Meet Benjamin Lozano | CEO & Co-founder, SMBX

We had the good fortune of connecting with Benjamin Lozano and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Benjamin, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
SMBX is the first of its kind as a marketplace for Small Business Bonds™, a way for small businesses to raise capital from their community and for everyday investors to grow their wealth. The Small Business Bond™ allows businesses that have been traditionally underserved to access growth capital at competitive rates without giving up equity in their company. At the same time, it allows community members to invest locally in businesses they know and love. As the Bonds are paid back by the business, the interest on them is paid back to these investors, keeping the dollars local for reinvestment and creating a cycle of wealth that stays within the community.

What should our readers know about your business?
The SMBX was born as the happy coincidence of a new law, a new set of technologies, and a powerful social demand for something radically new in finance. When title III of the JOBS Act went into effect in 2016, it made regulation crowdfunding legal, opening up the ability for private small businesses to raise capital from the general public.

Now, most companies who jumped to fill this niche went the equity route and developed products that allow small businesses to sell portions of their equity to finance a capital raise. However, at SMBX we believe that everyday investors want an understandable and predictable return on their investments. For this reason we created the Small Business Bond™, a debt-based financing tool for small businesses that is set up to pay investors back monthly with principal plus interest. You can think of it as a loan to the business, but instead of a bank earning the interest and taking those profits out of the community, it’s going back into the pockets of the investors that make up that community and allowing them to support businesses they know and love.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’d take them to check out the local shops and restaurants that are unique to here, passing through a couple of the businesses that have raised through the SMBX to meet the owners and try their products. We’d have to stop at Kai’s Baking Studio to fill up on some of their homemade keto and gluten free cookies. I also love getting out into nature, so I’d take them on a few scenic hikes, one of them definitely being by the water, as I’m big on the ocean.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to small business owners across the country. They’re the backbone of our way of life and employ nearly half of American workers. I have the utmost respect for people that are following their dreams and working hard to make them a reality. Without small business owners, we wouldn’t have a key pillar within our communities.

Website: https://thesmbx.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmbx/

Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/thesmbx/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSMBX

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSMBX/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM2Ko3d7qnsSt39exX5XCJA

Image Credits
3rd image – Popoca 4th image – Kai’s Baking Studio