Tag: Lending Club

The Intersection of Crowdfunding and Traditional Debt Financing

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” – Oscar Wilde via Wisebread.com

Last week I wrote about crowdfunding and the many different platforms available for funding. I decided to explore the site Lending Club. I’ve since learned, this type of funding is called person-to-person or P2P lending. Think of it as crowdfunding meets an angel investing pool. I spent some time researching their model and writing some brief instructions on the steps to become approved with Lending Club. Here’s my screencast evaluation of their financing option:

And some more in-depth info on the steps for applying with Lending Club:

Now, let’s follow the (hypothetic) steps to apply from the borrower’s perspective:

Determine your eligibilitylending club eligibility

Click on this link for a dashboard of steps to follow (with access to the electronic platform):lending club small business dashboard

https://help.lendingclub.com/hc/en-us/categories/202523217-Small-Business

  1. Start by exploring the “How to Apply” button
  2. Check your rate
  3. Choose your offer, if given
  4. Watch as people invest in your loan
  5. Funding is sent directly to your bank account
  6. Set-up monthly auto-draft payments
  7. Pay off your loan early, if wanted, with no early pay-off penalty

 

Success and Key Questions (6/30/18 Stats):

https://www.lendingclub.com/info/statistics.action

  • How much does the Crowdfunding source take as a fee? Varies depending on the terms of the loan
  • How long will the process take until the money arrives and can be used? About 7 days for approval and a few more days for funds to be deposited (depending on bank rules). Need to use their check-list to avoid delays.
  • Restrictions? Varies depending on the terms of the loan
  • Reporting requirements? Lending Club wants to see your IRS tax return and requires a 4506-T form to do so. Borrowers would report funds as part of their tax return.

 

Crowdfunding: Potato Salad and Beyond

There’s an urban legend about a guy who posted a crowdfunding cause to “help him make the best damn potato salad,” and the legend is, he made a couple of thousand dollars doing it.

I did some digging on the world wide web and was able to verify that this did occur in 2014 on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. The guy made Zack Danger Brown didn’t just make a couple thousand, he made $55,000 just posting a prank. With the money, he threw a huge party called Potato Stock.

Imagine what you can do as an entrepreneur or philanthropist who has a real cause or really great idea for a product or business. If you aren’t sure what type of crowdfunding site is right for you, I found two great articles that might help you weigh your options.

In doing this research, I came across a lending site that I had never heard of called Lending Club. In short, they link individuals and small business owners to investors through their platform. I’m going to be researching this one more in-depth as part of my ENT 650 coursework.

Additional Resources:

Rogers, S. (2014). Entrepreneurial Finance: Third Edition, Finance and Business Strategies for the Serious Entrepreneur. 279-294.