The Right Move to Small Business Lending

Posted by Phil Marleau

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 You may not know this, but the company IOU Central was born from was the first peer-to-peer lending company to launch in Canada.  We then opened an IOU Central office in Atlanta to service the U.S. market.  This fact was highlighted in the recent article, “New Fund Invests in Small Business Loans,” on Lend Academy.

Not too long after the launch, however, I decided to change direction and instead pursue lending directly to small businesses. I’d been studying the market and I realized that many small business owners were struggling to secure the capital they needed to take advantage of growth opportunities, such as adding inventory or expanding to a new location. I genuinely wanted to help support small business (and taking advantage of what I saw as a great market sweet spot wasn't so bad, either).

In December 2009, we issued our first business loan. From that point on, it's been steady, strong growth for us and we've been able to help a multitude of small business owners grow their businesses, too - to the tune of $11.5 million in new loans in 2012. It looks like the move from p2p lending was not a bad one! Thanks to all of you for your support and a big thanks to Peter Renton for the great article.

Still Growing Strong

Posted by Robert Gloer

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 Well, we've wrapped up the first quarter of 2013 here at IOU Central with substantial growth that clearly indicates the gap between small business owners and traditional banks isn’t closing. The banks aren't bad guys – the return simply just isn't there for them to justify smaller loans. And, as small business owners continue to feel the pain of this, more and more are realizing the benefits of turning to loan providers like IOU Central.

Compared to the first quarter of 2012, we processed over three times the amount of loan applications and the amount of loans funded increased over five times – great news for all of the small businesses out there seeking capital! Based on where we are today, we anticipate funding more loans in the first half of 2013 than in all of 2012. These milestones not only speak to the state of traditional small business lending in the United States, but also to our success in bringing small business owners the capital they need to seize growth opportunities.

We strive to deliver the very best alternative to traditional bank loans by making our application process as easy, fast and straightforward as possible. The success we’re seeing is because our team has invested a tremendous amount of time in developing a technology platform that allows us to do this – resulting in a small business loan application and approval method that is extremely effective and efficient. As always, we’re here to serve you, our valued customers.

Here's to an equally significant second quarter!

Proposed Credit Union Small Business Job Creation Act – Will it Help?

Posted by Robert Gloer

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I read this article recently about the Credit Union Small Business Jobs Creation Act, H.R. 688, which would raise the cap on loans credit unions can make to their small business members from the current 12.25 percent of assets to 27.5 percent of assets. Sounds like good news for small business owners, right? While the article applauds the efforts as do I, I wouldn’t give it a standing ovation. Rather, it is more along the lines of a polite Masters Golf Tourney Clap. While I agree that anything the government can do to make progress and loosen the regulatory vice grip on banks and credit unions, they absolutely should move forward in doing. However, the numbers represented in the article do not tell the whole story. For example: According to the article, there are 140 credit unions bumping into the business lending "cap." My guess (from the government support) would be that those are probably on the east and west coasts. There are another 400 that are either somewhat near or not even close to the cap. Therefore, raising the cap isn’t going to push a credit union with a loan ratio of 4% up to the cap of 27.5%. So, while raising the cap to 27.5% and also getting credit unions to lend up to this number, would put another $13 billion on the street, the truth is – it won’t happen. On the bright side, it may free up a few additional billion to small businesses, which again deserves an applause. But small businesses are so undeserved that a couple billion over the course of a year is really like buying a pack of energy efficient light bulbs for your house and expecting to solve the world’s energy problems.

SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS FIND ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR CAPITAL

Posted by Robert Gloer

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A recent USA Today article, featuring IOU Central,examined the unconventional lending sources for small business. As we know from our work every day helping small businesses, even for healthy businesses, those with positive cash flow and strong financial history, getting loan approval from a traditional bank is difficult. Whether the size of the loan is too small or the cost to process and fund it is too expensive, there is a gap between the needs of the small business community and the ability of banks to fulfill them. Today, small businesses have more alternative options than ever before; however, the cost associated with these can be prohibitive. As highlighted in the article, many small businesses have the desire to grow but need the capital to take advantage of the opportunity. We see viable businesses every day that have positive cash flow, a solid customer base and rave reviews but lack the traditional assets or collateral needed to secure funding from a bank. What has made our work with small businesses so rewarding as the best bank alternative, is that they can move forward on achieving their business goals much more quickly with our easy, secure, online application and approval within days instead of weeks or months. Tailored for retail type businesses, IOU Central is able to make low-cost loans at low risk through advanced technology that makes fast, accurate and fair assessments of all applicants giving small businesses the alternative they need to seize growth opportunities fast. Small businesses drive the American economy, and we’re honored to help fuel their ambition.

Is change always difficult? Some Small business owners say not so much!

Posted by Madeline Wade

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Most people find change to always be challenging, stressful and in some cases even painful. This may not be true in most cases where small businesses are concerns. The key to change with a small business is having a customer centric focused business. Those small businesses that are in tune with their customers’ needs can make change happen smoothly. Within IOU Central’s review of small business loan applications we see changes in cash flow and or income. The overwhelming responses when questioned as to why there is a change in these areas are 12-24 months ago a company’s focus was on a particular product or service however due to a change in the local economy or change within the industry they have switched focus to a different product and service and or supplementing revenues with other products as needed. These small businesses are not only agile enough to make this change happen but more importantly they have customer loyalty that allows them to weather the tough times and adapt to the change more quickly. The ability to adapt quickly to change is key to the success and longevity of small businesses in today’s economic climate. Staying in tune with your customers’ needs remains the number one focus of any small business looking to grow and expand their businesses and keeping customer loyalty.