{"id":29939,"date":"2022-11-09T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clearbooks.co.uk\/blog\/?p=29939"},"modified":"2022-11-30T16:32:42","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T16:32:42","slug":"funding-in-critical-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clearbooks.co.uk\/blog\/funding-in-critical-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Funding in critical times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Businesses need finance for a variety of different reasons. Yet, what stays constant is that when businesses access the right funding, they can say \u2018yes\u2019 more to their next project, goal and growth plan. The economic environment remains challenging for small businesses, so finding the right funding in this critical time is now more important than ever yet more difficult than ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ACCA and The CFN\u2019s SME Tracker recently reported that business owners were finding \u201ca perfect storm whereby their costs were increasing but also access to finance was being squeezed\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s true that when trading through difficult periods, businesses turn their attention to making their external and internal working capital work efficiently, so that they can manage their cashflow. However, 27% of business owners believe support from HMRC\u2019s Time to Pay policies are getting more difficult to agree, 47% are finding that supplier credit is getting tighter and 57% say that external lending terms are becoming harder to obtain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the pandemic, the Bank of England data showed that larger companies moved early to raise more finance and secure facilities to provide a buffer for the short-term, largely unknown, future.  It\u2019s understandable that with experienced and multi-skilled boards of directors, these companies felt able to make the tough decisions, whereas smaller businesses didn\u2019t respond for several months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, as we trade though a similar time of uncertainty, business owners should be mindful not to leave their actions too late, as their options will be far less.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"funding\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s happening in the business funding market right now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The lending market is naturally becoming more risk-averse to those businesses they perceive as weaker.\u00a0 In fact, the credit score hurdle to even pass initial criteria checks to be considered is increasing. The affordability checks are becoming stricter and, due to rises in interest rates, costs of borrowing are also going up.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, there are a range of different products available – which suit businesses and their plans differently.\u00a0Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n