News Flash

Noah Her is a business advisor for the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers Open to Business program through Ramsey County. Open to Business provides free, confidential business counseling to current and prospective entrepreneurs. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs and small business owners, Noah is passionate about small business success and ingenuity. 

The City of Roseville had a chance to talk with Noah about what helps make a business successful. Click here to learn more about Noah and the Open to Business program. Noah will be holding "office hours" at Roseville City Hall January 25 at 1:00 p.m. Email him for more information.

City of Roseville (COR): Hi Noah, thanks for sitting down with me today to talk about Open For Business and the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers. First off, can you tell me, What is the purpose of the Open for Business program through Ramsey County? 

Noah Her, Business Advisor: Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers: ... Basically, I get to help entrepreneurs work through roadblocks they might come across to try to help them have successful businesses. 

COR: What makes for a successful business, in today’s economy? 

Noah: “The businesses that we have seen to be the most successful, are the ones who are truly passionate about what they want to do. We really try to help entrepreneurs find what they are passionate about. Just this morning, I had a client reach out to me on email. They were asking, "Hey Noah, what business would you recommend me to do?" 

Noah: I just have to say, "Hey, I don't know. I don't know what your strengths and your weaknesses are. Really, you have to tap and ask yourself what are areas that you have experienced and that you can get passionate about? That's really the opportunity that you should pursue. 

(COR): Tell me a little about yourself. What is your background? 

Noah: I come from a sales background. I've been in different sales from sales operations, sales support, inside sales, outside sales, account management… My family is refugees from Laos and Thailand. My dad shares a story with me every time he gets a chance to. He was saying that on their airplane ride to America, he sat next to an American. He was having a conversation with my dad's limited English with the American. My dad was explaining to him that they're refugees coming over after the Vietnam War. So the gentleman looks at my dad and says, "Hey, America is where you can go and become anything. There's something called the American dream. You can be rich. You can be poor, whatever you want, you can chase it. You can become that." So ever since then, my mom and dad have been serial entrepreneurs, starting out everything from a babysitting business to ginseng business, farming, to a daycare, to a food truck, a food stand, you name it. It was through that experience– where my parents and their limited English and limited understanding of the American system– that they had all these kids who were going through the American education system where they would ask me, "Hey, Noah, I need you to help figure this out.” So much like the clients that I meet with today, it's "Hey Noah, I don't understand this." So that's the beginning parts of doing what I do today. It just started from there. 

(COR): What can Open for Business do for entrepreneurs and business owners? 

Noah: Something I really want to just really help people understand is that we're not miracle workers. But really what we do and what we help is help the entrepreneur go through, "Hey, does this make sense? We help provide conventional wisdom, “does this check out?" So that's when it comes to the conversation about, ‘Hey, I have this business idea. I want to sell goldfish as a living.’ Cool. I help them look at what the market appetite is for selling goldfish out of your home. Is there really a marketplace for that? What is the demand on that? 

(COR): So… what is the demand for that? 

Noah: If somebody wants to start up X, Y, Z business, I'm not going to say yes, that's going to pass or fail. Again, it all depends on your drive and your determination. But what I will say is to say, "Hey look, if you want to do that, these are some challenges that I see that you need to overcome in order to be successful. If you can overcome these challenges, kudos to you. I'm going to help you. It’s about more than being a devil's advocate, but to really help get a person a 360 perspective or a 3000-foot perspective on what business it is that they’re trying to start up." 

(COR): What’s the benefit of having an advisor like you to work with for securing loans for small business owners? 

Noah: It's someone to challenge your train of thought and to center you back to earth. It's not to say that everything that I say is going to be right. We had one client where they were getting denied bank after bank because the projections that they were presenting didn't fit what conventional wisdom was saying. They were saying that they were going to make $50,000 right out of the gate in starting a business. 

(COR:) How do many of your clients learn about the Open to Business program?

Many come to us after being referred to us from one of our banking partners. We took a look at a plan and we can to them, 'Hey, we know why banks might not be accepting your proposal.' We will talk them through it and ask questions. "Hey, the projections that you're putting out, you're saying that you're going to be doing 6, $700,000 in the first year." You may think you have the potential of doing that. But conventional wisdom says, "Hey, it's going to be a gradual increase." 

(COR): What is the most important part of what you do?

Noah: I love to help share with new entrepreneurs a new perspective of 'I'm going to help ground you.' I'm going to help challenge your thought. I'm not a yes man. But I'm going to help really get you to start thinking about is this business truly something that is going to go where you think it's going to go? 

(COR): What's your favorite thing about consulting with people? 

Noah: I can say it would be dreaming with the clients and seeing the potential that they have. It's being able to assist them and know that I'm going to help them achieve something really big. Create something really of their own and something that is impactful in their world. I think it's being that hand and that creation, I think is what is exciting. There's some clients where they're not sure where this could go. So as we're talking, it organically gets to where they want go. I think that's the beauty in the work that we do, is that we're able to see that progression, that growth there.