"You have to be patient with your company but also with yourself" with Lorne A Jenkins

Lorne A Jenkins is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mini Money Management. MMM is an app that helps parents and teachers educate their children about the importance of financial literacy using everyday experiences. Lorne turned a childhood game that his mother played with him growing up, into an app to help teach the lessons he learned to children across the world. https://www.minimoneymanagement.com/

Can you tell our readers about your background?  

I was raised in Longmont Colorado from the age of 6. I grew up playing every sport you could think of, and attended Campbell University and ran division 1 track and field for 4 years while earning my bachelor’s degree in economics. From there I went to England and received my master’s degree in finance from the University of East London, before working as a foreign exchange broker. I ended up leaving that job, moving back to the US (visa issues), and starting Mini Money Management!  

What inspired you to start your business?

When I was 8 and my little sister was 5, we asked my mom to go out to eat every single day. She got fed up with it, and posted on the refrigerator job postings for a son and daughter. We had to complete applications, interview for the positions, she called our references (who had nothing but great things to say) and we eventually were awarded the positions. This new job came with a salary of $40 (fake money) per week. The catch came when we had to pay for household expenses such as rent, laundry, transportation, and of course meals. It cost $1 to eat at home and $3 to eat out. My mother’s claim to fame is that by the time we got to the end of the summer she asked us if we wanted to go out to eat. Our response “No mommy, that’s way too expensive”. Mini Money Management and the household economy was born.

I wouldn’t realize the depth of the lessons that I learned participating in MMM as a child until I was much older, and financial literacy is just one of them. I graduated high school as a state champion in track and field with a 4.2 GPA and a full-ride scholarship (40% of that being academic). I went to Campbell University for undergrad and graduated cum laude with an economics degree. I ran Division I track and field for 4 years and was the economics student of the year. I then went to the University of East London and earned my master’s degree in finance, graduating with distinction. While getting my master’s I traveled to 10 different countries and over 15 different cities across Europe. Here’s the kicker, I’ve never been the biggest fan of going to school. School to me always seemed boring and quite honestly pointless. But what I was taught at a young age through MMM  is that in life there are going to be things you have to do (chores), so you can do the things you want to do (go swimming). I knew that to play sports I would have to keep my grades up, so I made sure I was a good student so that I could do something that I loved. Once I finished with undergrad my grades allowed me acceptance into a master’s program. It had been a dream of mine to travel around Europe, so I used the master’s program to see parts of the world I never would have been able to see otherwise.

I ended up getting a job as a foreign exchange broker once I graduated and was amazed at how even people with a lot of money can be financially illiterate. One of my coworkers was comfortably making 6 figures, but still had maxed out credit cards, and hadn’t paid off his student loans. No matter where I went, people weren’t taught about money, especially as children. That is why we started Mini Money Management, to give kids around the world a solid financial foundation. 

Where is your business based?

Our business is based in Longmont, Colorado

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

Since this was a game that my mom played with me as a young child, this idea was nothing new to me. My mother and I had a brief conversation about potentially turning it into a company, and so we went to my old 4th-grade teacher and ran the idea past him (big shout out to Mr. Huey!). He was a huge fan of the idea and suggested that we turn it into an app to make it as easy for teachers and parents as possible. Neither my mom and I are technically gifted (coding is a foreign language to me) so we went on the search for a developer who could make us an MVP. We haven’t looked back since!

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

The most effective way of raising awareness has really been word of mouth. Money is such an emotional subject that people are very hesitant to trust new people or ideas when it comes to education. So once we got a few teachers and parents on board, they became our biggest supporters and marketers. We have found that people are much more likely to try a new app about money when someone they know has already tried it!

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?  

The biggest challenge we have faced to date was COVID-19 shutting down the schools in March. We were in the middle of a pilot with a few different schools and the week we pushed the last update was the week that all students were sent home from school. All of the momenta we had was lost which was extremely tough. But we ended up taking the technology we had used in schools and revamping the app to be used with parents in homes. We found that a lot of parents want to teach their children about money, but most of them weren’t educated themselves. There is a lack of tools available to the “normal” parent around financial literacy and we are making it as easy as possible for them to teach money! 

