arepajohn.gq

Like the saying goes, “The only things certain in life are death and taxes.” Unfortunately, small businesses know this saying all too well.

Unlike employees who look forward to their refund every April, small businesses loath the approaching spring, knowing they will have to pay Uncle Sam its share of their profits. Each year, small businesses struggling to turn a profit in an increasingly competitive business environment must pay taxes in order to keep their doors open.

With dwindling profit margins and tightened lending restrictions, however, many small business owners find themselves between a rock and a hard place when it comes time to pay the tax man. Although a business may have steady sales and revenue or thousands of dollars in inventory, banks and traditional lending institutions simply aren’t handing out small business loans like they were in year’s past, leaving small business owners with few funding options to pay their tax bill.

Thankfully, peer-to-peer lending, or social lending, has solved this growing dilemma. These modern social lending marketplaces have connected millions of borrowers with individual investors. Borrowers receive low-interest, fixed-rate loans that can be paid off in two to five years, while investors are able to benefit from decent returns in an economy with sinking bond and savings rates.

Thus, it’s a win-win situation for both small business owners in need of immediate funding and investors looking to make a small profit while helping others.

From Desperation to Exultation: One Man’s Venture into Peer-to-Peer Lending

John Mitchell is an Ohio-based small business owner who found himself in such a predicament just last year. As the owner of the only hardware store in a small town, John’s store flourished the first few years it was open.

After getting his inventory levels, pricing models, and management just right, he decided to expand his business by opening a second location in a neighboring town. John sunk all of his profits into opening his new store, which meant he was short on funds come tax time. However, knowing the success of his business, he thought he would simply get a small loan from the bank that housed his accounts and provided him with the initial loan he used to launch his business four years earlier.

Unfortunately, he witnessed first-hand the effect the recession has had on lending regulations as the banker he’s known for years denied his loan application. If he couldn’t get a loan there, where could he?

On the brink of despair, John took to the Internet to research loan options. After digging through forums and trying a few different searches, he ran across peer-to-peer lending. In less than a week after going through the quick and easy application process, he received a personal loan at a low rate for the amount he needed. A week later, John sent a check for the full amount to the IRS, and less than eight months later, he was able to pay off the loan with the profits from his new store!

If you are a small business owner who has found yourself in a similar circumstance, peer-to-peer lending can do the same for you as well, but how does peer-to-peer lending work?

How Peer-to-Peer Lending Works

A breakthrough product or service emerges every generation, and in the early 2000′s, the emerging breakthrough was social networking. From helping in the organization of overthrowing political regimes to staying in touch with friends and family members, social networking has had a profound effect on our daily lives. Now, it’s changing the small business financing landscape as well.

Peer-to-peer lending is a modern social networking solution for small businesses in search of a way of securing alternative funding. The goal of peer-to-peer lending sites, such as Prosper and Lending Club, is simply to connect individual investors with those in need of funding, and these sites are becoming an increasingly useful tool for small business owners who are unable to secure funding from traditional lenders.

Rather than jumping through endless hoops only to be denied by a bank, small businesses can receive funding via peer-to-peer lending in no time at all by following three simple steps:

Step 1: Create a Profile and Loan Listing

There are a myriad of peer-to-peer lending networks to choose from, so your first step is to research the best ones and create a profile and loan listing on the site you choose. The loan listing is essentially a cost-free ad that indicates the amount of money you need and your desired interest rate.

Step 2: Let the Bidding Process Begin

After your listing goes live, investors have the opportunity to begin bidding on your listing, providing you with the interest rate and loan amount they are willing to offer you. A major advantage of this bidding process is the fact that it can intensify as more and more lenders begin competing for your business.

When this happens, interest rates will begin dropping, potentially allowing you to obtain a much lower interest rate than you expected. It’s important to note, however, that your credit score, income, and debt-to-income ratio plays a role in the lending decision process.

Step 3: Funding and Paying Back the Loan

Another benefit of borrowing from peer-to-peer lenders is that you can accept several bids to receive your requested loan amount. For instance, if you ask for $10,000 in your loan listing to pay your business taxes, you can acquire the amount from collecting $2,000 from five different borrowers.

This makes it much easier for borrowers to receive the money they need. However, instead of making five separate payments, you would only make one payment, because the peer-to-peer lending site is responsible for dispersing the money to lenders until loans are repaid in full. They simply charge a small fee for this service.

