In a perfect world, every consumer who browses your wares or visits your website would hand over cash or make a purchase by hitting the payment button. Shoppers may step back for a variety of reasons: Perhaps they are merely researching, need to consult other family members or wish to assess their needs before moving forward. Some browsers fear they will be unable to pay upfront. These are the potential buyers you may be able to reach by offering consumer financing through your business.

This buyer assistance model is really just a way for you, the business owner, to work with an alternative lender to offer financing so that your customer brings home your product immediately — instead of having to save months and months in order to make the entire purchase. The browser becomes the buyer who then makes small monthly payments to you, the business, until the item’s retail cost has been paid in full.

To make this financing work efficiently, you have to categorize buyers according to their creditworthiness; then your lender can offer a solution that matches the needs of even those potential customers who are not in positions of financial strength. The key to successful consumer financing is to provide terms that both you and the customer are comfortable with.

Break down your options into three broad categories. First, you can offer sub-prime programs for customers with below-average credit; you may have to charge higher product fees to offset the risk involved in this offering. Second, lay out primary programs for stable customers with average and above-average credit scores; you can provide primary-program promotions and incentives to attract desirable customers. Finally, you may be able to work with a lender to offer financing that does not involve credit checks; this option may provide merchant access to the greatest range of consumers, but it does carry some risk.

That is why you need to find a financing institute with which you are comfortable. As a small business, you can not afford both to pay high lending fees and assume the risk if the financing you offer does not work with your product and customer base. In other words, a responsible alternative lender will look beyond the bottom line and consider the best interests of your business.

When you do find the right alternative lending partner you can work as a team to create financing plans that work both now and in the future. Most important to your long-term success is that you design flexibility into your consumer financing model.