‘Fear of funding’ deters SMEs
A report by Ultimate Finance suggests over a quarter of small business owners have avoided external finance due to a “fear of funding”. In a survey of attitudes towards borrowing, around half of founders revealed they were reluctant to grow their company through finance. Almost half of respondents believed external finance would result in a “loss of independence”, while 44% thought the added stresses of borrowing would only create more business worries. However, despite the general hesitation towards external borrowing, a majority (59%) of respondents believed they could receive the backing they needed if they applied. The report also looked at how borrowing can support business growth, and found that 27% of SMEs that do borrow attribute external funding as a key reason for their business growth.
Source: Business Money (01/06/2017)