growfolio magazine - winter 2007 issue

8/15/2019 Growfolio Magazine - Winter 2007 Issue

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Winter 2007 www.growfolio.com ISSN: 1555-8290

The Sirius S50on Your Terms

Getting a Loan
http://growfolio.com/http://growfolio.com/


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As promised, the hiatus is nally over, and themagazine for tycoons in training is nally back. Whata bc i a w a f b-iig gwfi agai i fac a a a bicai c wa a bi abii.F a a, gwfi a. s-ig c c agai wi b a cii f , a, if i gwfi aa bi bicai, g wiig ai

!Our readers deserve an explanation, so here

g - w a i wi a f w c-ib w w aig . s cso that I took growfolio ofine to rebrand, regroup,a i wa wa gig . sic a i,w b gig a a bf,a f w bcib - I g a a ai wa i big gwfi bac.

ufa, w a i a bi f a bwi bcib aiig i a c f ag. eia, w ab 80% f i w

wb ig ca cag .m f ai a f, if wa a a bcib, g aa a iigwfi.c/bcib a ig agai, b af i.

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Iia.c, aig i caiwbi i, f f cc f aic i wbi.

I a a wi ac i, ahope that you will be too. Until next time,

About growfolio:growfolio magazine (ISSN:1555-8290) is an online business magazine for the

under 35 crowd. New issues are generally published

quarterly, and are available at www.growfolio.com.

Weve been in publication since January 2005.

Advertising: growfolio derives all of its revenuefrom advertising on our website and in the maga-

zine. If youre interested in advertising with us,

please download our media kit from our website or

email [email protected]

Suggestions: For content suggestions or help withsubscribing to growfolio magazine, please email

[email protected]. Likewise, if youre inter-

ested in contributing, please send us an email with a

writing sample of about 500 words.

3
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4/20

oure at a holiday cocktail party,

and youre thrilled to get to talk to

an inspiring consultant that youve

been hoping to meet for years. Youd love

to pick his brain and nd out more about

how he got started. Chatting amicably,

youre certain hes impressed with someof your ideas. Then he asks if youve read

the new Man Booker winner and what you

think about it. You draw a complete blank.

The last book you read wasHop on Pop,

before your sons bedtime the night before.

With the Pulitzer Prize, the Man

Booker, the Giller Prize, the Governor

Generals Award, the National Book

Award, and the Nobel Prize for Literature,

it seems impossible to keep up. And why

should you? Isnt it enough that you slaved

through War and Peace back in twelfth

grade? Doesnt Dilbert count as ne litera-

ture?

Stop sweating - its time to replace

your dread with healthy curiosity and

explore literature with open-minded zeal.After all, youre able to confer with ev-

eryone on who wore what to the Oscars,

and which nominee was slighted. With the

help of your local library, bookstore, and

the Internet, you can become lit-savvy in

no time and map out a few reading jour-

neys that will enrich your life. Give up one

night of late-night news or reality TV re-

runs and replace it with reading, and in notime youll have something of substance

worth talking about at soirees.

Of course, youve heard of the

Nobel Peace Prize, but Alfred Nobel also

made provisions in his will for a literary

prize. Since 1901, the Swedish Academy

has awarded a writer whose body of work

was outstanding and idealistic. The Nobel

literary laureate is international and can

be awarded for works in any language.

Rudyard Kipling won in 1907, and other

recognizable names through the century

include Yeats, Shaw, Mann, Hemingway,

Beckett, Neruda, and Toni Morrison. Pick

up 2006 Laureate Orhan Pamuks Snow.

The Turkish writers novel is difcult but

rewarding, and combinescurrent themes of politics,

religion, poverty, and individuality.

Set in remote Turkey with characters and

events from neighboring countries, and

written prior to 9/11, the eerie foreshadow-

ing of world terrorist events is noteworthy

and controversial, but rendered with a

poets soul.

Many prestigious Pulitzer prizesare awarded each year. Named for Joseph

Pulitzer, a Hungarian-born American jour-

nalist, the prize stands for excellence in

all facets of the newspaper and publishing

industries. This years ction winner was

Geraldine Brooks, forMarch, a retelling

of Louisa May Alcotts Little Women from

the point of view of the protagonists ab-

sent father, an abolitionist during the Civil

War. Since 1917, several prizes have been

awarded each year in various categories

of journalism, drama, poetry, and ction.

