Originally Posted by
KRSW
1) Kivalens.org --- use it!
That's a new one for me. Will look into what it does.
Originally Posted by
KRSW
2) Partner age -- I only fund partners who have been around for at least 3 years, preferably longer.
I was first thinking are you looking at the age of the debtors - especially *cough* the ladies.
Originally Posted by
KRSW
4) DO NOT loan to anyone in a modern country, especially the USA. There are more sources for loans in the USA than anywhere. If someone can't get a loan through a traditional lender in the USA, there's a damn good reason -- STAY AWAY. The statistics for defaults of USA loans really drive this point home.
Hear, hear.
Originally Posted by
KRSW
5) Look at how much the loan is for vs. economics of the country. If a single individual from a rural village in Rwanda wants $20k to sell high-end cosmetics, RUN AWAY. If same individual is in a decent-sized city, asking for $10k, then maybe. If they're in a rural village, asking for $5k for livestock and related essential items, winner.
True, for instance the ones needing money to repair their car (e.g. a taxi) will need more, while lending to cosmetics is risky. I know beauty is in demand in all parts of the world, but honestly speaking it's not a sensible business everywhere. Overall it anyway falls under the category of not being maybe as much of constructive financial self-help as I'd like it to be, but indeed, I've lended to such cases as well and so far the selected ones have paid as expected. *knock, knock* I do however approve the lending reasoning when e.g. an existing hairdresser/barber wants to improve their shop or get more stuff. Then there's an actual business sentiment there. Miss X just wanting to become an entrepreneur with $2000 of cosmetics in e.g. Rwanda or Nicaragua is just *cough* outright ludicrous, where as miss Z and her pupusas in El Salvador is absolutely
bueno - too bad I can't have the interest paid in ones and delivered to my home.