What is the Current Credit Environment for Businesses? With Bill McDermott, The Profitability Coach
John Ray: [00:00:00] And hello again, everyone. I’m John Ray with Business RadioX. And I’m here with Bill McDermott. Bill is The Profitability Coach, and he coaches professional services firms on their profitability, and their growth and their prosperity. Bill, my question for you is, what is the current credit environment for businesses?
Bill McDermott: [00:00:26] John, that’s a really great question. I have a little bit of a unique perspective on that because before I was The Profitability Coach, I was a banker. So, I spent three decades in my career. That answer to your question, the climate is incredibly tight. Banks are concerned about the lingering effects of the pandemic. Second, about two in 10 loans are getting approved, which means four out of five are getting told no. And so, it’s incredibly tight. Business owners have to figure out how to navigate a tight credit environment more so because the challenges are greater.
Bill McDermott, Founder and CEO of McDermott Financial Solutions
Bill McDermott graduated from Wake Forest University and launched a career in banking that spanned 32 years. He first started out as the “repo man” as part of Wachovia Bank’s management training program before locating to Atlanta to work for Peachtree Bank, which later became SunTrust. There, he distinguished himself as a great producer of loans and deposits for the bank, climbing the ranks to ultimately become a Group Vice President in the Commercial Banking division. In 2001, Bill’s group won the SunTrust Cup for being the highest performing commercial banking group in the company.
Over the next 8 years, Bill worked in community banking, becoming a top producer for IronStone Bank and later helping to double Embassy National Bank’s initial capital in loan production within 15 months. However, in early 2009 as the Great Recession was rapidly altering the economy, Bill’s position as Chief Commercial Lender was eliminated.
As Bill searched for what was “next”, he realized that he had built a treasure trove of knowledge of banking and financial acumen and had a desire to share it. Bill combined his sales success from his banking/insurance experience with his deep financial/analytical skills and launched McDermott Financial Solutions in April 2009. His purpose quickly became “making business owners better financial managers”. Over the past 11 years he has served over 200 clients by delivering results-oriented insights, helping to take them from financial confusion to financial clarity.
Bill currently sits on the board of directors for Pinnacle Bank, as well as the board for the Peachtree Corners Business Association, where he serves as vice president. He also hosts a monthly podcast, ProfitSense, which features stories of successful business owners and the professionals that advise them. When Bill is not working, you can find him on the golf course, gardening, spending time with his family, and leading a small group at his local church.
Bill is the host of “ProfitSense with Bill McDermott.” To find the show archive, go to ProfitSenseRadio.com.
The “One Minute Interview” series is produced by John Ray and in the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link.
Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
