Since its inception, the peer-to-peer lending industry has moved ahead at warp speed. The P2P lending market was valued at $67.93 billion in 2019 and is expected to cross the $500 billion figure in 2027 at a CAGR of 29.7 percent, despite the global pandemic crisis.
P2P lending is a funding method that lets businesses get capital from several investors online. P2P lending marketplaces get investors and businesses seeking funding together on one platform. It is a debt-based investment that’s different from crowdfunding. It presumes that the borrower will repay the loan in installments over the specified period.
Since the entire process is technologically driven, it ensures transparency and involves low operating costs and market risk. Hence, this funding model is a perfect fit for startup owners and entrepreneurs who are constantly looking for quick access to funds and reasonable interest rates.
Here’s why P2P lending is an ideal business financing option for startups and SMEs.
1. It Offers an Easy and Streamlined Application Process
P2P lending allows startup owners to borrow capital without the hassle of going to financial institutions. This is an ideal scenario for startups as banks have extensive eligibility requirements and take a long time to approve a loan.
Also, startup owners who do not have good credit but a healthy cashflow find it tough to get loans from credit unions or banks. P2P lending is a great alternative option for such businesses. Even with a less-than-perfect credit score, a small business can get its funds through an online lending platform.
These platforms use the latest technology to provide direct and safe interaction between borrowers and lenders through a simple application process. They perform all the necessary checks, set all the rates and terms and conditions, apply legislation changes, and allow safe transactions.
For instance, the loan marketplace platform Swaper has built its own AI scoring model that’s completely automated and adjusts legislation changes to the new risk terms.
Depending on the size of your loan, the process of funding from financial institutions can last for weeks on end. However, P2P lending is an online and transparent process where the borrowers are constantly updated about the progress of their funding.
P2P platforms offer startups with a huge pool of willing investors who evaluate borrowers and lend accordingly. Lenders needn’t support 100 percent of the financing; rather, it is pooled by many lenders. All this reduces the time taken to raise funds for a venture. Even loan amounts like $5,000 or more are funded in less than a week.
3. It Offers Excellent Interest Rates
When compared with the traditional ways of funding, P2P lending offers better interest rates. Banks usually have a higher interest rate on personal loans as they are unsecured loans. Repaying such loans can burn a hole in your pocket.
Being completely online (unlike banks), P2P platforms operate on low overheads. They do not have administrative and operational costs to pay. This allows them to offer attractive rates depending on the borrower’s credit score, loan amount, and loan term. Hence, startups looking to reduce their business costs can benefit from this type of financing.
4. There Are No Hidden Costs
If you’ve ever applied for a loan from a bank, you’d understand the importance of reading the fine print. Many who have failed to do so have landed in a soup. Banks have so many hidden charges that most borrowers aren’t aware of until it’s too late. Such cashflow surprises can ruin your startup.
Online P2P lending is different. As mentioned earlier, it’s a transparent process that clearly states the registration fee and the commission on the loan at the time of your registration. There are no hidden charges. What’s more? If you plan to repay your loan early, you will not have to contend with any prepayment penalties.
So, you can use your funds to scale your startup rather than wasting it on unnecessary penalties and hidden charges.
5. You Don’t Need a Collateral
Not all P2P lending platforms offer loans without collateral; however, they mandate a certain credit score and critically verify the eligibility of the borrower. They also check your business cash flow. If you meet the eligibility and your business has healthy cash flow, they may take collateral lightly and drop it from the requirements. So, you can get your startup funded without collateral!
Before opting for this funding option, consider the following pointers –
Take a look at the fine print at the bottom of each P2P provider’s home or the product page. They usually share the complete overview of the loan amounts they offer and the rates and fees they charge.
Make sure that the lender operates in your state or country. Many P2P lenders do not operate in all locations.
Review your credit reports for major negative entries if any as these may come in the way of your loan approval.
Watch out for tempting upsells. You may require a certain amount but qualify for a larger loan. A few P2P sites will encourage you to borrow more. Agree only if you think you can put the money to good use.
