Financing Your Small Business with Purpose - The Journey of Jill Earthy

Jill Earthy is an entrepreneurially minded leader who believes diversity drives innovation and recently, she was recognized by the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion award as a Community Champion, by Business in Vancouver as an Influential Woman in Business and by WXN as one the Top 100 most powerful women in Canada in 2019.

She is Principal of Risery, a boutique advisory firm advancing the rise of female leaders, entrepreneurs, and progressive organizations and the interim CEO of the Women’s Enterprise Centre of BC, a provincial non-profit organization providing loans, advisory services, and mentorship to women entrepreneurs. 

She has successfully built two companies nationally and sold them, and then spent 8 years in leadership roles in the non-profit sector supporting entrepreneurs.

Don’t forget to listen to last week’s episodes with Kathryn Petralia, President and Co-Founder of Kabbage about solving business cash flow challenges with Kabbage FundingTM and solo episodes where I shared a tool to stress-test the financial health of your business.

These episodes can help you navigate the uncertain business environment that we are currently experiencing together. 

I would love to hear from you and let me know what financial questions you need help with. Submit your question here or email me at [email protected] and I will answer your question in a bonus episode. 

In this episode, Jill shared:

➤ Jill’s journey of living on the edge (9:30)

➤ The first few steps business owners must take during any crisis (12:36)

➤ The role of Women’s Enterprise of Canada, specifically Western Canada and British Columbia, in providing financing to women entrepreneurs during this crisis (14:25)

➤How to best position your business to get financing both under and outside of the government program (17:08)

➤What type of financial and non-financial information a business owner must prepare to apply for any type of financing (20:26)

➤Why mission-driven women entrepreneurs need to put their mission into financial numbers (22:28)

➤The importance of scenario analysis from a lender perspective (24:47)

➤ Crowdfunding as another option to finance your business (27:10)

➤ The future of women as investors (33:35)

➤ The struggles women entrepreneurs face in the financing landscapes (40:30)

➤ The different stages of business and the best financing options for each stage (45:06)

➤ The responsibility of a start-up business once it’s successful to get either debt or equity financing (47:47)

➤ Jill’s advice to women entrepreneurs during any uncertain situation (52:09)

Connect with Jill:

➤ Website: Women’s Enterprise Centre of BC,  Women’s Enterprise Organization of Canada, Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, Sustainable Development Technology Canada

➤ Linkedin