12:39
Unknown
With new figures suggesting that 46%
of SMEs are set to grow next year, Axis for Business asks; is it going to
be a bright 2015 for small businesses across the UK?
The Lay of the Economic Landscape
Axis for Business is
an independent energy and telecoms provider that’s committed to providing
quality service to small businesses across the UK. As such, we understand that
SMEs need to expand in order to grow their business.
In order to grow your firm, you
need to understand the lay of the UK’s economic landscape and know what avenues
of funding are available to you to fund said expansion. That’s why we knew you
needed to know that a new survey has suggested that whilst firms all over the
UK plan to expand in 2015, many don’t know the range of funding open to them
which they could take advantage of to do so.
Small Business Finance Markets 2014
According to Startups.co.uk,
Whitehall’s British Business Bank surveyed 1,000 SMEs to determine the state of
the UK’s financial markets. The resulting Small
Business Finance Markets 2014 report showed that 46% are planning to expand in 2015.
Yet
the report brought one key issue to light. When asked how they were going to
fund said expansion, 68% said that they were “confident in their ability
to obtain external finance.” However, when questioned over funding avenues, 65%
admitted to not knowing about mezzanine finance, import and export finance,
peer-to-peer lending or even crowdfunding.
Meanwhile a third (33%),
suggested that they didn’t know they could access government funding via
government or local authority grants. However when it came to which avenues of
funding SMEs were aware of, 95% said credit cards and 85% said lease or hire
purchase; both prove inefficient for the profit margins of any small business.
A Useful Benchmark
Vince Cable commented on the
findings of the survey. Cable said: “This new
research – the first of its kind by the British Business Bank – is a useful
benchmark for measuring the challenges ahead in making British businesses aware
of the various alternative finance options available in the market.
“This
is particularly important given the findings also show that almost half of
British small and medium enterprises plan to expand in the next year. I am
confident more businesses will be able to realise those ambitions thanks to the
new finance on offer, especially on the equity side.”
Consider Every Avenue to Fund Expansion
If
this benchmark has shown us anything, it’s that more needs to be done to show
SMEs every avenue available to ensure they find the most cost effective manner
possible to fund expansion. Only then will 2015 prove to be a bright year for
SMEs across the UK.
Posted in 
