The year 2018 was a robust year of consumer lending. Online personal loans and retail consumer finance both saw upticks in lending volume as the consumer was in better financial health and lenders had plenty of capital at their disposal.

Lenders were eager to work with businesses to get their capital out to consumers. Did your small business feel their love? I thought not! Being a small business is hard enough. And, to top it off, your larger competitors have an unfair advantage – a wide range of consumer financing programs.

Let’s first assess why lenders are not spreading their love to small businesses like yours.  How much are your annual sales? Well, most lenders don’t think your small portfolio is worth the risk of it not performing given the effort to underwrite your business, set you up in their system, and maintain your account. No love there!

Secondly, if your business doesn’t fit neatly in to the lenders’ industry-focus box, they won’t risk their capital. No love there either!

So, if you’re business is large enough to make it worth their while and if your industry fits in to their go-to industries box, then you’ll feel the lenders’ love. You know you need financing options for your customers to pay-over-time for their large purchase. All is not lost though.

SweetPay has brought together personal loan lending to retail consumer finance in order to help the small business compete with pay-over-time financing programs. You don’t need to have a minimum revenue level. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in. You don’t need to jump through hoops and provide your last two years of financial statements. You don’t need to personally guarantee anything. And, you don’t need to learn how to use a system!  Happy New Year small business!

~ David Weyher