September 20, 2023 • 12 mins
In this captivating episode, Fawn Weaver shares her wealth of knowledge on entrepreneurship and financial empowerment. Join us as Fawn delves into the critical aspects of building a successful business, including the necessity of a well-crafted business plan featuring a SWOT analysis. She also discusses the plethora of funding opportunities available to black and brown entrepreneurs and underscores the importance of self-investment.
Additionally, Fawn provides invaluable advice on how to approach competition in the business world, emphasizing the value of healthy competition as a driving force for innovation and growth.
Host IG:@itstanyatime
Guest IG: @fawn.weaver
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks to MasterCard for sponsoring this episode. Head to MasterCard
dot com Backslash small Bids to learn how they're amplifying
and supporting black women entrepreneurs.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Boo absolutely, And if you have in your mind that
the reason why they're not investing is because you're bipop
or if you're a woman, you've already set yourself up
for failure before you walk through the door. You have
to believe internally because investors will spot it.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
You're listening to Money Moves powered by Greenwood, a finance
podcast dedicated to dropping all the knowledge and gems from
the world's leading celebrities, entrepreneurs and experts, and tech, business
and more. I'm your host, angel investor, technology enthusiast, and
media personality Tanya Sam. Each week we talk with guests
who are making significant strides in their fields and learn
(00:50):
how they are making their money move. If you're someone
who's looking to make your money move, you're in the
right place. So open up your notes app and lock
us in because this podcast will get view the keys
to the kingdom of financial stability, wealth and abundance you
so rightly deserve. Before we start the episode, I'd like
to remind you to check us out at Gogreenwood dot
com and follow us on social media at Greenwood and
(01:13):
me on all things social at It's Tanya time to
stay locked in to new episode. We are honored to
welcome back a true trailblazer and visionary in the spirit industry,
pond Weaver, founder and CEO of Uncle Nearest Whiskey. Get
ready to be inspired by the remarkable Fondweaver once again
(01:34):
as we continue our conversation on Money News.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
A lot of the things people will ask me if
I want to be an entrepreneur, what is the first
thing I need to do? And I tell them write
a complete, inferough business plan.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Write a complete and dating plan.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
And it must have a swat analysis strengths, weaknesses, opportunity
and threats. And the only way you can get to
a solid swat analysis is you're not just studying successes.
You're studying failures because you need to know that you
have the answer for the failure that came before you.
So I get the number of super plans out there
(02:17):
right now, and I'm not joking the number of business
plans out there right now that say we are the
next Uncle Nearest, But there's no detail.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
That aligns with what I do.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And so it's so, how do you become Are you
the next uncle nearest because you're black? Because none of
the details that were in my business plan are in
your business plan?
Speaker 1 (02:40):
And that is a here's the wing that to me,
you know, as an angel investor myself, it's very revealing, right,
and and part of it is is people oftentimes get confused,
why don't understand why I didn't get the check? Like
don't you want to support me? Like this is never philanthropy.
This is about you know, if we're I'm sure you're philanthropy.
We're going to get into you later. It's very different.
(03:01):
But being able to say that my other biggest cut
peeve is like there's nobody like us, So I have
no competitors and nobody can like you just haven't done
the research to really understand what we're asking, the landscape
and the other pieces to this puzzle that I need
you to fit together before you come to me. So
I get that it seems touchy when someone presents to
you going I'm the next Uncle nearest, but you know
(03:22):
your business better than others. But I also know that
people can find those information and do a complete swat
analysis on what you've done, and don't come to me
and present it.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Absolutely, there's no doubt about it. When someone sends me
a debt and they don't have a business plan to
go with the deck, the deck is meant to bring
me in, it's meant to entice me, it's meant.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
To make me interested. It is not meant to tell
me what your business is going to do. And yes,
you're going to succeed. That is a full business plan.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And when you look at the number of businesses that
fail with a plan, that number looks real different than
the businesses that fail without a business plan. And so
that's the number one What I have found is raising money.
