Power of HOPE Loan Fuels Business Expansion

“I started my business on savings and a prayer,” said Courtney Jacobs, the effervescent and upbeat owner of Insurance Done Right, based in Biloxi, Mississippi. Courtney opened her business in August 2018, about 18 months before COVID changed everything.

Before the pandemic, “business was growing at a rapid pace,” Jacobs said. She sold insurance policies for businesses, homes, and cars and had hired one employee. In March 2020, she shut down her small office and continued to pay her employee, even though the agent was unable to work due to suddenly having to care for small children at home.

With two small children of her own, Jacobs worked frantically to keep her business going from home on her own. However, revenue began to drop as a number of commercial customers, such as restaurants, landscapers, and cleaning services, as well as some homeowners, were unable to pay their premiums. Jacobs estimates business fell between 20 and 30% in those early months of the pandemic. 

Jacobs had been wary of taking on any debt when she opened her insurance agency, but as she began to resume more normal operations in the late spring and summer of 2020, she lacked the revenue to keep up with expenses. “But at that time, especially having a revenue loss, it was hard to go to a bank and ask to borrow money as a new business owner,” Jacobs said. Through her involvement with the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce, Jacobs was introduced to Stacy Bullard-Casey, the HOPE branch manager in Biloxi.

“Stacy is amazing. I sat down with her and we talked about different loans,” said Jacobs, who received a $10,000 Power of HOPE loan. The terms were more favorable than she could find elsewhere and the process was “seamless,” she said. “It’s been a great asset to my business to be able to borrow that money. Even though it wasn’t a lot, it was enough. It afforded me the opportunity to elevate my business.” Jacobs used the loan to hire an additional agent and to upgrade her business’ virtual work systems. Business has since increased 30% and Insurance Done Right is now available to communicate with clients around the clock.

Jacobs has since moved some personal savings to HOPE and is exploring other commercial financing options. “I haven’t talked to someone I haven’t liked. I’m all about relationships,” Jacobs said. “HOPE gave my business hope. When those corporate big institutions aren’t willing to take a chance on you, HOPE looks at the overall picture. They want to see you succeed.”