November Monthly Message from the FDIC
National Entrepreneurship Month is observed every November. Starting and owning a business has always been a key path to the American Dream — a way to build wealth, serve your neighbors, and leave a mark in a community and on the world. During National Entrepreneurship Month, we celebrate the doers, dreamers, and job creators, whose vision and grit fuel our economy and capture the essence of America.
If you are planning on teaching Money Smart sessions that will include people who are thinking about starting a small business or want to learn more, please consider using the following resources:
- Money Smart for Small Business | FDIC (MSSB) is an instructor-led curriculum that introduces topics related to starting and managing a business.
- Small Business Topics | FDIC provides information that may be of interest to organizations and financial institutions working with small businesses.
Join us on social media using the #FDICMoneySmart and show us the Money Smart products in action!
Money Smart and Minority Entrepreneurship
According to a U.S. Census Bureau report, the U.S. has 27.2 million non-employer businesses, or businesses without paid employees. American Indian or Alaska Native-owned firms only accounted for 1.2 percent of non-employer businesses. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander-owned firms only accounted for 0.3 percent of non-employer businesses.
If you are interested in helping minority-owned businesses grow or start up, then teaching Money Smart for Small Business | FDIC (MSSB) is for you! MSSB was developed jointly by the FDIC and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) The curriculum is a tool for bank-community partnerships. No certifications are required to use the curriculum. Ideally, MSSB instructors have experience in the delivery of training, technical assistance, or coaching to small businesses.
MSSB and was designed to be delivered to aspiring or existing small business owners by staff from financial institutions, small business development centers (SBDCs), women's business centers, city/county economic development offices and members of the Money Smart Alliance | FDIC. A list of members may be helpful to find available training and assistance near you, although the list does not include all of the organizations that use Money Smart.
If your students are considering opening a small business, they should know something about personal credit, too. Good refresher courses on personal credit can be found in How Money Smart Are You? and Money Smart for Adults | FDIC. The modules on Borrowing Basics, Credit Reports and Credit Scores, Managing Debt, and Using Credit Cards are all important on a small business journey.
The U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency may be a great resource for you. It is the only federal agency solely dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of minority business enterprises. They have specific projects in various states that support native growth by innovation, transformation, and strategic planning.
The Business Guide of the SBA is also a good resource. Under their “Grow Your Business” section, they have special topics for Native American-owned businesses and Minority-owned businesses.
Small businesses are an important part of the U.S. economy and an important way for minorities to provide financial stability to their families. Money Smart for Small Business and professionals who teach it can help small businesses open and grow.
Please consider sending a success story on your Money Smart financial education sessions to small business owners to MoneySmartNews@fdic.gov. We look forward to highlighting your programs in a future edition of this newsletter. Please include any tips you may have based on your use of the material. Pictures (ideally ones that do not show participants’ faces) are also welcome.
Other relevant resources:
U.S. Department of the Treasury: State Offices for Minority and Women Business Enterprises
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Resources for Small Businesses
U.S. Department of the Treasury: Small Business Resources
Success Story
“If you love the economic development part of your job, you just never turn it off,” said Jennifer Johnson, Director of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Trinity Valley Community College.
While she had been a Director for an SBDC for years, Ms. Johnson began looking for financial literacy to help further educate her community during Covid. She looked at several small business financial literacy programs, including one that was not free. “I chose Money Smart because of the ease of delivery. The participants’ guide takes the burden off the presenter. And that the FDIC and the Small Business Administration (SBA) collaborated on the program makes it a value I trust.”
Ms. Johnson uses Money Smart for Small Business in a number of ways. The Summer Event series uses Money Smart modules for one hour every week for eight weeks. She also teaches Money Smart once a month to Chamber of Commerce members. And, she has taken her Money Smart and economic development to a high school entrepreneur class to find out what kind of businesses young students might want to start.
The ease of use was a selling point of Money Smart for Johnson. “I didn’t even take a Train the Trainer course until last year. I just read the guide and started teaching.” The adaptability was another reason she chose Money Smart. For example, Johnson sometimes combines the insurance and risk assessment modules. And, she often brings in experts to help her, like insurance agents for the insurance module and SBA lenders to talk specific loans.
“I try to request two or three experts. That way the attendees have a choice and I don’t look like I am endorsing one particular company over another.”
When asked about what advice she would give other Money Smart attendees or instructors, Johnson was quick to say “Reach out to the SBDC closest to you. You can find it by zip code. We are motivated and we want to help businesses in our communities thrive. Our services are free.”
Congratulations to the SBDC-Trinity Valley Community College and all their success.
SBDC-Trinity Valley Community College is a Money Smart Alliance | FDIC. If you would like to become an Alliance Member, you can apply here.
Latest FDIC Consumer News Edition
The November 2024 edition of the FDIC Consumer News is titled “How Deposit Insurance Smart Are You?” The article provides awareness about knowing risks and understanding how deposit insurance really works in a quiz about deposit insurance coverage. For more information, read the full article here.
Tips and Techniques
Whether a virtual or in-person presentation, engagement is key. Expect to meet with wide gaps of silence when asking questions to foster discussion, and let that silence resonate among participants. It will either elicit a response or instill the question in students’ thoughts for later. Another option is to conduct a poll or quiz available in video conferencing tools, so the participant can make electronic responses. Either way, it creates a culture of learning around inquiry and curiosity, and hopefully excitement.
This Month You Can Find Us at…
Annual Employee Benefits Conference in San Diego, California on November 13, 2024.
Gerontological Society of America in Seattle, Washington on November 16, 2024.
NAWDP Youth Symposium in Phoenix, Arizona on November 20, 2024.
Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education in Columbus, OH on November 22, 2024.