This week I have finally gotten to do what I set out my trip to do- start my internship. Studying finance for just one year, many of the concepts of finance are new to me let alone the industry itself. Working for Linked Finance for only one week has given me a glimpse of what the actual finance world does and how it operates. Linked Finance works in the lending sector of the financial industry. They practice Peer-to-Peer financing with essentially connects everyday people who have extra cash to invest to hundreds of Ireland’s small businesses. The mission of Linked Finance is to cut out the banks, get quick and affordable funding for small businesses, and give lenders a higher return on their investment. Linked Finance has taken lending to a new and innovative level. This is why Linked Finance has been able to grow to Ireland’s biggest P2P lending firm.
Currently, Linked Finance has been operating at capacity and is in need of more employees to help distribute their services to their customers. They acquire new business in a few different ways by cold calls, word of mouth, and advertising. Once they get a customer that is interested in Linked Finance’s services, Linked Finance then requests that the small business send in a tax clearance, the last six bank statements, and also the last six months of their account expense reports. Once these materials are acquired they go to Linked Finance’s credit team that determines whether or not that small business can afford the loan they are requesting. Linked Finance turns away about 50% of their potential clients due to insufficient bank reports. However, if they are approved the business’s profile will be uploaded on Linked Finance’s website and that’s where the investors can invest however much they want into that business.
To enable this supply chain to function efficiently and effectively the employees at Linked Finance must always be vigilant of the current market. They must be aware of what new businesses are in the growth stage and they must always be willing to reach out to those businesses to potentially acquire them as a client.
The demand for Linked Finance’s services is growing by the day. Currently, Linked Finance has five salesmen and they are looking to double that number within the next few months. Having the opportunity to be there for the next 8 weeks, I am excited to see how not only Linked Finance helps small businesses around Ireland grow, but also how Linked Finance will grow itself.
After my first week, those are the value network principles I have observed so far, but I will continue to add to this subject as my blog continues.
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