₦airaland Forum

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I appreciate every comment made on the report. My utmost ambition is to pull out as many Nairalanders as possible out of the crowd of job seekers and make them become gainfully employed in this New Year. And this is the reason for the report. If the report can make you achieve just that, then I am happy.

WISHING YOU GOOD LUCK!
Some people believe that getting a good job in Nigeria is a matter of luck. This is a very wrong belief. It’s like believing the Super Eagles can be lucky at winning an international football match without making adequate preparations, and the players making wrong moves that can lead to penalties and disqualifications during the match. But all the same, if you look at it decisively, you can be lucky at getting a job. Some people have been lucky at getting jobs in the past. But first, I will want you to understand what the word "LUCK" means.

LUCK IS WHEN PREPARATION MEETS OPPORTUNITY. For example, for you to win an MTN jackpot, you must first prepare yourself by having an MTN line. You can never be lucky at winning a lottery unless you first prepare yourself by buying a lottery ticket. Likewise, you can never be lucky at getting a good job unless you first get yourself fully prepared. If you prepare yourself to get a job, you will definitely be lucky when the job opportunity comes up. The more prepared you are, the luckier you will be at getting the job. Otherwise, even if your middle name is GOODLUCK, don’t ever expect that the LUCK in the name can ever get you a GOOD job.

WHAT MUST YOU DO TO GET A JOB?
For you to get job of your dreams in Nigeria of today:
• You must first be fully transformed from a JOB SEEKER to a PROBLEM SOLVER.
• You must get yourself FULLY PREPARED to get a job.
• You must know the kind of problems that each individual employer is facing that makes them to seek for employee.
• You must know what the employers and/or the interviewers will see and hear from you in an interview to make them believe that you are not a job seeker but a PROBLEM SOLVER,
• You must prove to employers and interviewers through your applications and interviews that you are THE BEST PERSON around who can solve the problems they have?
• You must know where job openings are, and when the vacancies for your choice jobs are out.

Once you have all the above qualities, getting your choice job in Nigeria of today will no longer be a problem. Of course, I'm here to provide you with all the qualities, and by the time you have them all, employers and interviewers will begin to see you as someone:
• Who have actions.
• Who can do their job well.
• Who can solve the problems they are facing.
• Who can get results just the way they want it.
• Who is a PROBLEM SOLVER.

If you want all these qualities, I congratulate you, because I have already packaged all the information that provides you with all the qualities in an easy-to-read and understand manual as a New Year bonanza for you. The manual titled: HOW TO GET YOUR OWN DREAM JOB is a step-by-step, bolts-and-nuts, point-by-point package that will get you any job of your choice. It will prepare you for whatever JOB OPPORTUNITY that may come your way. The manual provides the right solutions to virtually every job search problems you may come across.

HOW TO GET YOUR OWN DREAM JOB is packaged to teach you valuable skills that will make you look good, sound good and brim with confidence in any job search activity you find yourself. With the manual, you can be very sure of a perfect performance that will get you A GOOD JOB. Even if you are faced with a tough competition, the incredible manual will educate you on EVERYTHING…I mean EVERYTHING you need to do...and say...in order to get the job. The manual will give you a clear advantage in handling any situation to get a job, even the most hardened and cynical situations you may come across in job search. You can never follow the simple instructions in the manual and still remain unemployed. Your job is guaranteed.

If you therefore honestly need a job of your dreams in this New Year, you must get a copy of this incredible job-search manual as our New Year bonanza to you. For full information, send a blank email to my auto-reply mailbox: mydreamjob2018@gmail.com, and I will instantly give you a reply that will reveal the full information. Please note that the email should be blank. All you need to do is to type these four words “I Need A Job” as the subject of the email. This will let my auto-response reply you instantly.

Please don’t forget to type “I Need A Job” in the subject line of the blank email. Without the four words as the subject of the email, my auto response will not reply your blank email. And because the auto response is a very sensitive tool, any slight error in the typing may refuse the auto response to trigger. So instead of typing the words “I Need A Job” in the subject line of your blank email, you can simply copy the four words here and paste them as the subject of the blank email. If you do this correctly, you will definitely get my reply in your inbox or spambox immediately within a minute of your sending the blank email.

Alternatively, if you have any questions or comments relating to how you can get a job of your own dream, you can send the questions or comments by email to my personal mailbox: mosmal2020@gmail.com (please the spelling is MOSMAL 2020 and not MOSMA 12020) and I will make sure I personally reply you within 48 hours of your sending the email. You can also call 07089738855 or 08073388282 for more explanations

Once again, I wish you all the best in the New Year.

PROVE YOURSELF TO BE A PROBLEM SOLVER...NOT AS A JOB SEEKER
But in most cases, your applications, interviews and subsequent follow-ups may present you as a job seeker instead of portraying you as a problem solver. You may not know this, but the fact is that employers are never interested in employing job seekers.

The reason why employers don’t like employing job seekers is simply because job seekers are usually considered to be problem people. An average job seeker is assumed to have financial problems and therefore looking for a job, just because he need the salaries and allowances attached to the job to solve his own financial problems, and that job seekers are not necessarily looking for a job because they can solve, or want to solve the employer's problems.

As I earlier explained, employers already have enough problems. They don't want job seekers who will add to their problems. Basically, what employers are looking for are problem solvers. You therefore must prove yourself capable of solving the kind of problems the employer is facing, and that is just the only way that you can get his job.

Any application you write, or interview you attend, without enough proof that you can solve the employer’s kind of problems, will surely be to the advantage of the other candidates looking for the same job with you who can prove to be problem solvers to the employer's kind of problems. I believe this explanation is simple and straight-forward enough.

The bottom line is this; prove yourself to be a problem solver. That is just the only way you will have a clear advantage over your other competitors in job search, and of course, the only way to guarantee you the kind of job you want. Any other information you pass to employers will definitely take you far away from getting a good job. As you continue to read further, you will find out how you can prove to the various employers that you can solve their respective problems.

PACKAGE YOUR APPLICATIONS AS A PROBLEM SOLVER, NOT AS A BEGGAR
If you must prove to employers that you are a problem solver, never let your application present you to them as if you are a beggar! Don’t ever make your situation worse by packaging your application as if you are begging for a job. Most job seekers prepare their applications as if they are beggars...with a bowl in their hands, and begging for any available job. No wonder their applications always end up in the waste baskets.

You must know now that employers are no Father Christmas. Of course, they are not looking for people to offer jobs as a gift. No amount of begging will get you a good job. Don’t forget that employers, and interviewers too, also have many graduate beggars all around them, either as neighbours or as relations, all looking for jobs, but employers still decides to spend their money, time and other resources to look out for someone like you who can solve their problems. Once again, employers don’t want beggars, what they're looking for are problem solvers.

If you must write any application therefore, your application must always present you to employers as someone who knows the problems the respective employer is facing, and that you have the solutions to such problems, and of course, you are ready to make him happy, and not to create more problems for him. Any employer that sees this kind of application from you will definitely invite you for an interview. As you continue to read this post, you will find out how you can successfully prove to employers, through your applications, that you can solve their respective problems.

