Practice Management

It is I guess against my better judgment to blog about borrow money to run your practice.  I think one of the main benefits of the Third Wave practice, and especially working from home, is that you can get your overhead down and your upfront costs low enough that you do not need to borrow money.  That is my hope.  Admittedly, however, some areas require more capital than my little practice niche.  Sometimes, even though you know you can generate fees immediately, you work with institutional clients that just will not pay outside of 90 days, or because of the number of contingent lawsuits you file, you have to front thousands in filing fees before you see a return.  The question I get is where do I go to find money other than my credit cards when starting out or during tough times?  Again, I would advise you to avoid it if at all possible.  The problem with borrowing money is then maybe you just do not fight hard enough to avoid borrowing.  But, I understand if you need money and it cannot be helped.  Just make sure it is a reasonable risk.

In this regard, there a few online sites with which you might need to be familiar.

The oldest of the direct loan sites is Prosper, which launched in 2006.  Prosper brings together individuals to rate and bid on loaning you money as a group, and does not rely on banks of financial institutions.  Each person actually has just a little invested in your loan.  If you need money you can go here.  If you have money to loan, you can do so using this service.

Following on the heals of Prosper is the establishment of Zopa.  It started as a Facebook application in May but is now available in all 50 states.  Unlike Prosper, Zopa connects borrowers with credit unions that bid on the portions of the debt.

And then there is Virgin Money, who bought CircleLending and developed it into a site that formalizes loans between families and friends.

Then, of course, there is Lending Tree.  This service does not operate like the others mentioned above.   Instead, it submits your desire for a mortgage loan, home equity loan, commercial loan, etc. to be bid on by a number of financial institutions.  It does not put together social groups that pool money.  It helps provides you a list of possible lenders from which to select.  The site is primarily known for helping to find a reasonable mortgage loan.  For home office attorneys, finding a mortgage might be a worthy endeavor.