The Community Micro Lending entrepreneurs profiled below have been approved by the Society’s Loan Committee (comprised of members of our Board of Directors). They have had credit checks and criminal record checks. They are creative and passionate members of our community who are seeking to create for themselves work that is inspiring and nourishing. Each entrepreneur is matched with a team of volunteer mentors and will have the support and guidance of our staff Director of Entrepreneur Support.
You can lend as little as $500. We'll pool the money and disburse it to the entprepreneur when the full loan amount is raised. For information head to Lend, call 250.812.5986 or write to lisa_communitymicrolending.ca.
One current loan (Please scroll down to see loan details)
Gavin Loan Amount: $4970 Loan Term: 3 years 100% Raised
Gavin owns and operates Peasant Gardener Landscaping. He started the business in May of 2011 with a borrowed truck and a few pieces of basic equipment. Gavin provides a range of services including stone masonry, yard cleanup and removal, lawn maintenance, and, landscape design. He now owns a truck and in less than a year of operations, Gavin has managed to secure 13 regular customers for yard clean up, a significant lawn maintenance contract, and is in the process of negotiating three more similar contracts. He has also recently completed a large landscaping masonry project and is confident of securing more such projects in 2012.
Gavin says he grew up gardening. He also has a passion for stone masonry and has years of experience working with stone. He has managed to secure all his business thus far without doing any formal advertising. Gavin has demonstrated an ability to attract business in a relatively short space of time and appears to have established a good foundation on which to grow his business. He is applying for a loan of $4,970 to buy more equipment, buy a trailer to transport his equipment, and, to purchase advertising and insurance.
Gavin worked for a construction company on the mainland that specializes in high-end construction projects. His former employer says Gavin was with them for about 3 years and worked mainly on masonry and concrete in the construction process. He says their company has high expectations and he found Gavin to be good all round. Gavins current bookkeeper has known him for just over a year and describes Gavin as a go-getter and as someone who is going to go out and find the businesshes not going to wait for it to come to him. Having looked for guidance she says, everything is setup well for Gavins business and he is gearing up well for next year.
Gavins credit file indicates that he has a relatively small amount of debt that he has accrued while getting his business off the ground. With an increased level of income from his business Gavin should be able to comfortably pay off his existing debt as well as make his monthly payments for the Community Micro Lending loan.
The loan will give Gavin the opportunity to be more productive, expand his client base, and thus provide him with a higher income. In working with Gavin, weve been particularly impressed with how quickly he has been able to establish and grow his business with relatively few resources.
Gavin's is a 3 star loan.
Loan Risk Rating
Our Risk Rating is designed to inform lenders of the quality of loan. In assigning a risk rating, CML loan committee members strongly consider the following factors:
whether the loan applicant’s earnings projections are realistic;the ability of the applicant to meet their projections;whether the applicant’s debt (if any exists) is serviceable given the income projections;whether the applicant’s socio-economic status will be significantly improved.4 – Star
A 4-Star risk rating is assigned to loans that CML believes to be of a minimal risk to the
lender. 4-Star loans are those in which CML staff and loan committee members see none of the considered factors noted above as being problematic. That is, all of the above factors appear to be realistic and the business has strong potential.
3 – Star
A 3-Star risk rating is assigned to loans that CML believes to be of a low risk to the
lender. 3-Star loans are those in which CML staff and loan committee members see
several areas of strength, but consider at least one of the factors to be problematic.
2 – Star
A 2-Star risk rating is assigned to loans that CML believes to be of a moderate risk to
the lender. 2-Star loans are those in which CML staff and loan committee members see
significant potential, but acknowledge that at least two of the considered factors are
problematic, or one of the considered factors is particularly problematic.
1 – Star
A 1-Star risk rating is assigned to loans that CML believes to be of a high risk to the
lender. 1-Star loans are those in which CML staff and loan committee members see
potential, but acknowledge that at least three of the considered factors are problematic, or that at least one of the considered factors is particularly problematic.
To lend email lisa_communitymicrolending.ca