Some novels that have earned this coveted

prize include The Hours by Michael Cun-

ningham,Belovedby Toni Morrison, To

Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee, and The

Shelf LifeA C

b l laic

YreAChInG For the prIze

4


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Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

The National Book Award rec-

ognizes American books of exceptional

merit. Since 1950, prizes have been

awarded for ction, nonction, and poetry,

and now include a prize for young peoples

literature as well. This years ction awardwent to Richard Powers for The Echo

Maker, a complex novel about identity.

When ordinary underachiever Mark suffers

a car accident, he never fully recovers and

cant believe those closest to him are who

they say they are. Neurological and spiri-

tual adventures ensue.

Montreals Jack Rabinovitch

founded the Giller Prize in 1994 to honourhis wife, accomplished journalist and book

reviewer Doris Giller. The award recogniz-

es excellence in Canadian ction. Vincent

Lams takes the 2006 prize forBloodlet-

ting and Miraculous Cures, a collection of

short stories woven together by common

characters and themes of medical science,

its ethics and challenges. Mordecai Richler

and Margaret Atwood are recognizable

names of previous winners- and Alice

Munro won twice.

The Governor Generals Literary

Awards have recognized outstanding Ca-

nadian talent, both English and French, in

seven literature categories since 1937. This

years ction winner is Peter Behrens for

The Law of Dreams, a novel about the Irish

famine.

For 38 years, the Man Booker

awards the best novel by a citizen of the

Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland.

The 2006 prize went to Kiran Desai for

The Inheritance of Loss. Populated witheccentrics, exiles, and immigrants, Desais

second novel examines questions of be-

longing by asking the age-old question,

Where do I t in?

Dont stop here- there are dozens

of other prizes like the Orange Prize, the

Caldecott Medal, and more. Websites

like www.amazon.com can help you nd

notable books for every interest, and yourlibrarian will be overjoyed to engage in

conversation about his or her favourite

reads. Make it a real point to include New-

bery titles on your kids reading list- and

if your attention span is rusty, read the

Newbery winners yourself. Though the

medal is awarded to the absolute best in

childrens literature, each and every winner

is worthy of adult attention.

No one can be expected to keep up

with every prize and its important to read

other books, too- even the best critics may

have skipped or ignored brilliance, and

theres something to be said for discover-

ing some of the thousands of lesser-known

talents. But committing to read a handful

of award winning books each year is a

sure way to enrich your mind- and a great

way to steer the conversation at gatherings

away from ow charts into more interest-

ing territory.

Geigsaed

Refehouwoldlichaebdelv-ig io nobel wie Gabiel GaciamaquezOneHundredYearsofSoli-tude. A deailed, iveigjoue iohe100-eahioof hevillagema-codo, hi ovel i heo faouexample of magical realism, a LatinAeicageehaealeleldhiowihgho adohe ueal-ihaeeipoibleooupac-icalculue.Williakeedfohenew yo tie Boo review calledthe rst piece of literature since theBooofGeeihahouldbeequiedeadig fo he eie hua ace.

5Shelf Life: Reaching for the Prize


6/20

Fw ca ag a g a iai f,

b a a f i fi. t a4 a a a aci i ic f g (f $272 i 2001 $725 i ma2006). t i b a i gi i f b a a a af a, a-ing gold an excellent hedge instrument. I would alsoa a bi, ai fa, wi b f i a a,

b . I i ai afab a i ac-c wwi f a f g a ic-es, even more so than at currencies. And as seen a 4 a ca ag i a ci-ab.

t i ic i i wa f i a, a aig i i g a g i-

ig i. A a, iigc i a ci

w cig a a wic a a.

W ca a aaag f big g.Wi ca f g c i i w- ab -ga cgc bw ba aa a iic a f.Giig g c abii wi ga ic a ca a g/iig i. I wa ag a i ac

wic iig ca i wi ca i ifa ciab i. F c, i a i-ping the scales towards pure gold more efcaciousi f i a w a w i i . o w i f w c ic ff caig g. t ca a ciab,depending on which broker or nancial institutionyou deal with. There is usually a at fee plus a per-cag cag f a f g bg. I

6

A Polemic:

Gold or GoldEquity

by Stephen Hill


7/20

aii, wi a ic a af ig(a a iac c) cag f ag f g.