PROVE TO INTERVIEWERS THAT YOU ARE A PROBLEM SOLVER, AND NOT A JOB SEEKER.
How do you treat your interviews? What happens when you have a face-to-face contact with the employer or the interviewers? Where you able to demonstrate you could carry out the responsibilities to be bestowed on you? If you could, then you are a problem solver. Otherwise, if you show yourself to be a job seeker, you have a big problem, because employers and the interviewers will only laugh at your foolishness after you leave the interview hall.

Just picture yourself as a job seeker, sitting at the interview; looking very anxious, nervous and scared. Your palms are sweaty and your voice shaky. As the interviewers throw questions at you left and right, you try your best to answer them as much as you can. You are even asked questions for which you have no idea about how to answer. You stammer, stumble and respond with a lame and corny answer. The interviewers’ reactions are very clear. Your answers were not what they wanted to hear from you. Now you have embarrassed yourself. You have proved yourself to be a job seeker again! How awful!! What a catastrophe!!!

As the interview comes to an end, you start to blame yourself. But the damage is already done. You never hear back. This is because the job is gone to another person, someone whose qualification wasn’t as handsome as yours, but unknown to you, that person had polished job search skills. He got himself fully prepared. He knows the detailed secrets of job search. HE IS A PROBLEM SOLVER. He is able to prove he can solve the employer’s problems. You may not know, but any of these job-search mistakes could be the reason why you’ve been loosing your previous job opportunities and had not been able to get a good job despite all your efforts!

As I earlier mentioned, and I will repeat it here again, that no employer is interested in throwing away money just like that under whatever name. You may call it salaries, wages, take-home or whatever. The truth is that every employer that needs an employee already has problems; and he is only looking for someone who can solve the problems for a fee...I mean salary. Therefore, all they want to read through your application, and hear from you at the interview, is for you to prove that you are capable of solving the problems that they have. This is as simple as A.B.C.

VERY IMPORTANT ADVICE
Take this very important advice now: DON’T JUST BOTHER WASTING YOUR TIME AND RESOURCES APPLYING FOR ANY JOB…OR ATTENDING ANY INTERVIEW…IF YOU KNOW YOU CANNOT PROVE YOU CAN SOLVE THE EMPLOYER’S KIND OF PROBLEMS. Stop telling unwanted stories about yourself either in your applications, your CV or at interviews. Employers are not interested in your life stories. They already had enough problems of their own. Believe me; they are not interested in solving your problems. All they want is: Prove, through your applications, CV and interviews, that you can solve their own problems. Once you prove yourself to employers as a problem solver, your employment problem is solved for ever.

Happy New Year to all Nairalanders. I welcome you to your year of breakthrough and success. This 2018 will be different from your past years because you will experience positive changes, not only in your employment situation, but in all your endeavors.
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If you are one of the Nairalanders that is looking for a job, I congratulate you because I have a special New Year gift for you. It is a package on how you can get any job of your choice in spite of the tough employment situation in the country. The package will show you all the mistakes you have been making in your attempt to get a job, and everything you need to do to correct the mistakes. If only you read all the post and follow the simple instructions in it, you will definitely get whatever kind of job that you are looking for in this New Year. This is guaranteed!

Here is the NEW YEAR FREE GIFT PACKAGE for you.

The reason why you’ve not been able to get the kind of job you want up till now is because of your Wrong-Job-Search-Preparation. Please, don’t get me wrong. I do not mean to insult you in any way, but to let you know the wrong ways that you’ve been presenting yourself to employers in your search for a job. You make series of mistakes in your attempts to get a job. This report will show you some of the mistakes you’ve been making, and also provide you with remedies on how you can correct the mistakes

There are people out there who may not be as bright and intelligent as you, yet they hold nice jobs today, while you still keep searching wrongly, moving from one company or organization to another and writing dozens of applications, looking for just one position, but no success. The difference between you and those people holding such good jobs is simply that, while they know the detailed secrets of job-search, you do not know the secrets, or you probably do not bother to know. All you normally do is to write your applications and attach your CV and photocopies of your credentials (you may sometimes attach your passport photograph). You then wait patiently for invitation for interview letter that may never come, basically because you failed to get yourself adequately prepared to get the job.

I believe you know that getting a job in Nigeria of today is purely on survival of the fittest. The available job openings in Nigeria of today are just not enough to go round everyone that needs a job in the country. Very many qualified candidates are out there, all struggling to get the very few jobs that are available. You therefore must realize that your qualifications alone cannot get you the job you desire. Not even if you have many years of experience. Before you get any employer's job, you must satisfy the employer with other things he wants from you.

WHAT DO EMPLOYERS REALLY WANT FROM YOU?
Your applications might be written with perfect and flawless English, and your CV designed to impress the employers. Your interview clothes could also be well tailored and suitably dry-cleaned. You could also have your shoes neatly polished. Of course, all these are important in job search. But you must know now that employers require far more than all these from you.

The undisputed truth that you must know is this: “BEFORE ANY EMPLOYER INVESTS HIS TIME, MONEY OR ANY OTHER RESOURCES TO LOOK OUT FOR AN EMPLOYEE AT ALL, THE EMPLOYER ALREADY HAS PROBLEMS THAT HE WANTS SOMEONE TO SOLVE FOR HIM...FOR A FEE” (This Fee May Be Called Salaries, Wages, Take Home or Any Other Names).

Whether all employers and all job seekers are aware of this theory or not, it remains a fact that none of them had ever disputed. None of the employers will be interested in employing you…just to pay you salaries and allowances...except he has problems, and you make him believe you can solve the problems.

Don't ever think employers just wants to increase the number of staff in their organization is the reason for them to put up a vacancy notice looking for a new staff. There is no company in the whole world that will do such a thing. Don't also think they made excess profit and therefore have enough money to throw around as salaries is the reason for them to be looking for you as their employee. The fact is, before any company or organization decides to look for any employee at all, the company or organization already has problems and therefore looking for someone who can solve the problems...for a fee.

But you failed to recognize this fact. If only you know the kind of problems faced by a particular employer that make him seek for an employee, and you put it across to him through your application, interview and subsequent follow-ups that you are the best person around who can solve such problems at the price he is willing to pay, you will definitely get his job. This is very, very certain. This is a fact that had never...and can never be disputed.

In other words, for you to grab any employer’s job, you must understand these TWO SECRETS. The first is to identify the employer’s kind of problems that make him seek for an employee at all. (You need to identify this because you can never prove you can solve a problem you do not know). And the second is, you must be able to communicate to the employer through your application and the interview, that you are the best candidate that he can find around, who can solve such problems, and at the price he is willing to pay. Even where many people can solve the problems, you have to prove you are the best among them all. These are what employers want from you. Don’t just feed them with anything else apart from these two job-search secrets.

Employers are not interested in your life story. They already had enough problems of their own. Once you let them know you can effectively solve their problems, your case is settled. You can go and relax, because the job will automatically be yours! This is guaranteed.

But in the other way round, even if you are an expert at solving an employer's kind of problems, but you failed to prove to him through your application and your interviews that you can solve the problems, the job will certainly go to another candidate who is able to prove he can solve the problems. Remember, these employers do not know your life history. It is whatever you are able to prove yourself to be in your application and the interview that the employers will consider you to be. So, you must prove yourself to be a problem solver.

