Sunday, July 30, 2006

Mirco loans at Kiva.org

Micro loans for your business check out Kiva.org

A popular question from my readers is where to find obtain a loan for a small business. The funny thing is the logical answer would be to check with your bank, however, banks don't like risk and loaning money to small businesses is risky. I recently read an article about a website cal Kiva.org. Kiva provides small business wannabees with an avenue to find loans from not traditional loan sources which generally means private individuals.


How does Kiva work: Basically, the prospective small business post want ads indicating the type of business loan that they need and a description of their business. Generally the small business owners is planning to repay the loan through profits generated by the business. The repayment time frame is usually 9 to 16 months.

How is Kiva different then Prosper.com: Kiva focuses on letting you loan to the working poor around the world. By specializing in loaning money to unique small businesses in the developing world you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. On the otherhand Prosper basically anyone around the world can request a loan for almost any situation. Basically, you are loan the money as a good will gesture. You are giving something back to the world community and helping the less fortunate.

Kiva has only been open for business for 5 months, however it has already fund 450 small business with over $200,000 in loans. The cool part is that all of the repayment transactions are handled automatically by Paypal.com.

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