In talking to thousands of BWBs all over the world, I notice that many, many of them lack boldness and imagination when it comes to borrowing money. Now, I’m not being critical of these BWBs — just observant and helpful.
Controlled and polite boldness can be one of your strongest assets when you’re seeking OPM. Why?
Because many lenders are meek rule-followers stuck in a fur-lined rut. When a bold and imaginative BWB comes along, the usual lender is so impressed that he or she is much more likely to make the loan the BWB asks for.
How can you develop boldness and imagination?
Let’s take these characteristics one at a time.
Boldness Can Pay Off
Boldness is an attitude based on a certain knowledge that if you’re honest in all your business dealings (and you should always be honest) that:
- The most a prospective lender can do against you is say no.
- Determination will pay off in time.
- Lenders are human just like you and me.
- Fear of any lender will show through in every interview.
- Lenders abhor fear and often refuse a loan to a fearful applicant.
- And, as a wise sage once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
- Further: “Optimism builds strength; pessimism leads to weakness.”
To overcome fear, “dry run” every loan interview in advance before you appear at the lender’s office. Do this by listing the questions you think a lender might ask. Write down the answers you’ll give to the questions. Ask yourself:
- Do my answers make sense?
- Would I lend my money if someone gave these answers to my questions?
- Do my answers promise a deal that will make money for the lender?
For that, after all, is why he or she is considering lending you the money.
K-16 : Guaranteed Loan Money Kit
This robust kit provides examples of agreements you can use — with the approval of a qualified attorney — to cover cosigners, co-makers, and guarantors to enhance your credit — or that of a client — so you or they qualify for a needed or wanted loan.
Prepare for the Loan Interview
As a test of your answers, you may want to have a friend or relative ask you the lender’s questions while playing the role of a lending officer. You then answer the questions. To hear what the interview sounds like, make a tape recording of it. Then you can play it back and listen to your answers. They’ll quickly reveal whether you’re relaxed or tense. If you are tense, you can take steps to improve your responses, reducing your nervousness.
During the actual loan interview in the lender’s office, make notes of important points the lender brings up.
Listen as much as possible, instead of talking.
Try to learn as much as possible from every loan interview.
Imagination Uncovers Hidden Money
The easiest (and usually the smallest) kind of loan you can get is a conventional loan. And what kind of loan is this?
A conventional loan is one that fits the lender’s formula for:
- Amount
- Purpose
- Duration
- Borrower qualifications
- Collateral
What we’re saying, indirectly at least, is that the lender doesn’t have to think about making such a loan to you because all the details fit a formula he or she worked out in advance.
To get a big loan you must be imaginative. You must:
- Come up with an eye-catching deal
- See both sides of every deal
- Offer the lender a big profit opportunity
- Prove to be a good credit risk
You can build your imaginative money powers in several ways, including:
- Reading about other deals people are offering to lenders. (The IW$ Newsletter is ideal for this purpose, and for many other purposes, such as finding hundreds of
lenders.) - Learning as much as you can about financial matters related to every business.
- Thinking up new ways of getting money you can put to work earning other money for you.
Be bold in all your business dealings and you will find yourself getting more money than you ever imagined. Remember what our friend Goethe wrote oh-so-many years ago: “Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.” It’s as true today as it was way back then.
Or, as another person put it: “Dream big (and move forward boldly)!”