"Forty-two percent of applicants received the full amount of financing they sought, 36% received some or most, and 22% received none."
So: more than half did not have their full financing needs met. 🤔
The share of applicants that sought financing at online fintech lenders has increased over the last five years, from 17% in the 2020 survey to 29% in the 2025 survey. 🚩 🚩 🚩
Financing terms, not risk, dictate how small business owners are treated in underwriting for CRE. Those terms favor development, not owner occupancy.
I swear if you focus on this some of the other stuff just works out.
When I talk about business owners in Tacoma trying to do everything themselves, I'm frustrated by the self-started "buy local" campaigns that focus on shopping and consumer choices. Friends—there is literally a playbook for this that we are not using. @theamiba.bsky.social
tl;dr You can't just be a chef-owner anymore, you have to side hustle. Ingredients are too expensive and hotels can offer your employees better pay and health insurance that you can't. Customers float between concept restaurants that are hot one minute, old the next. Rent is $30,000/month.
Tariffs. But also: the record label for housewares era is over? I always wanted to start that business. I guess I'm glad I opened a retail shop instead. (Not that I'm doing great in that business either. Is everything over?)
Washington D.C.! I’m coming out again March 14-18 ish with @mainstreetalliance.bsky.social—I would love to meet up if you’re local and doing Main Street, local self reliance, placemaking stuff. DM me!
Placemaking examples in Seattle
Also want to say this. When you win the social media popularity contest by sharing a daily pound of flesh with followers, you’re more likely to fully fund a GoFundMe. Young aspiring biz owners have learned strong parasocial relationships = paid leave and health insurance. We need a safety net.
Every time a business owner gets sick, injured, or simply needs time away for personal matters we have to do this. It’s exhausting for all involved. Let’s fix the system so we can exit this extractive tech platform eventually. One can dream, right?
I don’t think I’ve ever had so many people writing to me to ask about encrypted/secure/private tools for comms, collaboration, and organizing. So @lhn.bsky.social and I talked to experts and assembled this: the Wired guide to organizing in an age of surveillance. www.wired.com/story/how-to...
Ughhhhh I gotta do this this year. I know a lot of people have a lot better reasons to be tired but I’m tired of having to migrate off one tech platform after another because of the shitty shit they pull. Leave Substack guide here is handy!
screenshot from an email
Got a request to add Fernseed to a list of businesses that participated in the Jan. 30 shutdown so people can support us. Organizer is planning to hand out the list at the March No Kings protest in Tacoma. Let me explain why this is misguided.
Sorry, First Citizens Bank. You thought you were just going to call and remind me my line is renewing in May and verify our annual revenue and not... get into a whole conversation about what our business financial needs are and how you can or can't meet them and the systemic reasons why? Oh, boy.
Relative to income and population growth, Washington’s budget has actually declined by 60% overall. From 1995 to 2025, the state’s yearly operating budget shrank from 1.55% to 0.63% of total personal income for every one million residents.
More at opportunityinstitute.org/blog/post/wa...
#WALeg
Regardless of where you stand on this issue, it’s enraging that an organization called the Tacoma Business Council is making HB 2489 the hill they die on. Here’s a link to their alert on it. Tacoma Rising is also asking its list to oppose this bill. Again: why is this your issue? Of all the shit?
Join me in a cozy little 45-minute rant about how the deregulated banking system has allowed extractive “investors” to take over Main Street. Meanwhile business owners—the people who actually do the work—can’t buy buildings, and not because they can’t afford them.
We’re out here dying, Tacoma Rising turns it into the Hunger Games.
Donut-shaped pie chart in bright colors showing Fernseed percentage expenses in payroll (27.8%), credit card fees (2.7%), cost of goods (37%), bank fees and interest (3.35), rent (14.3%), software (3.1%), and supplies, meals, etc. (6.9%). Chart title says Fernseed 2025 Expenses
I just told a consultant in my Instagram comments that I am more than happy to share any Fernseed bookkeeping or metrics with people teaching business and entrepreneurship for good, not evil. I mean that. My books are open!
I wrote this post about the practical reality of getting financing to renovate a commercial property when you own a small business. It's way harder than it needs to be because '90s banking deregulation ruined everything. This one is for paid subscribers only, but I offer a 7-day free trial.
Donate to fund micro grants to Main Street businesses impacted financially by ICE occupation in Minneapolis.
My Q&A with @mainstreetamerica.bsky.social on the economic realities of running a business on Main Street. In summary, property ownership used to be the stabilizing mechanism for small businesses, and it’s largely gone due to bank consolidation.
I'm currently leading the 1,000 Main Streets group in Tacoma, open to businesses throughout the South Sound. Join our email list to get updates on future actions & meetings here: tacoma1000mainstreets.myflodesk.com
I haven’t seen any updates in all this coverage about who has possession of Alex Pretti’s phone. Anyone?
Add this to the list of shit shop owners don’t get paid enough to deal with.
Printed letter from retail developer about selling commercial property in Centralia, Washington
I’ve received at least two of these since we purchased our commercial buildings in Centralia, Washington. My partner bothered to follow up just out of curiosity and this company represents Dollar General.
All this is totally new to me but I just Googled. Never heard of thrifts or OTS but not surprised Dodd Frank is responsible for some of this, and there you go. Is there a reliable way to find portfolio lenders? Some kind of list of banks that don't suck, or filters to apply to directories?