Raising capital not an issue, not in this landscape for
(04:15):
black and brown people.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Ooh cratingly not an issue. The number of people that reach.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Into me just dying to give me money, right, And
that's not just now, this was years ago, even when
we began. The biggest piece that keeps people from getting
the money is not their color.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
It is their business plan. Oh listen. But there's no
better proof for that than from the middle.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Of twenty twenty until the middle of twenty twenty two,
when or really end of twenty twenty two where every
firm had allocated billions and billions and billions, and they
allocated its pecifically for black and brown people, and they
couldn't find the investments.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And they couldn't find the investments.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
It is and people know, especially if they're vcs, I
don't accept VC money. I don't accept private equity. That's
just been my policy. And I have a number of
reasons for that, but that's been my policy from day one.
So they know that, but they'll reach into me and
they'll be specifically looking for black and brown founders who
(05:27):
are willing to take VC money and who are willing
to take PE money. And it is I mean, I
have a I refer the same few people.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
As a business planer, yes, love this conversation because they
do feel like they're hard truths, you.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Know, saying there the money is out there.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
The money is really out there. It is magnified since
you know Social Justice and George Floyd like it really is.
And so there really is this truism where there is
a disconnect being able to connect the money with companies
that I'm going to use the word worthy of scaling
of growth and actually being able to deploy this capital
in a meaningful way to build and scale. Like there
(06:05):
is a disconnect for.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Sure, without question.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
And I know people don't oftentimes want to hear that
because it's a hard truth when you get nos, and
you know, I think a no is coming back just
to just to give you guys a couple like juicy
bows here to bite on nose. Just mean you've got
to get better at how you're going to build out
your company. There are holes in it, and it might
not be the investor's job to tell you how to
fix your deck or fix your business plan. That's not
(06:30):
necessarily their job, but there's more work to do to
get where you wanted to get that.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Check absolutely, and if you have in your mind that
the reason why they're not investing is because you're bipop
or if you're a woman, you've already set yourself up
for failure before you walk.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Through the door. You have to believe.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Internally because investors will spot it, and they won't necessarily
know what they're coming up against, but they'll know that
they're coming up against some type of insecurity. And the
thing about investors and pe and insecurity is like shark
with blood in the water, they can spot, they can
(07:07):
sniff an insecurity. So if you don't walk through that
door with all the confidence in the world, you're not.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Going to get that check.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Oh my god, that's a matter of it.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
And so but but understanding that if you think that
you're not getting money because you're a black, brown or
a woman, because you think you're a minority, then you're
going to have an insecurity in you that they're going
to spot. And so you think that they're rejecting you,
they're rejecting your insecurity.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Yep. And and like you say, it's a it's a sense.
And this is completely tangential. But I've recently returned to
riding horses. I grew up riding horses, and as an adult,
I returned to it. And it's the same thing, Like
horses are these intuitive beings, like bcs are smart. And
so it's having to overcome that for yourself because you're
carrying it into a meeting, you're carrying it into your
(07:58):
business thinking well, I'm not going to get it because
I'm this, and so it's again, I think it's it's mindset.
However you want to wrap it. However, you know, folks,
money movers that you're listening that you can you have
to work on that yourself.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah. And and to your point earlier, when they come
and they say I don't have any competition, I will
tell you I say that statement all the time.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
I don't believe I have competition. However, there are plenty
who believe I am their competition. And I know exactly
who they all are.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
And so in my business plan, the competitive set is
not because I intended to compete with them, but it
was because they were going to have to compete with me.
And I'm so you when you know that what you're
bringing to the table is something that has never come
before you, then it's okay to say, listen, I am
(08:47):
not going to compete with with anyone. There's a really
great example. My favorite coach of all time, my favorite
team of all time is Greg Popovich and the San Antonios.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
First, I'm a court.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Side ticket, I'm a you know, whatever, legacy, whatever, whatever whatever,
that that is my team. I get on a plane
a lot of San Antonio and I go to see that.
