Setting up a new business can be a touch-and-go affair. Take Andy and Seb, two young recruitment consultants who’ve been friends since they both started in the “head hunting” industry eight years ago. Now approaching their thirtieth birthdays, both are itching to become their own bosses and set up their own boutique consultancy. They have the knowledge, the dynamism, the stamina and the skill to do it. What they don’t have is the money – or at least, not all of it.
Andy is the son of a successful entrepreneur who has pledged an investment of £25,000. But the two need £10,000 more to ensure they have the all computing hardware, recruitment software, office equipment, furniture and telephone systems they need to be ready to start trading.
Neither has a particularly good credit score. While Andy’s father is undoubtedly well-off, Andy isn’t. He separated from his former partner several years ago and is paying hefty child maintenance fees each month for their two children. Seb has never owned a credit card, and has no real credit history to speak of. Both suspect they’d have a hard time trying to persuade a bank to loan to their fledgling business.
If they do a bit more homework into the world of alternative finance, however, they’ll discover that an ideal solution is at hand: a low-interest secured asset loan from peer-to-peer lender Unbolted. For the platform’s hundreds of investors, an applicant’s creditworthiness is irrelevant. That’s because this p2p lender lends against assets – any items held by individuals or small businesses that have a resale value.
Andy became the owner of a stunning 1969 Chevrolet El Camino nearly three years ago – a gift from his father on his twenty-seventh birthday. He’d been depressed following the breakdown of his relationship, and his father was trying to buoy his spirits, which he succeeded in doing! The car had been lovingly restored to an SS clone with power steering, power brakes, electric windows and radio, and it was in beautiful condition.
Unbolted draws on the expertise of established specialist auctioneers (in the case of classic cars, H&H Classics – an auction house that has grown to become one the biggest Specialist Auctioneers of Collector Motor Cars and Motorcycles in Europe). If Andy uploads a photograph of his car along with documentation to our website, our valuers can see that this fine specimen of automotive finesse is worth in the region of £14,850 – more than enough for the £10,000 he and Seb are seeking. We could make an indicative offer within hours of the upload, releasing funds into their bank account within hours of the vehicle reaching us for safe storage.
No credit searches, no digital footprints, and no intrusion into privacy is necessary: the car itself would act as security for the loan. The worst that could happen in the event of a default is that we’d sell the car at auction, returning any surplus above the agreed amount to the borrowers.
So if you’re in a similar situation to Andy and Seb, and you have an asset that can be collateralised as security for one of our loans, look no further: come to Unbolted.