STEP 3: PACKAGE YOUR BUSINESS AND YOURSELF PERFECTLY TO QUALIFY FOR THE LOAN

Common sense will tell us that no one is going to give a loan to any business unless that business will be able to repay the money. The only way to prove that your business can take the money, put it to good use and repay the lender is to package yourself and the business.

The questions now are “How do you package yourself?” and “How do you package your business?” The answer to the questions is very simple. If you want to package yourself and your business, you must know how to:
i. Prepare a feasible and viable Business Plan
ii. Present your request to the lender as a worthy borrower.
iii. Carry out a systematic follow up
If you can prepare a feasible and viable Business Plan for your business, and present your request to the lender in a worthy manner, and also have a systematic follow-up, there is no doubt that your loan will be approved. This is guaranteed.

You need a well prepared business plan. The importance of business plan in getting financial assistance for your business can not be overstretched; Your Business Plan is the "road map" that will guide you and your business to the goal you've set for it. The Business Plan answers all the questions of the what, why, where, how and when, of your business.

The Business Plan will show the corporate lender whether or not your proposed business is feasible or not. With a feasible and viable Business Plan, you will supply all the information the lenders wants from you even before he or she ask for it (I believe you still remember the 7Cs in STEP 2 above), The Business Plan will show if that business of yours is worth going into at all and that the business will generate enough profit to repay the loan. Therefore, you must carefully prepare it. A feasible and viable Business Plan will reveal the true picture of the business and this will convince the lender that you will be able to repay the money they want to loan you.

I am not asking you to hire consultants to package your Business Plan for you. No. not at all. You are not going to waste your hard earned money on consultants that may do a shoddy job for you. Remember this business is yours. It is your idea. You can prepare your own Business Plan by yourself. The fact is, the most successful Business Plans in small businesses are the ones that are prepared and presented by the owners of the businesses. There are three main reasons for this:

1. As an applicant who had prepared your own Business Plan by yourself, you will fully understand all the implications you have included in the plan. If someone else prepares the plan for you, you may not even know what has been included. Therefore, defending the plan before the lenders will definitely be difficult

2. It impresses the lenders with your ability. The lenders would know that you actually know about the business.

3. It’s cheaper. No need to pay the consultants.

Because it's YOUR idea, and a business that YOU do the planning, it is better and advisable that YOU prepare the Business Plan all by YOURSELF. YOU develop it and put it down on paper just the way YOU want it to read.

You may now come up with excuses like: “I don’t know how to prepare a Business Plan”. Never mind, my reply to your blank email will furnish you with full details of how to package a feasible and viable Business Plan and every other information you need to raise a loan for your own small business in the new year. As I explained earlier, all you need to do is to send a blank email to my auto-response mailbox: smallbusinessloan2018@gmail.com. Please note that the email should be blank. All you need to do is to type these three words “Small Business Loan” as the subject of the email. This will let my auto-response reply you instantly.

Please don’t forget to type “Small Business Loan” in the subject line of the blank email. Without the three words as the subject of the email, my auto response will not reply your blank email. And because the auto response is a very sensitive tool, any slight error in the typing may refuse the auto response to trigger. So instead of typing the words “Small Business Loan” in the subject line of your blank email, you can simply copy the three words here and paste them as the subject of the blank email. If you do this correctly, you will definitely get my reply in your inbox or spambox immediately within a minute of your sending the blank email.

Alternatively, if you have any question or comment relating to how to raise money in form of loan for a small business in Nigeria, you can send the question or comment by email to my personal mailbox: mosmal2020@gmail.com (please the spelling is MOSMAL 2020 and not MOSMA 12020) and I will make sure I personally reply you within 48 hours of your sending the email. You can also call 07089738855 or 08073388282 for more explanations

Take the next step now and get yourself a small business loan. This is the age of creative financing. Don't allow the creative business idea in your brain to die prematurely just because you have no money to start the business. The era of creative financing is now here. There is enough money in Nigeria now for anyone that wants to use it to start his or her own small business. The only thing that can stop you from getting your required loan is if you fail to take action, and the only person who can stop you is YOU. The two questions you need to ask are...WHERE can you get the money? ...and HOW can you get the money? I am now ready to provide you all the answers.

Once again, I wish you all the best in the New Year.

5. Conditions: This is the general economic conditions at the time the loan request is made. For example, how will you feel if someone approaches you to borrow money to distribute or sell pure (sachet) water during the raining season? Because of low pure (sachet) water demand at this period, you may decline giving the loan. If you risk this, it may eventually turn out to be a gift or bad debt as the borrower may not generate enough income to repay the loan.

The situation described above is that of climatic condition. There are several other conditions to be considered by the lenders, depending on the kind of business and the amount involved before an approval is granted on a loan. The lender will want all conditions to be clear to avoid a situation where the loan repayment is delayed or denied.

Another good example is the case of inflation. If the rate of inflation is high, the lender may decline the loan because of their concern that your earnings may not keep pace with the inflation, and so, your capacity to repay the loan might be doubted. There are several other conditions under which the lenders usually reject approval of business loans.

6. Coverage: In some type of businesses, depending on the amount involved, proper coverage, especially the issue of insurance coverage, may be considered very important. Just consider yourself running a transport business. Before any agency offers to loan you money to buy a vehicle for your business, the agency will make sure you make provision for a proper insurance to cover the vehicle should in case accident, theft or fire occur to the vehicle.

Insurance cover is not limited to transport businesses alone. Any business may be subject to possible business losses from any of these causes:
• The death of the owner, partner or principal share holder.
• Physical damage or interruption of operations as a result of fire outbreak, flood, explosion, robbery, riots, unrests or other violent actions.
• Embezzlement, theft or other acts of dishonesty by employees.

Once any of the disasters listed above occur, repaying the loan might prove to be very difficult unless the business has a proper insurance coverage. As a small business, you may not be able to provide adequate insurance cover for your business like the large organizations, but you need to realize the need. The lender may have the fear of loosing his money if anything goes wrong without a good coverage. As said earlier, not all businesses require insurance or other forms of coverage before the loan approval.

7. Credit history: The lender may have to check your credit history. They will want to know if you are indebted to another lender. They will also want to know your credit standing to be sure that, in case the business is unable to pay the loan, you have enough charisma, integrity, honour, honesty and loyalty to repay.

Other factors

In addition to the above listed factors, the lender may have to consider your ability and experience to run the business successfully. Other conditions to be considered are your reputation, your personality and sometimes your influence. Where they doubt your competence, the loan might be declined.

In all, the lender will like to know everything about the business and you. They are always very interested in the 7Cs of lending. They may call it different names, but it all boils to the 7 points raised above. All the lenders need the information. You have to supply the information if you want a business loan. This may seem like a drag, but in the real sense, it’s not a wasted effort.

Now that you understand the information that the lender wants, as analyzed in this post, if you are ready to supply all, even before the lender ask for them, your request will be given a speedy attention. Your loan application will be treated with urgency. Your request will not be denied.

Don’t expect any lender to approve your loan request without thoroughly confirming all the conditions listed above. Of course, there are situations where one or more of the conditions may not be necessary or waived. An example is that of “collateral security” in a collateral-free loan programmes. Another is the case of “coverage” in some kinds of businesses. However, other conditions may have to be screened before your loan is approved.

