Ken Dawson, founder and president of Creditor’s Income, began his home based business in November of 2012 after recovering from a major illness and loss of his job. Using his 12 years of experience in consumer credit and collections when he was a Vice President of Wachovia Bank in Charlotte, NC, Ken decided to use his talents to assist small businesses with their credit and collection needs.
In early May of 2014, Ken landed a large contract with a Canadian company to service the collection needs of a number of small business chains in the US. He realized the time had come to expand the company, locate in a commercial property, and begin adding staff. He came to the SBDC to seek assistance with securing a working capital loan and help with his business plan. He met with SBDC staffer, Diane Arnold, to review his plan, clarify his funding needs, and discuss which lender might be the right partner for his business. Upon contacting a regional micro lender to see if this project was one they would be interested in funding; Ms. Arnold was able to schedule an appointment for Mr. Dawson to meet with them on May 29 to present his proposal. Afterwards, Mr. Dawson and Ms. Arnold worked to gather the additional information required for the loan package and submit to the lender.
On June 27, Mr. Dawson came to the SBDC offices to meet with the bankers and close his loan. This funding enabled him to begin planning for his expansion which includes a suite of professional offices in Gretna, equipment purchases, new software, and funding to hire 1.5 new employees. Having the professional office space, the new software, and additional help allows him to execute the big Canadian contract and position his business to hire 10 additional people within a 2 year time frame. His grand opening for the business is planned for August 4.