Roots to Revenue Immigrant Business Center

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Executive Summary

Roots to Revenue Immigrant Business Center is a nonprofit in Minnesota that helps immigrant entrepreneurs start and grow small businesses. Business coaches meet with owners in their own languages, workshops teach planning, bookkeeping and marketing, and a business law clinic connects owners to attorneys for help with licenses, leases and contracts.

Many immigrants run restaurants, shops, trucking firms and service businesses, but they often face language barriers, unfamiliar rules and difficulty reaching mainstream lenders. With this grant we will pay a business coach and the attorney hours for the clinic. We do not give immigration advice, we do not make loans and we do not promise that any business will succeed or any loan will be approved. We refer owners to licensed lenders and to accredited immigration help.

What we are asking for. Our program has a Year 1 budget of about $242,000. We are asking for $62,000 from a state immigrant business fund to a business coach salary and a business law clinic. The rest of the budget comes from other grants, sponsors and donors that are listed in the funding section. Every dollar amount in this plan is an estimate and none of it is a promise of any result for the people we serve.

Company Description

Roots to Revenue Immigrant Business Center is a nonprofit organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, governed by a volunteer board that includes business owners who immigrated. The board meets monthly, approves the budget and oversees the executive director. A new organization without its own determination letter can use a fiscal sponsor, explained in the funding section.

What we believe. Immigrant entrepreneurs strengthen their neighborhoods. We respect each owner's experience and language, protect privacy and tell the truth about what it takes to run a business.

What we do:
- Business coaching. One-on-one coaching in several languages on planning, pricing, bookkeeping and marketing.
- Workshops. Classes on licenses, taxes, credit and how to find customers.
- Business law clinic. Attorneys answer questions about business structure, leases and contracts. Attorney hours are paid directly to the attorneys.
- Connections. Introductions to community lenders, banks and other support.

What we do not do. We do not give immigration or legal advice outside the clinic, make loans or guarantee funding. We never ask about immigration status and we warn owners about scams.

Who we serve. Immigrants and refugees who own or want to start a small business in our service area, with priority for owners with low incomes.

Our board has at least five members, including at least one person who has used our services or lives in the community we serve, and only a minority of board members may be related to each other or paid by the organization.

We keep a written conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and a record retention policy, and the board reviews them every year.

Problem & Opportunity

Many immigrant business owners face extra barriers.

1. Language and paperwork. Licenses, taxes and permits are hard to understand in a new language.
2. Limited credit history. Owners may have no credit in the country and struggle to borrow.
3. Predatory offers. Some owners are targeted by high-cost loans and scams.
4. Few advisors who understand them. Mainstream programs may not reach or fit immigrant owners.
5. Legal problems. Lease and contract disputes can close a small business.

Why it matters now. Immigrants start businesses at high rates and create jobs, but many small businesses close in the first few years without support.

How we know the need is real. We reviewed business license data in immigrant neighborhoods, surveyed 100 owners and interviewed 30 lenders and community leaders. Owners said they want coaching in their language and a trusted attorney. The numbers are in the appendix.

We update these facts every year using public data, partner reports and what the people we serve tell us, and we change the program when the facts change. If a need turns out to be smaller than we thought, we will say so and put the money where it is needed most.

Products & Services

What the funded project will do. With this grant we will pay a business coach and the attorney hours for the business law clinic for a full year.

How an owner takes part:
1. Welcome. An owner calls or visits and meets a coach who speaks their language or uses an interpreter.
2. Assessment. The coach learns about the business, its goals and its challenges.
3. Coaching plan. The coach and owner set goals such as a budget, a price list or a license.
4. Workshops and clinic. The owner attends classes and, if needed, meets an attorney in the legal clinic.
5. Connections. We introduce the owner to licensed lenders and other help.
6. Follow-up. We check in after three, six and twelve months.

What the grant pays for. The request covers the business coach's salary and the attorney hours for the clinic.

What we do not promise. We do not promise that any owner will get a loan or grow their business. We track results such as licenses obtained and owner goals met, and report honestly.

Safety and respect. We never ask about immigration status, we keep records private and we refer immigration questions to accredited representatives or attorneys. We warn owners about scams. We call 911 in an emergency.

We start small, check what works and grow only when we can do the work well. Every few months we review the numbers and the stories from the people we serve and change the plan where it is not working.

We write plain-language handouts for every step so people know what to expect, what it costs and who to call with questions, and we ask each person at the end whether the help was useful and what we could do better.

Market Analysis

Who benefits from this project are immigrant and refugee entrepreneurs in our service area and their customers, employees and neighborhoods.

Who we serve. Owners of restaurants, shops, trucking firms, child care homes and service businesses, and people who want to start one. Many speak Spanish, Somali, Hmong, Karen or other languages and have low incomes.