By now you know why many borrowers shy away from lenders. They don’t want to go through all these interrogations. All you need do is to know how to defend the 7Cs of lending. If you do this, there is no reason why lenders will not give you the loan you need.

Now that you know all the information that the lenders will like to know from you, you should be ready to approach the lender to get the money you need to finance the business. But how do you package all these information in order to get the attention of the lender? This is why you need to read STEP 3 below.

In an alphabetical order, the “Seven Cs of lending” are as follows:
1) Cash flow
2) Character
3) Collateral
4) Commitment
5) Conditions
6) Coverage
7) Credit History
Let’s look at each one of them.

1. Cash flow: For a lender to lend you any money for your business, you must have a Business Plan that projects your business as one that can generate profit. No lender will loan out money to any business that cannot prove it will generate profit. Your business plan must be convincing enough that your business will generate enough money to make your monthly, quarterly or any other agreed installment loan repayments. Where the projected financial statements do not provide a good cash flow (such as weak profit and loss account), the lender may be hesitant about giving out their money to you. My reply to your blank email will reveal to you how to prepare a Business plan that projects good cash flow.

2. Character: Lenders will want you to prove to them that you are a man (or woman) of your words. When you say you’ll repay the loan promptly, you really mean it. Even if you do not keep to the promise, at least, you’ll make positive efforts. That is, you will show enough proof in your Business Plan that you’ll make every possible effort to conserve the business assets and manage the business to the best of your ability. In other words, you will not squander the borrowed funds. They will also want to confirm that you do not have a negative reputation in the society.

3. Collateral: The lender will want to see if you have any property or assets to pledge against the loan that they can seize and sell to recover the loan in case you are unable to pay up. This is common to new businesses requesting for loans. The collateral does not have to be a landed property alone. Other assets such as marketable securities or life insurance policies with good cash surrender value can also be tendered as collateral security for business loans.

Not all loans require collateral security though. There are some agencies that run Collateral-Free Loan Programmes where you may not necessarily need to pledge landed property or other tangibles before a loan is approved. My reply to your blank email will explain this more to you.

4. Commitment: This is your input, in monetary term, you’ve contributed (or wish to contribute) into the business you are requesting financial assistance for. Some lenders will refer to this commitment as equity contribution.

There is a saying in this part of the world that the owner of a load must be the first to lift it before others join in the lifting. This means that without any financial commitment of your own into the business, either in cash or physical assets, it might be difficult to get financial assistance from any source. Lenders generally consider the issue of commitment as very important.

With your Business Plan, you can estimate how much you need to put up as your commitment. This is very important, because no lender will render you a loan of one hundred percent of the total investment in your business. The lender will want to know how much you, as the owner of the business, are ready to commit into the business before they can decide on the level of assistance they will render. If you are not ready to help yourself, you must not expect anyone to help you out.

Some lenders have a minimum level of commitment that a borrower must meet before any loan assistance is rendered. For instance, there is a development finance institution that often require for a minimum of twenty five percent (25%) of total investment. This is because the highest contribution the institution can put into any business cannot be more than seventy five percent (75%) of the total investment.

This simply mean that if the total investment in a business, for example, is one million Naira (N1,000,000), your commitment must be at least two hundred and fifty thousand naira (N250,000). The development finance institution can then assist with the balance amounting to a maximum of seven hundred and fifty thousand naira (N750,000) only.

A commitment on your part will show your seriousness in the business. In effect, as you will be working hard not to loose your own N250,000 investment, you will at the same time be safe-guarding the N750,000 the lender has borrowed (or will be borrowing) you.

This is not to say that your commitment must always be in cash. You may contribute in various forms, so long as it is an input to the business. Moreover, some lenders do prefer to have the commitment to cover certain items that they can not have full control over.

Take the case of an entrepreneur who wants to convert a rented apartment of 3-bedroom into a guest/rest house. His Business Plan has a projected start-up estimate that read as follows: (Round figures are used here for easy calculation so you can understand)
>>> Land & Building (Rented Premises) > N300,000
>>> Furniture & Fittings > N250,000
>>> Utilities (Generator, water, etc) > N300,000
>>> Working Capital > N150,000
>>> TOTAL > N1,000,000 (One Million Naira only)

Once the entrepreneur pays up the rents of the property and decides to put the rented property into the business, he already has a contribution of three hundred thousand naira (N300,000) out of the one million Naira investment. That is thirty percent (30%) commitment in the investment. The case will even be better if the entrepreneur is the owner of the building. The cost of the building can be considered as his commitment.

Lenders generally prefer a high percentage of commitment from borrowers. In fact, the higher the commitment, the better for the lender. Whenever you then think of borrowing for a business, you must also consider how much you can contribute (either in cash or in physical assets) as your commitment.

Find below the remaining “Cs of lending”:

STEP 2: KNOW HOW THE LENDERS OPERATE, AND THE INFORMATION THEY WILL NEED FROM YOU.
Now you know how to get contact information about the lenders. That is good, but you must know that the lenders will definitely need a couple of information from you before they part there money to you. Before I begin to show you what these information entails, I will like you to know whom the lenders are, how they operate, why they operate that way, and why the information you render will help then in the process of your business loan application.

By the way, who are these lenders? What sort of people are they? What is the meaning of the word “Lender?”

One online dictionary defines the word “Lender” as “someone who grants the use of a thing on the understanding that it or its equivalent shall be returned at an agreed time.” In the case of money, it shall be returned with interest.

In agreement with the above definition and for the sake of this post, I want us to consider the word “Lender” as companies, organizations or agencies that grants financial assistance for the sole purpose of running a business on the understanding that the money shall be returned when due, and with the agreed interest. Such organizations may include small business financial supporting agencies, development banks, or even commercial banks which we can now refer to as “Corporate Lenders”. These companies, organizations or agencies may be represented by one person or by a group of people.

Most people you will meet as you seek for business financial assistance from these corporate lenders will either be bankers or other officers operating like them. Yet, at the mention of a title like “Banker” or “Bank Manager”, many people would develop cold feet and tend to relate them to “mini-gods” that decides their financial condition. But who really are the bankers and the other corporate lenders generally? What makes them behave the way they do? What makes them different from other professionals? Why do people develop cold feet when dealing with them?

You must know that people get into the banking job just the way other people get into any other professions. Some planned it as a career by studying courses like banking and finance, accountancy and other related courses. Others wondered into it because they needed a job, and luckily, banking job is available as at that time.

Whichever way they get there, I wish to let you know that bankers and other corporate lenders generally are also human beings like you. They have family and friends. They get into troubles occasionally, drive cars, find themselves in hold-ups, watch television and do many other things like you, including eating the same kind of food as you.

So, why do people feel uptight when it comes to discussing money with bankers or lenders generally? Why do some entrepreneurs feel that bankers and lenders generally are not approachable? Why are they not friendly and easy to talk to when the issue of loans is being discussed?

There are several reasons that can be attributed to this, but one main reason may be because bankers usually dress formally. Most people are always hesitant to ask anyone for money, much less a complete stranger who is dressed in a black suit, or sometimes, their week-end traditional attire.