B f c wi a i i pure gold comes lack of diversication.tica g cai ff a i f

c/a a g. si-ver, copper, nickel would be some exam- f ffig b a ca, ifac, wi aia f f b-ing completely exposed to the price of goldshould it head south. Further justicationf cig a g i w b a fafabii. tica a i (-ig i a caiaiai i) wi

a a ic a i i f iii. W ca a ag a iia fa ii a g. A af c i agib (g) a a i ( w). kw-ig i w ca a caic fa

f ga i a ga wa, gi-ig a g c c f gw ci.

s ba ab ag (wicis not an exhaustive list), pros and consf g a g i ca b f.uia wi a i ac a i i f i,a ca bgi c f -iig wa i ig f .

o ig i f cai, g wa fthe rst means of trade/commerce after

ba a a b a ff a a a. Gi i i aac c, i wi bab b g-ig aw ai , aig g(w a i) i, i ic a.

7

But of course with an in-

vestment in just pure gold

comes lack of diversication.


8/20

Business is business and charity is char-ity. Right? Not necessarily so anymore with

companies like Ethos water. Ethos was

formed in 2002 by Peter Thum and Jonathan

Greenblatt as a bottled water company whosepurpose is to help children around the world

get clean water. You see, for every bottle of

water Ethos sells, they donate ve cents to

the cause, with a goal of $10 Million dol-

lars over ve years. In 2005, the Starbucks

Coffee Company purchased Ethos. Now that

Ethos can be found in Starbucks shops across

North America, Ethos has a real ghting

chance to make their goal a reality.

I recently had the chance to ask the founders,

Peter and Jonathan, some questions about

Ethos, their business model, and other com-

panies like them:

growfolio magazine: What does corporate

responsibility mean today? Are todays8

b ja eai


9/20

corporations doing enough?

Jonathan: I believe its reasonable to think that businesses havea role to play in society beyond simply generating prots. It is

critical that they function as responsible members of the commu-

nities that they serve, creating value through all their activities,

even those that do not drop to the bottom line. Not all companies

subscribe to this viewpoint, but there are numerous examples of

businesses that endeavor to generate value for shareholders via

prots and to create value for employees, customers, and commu-

nities through multiple means. As the marketplace demonstrates

increasing demand for the products and services offered by such

businesses, I am optimistic that more corporations will explore

how to integrate such responsible practices into their

operations.

growfolio: What were some of your concerns aboutstarting Ethos?

Jonathan: We started Ethos in 2002 with a simplemission to help children around the world get clean

water and to raise awareness about the world water

crisis. However, there were numerous challenges.

Both of us were rst-time entrepreneurs so we won-

dered whether our business would get off the ground.

We decided to enter an incredibly competitive market

dominated by global multinational corporations, so

there was some concern about the competitive land-

scape and our ability to achieve scale in a crowded

eld. We offered consumers a product that ostensibly

appeared to be undifferentiated water. Only our

brand promise would set us apart and this needed to

be communicated, an expensive and difcult proposition when

you attempt to engage time-starved, over-stimulated consumers.

Lastly, we hoped to donate 50 percent of our prots, immediately

complicating our ability to raise capital. Simply put, this businessmodel foreclosed our prospects with numerous investors who pre-

ferred to fund businesses that would deliver 100 percent returns.

Despite all these concerns, we believed deeply in our vision and

held to the conviction that consumers would respond to our prom-

ise every bottle makes a difference. Since those earliest days,

even when we faced challenging circumstances, we continually

have been encouraged and invigorated by the consumer response

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to our mission and their embrace of our brand in cafes, natural

foods stores and, more recently, in Starbucks locations across the

United States.

growfolio: Are charity and protability mutually exclusive?

Peter: Ethos is neither a charity, nor is it simply a product or

service which generates a prot. Ethos is a mission with a brand;one which encourages and provides opportunity for consumer

activism. Our mission is twofold: help children around the world

get clean water and raise awareness here in the US about the

world water crisis. We provide our customers a great consumer

product and the ability to participate in addressing the world wa-

ter crisis simply by choosing a different brand.

growfolio: How close is Ethos to its contribution goal of $10Million to help people get clean water?

Jonathan: After the acquisition, Starbucks set a goal to raise atleast $10 million by 2010, contributions that would be achieved

by donating $.05 per sale. Such funds are distributed to the Ethos

Water Fund at the Starbucks Foundation and invested through

non-prot organizations serving communities in need across the

world. We recently announced a commitment to invest $2.1 mil-

lion to integrated and sustainable water programs in Ethiopia and

Indonesia, raising our total to more than $2.5 million.

growfolio: What keeps other companies from followingEthoss example of corporate citizenship? If more companies

did, what would it mean to the world?

