***Note: this blog ties in an interview with a guest from our Technori LIVE podcast on WGN Radio in with a bigger business issue. Enjoy your read! This edition is based on an interview with Kabbage Head of Customer and Partner Marketing.
Taking out a loan is often unavoidable. I myself have to get used to staring down a six-figure number of debt. Attending grad school was worth it, right?
I won’t be buried in a dismal hole, owing loans until i exhale my final breath, will I?
Startups make a living, and often fail, to relieve our daily woes. Kabbage, on the other hand, has found a successful niche. Kabbage has extended $4 billion in loans to hundreds of small businesses over recent years. The service is meant to help those smaller, young companies meet short term cash needs. For those times when you are afraid to spend, Kabbage can help carry the load.
The reason there’s been so much continued business for Kabbage is through flexibility. No hardline agreements here, folks. The process is made simple too. The first step is linking your data channels to check your business performance. It is then up to the user to decide how much money to use and when to spend it. They’ve helped some notable startups like Dude Wipes who recently appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank.
Side note, everytime I do yoga, I really appreciate the flexibility in my body that comes with it. Don’t you want the same experience when it comes to your loans!?
That’s how Kabbage sees it, and that’s why they’ve held so many long-term relationships with clients who often take up to 25 loans over time.
The other demon that I’m going to address in this blog is interest. We know interest as the ugly accumulation that comes along when it comes time to pay off your loans. Such a fair burden that is! Kabbage also takes a sensitive approach to interest. Instead of accumulating interest, Kabbage tacks a fee on to the principal. Here’s the sweet part, if you pay back your loans early, that fee is then wiped away. Ta da!
Let Kabbage be an example that loans don’t need to be a scary experience. Another takeaway if you’re a startup looking for pain points, look at the loans industry. Kabbage found a successful niche.