When Tim Maczka co-founded Team Financial Group in 2001 with partner Joe Smaby, they went through common growing pains many small businesses endure in their early years—along with a few additional responsibilities that might have been more unique, such as babysitting and mowing lawns.
But over the course of the past 20 years, Team Financial Group has provided more than $600 million in funds with the goal of helping customers grow their businesses. Team Financial Group’s mission has remained the same since Day 1: delivering efficient, flexible financing while applying common-sense lending principles.
Here, we catch up with Tim, who tells us a little more about himself, the early days of Team Financial Group, and what the future holds for the company under CEO, President, and son Matt Maczka.
Tim Maczka has more than 40 years of financial services experience and holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Central Michigan University. As the co-founder and chairman of Team Financial Group, Tim works closely with all aspects of the business, including funding, underwriting, and portfolio risk management.
RELATED: About Us: Who Is Team Financial Group?
What can you tell us about your background before you co-founded Team Financial Group?
I was a commercial lender, along with many other hats I wore, at Old Kent Bank during my 26-year career there. When Fifth Third Bank bought Old Kent and I left, I was excited to start Team Financial Group, even though the thought was nerve-wracking at the time because I had three kids in college. But I had a 52-week severance package and convinced my wife that I would know in a year how we were doing, and I would get another job if necessary. Twenty years later, here we are.
Tell us how the founding of Team Financial Group came to be?
There were five of us that started out, and Joe Smaby was my partner. He had worked at Old Kent Bank for 13 years, mostly in sales. I was the underwriter and funder, Joe was the sales guy, and away we went.
We didn’t have anywhere to go yet, so we started in Joe’s basement in May 2001. We quickly knew we had to get out of there, because his wife started using us as a babysitter. Those first few months, we traded Saturdays for who would mow the lawn. We wore every hat and tried to save as much as we could. Some good memories there.
What were the early days like at Team Financial Group?
We were calling on all sorts of vendors and partnering with them to offer equipment financing. We had some really good calls early in our startup days. With one company, Michigan Office Solutions—at that time they were called Commercial Equipment Company—we worked out a program for us to do all of their municipal financing, which was a huge opportunity and boost in the early stages of the company.
What was it like having your son, Matt, rejoin Team Financial Group?
I was 48 years old when we started the company, and one of the first things I wrote on a notebook I kept on my desk was “succession.” Matt was working as a civil engineer in Indianapolis, and I kind of wrote him off as a possibility. But after nine years working in the construction industry, Matt told me he was getting a master’s degree in finance. I thought to myself, “Wow, that’s interesting.” When he was done with school and said he was interested in coming to work with us at Team Financial Group, I remember thinking, “Yes, my prayers have been answered.” It’s been a blessing for all of us. Matt fit right in, came in with an eagerness to learn and a humbleness that made it really nice.
How have you seen Team Financial Group change in the past few years?
System-wise, Matt brought in a lot of operational expertise. We went through a complete conversion of all our systems. I remember at the time Matt joined us, I think we had about $50 million in assets, and he wrote on a whiteboard right away, “What does $100 million look like?” Joe and I got a little nervous about that, but it was good. We always had a lot of hustle, but Matt brought an aggressiveness that we didn’t always have.
What are you most proud of regarding Team Financial Group?
That we’ve been here for 20 years. The failure rate of small businesses is fairly high, so the fact that we’ve built a business that is stable and growing and well capitalized is a compliment to all of us and our customers. We’re pretty proud of that.
When you put the numbers to it, over $500 million in capital to small businesses, not just in West Michigan, but all of Michigan, is pretty exciting. On the employee side, we have employees that started right out of school. (Accounting Manager) Tanya Schulz been with us for 19 years. If you look at the longevity of our employees, it’s pretty exciting too.
What does the future hold for Team Financial Group?
I think we’re just getting started. The management team keeps getting better. I think there’s an old saying that goes, “The first generation starts a business, the second generation grows it.” Matt is definitely poised to take us to the next level, no question about it.
What do you like to do away from office?
My wife and I like to bicycle, golf, and we love our nine grandkids. Our world kind of revolves around that. We’ve been going on these bike tour trips, starting about 10-15 years ago, and we go to great places. We’re going to Yellowstone National Park on a bicycle trip next year. We like outdoor activities. We live on a lake, and that’s a magnet for our grandkids, so we like that. Our church is a big part of our life, too.
For us, it’s all about our customers and employees. We feel strongly about our accomplishments. That’s really the bottom line. Take care of customers and they’ll take care of you.
At Team Financial Group, we work with clients to identify and customize financing solutions that meet their unique needs. Our commercial equipment financing options can improve your business’ cash flow and overall financial health.
To get fast, flexible financing today, please complete this brief online application.
The content provided here is for informational purposes only. For financial advice, please contact our commercial financing experts.
Team Financial Group, Inc., is proud to be celebrating its 20th year of helping customers grow their business through convenient financing solutions.
After long careers in the banking industry, Tim Maczka and Joe Smaby founded Team Financial Group in 2001 with the goal of providing small business owners with an alternative source of equipment financing and financial expertise to supplement their existing bank relationships. Today, Team Financial Group’s mission remains the same: delivering fast, flexible financing while developing lasting relationships with both customers and vendors to provide the best financing solutions.
