Today we’d like to introduce you to Erika Ryles.
Erika, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As an entrepreneur, although I was born with the spirit, I started my official journey in 2003 by opening an online retail store. As I went through the motions of fully establishing the business, I learned what was necessary to start and to grow. During this learning phase, I quickly realized how difficult it was for a start-up business to obtain funding to grow and sustain. I went through denial after denial for one reason or another. Through these denials, I quickly learned what banks look for as well as how quickly the banking industry changes whilst developing this understanding. So, as it was, I would learn the nuances of the way the banking industry performed then it would quickly change as the national and international financial environment changed. This became cumbersome. So, to figure out the best approach, I changed my approach. I spent my time putting in the daunting work of trial and error. It also sparked my educational interests.
I went to obtain my Bachelor’s in International Business and my Master’s in Nonprofit Management and Social Entrepreneurship. In doing both, I realized that my calling was not to sell products but to be of service to other businesses. So, in 2012, I had finally left my increasingly stressful full-time government job to fully pursue being of complete service to other businesses so they would not have to go through the same struggles I endured. Today, we have two offices on the east coast and work remotely out of the two for a virtual location to service those in Hawaii, where we are incorporated. We have an innumerable amount of associates and partners to help carry out our mission. We have helped numerous for-profit businesses attain their financial goals. I have, personally, worked with several nonprofits on various levels from volunteering to board positions to extend our for-profit expertise to the nonprofit arena, with a future goal of creating a nonprofit arm of our corporation. We work with many lenders for various business scenarios and help businesses become infinitely sustainable.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road was not smooth at all. I had personal trials as well as business difficulties. Everyone has a story. Mine was eventful-physical abuse, familial strife, health issues and the list goes on. I have always had to struggle through something. I spent all my life picking apart situations and using my intellect and tenacity to make them better-no matter the type of situation it was. This continued through to adulthood where I had to figure out my own way without much guidance. No one taught me about credit, so I had to learn the long and hard way. Within business, my skill of being super analytical helped me study the financial game to see what is underneath all the havoc. I had to peel back the surface layers to see the plays. When an SBA-backed bank denied me for lack of experience in my relative industry, I had to go and get that which they looked for. When a bank denied me for missing their target on key points in my business plan, I had to go back and recreate a complete double-digit paged plan to fit their numbers; information not from what I had actually gleaned from researched empirical data. When a bank lending to minority-owned businesses denied my business for not also being financially disadvantaged at that particular point, I then realized that there are still issues within the banking system as there are in many social program systems. Even when there are special programs for a category of people, it is not enough to be within that category; you still have to fall under 12 more categories in order to be deemed “special”. This makes it even more discouraging for those people. Why try if one does not officially qualify just because the surface says one does? It is just a poor situation in and out, particularly for people like myself- a woman and a minority.
Please tell us about Infinitum.
Infinitum, Inc. is a boutique financial consulting firm that offers a variety of business financial resources and services. We help other businesses grow infinitely sustainable. I keep using that term as it is our slogan and the most important thing to us. We take each business, find out its goals then create a fully optimized corporate strategy to integrate into its current policies and strategies, or ameliorate current strategies to align them more with the best route to attain their goals. We would never offer a product or service to our clients that will be counterproductive or harmful to their ultimate goals. We are very proud of this as we take every business that comes to us and treat it as if it were our own and the clients, themselves, are our students. We teach them the ins and outs of business financing, the various alternative options available to all sizes and types of business and we walk each client through every step of growing their business to infinite sustainability- whatever that may entail. This is what sets us apart from other financial consulting firms. It is said that there is no room for heart in business but that is exactly what is missing from the growth area in small business. We care immensely about what happens to our clients and their businesses long after we have helped them reach their goals.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would not change a thing. I am right where I am supposed to be. I had the experiences, I had to learn everything, I know now to help other businesses. If I change any one thing, I would not be where I am now; thus, not being here to aid in the growth of America’s lifeblood- small businesses.
Pricing:
- Our retainer fee is set at $120/hr. thereafter once we come up with a growth plan.
Contact Info:
- Address: 333 SE 2nd Avenue, Suite 2000 Miami, FL 33131
- Website: www.infinituminc.com
- Phone: 844-779-7700
- Email: clientsupport@infinituminc.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/infinituminc
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/infinituminc1
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/infinitum-miami-9?osq=infinitum+inc
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infinitum-inc.
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