- 23 Jul
The Biggest Challenge Facing Businesses This Year
We recently conducted a poll of 100 SME businesses and one of the questions we asked them was to name the biggest challenge that is facing their business over the course of the next year.
The research results were interesting and were published over the next few days on this blog.
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These are links to the posts relating to the results of that research:
49% of SMEs expect to have insufficient cash
Cashflow is the second biggest issue
Related articles
- 24 Sep
Percentage Of SMEs Using External Finance Increases.
The percentage of SMEs using external finance has increased to 46% (H1 2019). This is an increase, up from just 36% in 2018, according to the latest Q2 2019 SME Finance Monitor - published by BVA BDRC.FIND EXTERNAL FINANCEThe report shows that there has been a significant increase, of nearly 28%, in the proportion of SMEs that are using external finance - positive news for the business finance...
- 18 Jun
Which Industry Sectors And Trades Use Invoice Finance?
Understanding which industry sectors and trades tend to use invoice funding, might be useful if you are considering taking up a facility. After all, this type of funding is not necessarily suitable to every type of business, so it is worth knowing if others in your sector already use these services.The broad range of different trades that use receivables financing, suggests that there is a...
- 12 Jun
The ABFA UK Finance Statics Only Available To Members?
Statistics about the invoice finance and asset based finance industry have been produced for many years by what was the ABFA (Asset Based Finance Association). The ABFA have now become part of UK Finance. It would appears that the historic ABFA statistics are now intended for members only.The statistics pull together a broad range of information about the clients of it's members, including sales...
- 29 May
Finance For Manufacturers Becomes More Difficult.
Manufacturers are finding it more difficult to get access to the finance that they need, according to research by Wyelands Bank, published in Business Money (14/05/19).REQUEST FUNDING QUOTESThe article suggests that of businesses turning over between £10M and £300M, nearly half (46%) said that they had faced challenges raising the finance that they needed. Furthermore, nearly 1 in 3...
- 28 May
What If 29% Of Invoice Finance Users Fall Outside Of UK Finance?
Industry trade bodies give reassurance to customers in a number of ways. Firstly, there is normally an application and assessment process, that brings some rigour to membership, that can in turn give comfort to customers of the members.Secondly, as is the case with UK Finance, the industry trade body for the invoice finance sector, they may operate a complaints process which is arbitrated,...
- 13 May
21 Percent Plus Of Million Pound Companies Use Invoice Finance
Research and data suggests that at least 21%+ of £1M+ turnover businesses now use invoice finance.Recent research, and my own data calculations suggest that at least 21% of UK businesses, turning over more than £1 million per annum, now use invoice finance.My own, somewhat conservative calculations and estimates, suggest that at least 21% of companies in the £1M+ category could be using...
- 07 May
16K Invoice Finance Clients Could Be Outside UK Finance.
Is it possible that there could there be over 16,000 clients that are serviced by invoice finance companies which are not members of UK Finance?In my previous post about estimating the number of businesses using invoice finance in the UK, I estimated that in addition to the clients of the UK Finance members, 40,333 at the end of Q2 2019, there may be circa 3,000 clients of providers that don't...
- 02 May
How Many UK Businesses Use Invoice Finance?
Research recently published by IGF reported that 27% of businesses (with a turnover of between £1M and £500M) now use invoice finance. The survey, published in the IGF Powering Freedom Report, encompassed 500 UK businesses, within that turnover band.Whilst I was delighted to see such a high usage figure, the percentage appears much higher than the usage overall, but that may be reflective of...
- 12 Mar
Solving Cash Flow Problems For Creative Agencies
Recent research conducted by invoice financing company Marketinvoice has revealed that 48% of creative sector businesses were paid late during 2018, hindering revenue growth and ambitions of the small businesses within the sector.This level of late payments will be putting a significant strain on the individual cash flows of those companies that are having to accept delayed payment from debtors....
- 06 Mar
Review Ratings For Invoice Finance Companies
Looking for invoice finance company reviews online? This might be helpful as I have pulled together all the online customer review ratings that I could find, the details are below.COMPARE INVOICE FINANCE QUOTESOn 5th March 2019 I searched for online reviews for each of the invoice finance companies on our list. I searched using Google and in some cases there were:I also looked at the home page of...
- 07 Jan
Bibby Recruitment Research Shows Reduction In EU Candidates
New UK recruitment sector Recruiting Times research, published by Bibby Financial Services, shows that 50%, of the 250 recruiters interviewed, had seen a reduction in the number of candidates from EU countries in the run up to Brexit. This was despite 60% of respondents saying that recruitment performance had improved since last year. 63% are expecting performance to improve in the coming year, a...
- 20 Nov
Are Revolving Credit Lines More Popular Than Single Invoice Finance?