Peter: Starting Ethos was difcult, relatively complicated, andvery risky. In short, there are easier ways for entrepreneurs and

companies to make money. Some elaboration follows:

1. Basic microeconomics tells us that price and quantity are the

primary drivers of most markets. You can add new physical

features, or emotional benets for differentiation, but over time,

those advantages are competed away and become commoditized

too. So, basically every industry is a scale game and starting acompany that takes more time to scale, and one which is based on

benets related to driving social change seems pretty counter-in-

tuitive.

2. Building a brand around a social mission is a long term invest-

ment. It requires signicant communication and feedback with the

customer, which implies intensive relationship-building and thus

a much longer return horizon on brand investments than those

which are focused directly on the customers immediate personal

needs or self-fulllment.

3. IRS regulation of companies and non-prots is not really set

up to accommodate, much less facilitate, the establishment of

companies like Ethos. Determining how to give away your

prots, or structure your company around a mission in some way,

adds another layer of complexity to starting a company, which is

F a abab , bi- i e ai ic

a a.

10


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already a difcult thing to do. However, this is getting easier for

social entrepreneurs; because there are already many more ex-

amples like Ethos out there today than there were when we were

getting started.

For these reasons and probably others, businesses like Ethos re-

main niche players today. However, Ethos and some similar busi-

nesses have proven that you can achieve a social mission throughbusiness, and that you can create value for all actors, and that you

can achieve sustainable competitive advantage. To that point,

Starbucks acquisition of Ethos is a pretty good signal that other

companies are following this path and the subsequent scaling of

our social impact are an indication that the benets can be signi-

cant. Though Starbucks operates at the forefront of social business

practices on many dimensions, I think that it is fair to assume that

others will follow here as they have with other progressive innova-

tions that Starbucks has ushered in.

Ethos has a lot to say about the progress theyre making. By donat-

ing millions of dollars to help children throughout the world gain

access to clean water, theyre speaking multitudes without uttering

a word.

Making a Difference

Never forget that no effort is too small.

The idea of Think globally, act lo-

cally comes to mind. Every mind you

change in favor of your cause is a stepin the right direction. Never get dis-

couraged just because it seems for the

moment that nothing is happening.

Pick your battles. You cant win em all

- at least at rst. Even a small victory

is a victory nonetheless. You should

always focus on the point most central

to your cause: if youre for stopping

the use of fossil fuels, argue your point

concisely without mixing too much

politics from other groups that are only

indirectly related to yours.

Apply these methods liberally. Mak-

ing a difference doesnt end at politics.

In business, youre trying to make a

difference too, in the minds of your

customers or bosses. The rules are uni-

versal, so use them as such.

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taig

Sirius S50

Sirius boasts 130 channels of program-

ming, 69 of which are completely com-

mercial free music. Sirius has some pretty

nice looking radios to boot. Take the S50,

for instance this Sirius radio is capable

of recording 50 hours of live content forportable playback. The folks at Sirius were

kind enough to let me play around with an

S50 for a month so that I could bring this

review to you.

Let me start off by talking about the

service itself. Realistically, there is some-

thing for everyone on Sirius. 130 channels

of music, talk, sports, and comedy, shows

hosted by some of the biggest names on

the radio, and this guy named Howard

Stern (heard of him?). The programming

is quite simply out of this world. Its pretty

cool when you consider the fact that youcan listen to it anywhere in the country

clear as a bell.

On top of all that, as a subscriber, you can

also listen to all Sirius channels online.

Now, to the S50 itself. Sufce it to say,

the Sirius S50 looks pretty darn cool. Its

black and shiny, and has a really gor-

If you havent been living under a rockfor the past several years youve heardof satellite radio. Sirius satellite radio,

to be precise.

12

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geous full color screen. Its also got some

pretty impressive features. The radio can be

thought of in two parts the radio itself, and

the dock, which provides power and antenna

connections to the radio. Set up is pretty

simple, and I had the whole shebang setup to

my liking in my car in about ten minutes.

One of my favorite features of the radio is

its ability to download the title and artist in-

formation from each song it plays and show

it on the display. It makes discovering what

that new song is all the easier.

The S50s biggest selling point is its abil-

ity to go mobile and play up to 50 hours ofmusic, either recorded live while it was in

the dock, or uploaded via your computer.

