Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Qardus, the first small business Islamic finance platform in the UK, hopes to arrange up to £2.5m worth of funding over the coming year.
The crowdfunding platform, which launched last July, offers sharia-compliant Islamic finance to any small business, whether it is Muslim-owned or not.
Muslim-owned SMEs are an underserved market in Britain, as they are forbidden to borrow money or pay interest under Sharia law yet still need to grow.
>See also: Sharia start-up funding boom as UK leads in Islamic finance
An estimated 3.3m Muslims live in Britain, many of whom need to grow their small businesses but are prohibited under Sharia from borrowing from high street banks. (The word “Sharia” means a well-trodden pathway to water, although in this case it means religious legislation.)
So far, Qardus has arranged nearly £320,000 worth of Islamic finance for five small business owners, including a property firm, a chemist and a dental practice.
Firms can arrange anything between £25,000 and £200,000, which they repay over up to 36 months.
Around 750 individual investors have signed up for the Qardus crowdfunding platform.
Just as Muslim-owned microbusinesses do not really have anywhere to turn for Sharia-compliant finance – most of the big Islamic
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Using Islamic finance for your small business – what is it?
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
What is Islamic finance?
Islamic finance is a means of funding or banking money in a way that respects the principles of Sharia law, guided by Islamic economics. In Arabic, Sharia means the clear, well-trodden path to water. The fundamental principle of Islamic finance is to avoid any financial activities which could be deemed either harmful (Haram) or risky for the user.
The main difference between Islamic finance and standard finance is that charging interest in forbidden. Conventional banks and lending facilities earn money by charging fees and monthly interest charges for borrowers.
The principle features of Sharia-compliant finance are:
A ban on what the Koran refers to as “riba” and we would call paying interest
Sharing losses as well as profits
What is Sharia-compliant finance?
Sharia-compliant finance bans excessive risk or uncertainty, as well as restricting any form of gambling or speculation.
Businesses involved in the activities below cannot use Islamic finance:
Alcohol
Gambling
Tobacco
Pork
Entertainment such as music, TV or cinema
Pornography
Arms sales
Do you have to be Muslim to use Islamic finance?
No, you do not have to be Muslim as long as your business is halal (allowed) or promotes a social good.
What kind of small business suits Islamic finance?
Islamic finance dictates that a business
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Qardus opens Islamic finance to small business for first time
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Qardus, the first small business Islamic finance platform in the UK, hopes to arrange up to £2.5m worth of funding over the coming year.
The crowdfunding platform, which launched last July, offers sharia-compliant Islamic finance to any small business, whether it is Muslim-owned or not.
Muslim-owned SMEs are an underserved market in Britain, as they are forbidden to borrow money or pay interest under Sharia law yet still need to grow.
>See also: Sharia start-up funding boom as UK leads in Islamic finance
An estimated 3.3m Muslims live in Britain, many of whom need to grow their small businesses but are prohibited under Sharia from borrowing from high street banks. (The word “Sharia” means a well-trodden pathway to water, although in this case it means religious legislation.)
So far, Qardus has arranged nearly £320,000 worth of Islamic finance for five small business owners, including a property firm, a chemist and a dental practice.
Firms can arrange anything between £25,000 and £200,000, which they repay over up to 36 months.
Around 750 individual investors have signed up for the Qardus crowdfunding platform, attracted by projected annual returns of anything between 12 per cent and 16 per cent.
Just as Muslim-owned microbusinesses do
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How to win £150,000 for your beauty business start-up
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Beauty brand consultancy, The Red Tree, is giving one beauty start-up the chance to win £150,000.
The firm has partnered with SFC Capital to launch The Beauty Accelerator. As well as the funding, the winning business will get knowledge and expertise from The Red Tree for 12 months, helping your beauty start-up get to the next stage.
Speaking about the launch, Stirling Murray, managing director of The Red Tree said; “We are extremely excited about The Beauty Accelerator. There is an incredibly vibrant independent beauty brand scene in the UK with dynamic entrepreneurs driving game-changing innovation and creating disruptive brands.
“We will give one of these brands the chance to dramatically accelerate their growth through significant investment from SFC Capital and a year-long collaborative partnership with The Red Tree. Our world class team has a wealth of commercial beauty experience and will provide strategic insights as well as access to a wide network of beauty industry contacts”.
Stephen Page, CEO of SFC Capital said “The beauty sector has been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 lockdown, and it is important we help activity return to normal in this highly innovative and dynamic industry. At SFC we are always
Hot Business News Today
How to win £150,000 for your beauty business start-up
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Beauty brand consultancy, The Red Tree, is giving one beauty start-up the chance to win £150,000.
The firm has partnered with SFC Capital to launch The Beauty Accelerator. As well as the funding, the winning business will get knowledge and expertise from The Red Tree for 12 months, helping your beauty start-up get to the next stage.
Speaking about the launch, Stirling Murray, managing director of The Red Tree said; “We are extremely excited about The Beauty Accelerator. There is an incredibly vibrant independent beauty brand scene in the UK with dynamic entrepreneurs driving game-changing innovation and creating disruptive brands.
“We will give one of these brands the chance to dramatically accelerate their growth through significant investment from SFC Capital and a year-long collaborative partnership with The Red Tree. Our world class team has a wealth of commercial beauty experience and will provide strategic insights as well as access to a wide network of beauty industry contacts”.
Stephen Page, CEO of SFC Capital said “The beauty sector has been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 lockdown, and it is important we help activity return to normal in this highly innovative and dynamic industry. At SFC we are always
Hot Business News Today
Two in five small businesses don’t have enough access to finance
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Two in five small businesses (42 per cent) say they don’t have enough access to finance to keep their companies going.
Over half (52 per cent) have no financing at for their businesses, despite the UK being a world leader in offering innovative finance solutions for small business.
Of the small businesses that do have access to finance, one fifth (19 per cent) rely on bank overdrafts to finance their business, rather than loans or other types of investment, according to new research. A business credit card is the second most popular choice (9 per cent) followed by loans (9 per cent).
>See also: What documents do you need when applying for a business loan?
At a time when every small business has to be, to an extent, a digital business, nearly half (47 per cent) of small businesses admit they do not think they have sufficient digital skills for their businesses.
And skills and staffing remain a key concern for Britain’s small businesses, with over a third (37 per cent) unhappy with their ability to maintain and recruit staff.
Yet nine out of ten small businesses (86 per cent) remain upbeat, saying that they are ambitious for their
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SMEs seek out new sources of funding as traditional routes dry up
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
The post SMEs seek out new sources of funding as traditional routes dry up appeared first on Small Business.
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Financing the purchase of a small business
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
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How to successfully pitch your business idea
by Ben Lobel • • 0 Comments
The post How to successfully pitch your business idea appeared first on Small Business.
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How to find funding for your small business
by Ben Lobel • • 0 Comments
To plan how you will finance your new venture, you should be able to work out how much small business funding is required to begin trading, plus cover all costs and running expenses for the first few months, or until you think you will be start generating sufficient revenue. One of the main reasons that new
The post How to find funding for your small business appeared first on Small Business.