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photo credit: juhansonin

Starting a business is an overwhelming thought. One of the first things to consider is the funding you will need to get off the ground. In the past, you would need to either find investors, an angel investor, or attempt to get a business loan. Today, peer to peer lending is a new option that people are finding it as a viable option for funding a business.

The advantage of using peer to peer lending is the scale of your application. When you apply to a bank or approach an angel investor this is just one potential lender. If you use peer to peer lending, you are submitting a request for funding to thousands of potential investors. Everyone that is on a peer to peer lending site is a potential investor. Large sites like Prosper have a couple hundred thousand members. That is an exposure not easily achieved through the other models.

There are specific peer to peer lending sites that are designed for entrepreneurs. 40 billion is one of these sites. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: karpov the wrecked train

In the past getting a loan used to be a pretty intimidating process, getting dressed in your Sunday best, looking your best and venturing into town to the bank for a date with the Bank Manager. Once there you used to have to throw yourself at the mercy of the manager and plead for them to lend you money, getting declined for a loan was often a demoralising and embarrassing process.

These days applying for a loan is much more stress-free with the decision on whether you get given the money being based more on details such as your income, credit report and other factors, but still people can get turned down for reasons other than a poor credit record. In light of the recent credit crunch many banks are being more cautious about whom they lend money to and in some cases have ceased offering unsecured loans. Read the rest of this entry »