Another reason can be linked to the fact that majority of borrowers already have the unhelpful impression about the corporate lenders. These borrowers normally come up with statements like “…even if you ask them for loans, their reply will always be negative”. Because of this pre-conception, many potential borrowers find it difficult to approach bankers and other corporate lenders to negotiate for financial assistance.

But most importantly, I believe the real reason for the hesitation is the fact that every banker or lender will want to be sure that the money they want to give you as loan is not going to be lost. They ask questions on questions and demand for explanations and evidences, just to be sure the money will be safe. Because many entrepreneurs are not fully prepared for such interrogation, they tend to pull back. I guess this is the main reason why many borrowers find it difficult to approach lenders for financial assistance.

Of course you ought to know that before any money gets to you, for any purpose at all, in form of loan, you need to prove to the lender that you are capable of judiciously using the money and repay back the borrowed amount as at when due. The issue of raising money for your business is not different. You must provide enough proof and evidences to the loan officers (the lenders) at the agencies or even banks (development or commercial) that the money you wish to borrow will not go down a waste basket. Remember, we are not talking of gift or donation here, but loan for your business.

Every lender you approach for money for business will want to know if you can effectively and efficiently manage the business, and manage their money, and successfully push the business profitably so as to pay back what you will be given, of course, with the accrue interest.

The more the banker or lender know about you and your business, the more like a friend you become, and, as you know, people have a hard time turning down a friend. I have an uncle who has a terrible business idea, but because he was open with his lender and furnished him with all the information he needed, the lender advised him on what to do and he got the business loan he wanted. It is this kind of information that the corporate lenders will want you to provide, to give enough prove that the money to be given to you will not be wasted.

You may not know this, but the fact is that the main job of bankers and the other lenders generally are to loan out money. They don’t just keep their money in the vault but need to loan them out to generate interests. This is because they can not make money unless you borrow the money and repay the loan with the accrue interest. It is out of the interest generated that the banker’s salary will be paid. In fact, the more money you loan from them, the happier they become, because the amount you borrow determine the amount of interest you pay. The lenders’ job is therefore to loan you money, and not to turn you down for your loan. All you need to do is to provide then with necessary information.

I hope this has given you an insight to who the bankers and other corporate lenders are, what they want from you and how they think about the loans. This is very important. If you are aware of what is expected of you and you are ready to open up, you have a much better chance of getting your business loan and having a good business financial relationship.

That is not to say all lenders behave the same way. In fact, how loan officials operate at their various financial institutions differ from one to another, but in general, they will all expect certain characteristics from you. Lenders are generally very conservative. They don’t like lending money unless they are very confident that they will get the money back when due. Their jobs are to lend money out and be sure of getting it back, and of course, with interest. They will not just keep their money in the vault but need to loan them out to generate interests, out of which their salaries will be paid.

As I stated earlier, every lender you approach for business loan will need certain information on which to base your loan decision. Part of the information will come from you and your Business Plan. The rest will come from the lender’s own experience, knowledge and several other factors.

Nevertheless, all the required information that the lenders want from you can be obtained by considering certain factors which I’ll refer to as the “Seven Cs of Lending”. Once all this 7Cs are gathered and are arranged in order, the lender will be convinced and therefore have the confident that they will get their money back from you when due. Their jobs are to lend money out and be sure of getting it back. The processing of your loan request will not be delayed or denied once you arrange these 7Cs in order. Failure to provide these information has resulted in many requests been turned down.

Find below the “Seven Cs of lending”

Happy New Year to all Nairalanders. I welcome you to your year of breakthrough and success. This 2018 will be different from your past years because you will experience positive changes, not only in your business, but in all your endeavors.
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If you are one of the Nairalanders that have a GOOD BUSINESS IDEA and need some money to run the business, I congratulate you because I have a special New Year gift for you. I want to show you all you need to do so as to get the amount you need to start or expand any business of your choice in this New Year. It does not mater whether the amount you need is as little as N50,000 or as much as N50 million, my New Year Bonanza Package will show you all the SECRETS of small business lending in Nigeria, where you can get the money in form of business loan, and how you can get it. If you follow the simple instructions in the report, you will definitely get the loan you need to start or expand that small business of your choice in this New Year. This is guaranteed!

“My people perish for lack of knowledge” so says the Holy Book. People that take loans to start small businesses of their own are not better than you. They only know certain things that you don’t know. I now want to share with you all those HIDDEN SECRETS behind small business loans in Nigeria.

There are many sources where you can raise money for your own small business. At a mention of business finance, many minds would go straight to commercial banks. Yes, this is supposed to be so. But you must stop making the mistake of thinking that the only place you can raise the money you need for your own small business is through commercial banks alone. Of course, commercial banks are there to solve all your financial problems; but it seems they have targeted there financial assistance to the big corporations alone. Not withstanding, there are other places where you can look out for funds to run your own small business.

I want you to disregard the stories you hear about “tight money”. Free your mind now and follow these simple instructions. This is truly the age of creative financing. There is more money now than there’s ever been to run small businesses in Nigeria. Your ability to attract the funds depends on your determination and dedication to run your own business.

Here is my NEW YEAR FREE GIFT PACKAGE for you.

Your starting point for raising the required amount for your business is to make a reasonable and realistic estimate of the amount of take-off capital you will need for your chosen business. Of course you must know at this stage that one of the major criteria that should guide you in the choice of your business is the amount of capital you can raise. It is only after making the estimate for the business of your choice and find out you cannot personally supply all the amount of money necessary that you turn to the option of borrowing.

Having done that, you move to the next stage, that is, look out for a lender that will borrow you the amount you need, and then present your request to them. There are 3 steps you must take if you must succeed at this stage, the steps are:
1. You must know who these lenders are, and where they are located.
2. You must know how the lenders operate, and the information they will require from you.
3. You must package your business and yourself perfectly to qualify you for the loan

Now, let me take you through the 3 steps one after the other.

STEP 1: KNOW WHO THESE LENDERS ARE, AND WHERE THEY ARE LOCATED
There are several sources within this country (Nigeria) where you can borrow substantial amount of money to start or expand a small business of your own, depending on the amount of financial capital you require. As I earlier stated, commercial banks are not the only sources where these business financial opportunities can come from; though they still form a very strong pillar in business financing that can not be easily pushed aside. There are several other lenders, both private and government agencies, that are willing to render financial assistance to up-coming entrepreneurs in the small scale sector like you.

How I wish I can roll out the names, contact addresses and website addresses of the agencies in this post, but you must remember, this is a public forum, so my putting the agencies’ names and addresses in the post might be construed to mean I am advertising in the post. This might be going against the rules of Nairaland which I will not want to do. More so, the agencies have not asked me to publicize their services on their behalf. If you therefore want to know the names, contact addresses and website addresses of the agencies that can help you with small business loan in the New Year 2018, send a blank email to my auto-reply mailbox: smallbusinessloan2018@gmail.com, and I will instantly give you a reply that will reveal to you how to get the full information. Please note that the email should be blank. All you need to do is to type these three words “Small Business Loan” as the subject of the email. This will let my auto-response reply you instantly

Because the auto response is a very sensitive tool, any slight error in the tying may refuse the auto response to trigger. So instead of typing the words in the subject line of your blank email, you can just copy the three words in the paragraph above and paste them as the subject of the blank email. If you do this correctly, you will definitely get my reply in your inbox or spambox immediately within a minute of your sending the blank email.