How many people we plan to serve. In Year 1 we plan to coach about 140 owners, run about 24 workshops reaching about 450 people and hold about 50 legal clinic appointments. By Year 5 we plan to coach about 300 owners a year. We chose these numbers from the capacity of two coaches at first and three by the third year.

Where we serve. The city and nearby suburbs, with classes in community centers and libraries in immigrant neighborhoods.

Who else benefits. Employees, landlords, suppliers and neighborhoods with more local businesses.

How we will be careful. We collect only what we need, never ask about immigration status and keep every owner's information private.

We choose how many people to serve from the number of staff, hours and rooms we really have, not from the size of the need. If we reach fewer people than planned, we will report it and explain why.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices in our area.

1. Small business development centers. Offer free consulting but may have limited language access.
2. Community development financial institutions. Offer loans but not always coaching.
3. Chambers of commerce. Offer networking but may not reach immigrant owners.
4. Private consultants. Can be costly.
5. Other immigrant-serving nonprofits.

What makes us different. We offer coaching in many languages, a business law clinic and introductions to lenders in one place, and we are led by immigrant owners. We work with the small business center and lenders and refer owners to them.

How we avoid duplication. We meet with the small business development center and lenders each quarter to share schedules and referrals.

We keep a written list of every other organization that does similar work in our area and review it each year. If another group can serve a person better, we refer the person and say so plainly. Funders can expect us to tell the truth about overlap, to share what we learn and to work as part of a larger network of help.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach owners once the project is funded.

Community partners. Mosques, churches, ethnic chambers, community centers and immigrant-serving nonprofits will refer owners.

Business outreach. Coaches will walk neighborhood business corridors and meet owners where they work.

Word of mouth. Owners who have been helped tell others. With permission, we share their stories.

Digital outreach. A website and social media in several languages will share workshop dates and how to reach a coach. We will not post personal information.

Access. Materials will be in plain language and in the main languages of our community. Workshops will be held in the evening, with food and child care.

Lenders and banks. We will invite community lenders to workshops so owners can meet them.

Measuring outreach. We will track how each owner heard about us and adjust our outreach where it is not working.

Marketing budget. Outreach and events are part of the program budget.

Most people hear about services from someone they already trust, so we spend more time with partners and neighbors than on advertising. We write our materials in plain language, test them with a few people from the community and fix anything that confuses them.

Operations Plan

How the project will be carried out, in plain terms.

Timeline for Year 1. Months 1 and 2: hire the coaches, sign agreements with the attorneys and lenders and translate materials. Months 3 to 12: coach owners, hold workshops and run the clinic monthly.

Space. Coaching and workshops take place in community centers, libraries and a small office.

Partners. Volunteer attorneys, community lenders, the small business center and community organizations. Each has a written agreement.

Safety, privacy and legal rules. We do not give immigration advice and refer questions to accredited representatives or attorneys. Legal clinic attorneys are licensed and carry insurance, and attorney hours are paid directly to them. Records are private. We warn owners about scams and never collect fees from owners for our services. We call 911 in emergencies.

Records and reporting. We track owners coached, workshops, clinic appointments and outcomes and report to funders each quarter.

Training. Coaches receive training in small business coaching, trauma-informed practice and cultural humility.

We write down every step of the project in a short manual so that any trained staff member can carry it out the same way. We hold a short team meeting every week to review problems, safety concerns and numbers, and we ask the people we serve for feedback at least twice a year.

Management & Organization

The executive director leads the organization and manages the budget and partners. Business coaches work with owners, and the program coordinator schedules classes and clinics and tracks results.

The team. Pay figures include payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance. The numbers in parentheses are how many people we plan to have in Years 1 through 5.
- Executive Director: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $62,000 a year each.
- Business Coach: 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 (Years 1 to 5), about $48,000 a year each.
- Program Coordinator (part-time): 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $24,000 a year each.

Governance and money controls. A volunteer board of directors oversees the budget and the executive director. Two people review every payment, the board reviews financial statements every month, an outside accountant prepares the yearly tax return and audit-ready records, and every grant is tracked in its own budget line. We screen staff and volunteers who work with the people we serve, train everyone on privacy and safety and keep written policies on conflicts of interest and complaints.

Staff and advisors. We seek coaches with small business or banking experience and who speak the languages of our community. An advisory group of owners, a banker, an attorney and an accountant meets quarterly.

Feedback and complaints. Anyone we serve can give feedback or a complaint by phone, in writing or in person, and can ask to speak with the board chair. We reply within five working days, keep a log of every complaint and report the themes to the board each quarter. No one loses services for speaking up.

