Smaller businesses have been an essential key in the development of the economic
and social factors.
These businesses bring workers a solid future, benefits and opportunities to train
and grow professionally. They contribute to the growth of their communities, as
well as, generate new tax revenues for government services. This is achieved by
promoting their productivity and sales.
A study by the European investment Bank shows that SMEs embody 99% of
businesses in the European Union. They employ two thirds of the active working
population. These companies range from dry cleaners, restaurants, hair salons, car
repair shops, local retailers, etc. They all play an important role in our every day
lives.
The Challenge
Even though these prosperous small and medium enterprises hold local economies,
they encounter a major roadblock. They usually end up being held back by the local
investment conditions. In one hand, they can be too big for institutions targeting
micro-enterprises, but on the other hand, they can be considered too small for those
whose focal point is on bigger businesses.
The financial support that institutions provide to the SMEs is limited due to the level
of risks they can present. Commonly, they make decisions based only on the
financial costs, setting aside the level of service and benefits provided by the
products of the financial institutions.
To provide survival for the company, many SMEs usually go to loans with financial
institutions or a third party with higher interest, which end up affecting the financial
performance of the company.
The challenge became: How can SMEs evaluate which loan and entity will provide
them with the most value?
The Product
After identifying the challenge, Opinno gathered a group of professionals to bring
SMEs a new secure system to ease their decision making when trying to expand
their funding.
All SMEs sectors and types would profit from this new commercial financing
product, as it would bring certainty for their businesses by finding specific financial
solutions.
While finding the right type of financing is important, we have to keep in mind that
every company is unique and therefore there cannot be one-size-fits-all solutions.
Trying to compare loans is usually overwhelming, which is why Opinno’s innovating
team designed an App that can help SMEs to find the loan that better fits their
company’s needs and provide more benefits. With the collaboration of programmers
and economists, Opinno created an algorithm that can find the best loan type for the
company based on their extensive database and the information provided on the
App.
The Result
After multiple SMEs implemented the App created by Opinno, it improved the
experience of decision-making regarding their funding opportunities. Furthermore,
it delivered quick and positive results, as the App was able to find the loan that best
suited their needs. This made them able to fulfill their business vision and to refocus
their efforts on to further developing their business.
