We recently connected with Lindsay Lucas and have shared our conversation below.

Lindsay, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I came from the corporate world and while it tends to get a bad rap in the entrepreneurial space, that wasn’t my experience. I actually loved what I did and who I worked with. I simply loved my freedom more. I realized early on I wasn’t built to build someone else’s dream for them. I was built to live out my own dreams and that looked like building businesses to serve others and starting a family in the mix.

I don’t miss my 9 to 5 but I don’t have hard feelings toward it either. I actually enjoy studying the ins and outs of corporations and experimenting on how I can incorporate certain aspects from the corporate world into my business or my clients’ businesses. I believe there are strong values in the corporate world that can serve small businesses positively if implemented thoughtfully and intentionally.

I’m extremely happy with the freedom I’ve earned as a business owner. Freedom of time, energy, flexibility, money, etc. Most jobs in the corporate world, no matter how great, can match the freedom that owning a business can give.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been in the wedding industry for over a decade. I started out as a wedding planner. I quickly built a team of associate planners around me. In 2016 my local market had a big boom of wedding venues popping up. Because I had built a wonderful network of vendor relationships they would all recommend me when a new venue owner had questions. I was happy to help but I soon realized I couldn’t serve them properly by simply having Q&A time. They needed results and I couldn’t deliver results without having a proper program in place. So I went back to the drawing board, reread every email, reviewed every text, reached out to other professionals in bigger markets such as real estate, financing etc and I built a program from scratch.

My roster quickly filled with clients and then I had a waiting list. It was during this time that I realized I could serve more people if I could bottle up my program and sell it to everyone no matter their location. So I created an online course, The Venue Academy™.

What sets me a part is that our clients not only get my brain but they also get my team of professionals on their project. Together we’re able to serve all different types of business models for venue owners. We help venue owners build the business side of their venue and then we teach them how to run it, streamline it, make it profitable, and sustainable in markets that are constantly changing.

I am most proud of how resilient my clients are and the success they’ve achieved.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I didn’t seek funding when starting my business, however, I help clients secure funding for their wedding venues. I’ll be honest it’s a big part of the process and takes a lot of time and patience. Most of my clients seek funding through traditional means like a bank or credit union. Some have worked with private investors or partnerships but most secure funds through financial institutions.

The primary things banks want to see are your business plan, market research/analysis, a pro forma, and a nest egg of 20-25% you’ll be putting down. They want you to have skin in the game too. When we’re prepping clients to secure funding I ruthlessly edit their business plan, we do an audit of their pro forma and review their application as a whole so they can put their best foot forward.

We’ve had clients secure funding from $500,000 – $10.2M.

If you’re about to apply for funding the biggest thing to be aware of is that most ventures are turned down – DO NOT GIVE UP. My biggest piece of advice is this….. when you’re turned down ask why and don’t accept a vague, superficial response but probe them for specific answers. What part of the business plan turned them off? What did they not like about the numbers? What can you improve on for next time? What is their risk tolerance when investing in a venture of this nature?

ALWAYS keep your head up and push forward. Just because you were told no does not mean you weren’t meant for this.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

My business does have multiple revenue streams – services, courses, and online products. I’m a big believer in diversifying your revenue streams. Currently, I own 3 businesses, a side hustle, and invest in real estate. I’m a somewhat new real estate investor so my current goal is to diversify my small (but mighty) portfolio. Eventually I want my portfolio to house short term rentals, buy and holds, a glamping resort and section 8 properties.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thelindsaylucas.com
• Instagram: @thelindsaylucas
• Other: email: [email protected]