Brandon Ward’s story is one of passion, perseverance, and a willingness to take risks. After a successful career as a schoolteacher and school principal, Ward decided to pursue his dream of becoming a construction entrepreneur. His journey began when his parents’ house was destroyed by a tornado, and he had to take on the challenge of rebuilding it himself.

Having had a passion for architecture since high school, he took on the general contracting for the rebuild himself. Through this process, he found it difficult to find honest contractors. This, coupled with his desire to be financially free and build generational wealth, ignited the entrepreneur in him, and he soon founded his own company, Bidgigz, LLC.

Ward’s initial challenge was finding financing for his projects. He started by self-funding, but this limited him to building only one house at a time. He then became a part of the Community Developers Roundtable, a collective network and capacity-building initiative for real estate developers, and it was there he met Rosa Rios-Valdez and the rest of the BCL of Texas team. “I had business with a hard money lender and with a bank, but when I got with BCL, there’s no comparison,” said Ward. “As far as interest rates and terms, and no upfront costs, it was a true opportunity to scale my business.”

Ward also appreciates the operational guidance and business coaching provided by BCL. “BCL provided a full financial analysis of my company,” explained Ward. “As a new business owner, you may see dollars coming in, but BCL can show you where your money is really going and point out the areas of growth. It is a real eye-opening experience.”

He warns that without proper business coaching and analysis, it is not surprising that so many small businesses fail within the first few years, but with BCL stepping in and coaching, it really helps small businesses’ overall growth and success.

His advice to budding entrepreneurs is to find something that you’re passionate about and pivot that into something that provides financial gain. “If you are passionate about it, then it is not going to be a burden to work those long hours,” says Ward. “If you are following your dreams, you can’t go wrong.”

Ward is still following his dreams, as he wants to get into commercial development, build condos, and even own an events center. “BCL will help me turn my passion into a business plan and provide the outline to help me get there.”