Recording live content is a one-button deal

you press record, and it gets stored along

with the artist and title information. When

you do decide to playback your stored mu-

sic, the Sirius has navigation buttons on the

outside of the unit so that navigating using

the screen isnt necessary when youre on

the go.

For the most part, I found that the Sirius S50

was excellent. One thing that I would have

liked to have seen is the ability to be notied

when your favorite artists or songs are play-

ing on any Sirius channel. This is a feature

found in other units, and given the S50s

position in Siriuss product lineup, I was a

bit surprised not to nd it.

All told, Sirius Satellite Radio is an awe-

some service, and the S50 is denitely a

great unit with few shortcomings. As of thiswriting, service rang in at $12.95/month.

Right now, Sirius is running a holiday

special on the S50, selling it on their site for

$79.99 a drastic discount from its $179.99

MSRP.

You can get a free 3-day trial of Sirius Satel-

lite radio on their website.

Sirius S50 Portable Satellite Radio

Pros: Good looking unit, great service, affordable, portability, MP3/WMA compat-ibility, color display.

Cons: No artist alert feature, unit must be docked to receive live content

The Bottom Line: The Sirius S50 is an awesome unit, particularly at its currentprice. If youre looking into an MP3 player and a satellite radio system, this just

might be the perfect combination for you.

13
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14/20

As I sat at my accountants desk this past tax season, Ioverhead another accountant talking to his client. In essence,

their conversation was about keeping good records for tax pur-

poses. The client did not have the paper trail he would need if

the Internal Revenue Service questioned his deductions. The

man was angry at his accountant for what he should have done

to protect his own interests.

When I was in college, I worked for a lawyer who had

just passed his bar examination. He was busy trying to build a

client base. He carried a small memo pad in his handkerchief

pocket. In it, he recorded every Xerox copy and phone call he

made for the client. When I billed the client for this lawyer, he

would get his basic per hour rate plus every cent he spent on

Why Keeping a

Journal Makes

Good BusinessSenseby Sandra Pianin

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the clients behalf.

These two stories highlight the absolute need for

people to keep accurate records. A journal is the best place

to record automobile mileage, expenses and every detail you

will want to remember for another day.

Of course, there are all types of journals. Visiting a

Staples store, you will nd all types of bound accounting

books. Any one of these will do the job. The best adviceyou can give someone keeping a journal is to be as clear as

possible because you will not remember weeks, months or

even years later minute details of an event.

A journal also will record the growth of a family. The

notes you make regarding childrens important medical de-

tails will be invaluable later in their lives.

Take a new bound book and begin to record the detailsof your career. What are your goals for the future? What

courses do you need to take to keep up with ever-changing

technologies. What have you learned from working togetherwith co-workers as a team? What have you learned from

your supervisor? What dreams do you have for the rest of

your life? All of these questions and more will t neatly

onto those pages and be a permanent record of the things

you want to achieve. Have you outgrown your current ca-

reer? Plan within the journals pages a career change!

Do you want to begin an exercise regimen? Use the

journal to keep track of your progress.

If you have a creative bent, use your journal to capture

a line or a poem. For the artist that might lie just beneath

the surface, a journal is the perfect place for a sketch.

I have known people who capture the small yet very

important details of their daily lives on the back of a cocktail

napkin or used envelope. These scraps of paper are too easy

to lose. Choosing to keep a journal is a decision you willnever regret whatever your purpose.

15


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teres cool suff ouere

a

can cangee way we loo

k a

ings. havea look and

give

some love o your crea

iviy.

For the

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17/20

by Jonas Elmerraji

nvesting in your future is expensive. Be it an education,

a home, or a car, sometimes a loan is your only option to

get ahold of a big ticket item. But as a young person it

can seem impossible to get approved for a loan without parental

support. Thats why understanding the ins and outs of the loan

process can be so essential to getting that check from the bank.

The Loan ProcessWhen youre thinking about getting a loan, it can be important to

look at things from the banks perspective. You see, to the bank,

loans are their traditional number one revenue source. The bankcuts you a check for a certain amount of money (principle), and

you in turn give the bank that same amount of money as well as

some interest. Interest is the lifeblood of most banks.

Loans arent hand-outs, and they shouldnt be approached as

such; banks prime concern is determining whether or not you

will be able to pay back your debt on their timeframe.

Banks judge potential borrowers based on a number of key things.

Among them:

1) Who: Who are you? What do you have to offer the bank?

