Miri Plowman knows what it takes to turn an idea into a sustainable business—and what it takes to fund it. As Craft3’s Business Services Coach, she works one-on-one with entrepreneurs to prepare them for the loan application process.
“I love helping to turn the big ideas that live in an entrepreneur's brain into numbers and words that can be digested by lenders,” she says.
Miri brings more than technical expertise to this work. As a former business owner, she understands firsthand the uncertainty, trade-offs, and persistence required to build something from the ground up. That lived experience shapes how she supports entrepreneurs today, creating a space that’s both practical and deeply relational.
"I do my best to meet clients where they are. Together we build projections, review the business plan, and talk through the ground level realities of The Big Dreams,” Miri reflects. “I ask hard questions of my clients not because I'm mean, or even because I am a 'realist,’ but because for every question I ask, there are ten other scenarios that aren't on anyone's bingo card.”
Through it all, Miri is focused on helping entrepreneurs build businesses that are not only viable, but also aligned with their long-term goals.
Based on what she’s learned as both a coach and a business owner, Miri shares three tips she wishes every entrepreneur knew.
Miri's Tips for Entrepreneurs:
1. Be patient.
In this era of overnight viral sensations and flash-in-the-pan ideas, most successful businesses take time and real relationships to build. Businesses take longer than you think they will to generate the reputation and consistency you desire. The beauty here is that slow and consistent growth also has real staying power.
2. Seek community.
Running a business can be lonely! Everyone can be so impressed with you and simultaneously confused as to why you haven't shown up to xyz event or why you are always bailing on plans. My bestie (shout out to Union Pilates in Seattle!) and I were starting our businesses at the same time, and we spent many over-caffeinated hours working on our websites, building invoices, responding to emails and writing on the back of napkins at the coffee shops around our neighborhood. We relied on each other and understood each other's challenges. I also took in as many in-person, affordable, small business courses that I could find. These courses were informative for sure-but also put me in rooms full of entrepreneurs with passion, innovative strategies, and similar internal drive. It was inspiring and fulfilling to connect around our shared dreams and challenges and learn together.
3. Get clear on your personal financial goals early.
For example, I knew I wanted to eventually own my own home. This meant that in the first year of owning the business, my husband/business partner and I sat down with a mortgage broker to fully understand what the business needed to accomplish for us to get us to home ownership. To qualify for a mortgage, the business had to pay both of us consistent paychecks and operate at a profit. We had to protect our personal credit scores and avoid over utilization of credit cards to pay for business growth. It took us four more years before we qualified for a mortgage, but we always had that personal goal as a north star. If your business can't fulfill your personal financial goals, then it is quite simply a very time-consuming hobby! (And also, see tip one. Things DO take time!)
