Microfinance Week in Review- Week ending June 18
Some of the week’s news in the microfinance, green business initiatives and the small business sector:
- Microfinance Tied to Economy, Study Finds – Michigan State University News
- The Reality of a Sweet American Dream- Queens Courier
- Groupon Coupons: The Small Biz Challenge- Bloomberg Newsweek
- No Profits, No Loans: How to Survive- CNN Money
- Underbanked Strategies- The New Faces- American Banker
- Domestic Microfinance Steps into Credit Breach- Bloomberg Newsweek
Tags: accion usa georgia, client story, CNN, microfinance, small business, success story, U.S. microfinance
Story from the Field: Moped Productions
Maureen needed a microloan to help expand her media consulting and production company.
By Maika Hemphill, Loan Consultant, New York
When I first met Maureen it had been two years since she started her own business, Moped Productions, a dream realized after eight years working in video editing and production. At the time, Maureen’s sales were down due to the economy, but she knew that hiring an employee to develop a blog and newsletter would help her turn the corner. Maureen received from ACCION USA a $7,000 loan to make the hire, and her loan was posted to Kiva.org, where it was funded. Maureen’s relationship with ACCION USA led to more media coverage, and with it, increased sales. A few months later she landed a deal with a major cable TV network, pushing her business to expand further. With 40% paid down on her original loan, Maureen came back to ACCION USA in need of a larger loan to fund more projects.
Unfortunately, past family and personal matters resulted in a financial situation that was damaging to her credit, and her most recent credit did not prove she had experience handling large loan amounts. It is always tough to see cases where a client comes to us with credit issues due to circumstances that were out of his or her control. Maureen was left in a position where it would have potentially taken years to rebuild her credit to match the success of her business, impeding her ability to take on new projects. Maureen needed to partially fund her upcoming project and, in the process, improve her credit quickly to prepare for future business growth.
Through partial cash securitization of the loan, ACCION USA worked out a loan that was larger than her first. This gave Maureen the chance to pay off a larger loan amount and prove she could handle higher amounts of debt. Now her business’ credit is quickly catching up to its revenues. I worked for nearly seven hours on Maureen’s application, including the time I spent with underwriting to highlight her character and strengths. It was incredibly rewarding to find an effective solution because Maureen, like most of our clients, is a successful entrepreneur at heart; she just needed the chance to prove it.
I Know It’s Not Polite, But …
ACCION USA client Focaccia Rustica served up delicious coffee and sandwiches to bed racers.
Generally speaking, it’s never polite to give “the finger,” but that’s just what local Miami merchants are doing (figuratively, of course), and they’re aiming it at the recession. And, well, maybe it’s OK this one time.
With “stimulus package” specials and an irreverent Great Grove Bed Race festival (see link for hysterical photos of participants) –revived after a six-year hiatus — things were happening in Coconut Grove all Labor Day weekend. Thank god for these small businesses that make us laugh and forget about the grind and troubling news of the week.
ACCION USA client, Focaccia Rustica, was right on the race’s path (did I mention they have outstanding coffee and sandwiches?) and they were working hard to make the most of the thousands that turned out on Sunday.
And that’s what you see all over the Grove, local merchants that are getting creative, showing their grit, and having fun even during these brutal economic times. So, do me a favor, visit your local businesses and keep this grit (and fun) going.
Tags: client story, coconut grove, focaccia rustica, labor day, miami