Dear All, entrepreneurs and
start-ups in particular, let me start this piece on this note:
To manage a business is to manage its information, and to manage its
information is to manage the business. Discuss.
Please, pause here and ponder
over the statement. It is one of the assignments I encountered in the early
days of my tertiary education. It was given to us by Mr. Chijioke, our lecturer.
He was a young, handsome and very easy going type who will not miss any
opportunity to discipline a student the moment mischief, stupidity, or ignorance
sets in. He is one lecturer that treated us like mates. His assignment left an
indelible mark in my heart about information. I have deliberately avoided the
use of his second name or attach any initial to his name in this write-up. To us,
his name is Mr. Chijioke, no more, no less.
Completing the said assignment
opened my eyes to the importance of information to every business and business transactions:
operations, success, survival or failure. Hence, my point that all Loan applications,
disbursements, and management are influenced one way or the other by information
at the disposal of a borrower, loan seeker or applicant, before, during and
after the loan processes and procedures.
Therefore, in addition to identifying
a very lucrative business opportunity that could necessitate going for loan, it
is advisable to seek more information, among which is very good knowledge of
your industry. Same is true of knowledge of market dynamics, and clear understanding
of the role that competition plays. It is also necessary to have a good idea of
the economy and economic policies. Understanding of these issues helps you to articulate
your financial needs properly, and by so doing boost your chances of securing the
loan and getting the best out of it: generating higher profit, repaying loan
and interest and investing more.
The above notwithstanding, you
must go beyond the Terms and conditions (TC),
which most loan seekers often concentrate on or prefer to look at. Terms and
conditions cover mostly, issues such as the collateral, tenor and interest
rate, as they relate to the loan.
If the Terms and conditions are so
important that many people focus on it, let me shock you a little with the
revelation that there is something that is even more crucial when discussing
loans, which borrowers overlook, but which you must embrace closely: Other Terms and Conditions (OTC).
When a loan goes bad, it is not
the Terms and conditions that matter most, mind you, but Other Terms and Conditions. The reason is simple; OTC contains what the bank will do in
the event of loan default. The content is crucial and by implication holds a
lot about your ability to liquidate the loan/interest or not.
The “Secret Charges”, borrowers lament of, stem from poor mastery of Other Terms and Conditions, an
indication that most borrowers limit their knowledge of loan related issues to:
due date, interest rate and more importantly the fact that their collateral will
be sold to recover the loan in case of default.
Remain blessed and active, till I
come again,
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