2) What: Whats the money for? A bank is a whole lot more likely

to lend money to someone who wants to build a home addition

(and add equity) than someone who is planning on spending the

money on consumption.

3) Where: Where youre trying to get your loan can be a big

factor of whether or not you get it. In a brick and mortar bank or

online, as well as various geographic regions, some places are go-

ing to be more prone to lending than others.

4) When: The terms of the loan both the interest rate and the

duration of the loan determine when banks can start recording aprot.

5) How: Can the bank be sure that you will be able to pay the

loan off based on the terms? How can you guarantee payback or

at least hedge the banks risk in some way?

WhoWho you are is actually an important element of whether the bank

will see you as a viable borrower. Believe it or not, youre be-

I

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ing judged from the moment you walk in that door based on the

only tools the lender has - your appearance. So dress the part: If

you want to be treated like a professional, dress like one. Right

or wrong, the lender will use their biases and preconceptions in

determining if youre a good risk. Also, dont be surprised if the

bank does a background check on you.

WhatSince its their money, its also their business what youre plan-

ning on doing with it. If you need a bank loan to fund your gam-

bling habit, chances are you wont be getting much in the way of

nancing. If, however, youre trying to purchase or improve an

asset like a car, home improvements, or investing in your busi-

ness banks usually see this as a good thing.

WhereThese days, there are alternatives to getting a loan from a tradi-

tional bank. Online lending is becoming a popular option because

of higher online competition and quicker loan approval. With

online lenders, fraud-awareness and reputability become major

concerns. Always make sure that youre only dealing with repu-

table companies and not readily giving away private information.

Where you are in the world can also have an impact on loan ap-proval. This is a matter of scarcity. If youre trying to get a loan

in an economically depressed area, banks are bound to be much

more selective of who they loan money to than in an area of vast

economic growth. By taking this into consideration, you can get

a much more realistic view of your prospects.

WhenWhen it comes down to deciding which loan to accept (or in the

case of the bank, what to offer), the terms of the loan are the big-

gest factors. Some of the things that can vary are the interest rate,

the length of the loan, and the type of loan. Interest is the premi-

um that youre paying to the bank for the use of their money, so

needless to say lower interest rates are better for borrowers. The

duration is the amount of time youll be paying off the loan, so

once again, a smaller number is better.The type of loan youre looking at is also signicant because it

can be a big factor in the amount of money you pay during each

payment period. Some different types of loans include interest

and capital, interest only. (For detailed explanations of different

types of loans, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortgage).

HowThe bank isnt going to give you a cent if you dont have the

means to pay it back later (or if you dont have enough assets for

the bank to get their money back). Thats why they look at a few

key things about your nancials:

1. Collateral What major assets do you have that the bank can

seize if you default on your loan? Typical collateral includes your

home and your car.

2. Credit Your credit absolutely comes into play when you ap-

ply for a loan. If you have bad credit, chances are getting a loan

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is going to be pretty difcult unless you are willing to accept less

attractive loan terms.

3. Income Your lender is going to want to make sure that you

can afford to make payments on that loan. Higher income trans-

lates to lenders being more comfortable with letting you borrow

money.

If you dont seem like a picture perfect loan candidate, getting

stuck with higher interest rates and fewer loan alternatives is

more than likely. And if you have few assets, bad credit, and are

barely scraping by, chances are that lenders wont be calling you

back.

Looking Attractive to LendersThe best way to make lenders ght over you is to make sure that

you address each of the ve things in a positive way.

1. Who Dress the part for your loan and make sure that you

dont have any skeletons in your closet that lenders wont be

happy to see.

2. What Lenders dont just give money away. Make sure that

your need is legitimate and nancially justiable.

3. Where Look into online lenders youre interested in to make

sure that theyre reputable and try to avoid looking for nancing

in areas where bank money is scarce.

4. When Only go for loan terms that you can live with, and

understand what exactly youre going to end up paying out over

the life of the loan.

5. How Think about what assets you have that can be used ascollateral, build up good credit before you go to a lender, and

make sure that you have a viable plan for loan repayment.

ConclusionLets face it the reason that young people typically need a co-

signer for a loan is the fact that parents typically objectify the ve

things that you want to focus on. Young people usually dont. But

when you know what lenders look for, as well as what you can doto make sure that you look like a responsible borrower, its quite

possible to get a loan without your parents.

...its quite pos-sible to get a loan

without yourparents.

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growfolio magazine - winter 2007 issue

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