OPM (other people’s money) is something that entrepreneurs ought to take very seriously. Always use it instead of your own. Here is a good example of not only using other people’s money but being very creative and smart about doing so:

Jamaican gets a bank loan

A young Jamaican man walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the loan officer. He tells the loan officer that he is going to Jamaica on a vacation for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.

The bank officer tells him that the bank will need some form of security for the loan, so the Jamaican man hands over the keys to a new BMW 740i. The car is parked on the street in front of the bank. The Jamaican produces the title and everything checks out. The loan officer agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan.

The bank’s president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at the Jamaican for using a $80,000 BMW as collateral against a $5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then drives the BMW into the bank’s underground garage and parks it there.

Two weeks later, the Jamaican man returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41.

The loan officer says, ‘Sir, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a successful business man. What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow $5,000?’

The Jamaican replies: ‘Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return?’

The bank employees watch as he pulls out of the garage, windows down and sunroof open. The music was blasting from his car as he pulled away, ‘We run things, things no run we, everything we do, it done properly.’