Kuflink hails organic growth as profits rise
Last month, peer-to-peer property lending platform Kuflink announced that it had increased its profits in the 12 months ending 30 June 2021, despite the ongoing instability caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Narinder Khattoare, chief executive of Kuflink (pictured), says that the platform’s ongoing success is a testament to its organic growth and focus on “pure P2P”.
“The key thing is patience,” he says. “We’ve been a P2P lender since 2016 and we’ve always said we wanted to grow the loanbook organically.
“We want to make profits, but that takes time,” he adds.
“You’re going to go through a period where you’re spending money on marketing, on infrastructure, on costs, etc. So you’re going to have to soak that up within the business.
Read more: Kuflink increased its profits in 2021
“Some people get impatient with that process and want quick growth within 12-18 months, but that’s just not possible, because if you’re looking to run a £200m loanbook, it takes years not months.
“We’re living proof of that. We’ve made losses in the past and that was because of the money we had to spend on infrastructure and brand awareness. We don’t have to spend that kind of money now because the business is established.
“For us now it’s all about getting the money out the door and making money for our investors.”
The platform’s statistics speak for themselves – at the time of writing, Kuflink’s loanbook was worth more than £156m, with over £96m paid back to investors since inception, and no investor money lost.
“We are going to continue to grow organically with the investor base that we have,” Khattoare adds.
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Kuflink’s organic growth model also applies to the business operations. Khattoare values experience and expertise above all else, and has built a strong team who want to stay with the company in the long term. Khattoare himself started as a salesman in Kuflink’s bridging business, before rising through the ranks to become chief executive.
“Our staff are loyal to us,” he says. “We work really well together as a team. We prefer to promote people from within our team rather than bringing in new staff. We tend to get people in, teach them the way we do things and then grow them into senior roles.”
Over the next two months, Kuflink will be entering “innovation mode”, and Khattoare is excited to show investors what he has planned for the future of the business. The firm has already launched its first app, and hinted at future proptech partnerships, new product launches and carbon neutrality by 2030.
For Kuflink and Khattoare, organic growth is the key to strong foundations and future success.
Read more: Kuflink sets carbon neutral goal, as ESG becomes a focus for 2022