Oct
26
Micro Loans Can Help Your Small Business Take Off
October 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Posted by: Kathleen Daniel
Great news if you’re entrepreneur or own a small business that you’d like to expand. We’ve posted before on Kiva.org, which gives loans as small as $25 to help small business owners in developing countries. Now it’s hoping its microlending strategies can offer a way out of the recession here, and has started offering similar loans to struggling U.S. entrepreneurs. What a capital idea! (Sorry, couldn’t resist). But really, good folks here can use support. This NPR story tells the story of one woman who asked for $2,000, and within a single day, a combination of nearly 80 people had fulfilled her request. Microloans typically have low interest rates and easy payback terms, as little as $100 monthly installments. Kiva said it has attracted more money since the U.S. loan program began.
Microplace is a for-profit arm of eBay and also acts as an online broker for microfinance securities. They’re similar to bonds, and most pay a return between 1 and 3 percent.
Microfinance loans aren’t FDIC-insured, but microfinance has been largely immune to the global recession. The 97% plus rate of people who pay back their loans is still holding. It’s still more about people helping who are trying to help themselves get a leg up.
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