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By Tom Mack

 Recently I spent some time in the country of Ukraine, while there I decided to seek out budding entrepreneurs in the rural countryside villages to see for myself the impact of micro loans. What I found is that when people have the opportunity to go into business for themselves, particularly in impoverished communities, that poverty can be averted.

I believe that entrepreneurship is the key to lifting individuals, families and communities out of poverty. In developing countries being in your own business is often the only way out of poverty.

Myself, I am in the finance business and am very interested in how financing impacts the developing world. As a business owner myself I am also looking for opportunities to give back, ways to give another entrepreneur a leg up.

Micro loans are loans made to poor entrepreneurs living in poverty who are not considered bankable. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and verifiable credit history. They can not meet even the most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional business credit.

In Ukraine, the rural countryside is predominately farmland with a few small houses (called dachas) scattered in between. Gas stations are scares, it is best to keep the tank full, you ever know when that will be the last station you see all day.

In larger villages you will find the Bizarre. Its the central marketplace, an outdoor flea market where merchants set up their shop daily. Their spaces are small and seem to lock up securely at night.

People sell produce grown on their farms or in their yards. Some had dairy products like milk, cream, butter and cheese. Others sold eggs and assorted chicken parts. There was even someone selling fish which is pretty scary considering the nearest ocean is hundreds of miles away and the only river is the Dnieper which flows down from Chernobyl Russia.

Other merchants displayed merchandise they had purchased - presumably in bulk / wholesale and were selling it at retail. Its very interesting to note that these merchants tend to be specialists in what they sell. For example, a merchant who sells ladies jeans and tops would not sell anything else. Someone else sells coats, another sells bras, another sells dresses and yet another sells socks.

In the line of hygiene products you can buy soap, shampoo and toothpaste from one vendor but will need to go down the isle to buy a toothbrush. I know - I had to do it. And by the way “dental floss” does not seem to exist there.

Interesting merchants in the Bizarre included someone selling pet food for cats, dogs, birds and pigs. Someone was selling plumbing parts for faucets, sinks and toilets. Even tools and auto parts. You name it, you can find it. The bizarre is kind of like an outdoor Wal-Mart with a dozens of individual merchants.

Many people in these villages are poor and to a large extent live off their land. Jobs are few and the pay is low. Poverty is a chronic condition for much of Ukraine, the one thing these people need to transform their lives is an “Opportunity.” One such opportunity is to start or expand their own business but that requires money.

But where can this budding entrepreneur come up with 5000-7500 UAH ($1,000-$1,500 US) necessary to start a business or expand their current business? The answer can be found in micro loans.

Knowing the solution and having the ability to do something about it are often two different things, until now. I lend to entrepreneurs all over the world through Kiva. Kiva is an organization who helps put individuals like you and me together with entrepreneurs in the developing world so that we can make a difference.

Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world - empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty. Its easy, you choose an entrepreneur, loan as little as $25 then receive updates and get repaid as the business succeeds. Each entrepreneur is hard working and hopes to create a sustainable livelihood. All they need is a small loan.

I just made a loan through Kiva to Olga Gryaznova in Simferopol, Ukraine. Olga lives with her mother and sister. She owns a small booth at the central market and sells womens clothing, mostly terry cloth robes. Due to good marketing strategy, reasonable mark-up and renewed assortment, she is able to attract many clients.

Her gross revenue is about 13,000 UAH per month ($2,600 US). The net income is about 2,000 UAH ($400 US). Olga has been working in this business for 12 years. At that time she just could not find any other job. Being a very responsible and honest person she was able to start and develop this business to provide for herself, her mother and her sister.

Olga would like to get a loan for 5,000 UAH ($1,000 US) to buy more terry cloth robes and increase her sales. She hopes that increased sales activity will generate the funds they need to fix their house.

When you make a loan, you are helping a real person to make great strides towards economic independence and to improve life for themselves, their family, and their community.

I have learned first and the importance of micro loans and how a small amount of money can change someones life, lift a family out of poverty and empower a communality to be self sufficient.