Alternatively, you can send your requests and questions by email to my personal mailbox: mosmal2020@gmail.com (spelling MOSMAL 2020 and not MOSMA 12020) and I will make sure I personally reply you within 48 hours of your sending the email. You can also call 07089738855 or 08073388282 for more explanations

Knowing the names of the lenders and where you can locate them is just one thing. Knowing how to transact with them is another. You must know how the lenders operate and the information they will expect from you ever before you approach them, and this is the reason for STEP 2 below.

STEP 3: Package Your Business And Yourself Perfectly To Qualify For The Loan

Common sense will tell us that no one is going to give a loan to any business unless that business will be able to repay the money. The only way to prove that your business can take the money, put it to good use and repay the lender is to package yourself and the business.

The questions now are “How do you package yourself?” and “How do you package your business?” The answer to the questions is very simple. If you want to package yourself and your business, you must know how to:
i. Prepare a feasible and viable Business Plan
ii. Present your request to the lender as a worthy borrower.
iii. Carry out a systematic follow up
If you can prepare a feasible and viable Business Plan for your business, and present your request to the lender in a worthy manner, and also have a systematic follow-up, there is no doubt that your loan will be approved. This is guaranteed.

You need a well prepared business plan. The importance of business plan in getting financial assistance for your business can not be overstretched; Your Business Plan is the "road map" that will guide you and your business to the goal you've set for it. The Business Plan answers all the questions of the what, why, where, how and when, of your business.

The Business Plan will show the corporate lender whether or not your proposed business is feasible or not. With a feasible and viable Business Plan, you will supply all the information the lenders wants from you even before he or she ask for it (I believe you still remember the 7Cs in STEP 2 above), The Business Plan will show if that business of yours is worth going into at all. Therefore, you must carefully prepare it. A feasible and viable Business Plan will reveal the true picture of the business and this will convince the lender that you will be able to repay the money they want to loan you.

I am not asking you to hire consultants to package your Business Plan for you. No. not at all. You are not going to waste your hard earned money on consultants that may do a shoddy job for you. Remember this business is yours. It is your idea. You can prepare your own Business Plan by yourself. The fact is, the most successful Business Plans in small businesses are the ones that are prepared and presented by the owners of the businesses. There are three main reasons for this:

1. As an applicant who had prepared your own Business Plan by yourself, you will fully understand all the implications you have included in the plan. If someone else prepares the plan for you, you may not even know what has been included. therefore, defending the plan before the lenders will definitely be difficult

2. It impresses the lenders with your ability. The lenders would know that you actually know about the business.

3. It’s cheaper. No need to pay the consultants.

Because it's YOUR idea, and a business that YOU do the planning, it is better and advisable that YOU prepare the Business Plan all by YOURSELF. YOU develop it and put it down on paper just the way YOU want it to read.

You may now come up with excuses like: “I don’t know how to prepare a Business Plan”. Never mind, my reply to your blank email will direct you to where you can get full details of how to package a feasible and viable Business Plan for your own business. As I explained earlier, all you need to do is to send a blank email to my mailbox: mosmal2020@gmail.com. (The spelling is MOSMAL 2020, and not MOSMA 12020). Don’t forget to type “Details on how to get business loan” as the subject of the email. This will let my auto-response give you an instant reply. You may even copy the sentence here and paste on the subject line of the blank email. If you spell it or copy it correctly, you will definitely get my reply in your inbox or spambox within 5 minutes of your sending the blank email. Alternatively, you can send the blank email to my personal mailbox: mosmalint@gmail.com (spelling MOSMAL INT) and I will make sure I personally reply you within 48 hours of your sending the email

As I earlier said, this is the age of creative financing. Don't allow the creative business idea in your brain to die prematurely just because you have no money to start the business. There is enough money in Nigeria now for anyone who wants to use it to start his or her own small business. The only thing that can stop you from getting your required loan is if you fail to take action, and the only person who can stop you is YOU.
The two questions you need to ask are...WHERE can you get the money? ...and HOW can you get the money?

Wishing you all the best as you start your search journey to find the money you need to run your own small business.


Source: How To raise money for your business

Let us continue with the “Seven Cs of lending”.

5. Conditions: This is the general economic conditions at the time the loan request is made. For example, how will you feel if someone approaches you to borrow money to distribute or sell pure (sachet) water during the raining season? Because of low pure (sachet) water demand at this period, you may decline giving the loan. If you risk this, it may eventually turn out to be a gift or bad debt as the borrower may not generate enough income to repay the loan.

The situation described above is that of climatic condition. There are several other conditions to be considered by the lenders, depending on the kind of business and the amount involved before an approval is granted on a loan. The lender will want all conditions to be clear to avoid a situation where the loan repayment is delayed or denied.

Another good example is the case of inflation. If the rate of inflation is high, the lender may decline the loan because of their concern that your earnings may not keep pace with the inflation, and so, your capacity to repay the loan might be doubted. There are several other conditions under which the lenders usually reject approval of business loans.

6. Coverage: In some type of businesses, depending on the amount involved, proper coverage, especially the issue of insurance coverage, may be considered very important. Just consider yourself running a transport business. Before any agency offers to loan you money to buy a vehicle for your business, the agency will make sure you make provision for a proper insurance to cover the vehicle should in case accident, theft or fire occur to the vehicle.

Insurance cover is not limited to transport businesses alone. Any business may be subject to possible business losses from any of these causes:
• The death of the owner, partner or principal share holder.
• Physical damage or interruption of operations as a result of fire outbreak, flood, explosion, robbery, riots, unrests or other violent actions.
• Embezzlement, theft or other acts of dishonesty by employees.

Once any of the disasters listed above occur, repaying the loan might prove to be very difficult unless the business has a proper insurance coverage. As a small business, you may not be able to provide adequate insurance cover for your business like the large organizations, but you need to realize the need. The lender may have the fear of loosing his money if anything goes wrong without a good coverage. As said earlier, not all businesses require insurance or other forms of coverage before the loan approval.

7. Credit history: The lender may have to check your credit history. They will want to know if you are indebted to another lender. They will also want to know your credit standing to be sure that, in case the business is unable to pay the loan, you have enough charisma, integrity, honour, honesty and loyalty to repay.

Other factors

In addition to the above listed factors, the lender may have to consider your ability and experience to run the business successfully. Other conditions to be considered are your reputation, personality and sometimes your influence. Where they doubt your competence, the loan might be declined.

In all, the lender will like to know everything about the business and you. They are always very interested in the 7Cs of lending. They may call it different names, but it all boils to the 7 points raised above. All the lenders need the information. You have to supply the information if you want a business loan. This may seem like a drag, but in the real sense, it’s not a wasted effort.

Now that you understand the information that the lender wants, as analyzed in this post, if you are ready to supply all, even before the lender ask for it, your request will be given a speedy attention. Your loan application will be treated with urgency. Your request will not be denied.

Don’t expect any lender to approve your loan request without thoroughly confirming all the conditions listed above. Of course, there are situations where one or more of the conditions may not be necessary or waived. An example is that of “collateral security” in a collateral-free loan programmes. Another is the case of “coverage” in some kinds of businesses. However, other conditions may have to be screened before your loan is approved.