But I remember there being a player who said that
they had they had been in multiple teams and when
they went to San Antonio that it completely threw them off,
because you know, you're supposed to get this packet, the
(09:20):
scouting report, and it's supposed to tell you in the
scouting report all the different things whoever you're going to
be playing against, all the different things that they do,
every move, every like, what they're known for. And he
said he went to San Antonio and the scouting report
wasn't even a paragraph long for who he was playing against.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
And he's like, I don't understand this, and Papovich said,
you do your job, what they do doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Oh, I love that, and that is that I have
moved forward. My whole team knows that if we do
our job, no one can replicate what we do because
we're bringing together a great and incredible story, an incredible product,
(10:06):
an incredible leadership team. But like if you take all
those pieces together, they can't replicate all of that. So
when you're looking at competition, no, we don't have competition
because they can't replicate all that.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
However, there are plenty.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Of people that compete with us, and when we look
at our Nielsen Report every month, we can see that
we are like, for instance, right now, in our we're
in a forty seven dollars rage.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
That's where all of.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Our bottles tell and when you're looking at whiskey, when
you're looking at American whiskey, we're now number nine, right
right behind Jack Daniels and above Whistlebee. We don't compete
with any of them, but it's important for me to
know where I stand amongst them.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Yes, Oh, I love that perspective. Oh I love that perspective.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Man. This, I feel like there has to be a
book in here somewhere. However, I'm gonna we'll get to
that because.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I believe it for you. I'm sure, sure, sure.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Thanks for listening to today's episode. If we helped you
make your money move, please share it with your community,
Subscribe and leave us a review on iHeartRadio and Apple Podcasts.
Follow us on social media at Greenwood and visit us
at Gogreenwood dot com for more financial tips and remember,
money movers.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
If this were.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Easy, everyone would do it. So take the lessons you've
learned from this episode and apply it to your life.
Money Moves is an iHeartRadio podcast powered by Greenwood Executive
produced by Sunwise Media, Inc. For more podcasts on iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts from. Make sure to tune in Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday and subscribe to the Money Moves podcast powered
(11:52):
by Greenwood, so that you too can have the keys
to financial freedom you so rightly deserve. Until next time,
Thanks to MasterCard for sponsoring this episode. Head to MasterCard
dot com Backslash small Bids to learn how they're amplifying
and supporting black women entrepreneurs.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Boo absolutely, And if you have in your mind that
the reason why they're not investing is because you're bipop
or if you're a woman, you've already set yourself up
for failure before you walk through the door. You have
to believe internally because investors will spot it.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
You're listening to Money Moves powered by Greenwood, a finance
podcast dedicated to dropping all the knowledge and gems from
the world's leading celebrities, entrepreneurs and experts, and tech, business
and more. I'm your host, angel investor, technology enthusiast, and
media personality Tanya Sam. Each week we talk with guests
who are making significant strides in their fields and learn
(00:50):
how they are making their money move. If you're someone
who's looking to make your money move, you're in the
right place. So open up your notes app and lock
us in because this podcast will get view the keys
to the kingdom of financial stability, wealth and abundance you
so rightly deserve. Before we start the episode, I'd like
to remind you to check us out at Gogreenwood dot
com and follow us on social media at Greenwood and
(01:13):
me on all things social at It's Tanya time to
stay locked in to new episode. We are honored to
welcome back a true trailblazer and visionary in the spirit industry,
pond Weaver, founder and CEO of Uncle Nearest Whiskey. Get
ready to be inspired by the remarkable Fondweaver once again
(01:34):
as we continue our conversation on Money News.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
A lot of the things people will ask me if
I want to be an entrepreneur, what is the first
thing I need to do? And I tell them write
a complete, inferough business plan.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Write a complete and dating plan.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
And it must have a swat analysis strengths, weaknesses, opportunity
and threats. And the only way you can get to
a solid swat analysis is you're not just studying successes.