We just started a lending team at Kiva, right now we have a handful of lenders and were growing every day. The team is named after our business “Super Easy Credit” I hope you will join us. A link to our team and my Kiva portfolio is available on our website.

Tom Mack simplifies business credit. Find out more about business credit and get his popular FREE Special Report “Top Ten Credit Offers Any Business Qualifies For” available at: => http://SuperEasyCredit.com

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How A Personal Loan Can Benefit You
By Chloe Ramsbottom

 Personal loans can be a great asset when used under the right circumstances and can help rescue you from many difficult situations that can arise. As long has you have the financial abilities to pay it back you can spend the money whenever, and on whatever you wish to. So whether you are saving for a family holiday, planning to buy a motorbike or a car, adding supplementary funds for a wedding or looking to purchase a new computer for the home-office then a personal loan is the way to go.

The further benefits of taking out a personal loan include repairing your credit score or rating; if you are in the unfortunate position to have a poor credit rating through large debts then a personal loan can come into play in helping you to consolidate any outstanding loans you have into one main loan. Helping settle the APR to a fixed figure and saving you a lot of money in the long term, especially is you are consolidating any credit cards which usually carry a much higher APR than loans. Just make sure that all payments are made on time and are the exact sum that they are asking for.

Personal loans can be obtained through the Internet quite easily, and they can be completed in a few minutes of your spare time, and are a confidential way of borrowing money so you dont have to let anyone know you have done it. Whats more is that the funds are added to your bank account usually within 24 hours.

If you are choosing to borrow in excess of 20,000 it is usually a good idea to get it secured as there is a lot more at stake than borrowing, lets say, 100, which can be borrowed unsecured.

Chloe is a dedicated columnist writing about finance and personal secured financial help for residents of the United Kingdom.

Ease The Financial Strain For The New Year
By Alisdair Cosgrove

 If you have spent this year struggling with your finances and straining to make ends meet then you are not alone, as this has been a very difficult and turbulent year for most families when it comes to household finances. With inflation having hit a sixteen year high and credit conditions still tight due to the global credit crunch it is little surprise that so many families are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Many are looking at ways to try and east their finances, and if you want to enjoy easier financial management in the coming year it is a good idea to start sorting things out now.

Although you may not realise it there could actually be a number of ways in which you could save money on your monthly outgoings, and this could result in a far more positive financial outlook for 2009. Many of us waste a fair amount of cash without even being aware that we are doing it, so a little more vigilance and care could go a long way towards easing the strain on our finances.

When looking at streamlining your finances you need to be very thorough, and this means going through each of your repayments to check whether there are any cutbacks you can make. Of course, you can’t cut back on necessary payment such as your rent or mortgage and your bills, but you may find that you are making payments on unnecessary subscriptions and memberships, and by cutting these out you could save yourself a fair amount of cash each month.

Make cutbacks on the amount that you spend each month by reducing the amount of money that you allocated for things like going out or buying clothes. You can substitute a few nights out with some great nights in, and it won’t cost nearly as much. For example, instead of eating out every week, enjoy some nights in making home cooked meals, and instead of regular trips to the cinema enjoy some DVD’s that the whole family can watch for one price.

If you tend to have a lot of people to buy birthday and other gifts for over the course of the year this can really impact on your savings. You can help to combat this problem by thinking ahead, making a list of all the gifts that you have to buy for the year, and then buying them all in the January sales when most items are just a fraction of the original price. This alone could save you a fortune over the course of the year.

Another way in which you can reduce your outgoings and improve your finances is by reviewing your debts and working out whether you can cut back on the amount that you pay on them each month. For example, if you have a lot of high interest smaller debts you could save yourself money and hassle by consolidating them and paying just one larger, lower interest loan.

Alisdair Cosgrove has been writing personal finance articles for many years and can find more of his work at the UK site www.TheMoneyStop.co.uk, offering credit cards with cash back along with great business accounts and also cheap car insurance. Visit today to find a great deal or read one more of Alsidair’s great articles.

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