Which is more popular single invoice finance (SIF) or revolving credit lines? Our experience, as detailed below, is that the majority want revolving credit, with a more modest niche demand for SIF.COMPARE INVOICE FINANCE QUOTESIt's probably best to start with brief definitions of what these terms mean (see our free receivables financing guide for more information). Single invoice finance (SIF -...
- 23 Feb
How Invoice Finance Prices & Funding Levels Compare Between Companies
Before you go ahead with an invoice discounting facility you may want to read our summary of how prices and funding levels compare between different invoice discounting companies.GET A QUOTE FOR INVOICE DISCOUNTINGWe conducted this comparison by seeking quotes for a client, from a number of different providers that offer these types of invoice discounting facilities. The client was of an average...
- 08 Jan
Comparison Of Quotes for Confidential Invoice Discounting - 86% Difference
This is a comparison of the confidential invoice discounting quotes that we checked for a company recently. Also known as CID, this kind of facility provides funding but allows the prospect to retain control of their own credit control function, without their debtors being alerted to the involvement of a third party funder. The business was a straightforward average size proposal, but of the 13...
- 19 Jun
Factoring Clients Change Invoice Finance Companies More Often
The majority of invoice financing users are happy with their current provider, we found that 98% were prepared to recommend their existing provider, which speaks volumes to the general level of satisfaction amongst companies already using these working capital enhancing products.However, there are always a few clients that want to change invoice finance companies, often they are looking to...
- 19 Jan
How Important It Is To Compare Factoring Prices
We have updated our mystery shopper research, in order to compare factoring prices between different providers.You can check your pricing against our panel of providers.Interesting results, there is a huge pricing differential between the top and bottom of the table.We found that the range of costs quoted (estimated service charge and discount charge combined, based on a small...
- 15 Jun
East Sussex & Kent Recruitment Research Completed
Our latest research study focuses on local recruitment businesses in East Sussex and Kent. The survey has now been completed and I am analysing the results. I will start to share them shortly....
- 04 May
Factoring & Invoice Discounting For Manufacturing Companies
In this article we explain why so many #manufacturing companies turn to #factoring and invoice discounting as funding solutions. The article shares some of our research and also industry statistics that evidence the take up of these products by manufacturers: Article Factoring And Manufacturing....
- 31 Mar
Invoice Finance, Crowdfunding And Payday Loans Awareness
A comparative research article looking at the awareness of these products: Invoice Finance, Crowdfunding And Payday Loans....
- 31 Mar
FundInvoice Research Quoted
Nice to see FundInvoice research quoted in a recent article by one one of the invoice finance companies, published in RealBusiness: Building your business with receivables finance - a leap into the unknown? - Real Business....
- 28 Mar
7 Times Higher Awareness Of Payday Loans Than IF
New research shows awareness of payday loans is 7 times higher, and crowdfunding 6.5 times higher, than factoring and discounting: Article...
- 23 Mar
Paperwork And Hassle Biggest Barriers To Moving Invoice Financiers
Our recent research suggests that the biggest perceived barrier to moving between invoice financiers is the amount of paperwork and hassle that is anticipated. Of those that anticipated barriers to moving providers, 46% thought that paperwork and hassle would be the issue.There are procedures and services in place to help people move between invoice finance companies, without the hassle, but the...
- 09 Mar
Exclusive Member's Logo For Invoice Finance Research Group On LinkedIn
This is the new exclusive member's logo for those that have joined the Invoice Finance Research Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3323843For a larger version on the logo, that you are welcome to resize, visit: Member's Logo...
- 03 Mar
Quote Our Finance Research Findings
Had a nice email the other day from a contact who is looking to write a piece for a publication to do with the invoice finance industry. She asked if we had any research regarding overcoming barriers to using these products, which we do - and hopefully it proved helpful. Great to hear of people using our findings - if anyone wants to quote any of our research findings they are welcome too, we...
- 04 Feb
Customer Satisfaction Survey Drives Success
I spent the morning presenting the latest set of customer satisfaction survey results to one of our long term customer satisfaction monitoring clients (outside of the finance sector - which is a refreshing change for me!).They are a large organisation with thousands of customers, and I have conducted customer satisfaction polling, and monitoring, for them for several years. If any hint of an...
- 22 Jan
Comment On Alternative Finance Demand As Overdraft Approvals Reduce
I have just posted the following comment on a LinkedIn post about the demand for alternative finance as overdraft and loan approvals reduce:"The latest Q3 2015 SME Monitor conducted by BDRC Continental sheds some light on this (5,000 SME sample interviewed). 80% of all loan and overdraft applications, in the last 18 months, resulted in a facility - an improvement on previous results - that leaves...
- 19 Jan
UK Invoice Finance Research Group Breaks 1,000 Members
Great news! The UK Invoice Finance Research Group on LinkedIn now has 1,001 members - having broken through the 1,000 member mark. The group shares and discusses invoice finance related research, for the advancement of the industry. Since inception there have been many debates, via the forum, about various findings relating to the factoring and invoice discounting sectors.The group is free to...