By now you know why many borrowers shy away from lenders. They don’t want to go through all these interrogations. All you need do is to know how to defend the 7Cs of lending. If you do this, there is no reason why lenders will not give you the loan you need.

Now that you know all the information that the lenders will like to know from you, you should be ready to approach the lender to get the money you need to finance the business. But how do you package all these information in order to get the attention of the lender? This is why you need to read STEP 3 below.

In an alphabetical order, the “Seven Cs of lending” are as follows:
1) Cash flow
2) Character
3) Collateral
4) Commitment
5) Conditions
6) Coverage
7) Credit History
Let’s look at each one of them.

1. Cash flow: For a lender to lend you any money for your business, your Business Plan must project a business that is convincing enough to generate enough money to make your monthly, quarterly or any other agreed installment loan repayments. Where the projected financial statements do not provide a good cash flow (such as weak profit and loss account), the lender may be hesitant about giving out their money to you. My reply to your blank email will reveal to you how to prepare a Business plan that projects good financial statements.

2. Character: Lenders will want you to prove to them that you are a man (or woman) of your words. When you say you’ll repay the loan promptly, you really mean it. Even if you do not keep to the promise, at least, you’ll make positive efforts. That is, you will show enough proof in your Business Plan that you’ll make every possible effort to conserve the business assets and manage the business to the best of your ability. In other words, you will not squander the borrowed funds. They will also want to confirm that you do not have a negative reputation in the society.

3. Collateral: The lender will want to see if you have any property or assets to pledge against the loan that they can seize and sell to recover the loan in case you are unable to pay up. This is common to new businesses requesting for loans. The collateral does not have to be a landed property alone. Other assets such as marketable securities or life insurance policies with good cash surrender value can also be tendered as collateral security for business loans.

Not all loans require collateral security though. There are some agencies that run Collateral-Free Loan Programmes where you may not necessarily need to pledge landed property or other tangibles before a loan is approved. My reply to the blank email will explain this more to you.

4. Commitment: This is your input, in monetary term, you’ve contributed (or wish to contribute) into the business you are requesting financial assistance for. Some lenders will refer to this commitment as equity contribution.

There is a saying in this part of the world that the owner of a load must be the first to lift it before others join in the lifting. This means that without any financial commitment of your own into the business, either in cash or physical assets, it might be difficult to get financial assistance from any source. Lenders generally consider the issue of commitment as very important.

With your Business Plan, you can estimate how much you need to put up as your commitment. This is very important, because no lender will render you a loan of one hundred percent of the total investment in your business. The lender will want to know how much you, as the owner of the business, are ready to commit into the business before they can decide on the level of assistance they will render. If you are not ready to help yourself, you must not expect anyone to help you out.

Some lenders have a minimum level of commitment that a borrower must meet before any loan assistance is rendered. For instance, there is a development finance institution that often require for a minimum of twenty five percent (25%) of total investment. This is because the highest contribution the institution can put into any business cannot be more than seventy five percent (75%) of the total investment.

This simply mean that if the total investment in a business, for example, is one million Naira (N1,000,000), your commitment must be at least two hundred and fifty thousand naira (N250,000). The development finance institution can then assist with the balance amounting to a maximum of seven hundred and fifty thousand naira (N750,000) only.

A commitment on your part will show your seriousness in the business. In effect, as you will be working hard not to loose your own N250,000 investment, you will at the same time be safe-guarding the N750,000 the lender has borrowed (or will be borrowing) you.

This is not to say that your commitment must always be in cash. You may contribute in various forms, so long as it is an input to the business. Moreover, some lenders do prefer to have the commitment to cover certain items that they can not have full control over.

Take the case of an entrepreneur who wants to convert a rented apartment of five-bedroom into a guest/rest house. His Business Plan has a projected start-up estimate that read as follows: (Round figures are used here for easy calculation so you can understand)
>>> Land & Building (Rented Premises)> N300,000
>>> Furniture & Fittings > N250,000
>>> Utilities (Generator, water, etc) > N300,000
>>> Working Capital > N150,000
>>> TOTAL > N1,000,000 (One Million Naira only)

Once the entrepreneur pays up the rents of the property and decides to put the rented property into the business, he already has a contribution of three hundred thousand naira (N300,000) out of the one million Naira investment. That is thirty percent (30%) commitment in the investment. The case will even be better if the entrepreneur is the owner of the building. The cost of the building can be considered as his commitment.

Lenders generally prefer a high percentage of commitment from borrowers. In fact, the higher the commitment, the better for the lender. Whenever you then think of borrowing for a business, you must also consider how much you can contribute (either in cash or in physical assets) as your commitment.

STEP 2: Know How The Lenders Operate, And The Information They Will Need From You.

Now you know how to get contact information about the lenders. That is good, but you must know that the lenders will definitely need a couple of information from you before they part there money to you. Before I begin to show you what these information entails, I will like you to know whom the lenders are, how they operate, why they operate that way, and why the information you render will help then in the process of your business loan application.

By the way, who are these lenders? What sort of people are they? What is the meaning of the word “Lender?”

One online dictionary defines the word “Lender” as “someone who grants the use of a thing on the understanding that it or its equivalent shall be returned at an agreed time.” In the case of money, it shall be returned with interest.

In agreement with the above definition and for the sake of this post, I want us to consider the word “Lender” as companies, organizations or agencies that grants financial assistance for the sole purpose of running a business on the understanding that the money shall be returned when due, and with the agreed interest. Such organizations may include small business financial supporting agencies, development banks, or even commercial banks which we can now refer to as “Corporate Lenders”. These companies, organizations or agencies may be represented by one person or by a group of people.

Most people you will meet as you seek for business financial assistance from these corporate lenders will either be bankers or other officers operating like them. Yet, at the mention of a title like “Banker” or “Bank Manager”, many people would develop cold feet and tend to relate them to “mini-gods” that decides their financial condition. But who really are the bankers and the other corporate lenders generally? What makes them behave the way they do? What makes them different from other professionals? Why do people develop cold feet when dealing with them?

You must know that people get into the banking job just the way other people get into any other professions. Some planned it as a career by studying courses like banking and finance, accountancy and other related courses. Others wondered into it because they needed a job, and luckily, banking job is available as at that time.

Whichever way they get there, I wish to let you know that bankers and other corporate lenders generally are also human beings like you. They have family and friends. They get into troubles occasionally, drive cars, find themselves in hold-ups, watch television and do many other things like you, including eating the same kind of food as you.

So, why do people feel uptight when it comes to discussing money with bankers or lenders generally? Why do some entrepreneurs feel that bankers and lenders generally are not approachable? Why are they not friendly and easy to talk to when the issue of loans is being discussed?

There are several reasons that can be attributed to this, but one main reason may be because bankers usually dress formally. Most people are always hesitant to ask anyone for money, much less a complete stranger who is dressed in a black suit, or sometimes, their week-end traditional attire.

Another reason can be linked to the fact that majority of borrowers already have the unhelpful impression about the corporate lenders. These borrowers normally come up with statements like “…even if you ask them for loans, their reply will always be negative”. Because of this pre-conception, many potential borrowers find it difficult to approach bankers and other corporate lenders to negotiate for financial assistance.