With increased lending regulations, banks are tightening their purse strings more than ever before, making it much more difficult for small businesses to receive the funding they need to expand their business or even pay their taxes. Thankfully, peer-to-peer lending has proven to be a worthy competitor in the small business lending marketplace. If you are a small business owner and find yourself unable to pay your taxes as April approaches, or backed taxes for that matter, a peer-to-peer loan is an ideal option.

The Thrill Of The Catch

If you haven’t fished before, you don’t know what you’re missing. If you did, you would be a fisherperson.

Not only does it bring you closer to nature, there’s the thrill of the catch. Imagine standing on the bank of a stream on a beautiful day, your rod bending under the weight of a good catch. This one’s a fighter and you take your time, allowing the fish to tire itself out before reeling it to shore. When you finally land it, you realize you’ve just caught the biggest fish of your life. It’s a great feeling and 1 you’ll never know until you give fishing a try.

Learning How To Fish

Now that I have your interest, perhaps you realize that you don’t have a clue how to go about fishing. Well, that’s what I’m here for. If you want to learn to fish, here are 5 easy ways:

* Ask a family member or friend who is an experienced angler to take you along the next time they go fishing — they will be thrilled to have a new fishing buddy

* Research online — there are hundreds of websites with instructions on fishing gear, bait, and fishing tips

* Go to your local library and check out how-to fishing books and magazines

* Check your local conservation or wildlife service — they often hold a fishing day where beginners can learn the basics of fishing.

* If you go on vacation in fishing country (which is darn near anywhere), check with local fishing stores — they often know local professionals who will teach you how to fish.

When To Go Fishing

Anytime is a good time to fish; you never know what you might catch.

Some species are more active near dawn and dusk when they are feeding, while others will bite any time of the day.

Certain times of the year are best for certain species. Fishing is a pastime you can enjoy all year round.

Getting Your License

Fishing licenses are required in most places, which you can buy at fishing tackle stores or Conservation and Wildlife Centers. The cost varies by location. Licenses for children are usually not required.

If you want to fish on private property, be sure to get permission from the owner. Otherwise it is trespassing.

Pack Up And Head Out

If you’ve read this far, it may be a sign you’re getting interested in fishing. Just follow the above instructions and soon you will be enjoying your favorite new hobby.

Without doubt, home-based business is the current “fast ticket” item these days. Thousands are driven into it daily, lured by the promise of earning millions from the comfort of their homes. Many, indeed, made it. But a lot, lot more struck nothing but dirt.Home-based business looks deceptively easy. All you need is a computer, an Internet connection and a product to sell. But is it?Well, not quite. Home-based business is not for everyone unless you have the following:
- Strong belief in yourself and your capabilities;
- Strong desire to have something more, i.e., more freedom, more time for oneself, more money, more adventure, more fun,
- A never give-up attitude.That being said, look into yourself to see if you’ve got what it takes.On the flip-side, people want to go into home-based business for the following reasons:To manage oneself, not be managed:
We all want to be our own boss. But not all of us are born to be bosses. A lot are destined, and are happy, to be subordinates. It is not easy to be a boss, especially of oneself. A high degree of self-discipline is necessary. If you are capable to do that, half your problems are solved.Freedom from organizational rat-race:
No matter how small, organizations always have their own internal strife. Bringing different people together in the close confines of an office will always bring out the best and the worst in people. If you cannot stand that, a home-based business is a good option.Job security:
Our educational system has wired us to believe that employment is the key to job security. The advent of the Internet has proven this wrong. Millions of employees have been laid off because of company re-location, re-engineering, down-sizing and other buzz words. Job security is a myth in the current realities. Nothing is more secure than your own home-based business.Better paycheck:
Even if you work your butt off, at the end of the pay period you get nothing but what you agreed in your employment contract. An equivalent amount of effort in your own home-based business will definitely earn you more.No travel time:
The expense and travel time to commute, to and from the office, is a big factor for a lot of people who have gone into home-based business. Not counting the variety of office wear you need to have in your closet.More quality time with the family:
I once worked with a guy who practically lived in the office to span the time difference with our corporate headquarters. It nearly broke his marriage. People who are into home-based business are free of the rigors of overtime and holiday work schedules. They, generally, are not stressed out and have better quality time with their families. in this area of making a living. They have more money and quality time with their families.There can be myriad of reasons why people are rushing into home-based business. Not all will succeed but it definitely is worth giving a shot at. Besides, those who did and succeeded are all smiles on their way to the bank.Is it for you?