Clearly, Carmeisha had no issues peddling her pudding, but she still wasn’t sure if she was turning a profit: “I was making the money, but I felt like I wasn’t really seeing the money.” This is when she decided that she needed to “get organized.” There was another important anxiety at work here too: her pricing. Was Carmeisha charging her customers enough to maintain a healthy bottom line?

Two years after starting, Carmeisha opened a business account at the same credit union where she was handling her personal account. As she had intended, she now had a separate account from which to pay for supplies and other expenses. Her business also grew significantly during this period. Nevertheless, Carmeisha still wasn’t sure if she was turning enough of a profit. The possible culprit? Pricing.

“I'm spending this amount on [supplies]. This is what I'm making. And it was just a lot going on. So, I'm like, you know what? Let me come back and then reorganize my pricing. So that was the big issue for me.” Carmeisha did eventually raise her pricing to match competitors more closely. However, it was also becoming clear that her account was just not keeping up with her needs. 

Fast forward to 2017, on the Fourth of July. Carmeisha receives a mailer from Chase promoting a new incentive: $300 credit for opening a business account. “I could use that extra money,” she thought. Chase had already been on her mind. Her close friend had banked there, and had recommended them on several occasions. She had explained to Carmeisha that it wouldn’t hurt to try them. And if she wasn’t happy, she could always try something else. These two forces — her friend plus the cash incentive — helped pull Carmeisha to opening a new account.

There was one other anxiety at play: Carmeisha was not happy with the mobile banking app offered by her credit union. “It felt like they were using older technology,” she told us. “But when I went with Chase to open up the account, I thought there was a huge difference from what I [had been using].”

Carmeisha also discovered another feature available in the Chase app: the ability to take card payments from customers. This feature, she told us, “was the main thing” that drew her in. Interestingly, she had also paid for a similar service with her previous account at the credit union, but it had never worked to her expectations. “It was just frustrating! So, like I was trying to take a payment from a person, and then it's not working. It's offline, or it wasn't connecting.” As a result, Carmeisha had resorted to using third-party apps, like Zelle and Cash app.