Lending directly to small businesses – Business Loans

Rolf is a 45-year-old three-year-old father who has been an entrepreneur in business media since the early 2000s. In 2006 he started the online business magazine Installationssiffror.se, which is an industry magazine for the electricity and plumbing industry. Then this spring, a new adventure began.

“Since last spring I have also been building my own investment company and it is in this context that I started investing through Good Finance.”

Build my own investment company

Since last spring, I am also starting to build my own investment company and it is in this context that I started investing via Good Finance. I have been interested in shares since the teens, which came naturally from home, and was among other things and founded Young Equity Savers in the joint between the 1980s and 1990s.

Since then, it has stayed true and I have always, in various forms, been doing business- and investment-related things, both professionally and hobby-wise. I came in early on financial journalism and equity analysis, which over the years has given me insight into a very large number of industries and business models.

Come about that you chose the investment product crowdlending?

My investment company works with a number of asset classes, such as equities, currencies and interest-bearing, in the portfolio. P2P-lending is a natural, and very fun, feature of this. What is so fun about lending directly to small businesses is the feeling of getting so close to the business. In the same way that I spread the risks between several horizontal asset classes, the risks are also spread between different types of P2P lending, both on the corporate and consumer side.

I had Good Finance in the back of my mind when I started looking within the P2P segment, because you have run a lot of marketing, and when I looked more closely, I got the impression of a serious player with exciting investment opportunities. It is hoped that more borrowers will find their way there so that the range of investment opportunities increases. My goal over time, after all, is to build a portfolio with a larger number of loans to get good risk spread.

How are your thoughts about the companies you choose to invest in?

I do some different types of analysis. Since it is a loan that is all about, I mainly look at cash flow, balance sheet and underlying collateral. I never settle for just the information the company itself provides in its presentation, but I also look up some or all annual reports, googles, look at the company’s website, social media, etc. I also try to make an assessment of the industry and city. I almost always ask someone or some questions to the company before I make a decision. A quick and good response increases the chance of getting a bid from me, a missed answer is a guaranteed way to avoid a bid from me.  

“I set higher return requirements for certain industries with a higher risk profile.”

I avoid bidding on certain companies in the construction sector, which is linked to my daily professional role and the risk of conflicts of interest. Otherwise, I do not exclude any industries in general. However, I set higher return requirements for certain industries with a higher risk profile, in the same way that I set different minimum interest rates in my bids depending on credit ratings and my own analysis. It is important not to “offer anything that moves”.