, mindsets, and values that can use money for a flourishing life, to Steve Cockram's discussion on 100X leaders, several speakers touched on how prioritizing personal well-being and faith has been a positive motivator for them and has helped them perform better.
Leading is more visual today. People have to want to follow you. Calibrating high support with high challenge is a core function of every leader in today's environment. Using a sherpa's mentality:
- Support and guide the people you lead through challenges and successes
- Detailed planning saves lives. Share your knowledge and your experience to develop new leaders.
- Growth and empowerment
- A healthier leader is a more effective leader
Being confident and authentic in who you are resonates with your team, with your family, and helps your company move forward in a genuine way where people are aligned on values, support, and goals.
Leveraging Automation and AI for Small Business Growth
It is no surprise that one of the Summit’s focuses was on how automation and AI are transforming industries. Wade Foster, co-founder of Zapier, shared valuable insights on how automation platforms and AI are enabling businesses to streamline processes, save time, and reduce costs—all critical for small businesses that are working with limited resources.
For our small business clients, these tools can significantly improve efficiency. Foster explained that many businesses, large and small, are still figuring out where to start, with suggestions like speeding up processes, handling client help desk questions, and even building disposable software. AI allows businesses to develop tools that address specific issues cost-effectively.
Foster’s story highlighted how workflow automation helps businesses stay lean while increasing productivity—a lesson we aim to bring into our small business lending and banking services. Zapier is an amazing story and I look forward to see how they use AI to continue to transform their business.
Humble Doers, not Empire Builders
Shegun Otulana’s journey of building a $1.25 billion company underscored the importance of leadership, innovation, and culture, especially in supporting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). One of the most valuable lessons he shared was how critical it is for leaders to create systems that empower their teams rather than acting as the hero themselves.
For us, this resonates deeply as we focus on building a banking culture that supports not only our own growth but also the growth of our small business clients. As Minnesota’s entrepreneurs navigate their own journeys, they need banking partners who not only provide financial resources like loans but also understand the value of investing in people and creating strong foundations for long-term success.
This message also bled into Jason Illian’s talk about focusing on legacy, not empire. Legacy lasts beyond us, while empires often crumble from within. For many small business owners, this idea is particularly relevant as many are deeply involved in every aspect of their businesses. It’s a reminder to think about how we approach our companies with a long-term perspective.
Illian’s framework for decision-making—focusing on shared values and aligned incentives—is crucial when working with small businesses on lending solutions. Every decision we make must be about creating value for our clients in the long run, ensuring that the loans and financial support we provide lead to sustainable, long-term growth.
Transforming Culture Through High-Trust Relationships
The story of Walker Lumber is an inspiring example of how trust and investment in people can completely transform a business. Scott McMillan and Ray Hayles shared their journey—turning around a toxic culture and building a successful business by focusing on high-trust relationships—mirrors our own belief that small business banking should be about more than just transactions. It’s about building lasting relationships.
The nationally renowned Second Chance Program allows people recovering from addiction and/or substance abuse to gain employment at their company. The compassion Ray and Scott shared on stage was moving but it doesn’t stop with just gainful employment. It’s engrained into the culture. The locker rooms are like NFL locker rooms. There is pride and respect for each other. Everyone works in the yard their first six months. As they said, “it takes everything” to run an operation like theirs, and that message of empathy and effort resonated deeply with me.
Cash is King
It is not surprising that I found value in the cash flow presentation by Mike Beckham from Simple Modern and David Segal from Firebelly Teas. I was already a fan of David Segal and his podcast, Big Shot.
Mike provided some key e-commerce thoughts as you are growing a business in today’s competitive marketplace. Growing a new tumbler brand required growth first through digital channels before their expansion to physical retailers. It’s not about selling in or on a digital platform, it’s about selling through to the end consumer. Lean into the data that Amazon provides to help support your product decisions because it is probably the largest set of data you will get as a retailer.
Using the data to get your product priced right supports the revenue, and both David and Mike spoke to my heart by advocating for a strong banking partnership. A good banking relationship can get you set up with Treasury Management offerings like sweeps and lines of credit to support a growing business.
Furthermore, to manage cash flow and maximize earnings consider setting up regular vendor meetings and lean into these relationships for terms to support you as you grow. A long-term partnership and relationship will allow for longer payment terms and trust between the organizations. You can build that trust through keeping a running tab of what you conservatively projected and how you delivered on those projections. Mike shared that he goes to China regularly to meet with his vendors, he was proud to state the company that made the first tumbler is making their 50 millionth one.
Lastly, monitor your inventory turns per SKU and project your cash flows out for six months with high/low estimates. This allows you to manage your offerings and manage your cash flow needs so that you can talk with your banking partner before you need cash.
Content Strategy and Relevance: Supporting Small Business Clients
There’s a shift from “content is king” to “relevance is king.” Nick Barr and John Hall shared some great lessons and ideas for small businesses trying to improve their content strategies.
Focus your content on what your business goals of your content? Using these goals then to establish your outreach to potential influencers or to build content strategies to get traction. Even after being in the business for many years, it is still difficult to understand what time of content will get the traction so test and iterate.
One item that I thought Nick made a great point on was to understand where the “town square” is for your audience. Today’s town square is changing and is different by community so understanding where people are spending their time and attention matters to your content strategy and your social outreach. He used the Instagram handle @therealfitfamelpaso as an example from his hometown where it’s a medium that people go to for their local news. His business, Tiny Boat Nation, was super interesting case study on using the social media and content marketing to drive sales to a boat company in El Paso, TX.
The other idea that I found very interesting was to use a tool like Microsoft Loop or Notion with your team as a repository of content ideas. Anyone on your staff can add and the goal is that when a client problem is identified that your company can serve write it down. It will provide a whiteboard of sorts so that your sales and marketing team have a starting point to build timely social and blog content for your small business.
Conclusion: Building Community for Long-Term Success
Reflecting on my speech at the Summit, I spoke about the power of community building—something our bank has always prioritized. It's about more than banking services; it's about fostering an ecosystem where entrepreneurs and small business owners can thrive. As a banking partner, we are committed to being part of that community, providing not just financial tools but also a network of support.
Building community means actively listening to the needs of small business owners, offering mentorship, and creating opportunities for collaboration. By doing this, we can help businesses not only survive but flourish, leaving a legacy of growth, trust, and success for future generations.
At the heart of it all, it’s about coming together as a community and creating lasting relationships that uplift and sustain each other. I commend Permanent Equity in their initiative to put the Main Street Summit on and accomplish these tasks in such a great and impactful way. A valuable experience and one that will continue to give back to the community every year. Thank you for allowing me to play a small part in this year's summit.
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