How do you stay focused? 

For me personally, the easiest way for me to stay focused is to take plenty of breaks and try to keep my work days relatively short. There is always going to be an element of passion that goes into the work that we do, but it is also an exhausting journey.  I do my best to keep workdays to 6 hours or less and when I’m not working I don’t check emails (for the most part). I think the best way to stay focused and motivated is to stay energized and remember what our goal is, teaching a generation of children about the importance of financial literacy!

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

MMM is unique in the fact that we give parents and teachers the tools to teach financial literacy using everyday activities. The problem with financial education is that the market only serves two types of people, those who are very wealthy, and those who are in debt. There are limited financial education resources that focus on youth. Children will either be taken on a day-long field trip or they will have a financial expert come in and speak to their class. When you look at the way that children learn basic subjects like reading, writing, and math, they are taught these on a day to day basis. How can we expect a student to be financially literate when they attend a 3-hour field trip once a year? Mini Money Management uses the approach that children learn best through experience. Instead of a child reading definitions of interest rates and savings accounts, we let them experience money in a way that relates to them. Experiential learning has been proven to be the most effective way for children to learn, and we utilize that to teach financial literacy to kids at a young age.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

Our best marketing effort to date is word of mouth, we want to continue to build an app that parents and teachers enjoy using and are excited to talk about. For the school edition of MMM we look for teachers who are currently using a classroom economy. This works well because the main complaint from teachers using a non-tech classroom economy is that it is a lot to manage. We also look for newer teachers who have just graduated from college or are in their first few years of teaching. They are always looking for more effective classroom management tools as that is the most difficult skill to learn as a new teacher. Most of our marketing is done through social media or new teacher orientations.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?  

The best piece of advice I could give aspiring and new entrepreneurs is to be patient. You have to be patient with your company but also with yourself. Things will always move slower than you hope they will in the short term, but the long term benefits can be astounding. You also have to be patient with yourself because you are going to make mistakes, it’s inevitable. You have to allow yourself to make these mistakes so that you can truly learn what works and what doesn’t! 

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

As simple as it sounds, my favorite app is the notepad on my phone. I will have so many ideas at random hours of the night, on trips, and in places, I would never expect to have them. The notes section of my phone is filled with random plans, ideas, and dreams for MMM that one day will come to fruition! 

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

My favorite business tool is Contact Mapping (found in the app store and google play) It’s a relatively simple customer management app that really helps me keep all of my conversations and follow-ups in one place.  

Who is your business role model? Why?

My business role model is Kevin Hart. He didn’t come from much money at all, and he had a dream and a talent. He used his gifts and wants to become a billionaire to show people (especially people of color) that you don’t have to come from money to make it in this world. I truly admire that. 

How do you balance work and life?  

I only work 6-hour days (well I try my absolute best to). We have been wrapped up in a culture that says 8, 10, 12 hour days are normal when it comes to being successful. Coming from the finance industry where I was working those long hours, it really does have a negative impact on your life and your mental health. I believe that we can be more productive if we work less and enjoy life more. This will allow people to give their full energy and attention when they do sit down to work. I don’t work weekends, and when I am off work, I am fully off work, not responding to emails or checking the app.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?  

The best way for me to unwind is to play sports. They were my first love and they are an unbelievable stress reliever for me. Whether it’s biking, soccer, basketball, or softball, there is something extremely soothing for me to switch off and compete in a sport.

What do you have planned for the next six months?  

Over the next 6 months, our biggest plans are to continue to gain traction in schools and build out a school-wide edition of MMM so that schools and districts can implement our app on a large scale. We also are going to continue to penetrate the home/parent market and get more traction there!

How can our readers connect with you?

The easiest way to connect with me is via email: lorne@minimoneym.com or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorne-jenkins-17ba3a108/