Summing Up
P2P lending is an ideal funding option for small business owners and entrepreneurs looking for quick and easy ways to fuel their venture. No wonder, over the past decade, P2P lending has become mainstream among startups seeking additional funding.
Use the information shared above to make an informed funding decision for your venture.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/finance-4858797_1280-1.jpg8451280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2021-02-01 17:00:012021-02-01 12:04:35Why P2P Lending Makes Complete Sense for Startups
In today’s world dominated by the Internet and social media, brand image plays a big part in the outreach and success of your business. With so much competition in the market, first impressions are often lasting impressions. So whether it’s your brand logo or website or message, it needs to be smart, eye-catching and on-point. This blog shows you five ways to help make your brand stand out.
1. A Good-Looking Website
Every business/ company today must have a website (if you don’t, get cracking on it!) that gives potential customers all the information required. Of course, depending on the nature of the business, the website can be informational, technical, educational or entertaining. But if you want your brand to stand out, make sure you are on the world wide web!
If you aren’t familiar with web design or don’t know the technicalities of building a site that stands out, hire a web design agency to make your website. Their creative input also be of great benefit.
2. A Logo That Stands Out
What do companies like Amazon, Nike, Apple and Dominos have in common? A logo that is instantly recognized worldwide. Your brand’s logo is of prime importance if you want your business to be noticed. First and foremost it must be striking, but more importantly it has to be relevant to your niche/ brand. Putting images of flowers on a logo for a tech company will make no sense, and won’t be coherent. A picture speaks a thousand words, it is said, and that’s exactly what your logo should do!
3. Strong Social Media Presence
Social media accounts are like the appendages of a website and a business. Today, almost everyone has an account on Facebook/ Twitter/ Instagram/ Pinterest etc and if your business isn’t on social media, you are seriously missing out on exposure and thousands of potential customers/ clients.
Also, besides attracting new customers, social media helps you to stay connected to your existing customers, keeping them updated and informed about new developments in your business as well as keeping your brand constantly in their radar.
4. A Blog
Having a website is great for your business, but having a blog section in the website is fantastic. Today, every top notch business has a related blog on their website, which gives additional information and knowledge about the niche/ area of business through researched articles. You could choose to have an in-house writer/s or you could outsource the blog posts to freelancers. Whatever you choose, keep your blog updated and post articles regularly. Share them on your business’s social media pages. Keep your customers in the loop and interested at all times.
5. Advertising Options
Gone are the days of simple print advertisements in magazines or on hoardings. Nowadays, with so many multimedia options available, there are a range of ways you can advertise your business and be seen. Apart from print, television and radio, you can also place ads on websites or blogs and get other bloggers to write about your business and link to your website.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/business-3639565_1280.jpg5521280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2021-02-01 16:00:412021-02-01 11:55:13Five Ways To Make Your Brand Stand Out
Launching and creating a store that sells clothes and other accessories is fantastic. It provides you with the chance to help customers find clothing that makes them feel happy and good about themselves, and it helps you earn a living too.
Whether you sell clothes that others have designed, or you make and sell your own clothing lines, setting up a store is one of the best ways to market what you have got to offer.
However, with so much competition out there, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. Taking time to create a store that is appealing and attractive to customers will ensure you get a decent footfall to your store (if you have a physical location). The same applies if you have an online presence either through your own website or selling platform. It has to be attractive and enticing, or people will not want to visit your store if it is not appealing to them.
Pay attention to the small details
In a physical store, this can be anything from the signage you use to the fixtures and fittings that you will use, including Retail & Display Mannequins that show your products off. Don’t underestimate how products can affect the design of your shop, and don’t underestimate how much lighting and color schemes can affect your customers. It can influence how long people browse for and, most importantly, whether they purchase or not.
Focus on your customers
Customers can make or break a store, so ensure your customers are at the heart of your business. Ensure that every customer has a good experience. Consistency and quality are very important in customer care and satisfaction. Unhappy customers can lose you business very quickly, so keep your customers happy. Monitor your customer care and service, and always ask existing customers for feedback. Any feedback you get will help you see where you are doing well and also where they may be any underlying problems or issues.
