Two-thirds of businesses threatened by poor cashflow

Two-thirds of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are worried that poor cashflow is putting their businesses at risk, according to new research.

180 SMEs were surveyed by debt collection agency Daniel Silverman, with 65% revealing that poor cashflow was threatening their chances of survival. Seven out of 10 businesses had seen cash flow worsen during 2011, whilst a big majority, 80%, thought cash flow was only going to get worse in 2012.

Of businesses affected by cashflow, approximately a third had been forced to scale down their businesses or lay off staff purely due to cashflow problems.

Managing Director of Daniel Silverman, Carole Hughes, said of the findings, “As financial conditions worsen maintaining a positive cashflow will become more challenging and we are encouraging SMEs to prioritise payment. Businesses must undertake more regular credit checks, put in place processes that highlight when a creditor is in financial trouble and, most importantly, act quickly when payments are overdue.”

One funding facility which can remove the worries of poor cashflow and help to recover payments from debtors quickly is invoice factoring, a form of invoice finance.

Invoice Factoring from Skipton Business Finance

Invoice factoring works to release the cash you have tied up in unpaid invoices, a problem which SMEs are increasingly finding in 2011 as debtors are often taking between 30 – 90 days to pay.

With this facility, we will also provide you with a team of experts to help with your credit management, therefore chasing payments for your invoices and getting payments through sooner.

Why not check out our simple guide to invoice factoring for more information on how it works, or feel free to give us a call if you want to find out more.