Blog Post: Why not go all the way…

Tim Vang | 27.10.2008 16:04:27 CET |
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I am writing this post today, because I am wondering what keeps people, interested in MYC4, from going all the way??

The situation is; we have approximately 3,000 pending Investors, meaning several thousands of individuals that have pressed the “JOIN” button, received the confirmation mail, pressed the mail link but have not uploaded any funds to their Account… yet!



Hence, we have sent 970 questionnaires to this group of people to understand what keeps them from uploading funds to the platform (for the record, this group of people does not count in the +9,000 accounts).

We have received impressive 134 answers. Going through all the answers we spot two general answers/reflections:

1. ”It was difficult to upload funds to the platform, because you do not accept a credit card I have”

The upload part is now fixed, seen from a Danish perspective, as you can now use Danish credit cards as well… so please do not hold yourself back on this front.

2. ”With the financial crisis lurking around the corner, I want to wait and see what will happen before I commit capital here”

Regarding the financial crisis (this is the real wondering part of my post!);
a)    Yes, the global financial situation is on everybody’s mind and it is hard not feeling just a little uncertain of what will happen in the future, but imagine what it is like living with an even larger uncertainty all your life!!
b)    MYC4 investments seem to be rather attractive (even after idle time, currency risk, etc. has been “dealt” with)
c)    There are no fees when you invest via MYC4
d)    Start small!! We advice people to upload smaller amounts in the beginning (you can start with as low as €15), get confident with how the system works and then upload more money when you have a better understanding of MYC4 – this said; small amounts do make an immense difference in Africa!!

So dear "pending Investors", I hope to see you actively aboard MYC4 soon…


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38 comments on this blog post:

David Goodman
15.02.2009 19:35:57 CET

percentage of commission taken for uploading funds via a non danish credit card. Mixed in with -10% of profit lost to currency flux and the experience of fund idel time deter me from further adding to my account.



Chris Weeks
22.01.2009 11:39:42 CET

I tend to keep my investments loyal to one provider (FED), as I think they have the most experience in dealing with the African business owners. This is a tricky part of the operation, and the Provider's judgement is not to be under-estimated. I would like to see more information on the different Providers: who they are exactly, their success rate, other businesses they operate, number of employees etc.

Overall, great work and KEEP GOING!

best rgds Chris



ML Holding Solrød ApS
16.01.2009 10:22:37 CET

Hi Thomas,

Quote:

2b)    MYC4 investments seem to be rather attractive (even after idle time, currency risk, etc. has been “dealt” with)

Yes they seem to be attractive, but are they really?

https://www.myc4.com/Portal/WebForms/Forum/DisplayForumPost.aspx?ForumPostId=6134

They are only attractive until the last bidding day where the interest gets so low that it turns into aid and not an investment. That kind of fooled me into investing here. I must say that if i knew what i know now, i would not have joined. Are people joining, uploading money and then disappering? Im not sure if im gonna do that yet. I guess im giving it a shot to see if more business will pop up soon.

If you want to make this interesting for investors that are here for business there has to be made some changes on the bidding system, and maybe the whole provider/lender commision structure. And off course you need a lot more business as well (but i know that due to several things the open business are low atm.)







The Investor
13.01.2009 21:15:16 CET

- I think it would be nice to choose how many businesses there should be pr. site in the "Invest" menu, and in "My Account"; "Account Balance", "Open Investments", "Pending Investments", "Funded Investments", "Repaid Investments", "Defaulted Investments" and "Canceled Investments" - personal I would prefer to see them all on one site. Then you don't have to click so many times and wait so long time to find the one or those you are looking for.



The Investor
13.01.2009 20:14:30 CET

- Sorry, once again it came up twice..



The Investor
13.01.2009 20:13:28 CET

- Thank you for the response

- In relation to the color in the funded investments in "My account", I think there should be three colors; green, yellow and red. The businesses who keep up with the schedule of repaying the loan, should light green. Those businesses who is up to 3 month behind should light yellow, and those businesses who are more behind or default should light red. Those businesses who catch up on the schedule for repaying the loan, should light green again. Those who have been lighting red and begin repaying there loan, should light yellow again. The investor doesn't care about if a business is behind the schedule for repaying the loan, if just the business pays interest on/for the late repayment, and not are default. Cause default  - as you know - means losses for the investor.




13.01.2009 20:08:55 CET

- Thank you for the response

- In relation to the colour in the funded investmens in "My account", I think there should be three collours; green, yellow and red. The bussines who keep up with the schedule of repaying the loan, should light green. Those bussines who is up to 3 month behind should light yellow, and those bussines who are more behind or default should light red. Those bussines who catch up on the schedule for repaying the loan, should light green again. Those who have been lighting red and begin repaying there loan, should ligt yellow again. The investor dosen't care about if a bussines is behind the schedule for repaying the loan, if just the bussines pays interest on/for the late repayment, and not are default. Cause default  - as you know - means losses for the investor.



Tim Vang
13.01.2009 13:39:11 CET

Hi "The Investor",

Great input... cheers!

We are working on improving the pending phase, e.g. by creating local bank accounts, but please bear in mind that African entrepreneurs also play a vital role in making the pending phase lean. Entrepreneurs have to come to the Lender and sign the legal documents before the business receive the money hence moved to funded status. And let me put it this way, distances in Africa can be very long.

Regarding the withdrawal fee (set to €4 in the explanation), MYC4 charges NO fee at all! It is an individual decision from bank to bank and we cannot control what your bank might charge for such a transaction - €4 seems common.

We find that the security of MYC4 is at a satisfactory level with e.g. SSL-certificate (full encryption) - but we are of course interested in hearing where we can improve: I really like your idea with: "the certification file only is needed for moneytransference" - I will pass this on to the team sitting with Business Development and the team sitting with Security.

Using right mouse button for the businesses sounds like a useful idea - will explore this.

Erdem, who is in charge of Business Development, will soon kick in here with details on your currency elements for improvement - he has the full overview of what is in the making and what will come at a later stage... and then he is good at listening to investors with constructive critique, so keep it coming!



The Investor
12.01.2009 19:59:15 CET

- In relation to the currency risk, it should be possible for the investor to decide when to change the money back in €, or if it should. Cause if the money should be used to reinvest in a business in the same country, there is no need for currency risk at that point. This would only demand a statement over the amount of different currency. And only if there is no amount in a special currency, then a amount should be automatically change from the currency with the largest gain or minimum los.



The Investor
12.01.2009 19:32:31 CET

- There is also another improvement that could make the MYC4 platform a lot better. As it is now, you have to press on one business at a time that you would like to read more about in the "Invest"-menu. It should be possible to click on the right-button on the mouse on the businesses you would like to read more about and open it in a new window.
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