Stay competitive
You have a good product, so you will always get customers, right? Well, no, having a good product is one thing, but staying ahead of the competition is another. Very soon, there will be others emerging in your market, so you need to stay ahead of the game. You need to be introducing new stock that keeps your store fresh, and you need to be doing at least one product launch a year. A good product launch will keep your customers happy and keep them coming back for more time and time again.
Don’t be greedy
Making money is of course, nice, but people should always come over and before profit. It is much better to build a store that you will get repeat custom from overtime, than to be greedy and build a store that is here one minute and gone the next, or one that sells products at highly inflated prices. Opening a store is a marathon, not a sprint, so work hard to build relationships over time to help you make a living.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/fashion-1031469_1280.jpg8531280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2021-02-01 15:00:222021-02-01 11:45:00How to Make Your Retail Store a Success
Every brand needs to think about its reputation and how the world sees them. Businesses that have been able to develop a positive reputation will always appeal to modern-day consumers as they know that they will be reliable and trustworthy. In contrast, there will always be an element of risk when using an unknown brand or one which does not have the best reputation. Therefore it pays to work on improving your reputation as best you can, but what are a few effective strategies for improving your brand’s reputation? There are lots of effective ways to improve your brand reputation, and combining a few of these should have a significant impact on the success of your company.
Offer a Personalized Experience
In today’s day and age, people appreciate when a business can provide a personalized shopping experience based on their previous habits. Collecting data and using this to offer recommended products or repeat orders is a smart way to improve your brand reputation as well as encourage customers to spend more.
Go Above and Beyond With Customer Service
The way in which a business handles customer service has, perhaps, the biggest impact on brand reputation. You need to be friendly yet professional, always willing to go the extra mile and solve any issues swiftly. Crucially, when there is an issue (these are inevitable), you need to be honest, admit mistakes and take action to remedy the situation. In fact, if you were to apologize and offer free products and/or a discount, then it could even work in your favor.
Go Green
The world is becoming incredibly eco-aware. Consumers are even making decisions based on a company’s green credentials, so this can certainly be an effective way to improve your brand reputation. Additionally, often this can help you to reduce your costs too along with the environmental benefits, so it is a win-win situation.
Vehicle Donation
Businesses that do good in the world will also be looked on favorably, especially when supporting the local community. This is why Rawhide car donation to Rawhide Youth Services is a smart move as you can greatly improve the lives of at-risk youths in the State of Wisconsin with proceeds directly financing programs that will redirect the lives of those in need of support while painting your organization in a positive light.
Customer Reviews
When people are deciding whether or not to use a business for the first time, often one of the first steps that they will take will be to look for customer reviews. This is why you should try to obtain as many as possible and also use social listening tools to see what people are saying about your brand online – if you notice trends, you can then take action to improve particular areas that could be damaging your reputation.
Improving your brand’s reputation is not easy and will always take some time, but these are all effective strategies, and combining a few of these should help you see a positive impact before too long.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/rating-4859132_1280.png12801280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2021-02-01 14:00:102021-02-01 11:10:46Strategies to Improve Your Brand Reputation
As the owner of a small business, it is essential that you consider the law in running your business as you will obviously want to make sure that you are operating above board and know how to protect your small business. A small business can struggle if they encounter any kind of legal issue, which is why it is so important to be aware of a few tips which could come in useful when it comes to abiding by the law and protecting your business. Read on to find out the best legal tips for small businesses and how they could help.
Choose the Right Business Structure
First, you need to make sure that you choose the right business structure and one which will protect your personal assets at risk if you encounter a legal issue. You will be able to protect your personal assets by forming a limited liability partnership or limited company, so it is important to spend some time researching what would be best for you.
Create Contracts for All Agreements
Many business owners make the mistake of not creating contracts for agreements, but this could prove to be costly down the line. This is why contracts need to be drawn up for every single agreement, which also helps to clarify what is expected and should stop any misunderstandings from occurring.
Create Terms and Conditions
Similarly, you need to create Ts&Cs in order to protect the business and to outline what is expected when a consumer enters an agreement with your business. Without this, you are putting yourself at risk of uncertainty and misunderstandings, so you need to establish the rules in order to protect yourself.
