Local lending company plans to train people to be entrepreneurs

Since its founding in 2005, AmPac Business Capital has specialized in arranging loans for Inland Empire businesses through the U.S. Small Business Administration.  

But the company, which recently moved into 6,500 square feet of office space in Ontario, is about to start a new venture, one in which would-be business owners will rent office space and receive instruction in how to start and operate a business.

Entrepreneurial Écosystem is aimed at people who are starting a new business, but it can also be used by business owners or operator who want to improve their performance.

“We’re making it available to the entire business community in the Inland Empire,” said Hilda Kennedy, former economic development director in Inglewood who founded AmPac Business Capital. “Anyone can come here and train and learn how to be an entrepreneur.”

Planning for Entrepreneurial Ecosystem started four years ago, and getting it off the ground has cost about $800,000. Office space will be rotated, and about 130 people have expressed interest in signing up, said Brian Kennedy, Hilda’s son and the project’s executive director.

Longtime Orange County businessman and former CEO Marshall Krupp has agreed to be the lead instructor. All three spoke recently about what they hope to accomplish with the new venture, why they believe they have a business model that will work and why Entrepreneurial Ecosystem will be marketed to the local faith-based community. 

 

 

Q: Why did you decide to start your own business?

Hilda Kennedy: Because I was living in Upland and working in Inglewood and I was commuting four hours a day. I was missing my children’s lives. I handed in my notice and resigned. It was not an easy decision, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. It was too long a drive every day, so I decided to start my own business.

Q: How did you settle on small business loans?

HK: When I was working in Inglewood, there were always people who wanted to get a small business started, and they would come to us for a grant if they couldn’t get a loan. We really wanted to help them, do some hand-holding if they needed it, because SBA loans are not easy to get. So I was a little familiar with the process, and there were people who were having a hard time getting a loan.

Q: What was it like getting the business started?

HK: At the time, we were the first SBA loan business the local SBA office [in Santa Ana] approved in 25 years. It was a lot of work putting it together, but I really believed in what I was doing, and when you really believe in something you just persevere until you get it.

Q: How did COVID-19 affect your business?

HK: It actually helped us. We did about 700 [Paycheck Protection Program] loans from the start of 2020 through May of 2021, which includes the worst of the pandemic. We had people call us looking for a disaster loan, so we helped them fill out their applications.

Q: What other pandemic-related business came your way.

HK: We arranged $30,000 in business recovery loans for Riverside County.  Unfortunately that wasn’t enough to help everyone we wanted to help, but we did get some money out on the street.

Q: How is your new business, the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, going to operate?

HK: It’s going to be a place where people go and learn how to run a business, how to be entrepreneurs. We are going to run the gamut and cover everything it takes to run a business, with classroom instruction and mentoring from CEO coaches.
Q: So someone who wants to start a businesses, or improve the one they’re already running, can lease space in your new headquarters and work out of that?

HK: Yes. We have seven offices, six of which are going to be available for lease when the program starts in January. The last office will be a “drop-in.” That means people will be able to use it whenever it’s available. But people will be operating their business while they’re in the program.

Q: How long will the program last, and what will it consist of?
HK: Eighteen months. It will be the ABC’s of running a business, staring with understanding the numbers, and will go from there. But after 18 months they will have to move on.

Q: You plan to market Entrepreneurial Ecosystem to the faith community, meaning the religious community, in the Inland Empire, a community that you’re part of. What is the thought behind that?

HK:  Because I believe all of our success, in business or anything else, comes from God. I’ve been involved in the Faith Based Business Summit for the past 13 years, which was held at the Riverside Convention Center every year until last year, when it was a virtual event. I know a lot of people in the faith-based community. Why not market to them?

Q: What is the difference between Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and a business incubator?

Brian Kennedy: A business incubator is where you come up with an idea for a business, then you develop that idea and make it into a real business. Entrepreneurial Ecosystem is more than that. It’s about coming up with ideas, but it’s also about getting access to business capital, access to business coaching, access to the business community. It’s about studying an entire business curriculum, and it’s going to be open to everyone.

Q: Marshall, you’re going to be the lead instructor. What do you intend to teach your students? What points are you going to emphasize?

MK: That business is really simple. You develop a product or service that people want to buy, you sell it to them, then you do it all over again. Then you have to create a culture of accountability. If you’re in charge and you’re going to take credit for successes, then you have to accept responsibility for the failures. Finally, make sure that everyone is rowing the boat in the same direction.

Q: Do you believe people in there in business make things complicated when they should be trying to keep things as simple as possible?

MK: Oh, absolutely. They do that, and they place limits on themselves that keep them from doing what they should do. For example, they might know that they need to fire someone, which is not easy to do, so they decide to live with the mediocrity. They convince themselves that that person is indispensable to the company, and the problem only gets worse.

Q: Is this a good model for learning how to start a business, or improving your skills as a business owner/operator?

MK: It’s an excellent model. You learn by doing, and you can relate to someone who is going through the same experience you’re going through. I’ve been in the business world for 33 years, and I’ve been a CEO coach. I wouldn’t have taken this job if I didn’t think it was a good model.