Posted by Doherty on Dec 2, 2011 in Finance 101 | 0 comments
Microloans are a type of financing programs specifically designed to help particular sectors of the society. According to Lendio, a lending consultancy firm operating online, sad that this financing model is created to help people with little or no income from developing countries to rise above the poverty level by providing them financial help to become entrepreneurs. In the United States, the Small Business Administration has launched its own Microloans program to give financial aid as well as other forms of help to budding small business ventures.
In the general sense, microloans programs do not give immediate financial relief and freedom to those who avail its benefits. Rather, the funds that are disbursed through such initiatives are used to give the entrepreneurial poor with the ability to expand and improve their business and in turn, potentially increase their profits. This concept was created to reality because most commercial banks and lending institutions do not list poor people as “credit worthy”, making it hard, or impossible, for such individuals to secure financing through working capital loans to start their own business. On top of that, since poor people are tagged with credit unworthiness, they are often barred from other financial transactions such as savings and insurance.
Most poor people turn to creative forms of entrepreneurship like selling fruit at the local market to weaving clothes to feed themselves and their families. Through informal training, these individuals learned the art of business and marketing and knowing that if they had the funds, they will have the opportunity to become more successful at their trade. This is where microloans programs come in.
In the United States, the stress on helping poor entrepreneurs is high. The SBA Microloans programs the agency offers includes a maximum loan amount of $50,000. The average approved amount plays around $12,000. Aside from the financial help, SBA Microloans project requires eligible individuals to go under business training and technical assistance before their loan applications will be considered. This is to make sure that the funds will be effectively used to further improve their business.
Like all other SBA loan initiatives, the SBA Microloans program does not directly provide the money to its borrowers. Terms and conditions of the loans are still governed by the banks and lending companies. And as such, the terms may vary. That said, the SBA Microloans program has been a vehicle of small and budding entrepreneurs from poor communities to become successful in their chosen trade.
To know more about the SBA Microloans program, go to your SBA District Office or discuss the matter with your bank and see if you are qualified.
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