Protect Your Intellectual Property
You do not want other companies benefiting from your intelligence and creativity, which is why you need to use trademarks, patents, and copyrights to protect your intellectual property. Additionally, when you create a new idea, product, service, or anything else, then you should always do a patent and trademark search to avoid stealing intellectual property.
Find Reliable Lawyers
It is also important to do your research, find the best corporate lawyers in your area, and consider different potential issues. As an example, you will want to find an expert eminent domain attorney in the event of authorized companies trying to take your private property for public use, and they will be able to fight on your behalf to stop this from happening or secure the best possible amount.
Stay Current With Changing Laws and Regulations
Finally, you need to make sure that you keep up to date with changing laws and regulations as these can change and often. HR will help a business stay compliant and make necessary changes relating to employment law, which will stop you from encountering any issues.
Hopefully, these legal tips will be of use and help you to protect your business. In particular, small businesses need to be wary of the legal issues that can arise from running a business and make sure that they have the best protection in place.
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Why P2P Lending Makes Complete Sense for Startups
/in Managing Your Finances/by StrategyDrivenP2P lending is a funding method that lets businesses get capital from several investors online. P2P lending marketplaces get investors and businesses seeking funding together on one platform. It is a debt-based investment that’s different from crowdfunding. It presumes that the borrower will repay the loan in installments over the specified period.
Since the entire process is technologically driven, it ensures transparency and involves low operating costs and market risk. Hence, this funding model is a perfect fit for startup owners and entrepreneurs who are constantly looking for quick access to funds and reasonable interest rates.
Here’s why P2P lending is an ideal business financing option for startups and SMEs.
1. It Offers an Easy and Streamlined Application Process
P2P lending allows startup owners to borrow capital without the hassle of going to financial institutions. This is an ideal scenario for startups as banks have extensive eligibility requirements and take a long time to approve a loan.
Also, startup owners who do not have good credit but a healthy cashflow find it tough to get loans from credit unions or banks. P2P lending is a great alternative option for such businesses. Even with a less-than-perfect credit score, a small business can get its funds through an online lending platform.
These platforms use the latest technology to provide direct and safe interaction between borrowers and lenders through a simple application process. They perform all the necessary checks, set all the rates and terms and conditions, apply legislation changes, and allow safe transactions.
For instance, the loan marketplace platform Swaper has built its own AI scoring model that’s completely automated and adjusts legislation changes to the new risk terms.
Check out this interview with Iveta Br?vele, the CEO of Swaper for details.
2. It Helps Startups Get Funds Quickly
Depending on the size of your loan, the process of funding from financial institutions can last for weeks on end. However, P2P lending is an online and transparent process where the borrowers are constantly updated about the progress of their funding.
P2P platforms offer startups with a huge pool of willing investors who evaluate borrowers and lend accordingly. Lenders needn’t support 100 percent of the financing; rather, it is pooled by many lenders. All this reduces the time taken to raise funds for a venture. Even loan amounts like $5,000 or more are funded in less than a week.
3. It Offers Excellent Interest Rates
When compared with the traditional ways of funding, P2P lending offers better interest rates. Banks usually have a higher interest rate on personal loans as they are unsecured loans. Repaying such loans can burn a hole in your pocket.
Being completely online (unlike banks), P2P platforms operate on low overheads. They do not have administrative and operational costs to pay. This allows them to offer attractive rates depending on the borrower’s credit score, loan amount, and loan term. Hence, startups looking to reduce their business costs can benefit from this type of financing.
4. There Are No Hidden Costs
If you’ve ever applied for a loan from a bank, you’d understand the importance of reading the fine print. Many who have failed to do so have landed in a soup. Banks have so many hidden charges that most borrowers aren’t aware of until it’s too late. Such cashflow surprises can ruin your startup.
Online P2P lending is different. As mentioned earlier, it’s a transparent process that clearly states the registration fee and the commission on the loan at the time of your registration. There are no hidden charges. What’s more? If you plan to repay your loan early, you will not have to contend with any prepayment penalties.
So, you can use your funds to scale your startup rather than wasting it on unnecessary penalties and hidden charges.