Milestones Narrative

Goals for each of the first five years and how we will measure results. These are goals, not promises.
- Before the grant starts (2 to 3 months before the grant starts): hire the coaches, sign attorney and lender agreements, translate materials and plan the first workshops
- Year 1: coach about 140 owners, hold about 24 workshops and about 50 clinic appointments. The budget is $242,000.
- Year 2: add a third coach and a bookkeeping workshop series. The budget is $244,000.
- Year 3: add a lender partner day and a new language. The budget is $296,000.
- Year 4: expand to a second neighborhood. The budget is $298,500.
- Year 5: coach about 300 owners a year and publish a plain results report. The budget is $301,500.

How we will measure results: owners coached, workshops attended, clinic appointments, licenses and permits obtained, owners who set up bookkeeping and owners who say they would recommend the program. We report results to funders in the same plain numbers we use here, and we say honestly when a goal was missed and what we changed.

We report to funders every quarter and send a short plain-language summary to our board each month. At the end of each year we review all of the goals, publish a short results report and update the plan for the next year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $62,000 from a state immigrant business fund for a business coach salary and a business law clinic, for January through December 2027.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Business Coach salary, $48,000.
- Contractual: Business law clinic: attorney hours paid directly to attorneys, $14,000 (other funds add $3,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 31% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $242,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $8,700 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: grant revenue $202,000; individual donations $24,000; bank and business sponsors $16,000. Year 1 costs: executive director $62,000; business coach $96,000; program coordinator (part-time) $24,000; workshop materials and translation about $14,000; business law clinic (attorney hours paid directly to attorneys) about $14,000; outreach and community events about $8,000; administration and insurance about $14,000.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $15,500 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $4,200 for laptops, a projector and a classroom set-up for workshops, $2,300 for business planning software licenses and a secure records system, $2,800 for curriculum licensing and coach training, $2,600 for background checks and policy review by an attorney, $2,200 for banners, flyers in several languages and a simple website, and $1,400 for opening workshop supplies.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($15,500), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $58,000, which is about 3 months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $73,500. We start with $14,000 of our own savings and $61,000 in startup support from a local foundation and our board, $75,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $242,000 in Year 1 to about $301,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $202,000, $196,000, $240,000, $234,500, $229,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows as sponsors and donors join. The program plans a small surplus each year, about $8,700, $8,100, $9,400, $9,000 and $9,100 in Years 1 to 5, which we put into savings.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $68,800, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $9,680 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

After the grant. Individual donors and bank and business sponsors grow each year, so grants become a smaller share. Lenders may contribute to workshops, and past clients mentor new owners.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- Owners may be hard to reach. We use trusted community partners and door-to-door visits.
- A scam may harm an owner. We teach owners about scams and offer a hotline.
- A grant may end. We grow donors and sponsors each year and keep savings.
- Attorney availability may be limited. We recruit several volunteer and contract attorneys.
- A privacy mistake could occur. We limit what we collect and lock records.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller with one site or one staff member and track results carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this proposal:

- Your IRS determination letter showing 501(c)(3) status, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your board list and board minutes approving the application.
- Your most recent budget and financial statements.
- A list of other funders and what each has given or been asked to give.
- Agreements with the attorneys who staff the clinic.
- Agreements with lenders and the small business center.
- Your privacy policy and a sample coaching plan.
- Letters of support from owners and community groups.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $202,000 in Year 1, growing to $229,500 in Year 5.
- Individual Donations: $24,000 in Year 1, growing to $40,000 in Year 5.
- Bank and Business Sponsors: $16,000 in Year 1, growing to $32,000 in Year 5.
- Staff pay is shown in the management section and includes payroll taxes and workers' compensation.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: workshop materials and translation $14,000, business law clinic (attorney hours paid directly to attorneys) $14,000, outreach and community events $8,000, and administration and insurance $14,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year as the program grows.
- Grant and partner payments arrive after we bill, so about $9,680 (4% of Year 1 income) is owed to us at the end of Year 1.
- The program does not pay income tax. Any surplus stays in the program.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your organization's real numbers.

Plain words used in this proposal:
- Grant: money given for a specific purpose that does not have to be paid back, as long as it is spent as promised.
- Request: the part of the budget we are asking this funder to pay for.
- Surplus: money left over after a year's costs. A small surplus is healthy because it builds savings for slow months.
- Startup costs: one-time costs, such as equipment, paid once before the program runs at full speed.
- Working capital: cash kept in the bank to pay bills while waiting for grant payments.
- In-kind: goods or services given instead of money, such as donated space.
- Fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for a new group and passes the money to its program, usually for a fee.
- 501(c)(3): the tax status that lets a nonprofit receive tax-deductible gifts and many grants.

How to read the numbers. Every income and cost figure is a plan, not a result. Income rises as sponsors and donors join, costs rise a little each year, and each year's budget is planned to balance with a small surplus. Startup costs are shown separately because they are paid once. If a real number turns out different, we will update the plan and tell our funders why.

Startup Costs