Five tips for young entrepreneurs

Being a young entrepreneur is tough at the best of times, but given the current financial crisis things are particularly different.

Christopher Hamilton, the general manager of the Enterprise Network for Young Australians, says he is in contact with a number of young Australians who are finding it tough to get finance in the current climate.

Here are his five tips to help out:

1. Be careful of the interest rate: know what the interest rate is and how it compares to the rest of the market.
2. Is there a penalty interest rate and when does it activate.
3. Know what your total liability under the agreement is.
4. Read the fine print, and understand it.
5. Plan, plan, plan: what happens if it all goes wrong? How are you going to deal with it?

ENYA operates the Microenterprise Loan in conjunction with NAB to help entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-29 get a bank loan between $500 to $20,000.