Microenterprise funding has been getting a lot of attention lately, but even before Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank in Bangladesh were given the Nobel Peace Prize for creating economic opportunity in underdeveloped corners of the globe, the Lansing Community Micro-Enterprise Fund has been providing help in a similar fashion.

Microlending is a growing trend for a number of reasons. These small loans, usually under $35,000, are dispersed to emerging business owners and entrepreneurs in low- to moderate-income communities, where arguably, they can do the most good. In Muhammad Yunus’ case, nearly all of the loans (96 percent) were given directly to women. The Lansing Community Micro-Enterprise Fund has a lot of female graduates, too.

Chiffon Berry is one of them. She decided six years ago that she’d had enough of trying to juggle three jobs to make ends meet. “I wanted stability; I didn’t want to keep jumping around,” Berry said. “Now I can call the shots, and especially being a single mom; my daughter is my top priority.” Berry opened up Chiffon’s Salon in west Lansing, where she specializes in chemical services, coloring, relaxing and hairwaxing. She’s been doing hair basically since she was a child, braiding since age 7, and said she loves educating her clients on how to have healthy hair.

Like all business owners, Berry has seen people come and go over the years, even renting out her chairs to other stylists at different points. “It taught me how to be a better supervisor,” she explained. “how to recognize the good qualities.” Now she works alone and focuses on her clients, sometimes even doing their hair and providing some makeshift therapy, she joked. “It’s a lot of hard work and you have to be dedicated, true to your client,” Berry stated. “I like to treat my clients like each is the only one I have.”

Berry does have a lot of ideas for the future of her business, and those include eventually having more people working under her. “Right now I’m in school, trying to obtain my degree in business management,” she explained, “but I want to expand the business.”

Two years ago Berry was set to make an upward move, but said that it turned out to be a raw deal. “A lot of things weren’t right,” she said. “It just wasn’t the time for me … but instead of expanding my salon, I bought a house.” She said there’s a lot she’s learned in six years, and one is keeping her cool. “As a business owner, you’re supposed to know how to handle all situations, even when they’re hectic and out of control.”

Natalia Villafona came into her business through a similar path. She graduated from the Lansing Community Micro-Enterprise Fund, and six years ago decided to open up Natalia’s Hair Braiding on Lansing’s west side. She also focuses on healthy hair. “Our specialty is natural hair care services,” she said. “It includes braiding, locking and twisting of the natural hair.”

Villafona saif that the amount of business that comes into the shop changes depending how Lansing’s economy is faring. “It fluctuates; it goes up and down,” she said. “If the economy’s low, it doesn’t do as well.”  But despite that, she’s managed to keep other stylists working, currently renting chairs to four others in the shop.

Villafona said that she has dreams of expansion, and eventually wants to focus more on the management side of the business. But she also has ideas for her next business, this time in the fashion design industry. She said that’s where her heart is right now. “Now I’m given the opportunity to show my pieces,” Villafona said. “My goal for the future is to get out there.”

And no doubt Villafona will take what she’s learned in this business, and through the Lansing Community Micro-Enterprise Fund, into her next endeavor. One of those crucial elements is the importance of having a plan. That’s something Villafona would urge for anybody just getting started.

“First and foremost you have to have a business plan,” Villafona stated. “It gives you a good idea of where to get started …. A lot of people have ideas, but you have to have a plan. If you don’t have that, sometimes the business can fail. A business plan on paper really helps you see your goal.”

Berry agreed. “I had pretty much everything written down but I didn’t know where to put it,” Berry said. “The mission statement, executive summary, the marketing part—the class really taught me how to make a business plan.” She said the Lansing Community Micro-Enterprise Fund also gave her the tools she needed to operate her salon on a daily basis: bookkeeping, staying organized, networking and communication.

With the right skills and know-how, truly every person can be his or her own business entity. As long as Muhammed Yunus and the Lansing Community Micro-Enterprise Fund continue to put money and training into this side of small business, economic development can take hold on a variety of levels, and put people on the path to stability.

Author: Kate Carolan Reed
Photography: Terri Shaver