Pune-based small business advisory firm deAsra undertook a strategic initiative with three city-based banks recently to provide small loans to individual entrepreneurs.

DeAsra, which is backed individually by Persistent’s CEO Anand Deshpande, issued a statement saying, “DeAsra’s tie-up with Bank of Maharashtra, Janata Sahakari Bank and Janaseva Sahakari Bank will help entrepreneurs get funding-ready, while banks get better-quality micro and small businesses loan portfolio.”

“A big challenge for a lot of entrepreneurs is to access funds. They do not know how and whom to approach,” deAsra CEO Pradnya Godbole, said.

Banks, deAsra said, require detailed documentation like the scale of activity, legal compliances, relevant permissions, licenses, the project report, assessment of security for loan, etc to validate the financial viability and technical feasibility of any project.

“Usually new entrepreneurs find banking formalities intimidating and time-consuming. Often they end up spending a lot of their time getting the paperwork in order. Now, along with the other infrastructure and advisory-related support, deAsra will also help entrepreneurs get finance for their projects,” the company said in a statement.

The firm also advises people to avail of the benefits of the various government funds and subsidies under the schemes like Startup India, PM MUDRA Yojana, etc. DeAsra said its target is to generate one lakh jobs by 2020, by facilitating the creation of 25,000 enterprises, each employing an average of 4 people per business.

DeAsra works with small enterprises and helps sort out issues like financial statements, clearances, permissions, legalese among other things. It has put up about 75 business models online, which aspiring entrepreneurs can use to understand the viability of a particular business.

Source: The Times of India