You're studying failures because you need to know that you
have the answer for the failure that came before you.
So I get the number of super plans out there
(02:17):
right now, and I'm not joking the number of business
plans out there right now that say we are the
next Uncle Nearest, But there's no detail.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
That aligns with what I do.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And so it's so, how do you become Are you
the next uncle nearest because you're black? Because none of
the details that were in my business plan are in
your business plan?
Speaker 1 (02:40):
And that is a here's the wing that to me,
you know, as an angel investor myself, it's very revealing, right,
and and part of it is is people oftentimes get confused,
why don't understand why I didn't get the check? Like
don't you want to support me? Like this is never philanthropy.
This is about you know, if we're I'm sure you're philanthropy.
We're going to get into you later. It's very different.
(03:01):
But being able to say that my other biggest cut
peeve is like there's nobody like us, So I have
no competitors and nobody can like you just haven't done
the research to really understand what we're asking, the landscape
and the other pieces to this puzzle that I need
you to fit together before you come to me. So
I get that it seems touchy when someone presents to
you going I'm the next Uncle nearest, but you know
(03:22):
your business better than others. But I also know that
people can find those information and do a complete swat
analysis on what you've done, and don't come to me
and present it.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Absolutely, there's no doubt about it. When someone sends me
a debt and they don't have a business plan to
go with the deck, the deck is meant to bring
me in, it's meant to entice me, it's meant.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
To make me interested. It is not meant to tell
me what your business is going to do. And yes,
you're going to succeed. That is a full business plan.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And when you look at the number of businesses that
fail with a plan, that number looks real different than
the businesses that fail without a business plan. And so
that's the number one What I have found is raising money.
Raising capital not an issue, not in this landscape for
(04:15):
black and brown people.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Ooh cratingly not an issue. The number of people that reach.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Into me just dying to give me money, right, And
that's not just now, this was years ago, even when
we began. The biggest piece that keeps people from getting
the money is not their color.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
It is their business plan. Oh listen. But there's no
better proof for that than from the middle.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Of twenty twenty until the middle of twenty twenty two,
when or really end of twenty twenty two where every
firm had allocated billions and billions and billions, and they
allocated its pecifically for black and brown people, and they
couldn't find the investments.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And they couldn't find the investments.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
It is and people know, especially if they're vcs, I
don't accept VC money. I don't accept private equity. That's
just been my policy. And I have a number of
reasons for that, but that's been my policy from day one.
So they know that, but they'll reach into me and
they'll be specifically looking for black and brown founders who
(05:27):
are willing to take VC money and who are willing
to take PE money. And it is I mean, I
have a I refer the same few people.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
As a business planer, yes, love this conversation because they
do feel like they're hard truths, you.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Know, saying there the money is out there.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
The money is really out there. It is magnified since
you know Social Justice and George Floyd like it really is.
And so there really is this truism where there is
a disconnect being able to connect the money with companies
that I'm going to use the word worthy of scaling
of growth and actually being able to deploy this capital
in a meaningful way to build and scale. Like there
(06:05):
is a disconnect for.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Sure, without question.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
And I know people don't oftentimes want to hear that
because it's a hard truth when you get nos, and
you know, I think a no is coming back just
to just to give you guys a couple like juicy
bows here to bite on nose. Just mean you've got
to get better at how you're going to build out
your company. There are holes in it, and it might
not be the investor's job to tell you how to
fix your deck or fix your business plan. That's not
(06:30):
necessarily their job, but there's more work to do to
get where you wanted to get that.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Check absolutely, and if you have in your mind that
the reason why they're not investing is because you're bipop
or if you're a woman, you've already set yourself up
for failure before you walk.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Through the door. You have to believe.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Internally because investors will spot it, and they won't necessarily
know what they're coming up against, but they'll know that
they're coming up against some type of insecurity. And the
thing about investors and pe and insecurity is like shark
with blood in the water, they can spot, they can
(07:07):
sniff an insecurity. So if you don't walk through that
door with all the confidence in the world, you're not.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Going to get that check.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Oh my god, that's a matter of it.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
And so but but understanding that if you think that
you're not getting money because you're a black, brown or
a woman, because you think you're a minority, then you're
going to have an insecurity in you that they're going
to spot. And so you think that they're rejecting you,
they're rejecting your insecurity.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Yep. And and like you say, it's a it's a sense.
