Are you thinking of starting a business in 2022? If so, you’re probably looking for funding. Companies like business loan issuer bluevine.com offer quick and easy solutions. But is this the right time to get a small business loan?

It is still impossible to calculate just how badly the pandemic impacted the small business sector. Businesses around the world shut down, and many never reopened. With each new false dawn, further casualties have been wrought by subsequent restrictions. Even as things have begun getting back to normal, the discovery of the Omicron variant and the panicked reactions of global governments hit the tourism industry in South Africa and elsewhere.

We still have little certainty, even as the new year gets going. However, we cannot live in limbo indefinitely. For this reason, many people who have delayed starting their new businesses are considering doing so now.

Alongside the constant question of what the future holds for us, there is the matter of financing. Unless you have significant capital available, you may need to get a small business loan. Doing so with no guarantee that you can pay it off is risky.

Before we dive into your options for small business loans, let’s discuss whether starting a business is really a good idea right now.

Should I start my business in 2022?

There is no simple answer as to whether 2022 will be a good year for new businesses. However, we can speculate on what the year holds. For some industries, things are likely to get better. For others, we may have to wait and see.

The tourism industry in particular is tricky. New businesses will be able to take advantage of a post-pandemic rush to get off to a strong start. But that depends on a lot of factors. We don’t know how the virus will progress over the next few months. We also cannot account for how different countries will respond to the evolution of the virus. In the case of Omicron, we saw how quickly governments were ready to shut down travel to African countries.

Starting a business in tourism is risky, but financial services – and Fintech in particular – provide a consistent and lucrative means to finding success as an entrepreneur. Financial services are necessary no matter what is happening in the world, and technology companies that innovate in the field take off time and time again. A shaky economy makes the financial sphere slightly riskier, but in the past two years we have seen that global economies are resilient.

Other fields that are consistently lucrative include health tech, insurance, and food processing. Much depends on the specifics of the industry as well as the possible trajectory of your company. At the end of the day, starting a business always requires a leap of faith, as nothing is ever 100% certain.

If you do decide to go ahead and start your business, there are better ways to find business loans than ever before.

BlueVine and access to financing

Over the past decade, many new approaches to business financing have gained popularity. What was once the realm of the banks has now become democratised, with innovative Fintech companies providing new solutions. While it has always been easy for businesses that need expensive assets to get secured loans from banks at low rates, many modern business owners require funding for less material purposes.

Private lenders have gained popularity, with their willingness to provide unsecured loans. There are pros and cons to these loans. If you’re not careful, you can end up with an expensive loan that is designed not to help you but to take advantage of you. However, many businesses have succeeded with loans from scrupulous lenders.

BlueVine is one of the leading international companies in the private lending sphere. Now in its ninth year, BlueVine has provided upwards of $5 billion. They do this through products designed to suit modern business owners rather than the old status quo that the banks have long served.

With BlueVine, all the processing is done online and loans are provided within days rather than weeks. Business owners do not need to meet archaic requirements either, and it is possible to get reasonable rates even on unsecured loans. They don’t simply provide funds, either. Instead, you get a full suite of banking solutions tailored to modern small businesses.

BlueVine operates in the US, but there are equivalents in South Africa. Companies like Fundrr and LulaLend provide a range of Fintech products. While their offerings may not be quite as comprehensive as those of BlueVine, financial innovation in South Africa is advanced and there are better regulations on lenders to protect borrowers.

Starting a business in 2022

Should you start your business in 2022? While there is no simple answer, the reality is that we cannot live in limbo forever. Two years ago, we assumed that the pandemic would end within months. Now we know too much to be overly optimistic. We can’t simply wait for what we expect to be the end of the pandemic. There are many reasons to be prudent, but that should not mean that you don’t dream big.

The good news is that there are funding options for businesses that might not be eligible for bank loans. Fintech offerings are better suited to modern SMEs. You can grow your business with the funding you need, with excellent products on offer. While BlueVine may not be available in South Africa, the Fintech field is innovating and constantly growing.