With its growing population and foodie culture, Jahzmin French knew Charlotte, North Carolina, would be the ideal spot to become a first-time small business owner.
Approved to bring the JINYA Ramen Bar franchise to the Queen City, French and her business partner opened their first restaurant in Uptown Charlotte in September 2021. They followed up that success by opening one of the franchise’s largest restaurants in Charlotte’s South Park neighborhood in April 2023, and now employ 100 people.
“I believe we’ve done well because of the authentic food, atmosphere, culture and franchise support,” she said. “This is a cuisine that can’t be easily duplicated, and our restaurants and experience offer a vibe that fits any occasion or demographic.”
In addition to the food, service and atmosphere, French also credits her small business success to Uptown Regions Branch Manager Michelle Bordner, Banker Amber Minaya and team.
“Before this business started, I have never banked with Regions before at all, but I had heard about it,” she said. “The personalized service and care I’ve received at Regions is top tier. It’s a true relationship, and they’ve supported me in so many ways.”
One of those involved solving a cash-flow issue so French could better account for price increases of a particular item the restaurant purchases frequently.
“We considered a letter of credit but the simplest solution was increasing the debit limit on their business credit card so they could account for some of the increases and continue to purchase this item they needed,” Bordner said. “Problem solved!
“That’s the part of about my job I love the best: Taking care of issues like these so Jahzmin can continue to focus on wowing her customers and keeping her business on track.”
Watch the video to hear Jahzmin talk about JINYA Ramen Bar and Regions’ support.
View transcript
See the Small Business section of Regions.com to learn more about the bank’s free, personalized Regions Greenprint® plan and other services, insights and tools to help businesses grow and achieve their goals.
Note: Experiences and opinions stated by customers are their own. References to companies in this article not owned by Regions do not imply endorsement.