SOCIAL: Advice on funding for a one-man enterprise?

[Joel Young]

My brother has a little side business of making guitar effects pedals  
-- all analog, high quality, your perfect boutique kind of product. He  
has had some success selling them, and he just finished a prototype  
for a new model that apparently is going to take the guitar world by  
storm. He has a friend at work who is willing to lend him some money  
to get this venture off the ground, and he's asking me whether it's a  
good deal or whether he's likely to end up in debt. Does anyone have a  
head for these things who could maybe talk to him about the specifics  
of the deal and give him a feel for the risks v. rewards?

Joel