Bruno: Design dream team

Bruno and his wife came to Lending Circles to jump start their graphic design business.

Bruno and his wife, Micaela came to the United States ten years ago with dream of owning their own business. They had years of professional experience as screen printers in Mexico City but with little savings, were worried they wouldn’t be able to see their dream come true. Two separate micro lenders denied Bruno’s applications for a small business loan, both citing his lack of credit history as the reason.

Starting over

After Bruno joined a Lending Circles, his savings and credit score began to increase. In October of 2010 Bruno and Micaela become proud owners of Our Mission Graphics, a custom t-shirt and graphic design store in San Francisco. Eventually, Bruno needed a new vehicle so he applied for a car loan from a local credit union.

When the bank called and told him his credit history qualified him for the loan, he was overjoyed. Bruno says, “I was very happy to know that I had a credit score. I am hoping this car loan will also help me to secure future business loans.”

Our Mission Graphics is growing, but so are the demands of his customers.

“Even if they love a shirt design, if I don’t have the exact color and size in stock, the customer sometimes decides to go elsewhere,” Bruno says.  In the next few years, he hopes to apply for a small business loan to build a larger inventory for Our Mission Graphics, move to a larger location, and hire his first employee.