But most importantly, I believe the real reason for the hesitation is the fact that every banker or lender will want to be sure that the money they want to give you as loan is not going to be lost. They ask questions on questions and demand for explanations and evidences, just to be sure the money will be safe. Because many entrepreneurs are not fully prepared for such interrogation, they tend to pull back. I guess this is the main reason why many borrowers find it difficult to approach lenders for financial assistance.

Of course you ought to know that before any money gets to you, for any purpose at all, in form of loan, you need to prove to the lender that you are capable of judiciously using the money and repay back the borrowed amount as at when due. The issue of raising money for your business is not different. You must provide enough proof and evidences to the loan officers (the lenders) at the agencies or even banks (development or commercial) that the money you wish to borrow will not go down a waste basket. Remember, we are not talking of gift or donation here, but loan for your business.

Every lender you approach for money for business will want to know if you can effectively and efficiently manage the business, and manage their money, and successfully push the business profitably so as to pay back what you will be given, of course, with the accrue interest.

The more the banker or lender know about you and your business, the more like a friend you become, and, as you know, people have a hard time turning down a friend. I have an uncle who has a terrible business idea, but because he was open with his lender and furnished him with all the information he needed, the lender advised him on what to do and he got the business loan he wanted. It is this kind of information that the l corporate lenders will want you to provide, to give enough prove that the money to be given to you will not be wasted.

You may not know this, but the fact is that the main job of bankers and the other lenders generally are to loan out money. They don’t just keep their money in the vault but need to loan them out to generate interests. This is because they can not make money unless you borrow the money and repay the loan with the accrue interest. It is out of the interest generated that the banker’s salary will be paid. In fact, the more money you loan from them, the happier they become, because the amount you borrow determine the amount of interest you pay. The lenders’ job is therefore to loan you money, and not to turn you down for your loan. All you need to do is to provide then with necessary information.

I hope this has given you an insight to who the bankers and other corporate lenders are, what they want from you and how they think about the loans. This is very important. If you are aware of what is expected of you and you are ready to open up, you have a much better chance of getting your business loan and having a good business financial relationship.

That is not to say all lenders behave the same way. In fact, how loan officials operate at their various financial institutions differ from one to another, but in general, they will all expect certain characteristics from you. Lenders are generally very conservative. They don’t like lending money unless they are very confident that they will get the money back when due. Their jobs are to lend money out and be sure of getting it back, and of course, with interest. They will not just keep their money in the vault but need to loan them out to generate interests, out of which their salaries will be paid.

As I stated earlier, every lender you approach for business loan will need certain information on which to base your loan decision. Part of the information will come from you and your Business Plan. The rest will come from the lender’s own experience, knowledge and several other factors.

Nevertheless, all the required information that the lenders want from you can be obtained by considering certain factors which I’ll refer to as the “Seven Cs of Lending”. Once all this 7Cs are gathered and are arranged in order, the lender will be convinced and therefore have the confident that they will get their money back from you when due. Their jobs are to lend money out and be sure of getting it back, The processing of your loan request will not be delayed or denied once you arrange these 7Cs in order. Failure to provide these information has resulted in many requests been turned down.

Find below the Seven Cs of Lending, and how the lenders view them.

If you have a GOOD BUSINESS IDEA and need some money to run the business, this information will help you out. It does not mater whether the amount you need is as little as N50,000 or as much as N50 million, if you take your time to read this post and follow the simple instructions in it, you will definitely get the amount you need for that business of your choice.

“My people perish for lack of knowledge” so says the holy book. People that take loans to start small businesses of their own are not better than you. They only know certain things that you don’t know. I now want to share with you all those hidden secrets behind small business loans.

Don't allow the creative business idea in your brain to die prematurely just because you have no money to start the business. The era of creative financing is now here. There is enough money in Nigeria now for anyone that wants to use it to start his or her own small business. The two questions you need to ask are...WHERE can you get the money? ...and HOW can you get the money?

There are many sources where you can raise money for your own small business. At a mention of business finance, many minds would go straight to commercial banks. Yes, this is supposed to be so. But you must stop making the mistake of thinking that the only place you can raise the money you need for your own small business is through commercial banks alone. Of course, commercial banks are there to solve all your financial problems; but it seems they have targeted there financial assistance to the big corporations alone. Not withstanding, there are other places where you can look out for funds to run your own small business.

I want you to disregard the stories you hear about “tight money”. Free your mind now and follow the simple instructions. This is truly the age of creative financing. There is more money now than there’s ever been to run small businesses in Nigeria. Your ability to attract the funds depends on your determination and dedication to run your own business.

Now let’s start the journey…

Your starting point for raising the required amount for your business is to make a reasonable and realistic estimate of the amount of take-off capital you will need for your chosen business. Of course you must know at this stage that one of the major criteria that should guide you in the choice of your business is the amount of capital you can raise. It is only after making the estimate for the business of your choice and find out you cannot personally supply all the amount of money necessary that you turn to the option of borrowing.

Having done that, you move to the next stage, that is, look out for a lender that will borrow you the amount you need, and then present your request to them. There are 3 steps you must do if you must succeed at this stage, the steps are:
1. You must know who these lenders are, and where they are located.
2. You must know how the lenders operate, and the information they will require from you.
3. You must package your business and yourself perfectly to qualify you for the loan

Now, let me take you through the 3 steps one after the other.

STEP 1: Know Who These Lenders Are, And Where They Are Located

There are several sources within this country (Nigeria) where you can borrow substantial amount of money to start or expand a small business of your own, depending on the amount of financial capital you require. As I earlier stated, commercial banks are not the only sources where these business financial opportunities can come from; though they still form a very strong pillar in business financing that can not be easily pushed aside. There are several other lenders, both private and government agencies, that are willing to render financial assistance to up-coming entrepreneurs in the small scale sector like you.

How I wish I can roll out the names, contact addresses and website addresses of the agencies in this post, but you must remember, this is a public forum, so my putting the agencies’ names and addresses in the post might be construed to mean I am advertising in the post. This might be going against the rules of Nairaland which I will not want to do. More so, the agencies have not asked me to publicize their services on their behalf. If you therefore want to know the names, contact addresses and website addresses of the agencies that can help you with small business financing, send a blank email to my auto-reply mailbox: mosmal2020@gmail.com, and I will instantly give you a reply that will reveal to you how to get the full information. (Please note that the spelling is MOSMAL 2020, and not MOSMA 12020). All you need to do is to type these seven words “Details on how to get business loan” as the subject of the email. This will let my auto-response reply you instantly.

Because the auto response is a very sensitive tool, any slight error in the tying may refuse the auto response to trigger. So instead of typing the words in the subject line of your blank email, you can just copy the seven words in the paragraph above and paste them as the subject of the blank email. If you do this correctly, you will definitely get my reply in your inbox or spambox within 5 minutes of your sending the blank email. Alternatively, you can send the blank email to my personal mailbox: mosmalint@gmail.com (spelling MOSMAL INT) and I will make sure I personally reply you within 48 hours of your sending the email.

Knowing the names of the lenders and where you can locate them is just one thing. Knowing how to transact with them is another. You must know how the lenders operate and the information they will expect from you ever before you approach them, and this is the reason for STEP 2 below.

Many landlords of today were once tenants, and many tenants of today will become landlords tomorrow.