5. You Don’t Need a Collateral
Not all P2P lending platforms offer loans without collateral; however, they mandate a certain credit score and critically verify the eligibility of the borrower. They also check your business cash flow. If you meet the eligibility and your business has healthy cash flow, they may take collateral lightly and drop it from the requirements. So, you can get your startup funded without collateral!
Before opting for this funding option, consider the following pointers –
Summing Up
P2P lending is an ideal funding option for small business owners and entrepreneurs looking for quick and easy ways to fuel their venture. No wonder, over the past decade, P2P lending has become mainstream among startups seeking additional funding.
Use the information shared above to make an informed funding decision for your venture.
Five Ways To Make Your Brand Stand Out
/in Marketing & Sales/by StrategyDriven1. A Good-Looking Website
Every business/ company today must have a website (if you don’t, get cracking on it!) that gives potential customers all the information required. Of course, depending on the nature of the business, the website can be informational, technical, educational or entertaining. But if you want your brand to stand out, make sure you are on the world wide web!
If you aren’t familiar with web design or don’t know the technicalities of building a site that stands out, hire a web design agency to make your website. Their creative input also be of great benefit.
2. A Logo That Stands Out
What do companies like Amazon, Nike, Apple and Dominos have in common? A logo that is instantly recognized worldwide. Your brand’s logo is of prime importance if you want your business to be noticed. First and foremost it must be striking, but more importantly it has to be relevant to your niche/ brand. Putting images of flowers on a logo for a tech company will make no sense, and won’t be coherent. A picture speaks a thousand words, it is said, and that’s exactly what your logo should do!
3. Strong Social Media Presence
Social media accounts are like the appendages of a website and a business. Today, almost everyone has an account on Facebook/ Twitter/ Instagram/ Pinterest etc and if your business isn’t on social media, you are seriously missing out on exposure and thousands of potential customers/ clients.
Also, besides attracting new customers, social media helps you to stay connected to your existing customers, keeping them updated and informed about new developments in your business as well as keeping your brand constantly in their radar.
4. A Blog
Having a website is great for your business, but having a blog section in the website is fantastic. Today, every top notch business has a related blog on their website, which gives additional information and knowledge about the niche/ area of business through researched articles. You could choose to have an in-house writer/s or you could outsource the blog posts to freelancers. Whatever you choose, keep your blog updated and post articles regularly. Share them on your business’s social media pages. Keep your customers in the loop and interested at all times.
5. Advertising Options
Gone are the days of simple print advertisements in magazines or on hoardings. Nowadays, with so many multimedia options available, there are a range of ways you can advertise your business and be seen. Apart from print, television and radio, you can also place ads on websites or blogs and get other bloggers to write about your business and link to your website.
How to Make Your Retail Store a Success
/in Managing Your Business/by StrategyDrivenWhether you sell clothes that others have designed, or you make and sell your own clothing lines, setting up a store is one of the best ways to market what you have got to offer.
However, with so much competition out there, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. Taking time to create a store that is appealing and attractive to customers will ensure you get a decent footfall to your store (if you have a physical location). The same applies if you have an online presence either through your own website or selling platform. It has to be attractive and enticing, or people will not want to visit your store if it is not appealing to them.
Pay attention to the small details
In a physical store, this can be anything from the signage you use to the fixtures and fittings that you will use, including Retail & Display Mannequins that show your products off. Don’t underestimate how products can affect the design of your shop, and don’t underestimate how much lighting and color schemes can affect your customers. It can influence how long people browse for and, most importantly, whether they purchase or not.
Focus on your customers
Customers can make or break a store, so ensure your customers are at the heart of your business. Ensure that every customer has a good experience. Consistency and quality are very important in customer care and satisfaction. Unhappy customers can lose you business very quickly, so keep your customers happy. Monitor your customer care and service, and always ask existing customers for feedback. Any feedback you get will help you see where you are doing well and also where they may be any underlying problems or issues.
