This is how Qred came into the world

The story of the small entrepreneur

Once upon a time there was quite a young entrepreneur. He had a dream to start a business. It was new, exciting and unknown. As a first, he had to have a bank account where he could put his hard-earned capital in. Proudly, the entrepreneur went to the nearest bank to tell that he would open an account for his new business and deposit 100,000 kroner.

With great enthusiasm, he told about his business plans to the banker, who asked why the entrepreneur had chosen to come to their bank. Since the bank had been named Business Bank of the Year earlier this year, the entrepreneur thought to himself that this was a slightly strange question, but replied that it was his impression that the bank would be a good bank for his business. After a quarter of a meeting, the entrepreneur was informed that the bank unfortunately did not consider the case well thought out and that the entrepreneur could therefore not be approved as a customer of the bank.

The message felt like a cold bucket of water in the head. How could that even be possible? He didn't want to borrow money without putting $100,000 in the bank. Maybe he wasn't a real entrepreneur? Maybe the banker was right? Fortunately, he didn't give up. He found another bank, which was more cooperative.

The young man was me. And since then, I have learned that I am far from the only person who has felt humiliated by the bank. It makes me angry. Especially when you consider that eight out of ten new jobs are created by small businesses and that economic growth is largely dependent on us supporting and developing new businesses. Today — 15 years later — I am what you call a serial entrepreneur. I love creating new businesses and puncturing outdated structures. First the monopoly of the big telecom companies was challenged, later Danske Spil's monopoly was abolished, and now it's time to challenge the oligopoly of the banks.

After many years of work, I have established and developed contacts with good and skilled bankers. For emerging smaller businesses and entrepreneurs, however, it's hardly open arms waiting in the bank. Especially if you need capital to grow your business.

Business Loans In principle, you can forget about it if the company does not have a solid “proof of life” and a turnover of millions. Unless one is childhood friends with the bank manager, endless documentation is required in the form of business plans, budgets and financial statements. Small and new businesses are therefore often referred to family and friends, in order to raise the necessary capital.

Banks run year after year of big profits, interest rates are historically low, but the number of loans to small businesses is falling. It's glorious! Here is the fertile ground for a new business, I thought.

At Qred, we help entrepreneurs grow, and at the same time we give small businesses the good treatment and attention they deserve. It simply shouldn't be harder to get a bank loan than to buy a book online. If you come up with a good idea, you should get a response to your loan application within a few minutes. My mission is that Qred will help a lot of small businesses in the future, and perhaps at the same time create a bit of thoughtfulness at the banks.

Emil Sunvisson, CEO and Co-founder
Qred

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