Part of CARE INTERNATIONAL, Lendwithcare offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to take out loans in order to start, refresh/restock or expand their business.
Much of this is in the field of Retail and Farming. Each lender, be they an individual or an organisation works with a local Lendwithcare financial partner to agree the amount of loan required which is affordable. Investors then agree to contribute part of the monies needed to deliver that loan. Our Club largely offer between £30 and £50 per entrepreneur. We only select female entrepreneurs as our aim is to give them the economic empowerment – in several cases they are the main breadwinner. If the loan is say £800 it might be fulfilled by between 10 – 20 different ‘lenders’, some offering more than others. There is an agreed payback schedule which is made over the loan period.
We started with 7 entrepreneurs which amounted to a total loan of £300. We have received interim payments back as scheduled and have used that money to support more entrepreneurs and now support a further 8 women with their business. For now, our loans have been offered to women in Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines and Ecuador.
These are relatively safe investments and risk is shared across a number of lenders such that none of us could lose a significant sum. To date, all required repayments have been made.
Go to https://lendwithcare.org/ for more information.