“Like most small businesses, we started from humble beginnings, but have enjoyed success and significant growth over the years because of the services we provide and the respectful and honest way we provide them,” Team Financial Group President and CEO Matt Maczka said. “Twenty years of business is a tremendous milestone, but what I’m most proud of is that many of our customers and employees have been working with us for 10 years or longer.”
Team Financial Group has steadily expanded its portfolio and footprint across dozens of industries in the Midwest. Team Financial Group has grown its annual originations from $25 million in 2012 to more than $60 million in 2021, and services more than a $100 million portfolio.
In the future, Team Financial Group hopes to continue to serve the West Michigan community where it’s based, create new opportunities for current and future employees, and be opportunistic about additional growth and expansion.
“Over the past 20 years, we have been very blessed with loyal customers, vendors, and employees. Our success is a testament to the fact that businesses still value customer service,” Founder and Chairman Tim Maczka said. “We have always strived to make it a win/win/win for all parties, whether you are a client, vendor, or employee. The amount of repeat and referral business that continues to drive our growth indicates that we have been successful in meeting that objective.”
Established in 2001, Team Financial Group has provided over $500 million in funds for businesses, helping its customers grow. Its mission is to deliver fast, flexible financing while applying common-sense lending principles. The corporation develops lasting relationships with both its customers and vendors to provide each with the best financing solutions.
For more information, give us a call at 616-735-2393 or fill out our contact form.
Matt Maczka knows the value of relationships. It’s one of the reasons why he returned to his hometown, Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2012 and joined Team Financial Group. He was named President in 2015 and then succeeded his father, Tim Maczka, as CEO, in November 2020.
Founded in 2001, Team Financial Group has provided over half a billion in funds for businesses towards the goal of helping our customers’ businesses grow. Team Financial Group’s mission is to deliver efficient, flexible financing while applying common-sense lending principles. Matt leads Team Financial Group’s business operations and is heavily involved in the sales arena, where he develops strong vendor and client relationships.
Here, we catch up with Matt, who tells us a little more about himself and his goals for Team Financial Group in the future.
RELATED: About Us: Who Is Team Financial Group?
Can you tell us about your background before you joined Team Financial Group?
Prior to Team Financial Group, I worked as a Project Manager for a large, family- and employee-owned construction company in Indianapolis. My education is in civil engineering, and although I had an engineering degree, I was never really an engineer. I was more of a people manager. I went back to Butler University and got my business degree after about five or six years at the construction company with the idea that I would eventually become CFO.
How did you end up at Team Financial Group?
There was no succession plan at Team Financial Group at the time, and I wanted to move back to West Michigan. So, my wife and I decided to leave Central Indiana and give it a shot. It was a big change for our family, but it was a pretty low-risk move in 2012.
What was it like to transition to President and CEO?
I’m a fast learner, and I have no problem doing the work. For the first four or five years, I was really just learning the business. When I became President, I was comfortable. It was a good transition. I only became CEO about a year ago, and Tim still comes to work every day and is the majority owner of the business. We don’t really get too hung up on roles and titles. We run this as a team.
How have you seen Team Financial Group change in the past few years?
We’ve continued to build our portfolio and the size of our customer base. We’re really in the repeat and referral business. Always have been. We can only be in this business if we treat people fairly with honesty, dignity, and respect Business gets a lot simpler when you treat people with respect, and it’s snowballed over the last seven or eight years.
We measure ourselves like any bank or lender would in total outstanding loans. We went through a major milestone recently; we have crossed the $100 million mark in our loan portfolio.
The world has gotten a lot smaller. That’s something that’s changed a lot in the past seven years—we’re doing a lot more deals outside of the state.
What’s been one of your biggest challenges?
In many ways, what we’re trying to do is grow our book of business, find more of the right people, but not change our culture. That sounds kind of goofy, but what differentiates us is we take care of people. The challenge is how can we bring on more employees but still have the expertise and maintain the “we’ll-take-care-of-you” atmosphere. A lot of people say we can’t grow [and preserve that culture], and maybe they’re right—but we’re going to find out.
What’s the one thing you wish people knew about Team Financial Group?
What our customers value is we take care of them in an efficient manner, but we’re looking out for their best interests as well. A lot of lenders out there are more worried about getting the current deal done and then moving on. We want to take care of people because we know that they’re going to call us back year after year after year. We don‘t just act as lenders. Our customers see us as consultants, helping them address their business’ evolving needs and goals. We’re going to take care of them. We want our relationship to grow and stand the test of time.
What do you like to do away from the office?
I like to do stuff outside: hunt, fish, golf, play sports with my four boys. We’ve got a lot of kid sports going on right now. Lacrosse, basketball, golf, football, baseball, tennis. You name it, we’re doing it.
At Team Financial Group, we work with clients to identify and customize financing solutions that meet their unique needs. Our commercial equipment financing options can improve your business’ cash flow and overall financial health.
To get fast, flexible financing today, please complete this brief online application.
The content provided here is for informational purposes only. For financial advice, please contact our commercial financing experts.