Stay competitive
You have a good product, so you will always get customers, right? Well, no, having a good product is one thing, but staying ahead of the competition is another. Very soon, there will be others emerging in your market, so you need to stay ahead of the game. You need to be introducing new stock that keeps your store fresh, and you need to be doing at least one product launch a year. A good product launch will keep your customers happy and keep them coming back for more time and time again.
Don’t be greedy
Making money is of course, nice, but people should always come over and before profit. It is much better to build a store that you will get repeat custom from overtime, than to be greedy and build a store that is here one minute and gone the next, or one that sells products at highly inflated prices. Opening a store is a marathon, not a sprint, so work hard to build relationships over time to help you make a living.
Strategies to Improve Your Brand Reputation
/in Marketing & Sales/by StrategyDrivenOffer a Personalized Experience
In today’s day and age, people appreciate when a business can provide a personalized shopping experience based on their previous habits. Collecting data and using this to offer recommended products or repeat orders is a smart way to improve your brand reputation as well as encourage customers to spend more.
Go Above and Beyond With Customer Service
The way in which a business handles customer service has, perhaps, the biggest impact on brand reputation. You need to be friendly yet professional, always willing to go the extra mile and solve any issues swiftly. Crucially, when there is an issue (these are inevitable), you need to be honest, admit mistakes and take action to remedy the situation. In fact, if you were to apologize and offer free products and/or a discount, then it could even work in your favor.
Go Green
The world is becoming incredibly eco-aware. Consumers are even making decisions based on a company’s green credentials, so this can certainly be an effective way to improve your brand reputation. Additionally, often this can help you to reduce your costs too along with the environmental benefits, so it is a win-win situation.
Vehicle Donation
Businesses that do good in the world will also be looked on favorably, especially when supporting the local community. This is why Rawhide car donation to Rawhide Youth Services is a smart move as you can greatly improve the lives of at-risk youths in the State of Wisconsin with proceeds directly financing programs that will redirect the lives of those in need of support while painting your organization in a positive light.
Customer Reviews
When people are deciding whether or not to use a business for the first time, often one of the first steps that they will take will be to look for customer reviews. This is why you should try to obtain as many as possible and also use social listening tools to see what people are saying about your brand online – if you notice trends, you can then take action to improve particular areas that could be damaging your reputation.
Improving your brand’s reputation is not easy and will always take some time, but these are all effective strategies, and combining a few of these should help you see a positive impact before too long.
Legal Tips for Small Business Owners
/in Managing Your Business/by StrategyDrivenChoose the Right Business Structure
First, you need to make sure that you choose the right business structure and one which will protect your personal assets at risk if you encounter a legal issue. You will be able to protect your personal assets by forming a limited liability partnership or limited company, so it is important to spend some time researching what would be best for you.
Create Contracts for All Agreements
Many business owners make the mistake of not creating contracts for agreements, but this could prove to be costly down the line. This is why contracts need to be drawn up for every single agreement, which also helps to clarify what is expected and should stop any misunderstandings from occurring.
Create Terms and Conditions
Similarly, you need to create Ts&Cs in order to protect the business and to outline what is expected when a consumer enters an agreement with your business. Without this, you are putting yourself at risk of uncertainty and misunderstandings, so you need to establish the rules in order to protect yourself.
Protect Your Intellectual Property
You do not want other companies benefiting from your intelligence and creativity, which is why you need to use trademarks, patents, and copyrights to protect your intellectual property. Additionally, when you create a new idea, product, service, or anything else, then you should always do a patent and trademark search to avoid stealing intellectual property.
Find Reliable Lawyers
It is also important to do your research, find the best corporate lawyers in your area, and consider different potential issues. As an example, you will want to find an expert eminent domain attorney in the event of authorized companies trying to take your private property for public use, and they will be able to fight on your behalf to stop this from happening or secure the best possible amount.
Stay Current With Changing Laws and Regulations
Finally, you need to make sure that you keep up to date with changing laws and regulations as these can change and often. HR will help a business stay compliant and make necessary changes relating to employment law, which will stop you from encountering any issues.
Hopefully, these legal tips will be of use and help you to protect your business. In particular, small businesses need to be wary of the legal issues that can arise from running a business and make sure that they have the best protection in place.