More than 50% of small business owners are expecting to see their company grow over the next 12 months, according to a new survey. Over 5,000 small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were asked at the end of Q2 2013 (June) about their expectations for growth, with 51% replying they are expecting growth. This was the highest figure ever recorded by the Finance Monitor, which has been surveying SMEs about their growth plans every quarter since 2011. Small firms are also increasingly less likely to cite fears about the economic situation as their biggest worry, as the UK begins to recover from a rocky few years.
Alternative finance on rise
More businesses are now utilising external finance solutions, increasing from 39% in Q1 to 44%, with alternative finance fuelling this growth. Invoice finance solutions such as invoice discounting, invoice factoring, leasing and grants were four business finance options cited as proving increasing important to small businesses, as gaining access to traditional bank finance remains tricky.Invoice factoring and invoice discounting both work to release the cash that often gets tied up in unpaid invoices, with debtors increasingly insisting on 30, 60 or even 90 day payment terms in the current day and age. If you’d like to find out more about how invoice finance could work for your small business, why not fill in the handy enquiry form on the right hand side or give us a call on 0845 602 9354.