And this is completely tangential. But I've recently returned to
riding horses. I grew up riding horses, and as an adult,
I returned to it. And it's the same thing, Like
horses are these intuitive beings, like bcs are smart. And
so it's having to overcome that for yourself because you're
carrying it into a meeting, you're carrying it into your
(07:58):
business thinking well, I'm not going to get it because
I'm this, and so it's again, I think it's it's mindset.
However you want to wrap it. However, you know, folks,
money movers that you're listening that you can you have
to work on that yourself.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah. And and to your point earlier, when they come
and they say I don't have any competition, I will
tell you I say that statement all the time.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
I don't believe I have competition. However, there are plenty
who believe I am their competition. And I know exactly
who they all are.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
And so in my business plan, the competitive set is
not because I intended to compete with them, but it
was because they were going to have to compete with me.
And I'm so you when you know that what you're
bringing to the table is something that has never come
before you, then it's okay to say, listen, I am
(08:47):
not going to compete with with anyone. There's a really
great example. My favorite coach of all time, my favorite
team of all time is Greg Popovich and the San Antonios.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
First, I'm a court.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Side ticket, I'm a you know, whatever, legacy, whatever, whatever whatever,
that that is my team. I get on a plane
a lot of San Antonio and I go to see that.
But I remember there being a player who said that
they had they had been in multiple teams and when
they went to San Antonio that it completely threw them off,
because you know, you're supposed to get this packet, the
(09:20):
scouting report, and it's supposed to tell you in the
scouting report all the different things whoever you're going to
be playing against, all the different things that they do,
every move, every like, what they're known for. And he
said he went to San Antonio and the scouting report
wasn't even a paragraph long for who he was playing against.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
And he's like, I don't understand this, and Papovich said,
you do your job, what they do doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Oh, I love that, and that is that I have
moved forward. My whole team knows that if we do
our job, no one can replicate what we do because
we're bringing together a great and incredible story, an incredible product,
(10:06):
an incredible leadership team. But like if you take all
those pieces together, they can't replicate all of that. So
when you're looking at competition, no, we don't have competition
because they can't replicate all that.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
However, there are plenty.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Of people that compete with us, and when we look
at our Nielsen Report every month, we can see that
we are like, for instance, right now, in our we're
in a forty seven dollars rage.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
That's where all of.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Our bottles tell and when you're looking at whiskey, when
you're looking at American whiskey, we're now number nine, right
right behind Jack Daniels and above Whistlebee. We don't compete
with any of them, but it's important for me to
know where I stand amongst them.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Yes, Oh, I love that perspective. Oh I love that perspective.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Man. This, I feel like there has to be a
book in here somewhere. However, I'm gonna we'll get to
that because.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I believe it for you. I'm sure, sure, sure.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Thanks for listening to today's episode. If we helped you
make your money move, please share it with your community,
Subscribe and leave us a review on iHeartRadio and Apple Podcasts.
Follow us on social media at Greenwood and visit us
at Gogreenwood dot com for more financial tips and remember,
money movers.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
If this were.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Easy, everyone would do it. So take the lessons you've
learned from this episode and apply it to your life.
Money Moves is an iHeartRadio podcast powered by Greenwood Executive
produced by Sunwise Media, Inc. For more podcasts on iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts from. Make sure to tune in Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday and subscribe to the Money Moves podcast powered
(11:52):
by Greenwood, so that you too can have the keys
to financial freedom you so rightly deserve. Until next time,
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