Hey Junior Savers! Have you ever had a big idea but didn’t know how to make it happen? Sometimes just taking the first step can be the hardest part, right? It can even be scary, or intimidating. Here is a story about one person trying to make his big idea happen and how he made it work.

Ed’s idea was to start a bank. He thought a lot of the banks in Chicago were getting too big and cared only about large businesses, not regular people. He thought banks should care about the neighborhood they were in, and the people who lived in those communities. So, he decided to start his own bank.

But how do you start a bank? You need a big, brick building, tall countertops, short tables, telephones, file cabinets and a drive-through lane, right?

Ed started small. He had a table, one you could set up and take down when you were done with it. He had a cell phone. It was an old one, about the size of a shoe box, so it couldn’t fit in your pocket or take pictures, but it could make phone calls. He didn’t have any big file cabinets to fit all the papers a banker needs into them. But he did have a brief case, and that was enough to for the beginning.

He set his things up in a small storefront in his Chicago neighborhood. It wasn’t a nice brick building with a drive-through lane, but it was a place to start. He began helping the people and small businesses in his neighborhood with their banking problems. People liked the way his bank worked. Then he helped people and businesses in other neighborhoods and his idea grew and grew.

Now Ed is in charge of more than 175 banks in Illinois and Wisconsin. Many of them are nice, brick buildings with high countertops, telephones and a drive-through lane. But Ed still wants to help the people in the neighborhoods where his banks are. That’s why he started programs like Junior Savers at your bank, so that kids could learn about money and banking too.

So if you ever have an idea that seems too big to get started, remember, starting small worked for Ed and it can work for you!