- 17 Jan
Research Advice
We are always happy to give some #research advice, even if you intend to conduct your own research survey.It is a skill to construct the questions so that you get to the information that you want. We have been writing survey questionnaires for many years so we are always happy to help you get the structure right.A key tip is to always include at least one open catch all question. This will allow...
- 04 Dec
Predictions For 2016 - Final #TalkIF RBS Invoice Finance Twitter Talk
The final in a series of four #TalkIF Twitter talks, hosted by RBS Invoice Finance, took place yesterday. The discussion focused on "Predictions for 2016" and a couple of my tweets made the final cut in the RBSIF blog (see the link in my Twitter feed for the full write up). The tweets that were picked up were as follows:@RBSIF Social media gaining a new market status - very true...
- 24 Nov
Part 2 Of The #TalkIF RBS Invoice Finance Discussions Quotes
The second part of the #TalkIF invoice finance discussions, hosted by RBS Invoice Finance took place last Thursday lunchtime and focused on entrepreneurs and how the achieve their goals. There is a link on my Twitter feed to their blog that shows a summary of the discussions.The talks also touched on late payment and their summary quoted a piece of our research: "Glenn Blackman then tweeted an...
- 20 Nov
Research Services - Need Help With Small Phone Based Research Surveys?
We undertake an ongoing programme or research within the invoice finance sector (view some of our work here), but we also provide our Research Services to other businesses, including those in other sectors. We specialise in handling small research projects, that often large research companies won't want to help with, or will charge a big "set up" fees to undertaken. We only charge for phone...
- 18 Nov
2 Question Survey Responses Coming In But Your Help Still Needed
Can you help please? Our short 2 question survey has received the first few responses, interesting opinions - I still need more though, so I would appreciate your help by answering just 2 easy questions: 2 Question Survey. There is no asking for email etc. so its totally anonymous.I will share the results on the blog once we have a few more respondents....
- 17 Nov
Your Help Please - Short 2 Question Survey About Invoice Finance Awareness
This is a very short, 2 question survey about invoice finance awareness in the UK. I would very much appreciate your views: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W3QZ86FThank you in advance.I will share the results shortly....
- 13 Nov
#TalkIF Twitter Debate Via RBS Invoice Finance
The first of the 4 #invoicefinance debates, hosted on Twitter by RBS Invoice Finance (using John Brown Media) was really interesting - you can go onto Twitter, search the hashtag #TalkIF and you will see all the dialogue. The discussion covered:It was good to participate (as far as the roaming mobile network would allow!) and I look forward to the debate over the next 3 weeks. RBS Invoice Finance...
- 05 Nov
Invoice Finance Recommended To New Start-up Businesses
Our recent survey identified that the majority of existing users that were prepared to recommend invoice finance as a source of funding to new start-ups: Alternative Funding For New Startups....
- 28 Oct
Invoice Finance Recommendation Sample Expanded To 200 Respondents
Our research regarding recommendation of invoice finance, by existing users, has been expanded to a sample size of 200 respondents. 197 of them were prepared to recommend these services to other businesses. This expanded sample has ratified our initial finding that: 98% Will Recommend Invoice Finance...
- 26 Oct
68% Would Recommend Invoice Finance To Fast Growing Companies
New article sharing our research amongst existing invoice finance users. It confirms that the vast majority are happy to recommend invoice finance as a source of funding for fast growing companies: 68% Would Recommend Invoice Finance To Fast Growing Companies...
- 22 Oct
Confirmed 87% Say Using Invoice Finance Enabled Their Growth
Our recent research has confirmed that use of invoice finance can enable business growth: Confirmed 87% Say Using Invoice Finance Enabled Their Growth....
- 12 Oct
Invoice Finance Research Presentations
We have already shared a number of briefings, regarding our invoice finance research program, with various organisations connected to our industry. This has included High Street banks, the ABFAand a number of independent invoice finance companies.If any other parties are interested in our results, there are presentations available here and we're happy to discuss the possibility of undertaking a...
- 08 Oct
96% Think Invoice Finance Can Tackle UK's Late Payment Culture
New research suggests that widening the use of invoice finance could be instrumental in tackling the UK's late payment culture: 96% Think Invoice Finance Can Tackle UK's Late Payment Culture...
- 27 Sep
HSBC Invoice Finance Research
We had a small number of respondents within our survey that either used, or previously used, HSBC Invoice Finance. I have looked at which factors they moved to or from and their reasons for doing so: HSBC Invoice Finance ResearchIts not a big sample, but the results are interesting....
- 24 Sep
Concentration Of Fast Growing Businesses Using Invoice Finance 14 Times Higher
The concentration of fast growing businesses (20%+ turnover growth pa) using invoice finance was found to be approximately 14 times higher than the general average, in our High Growth Survey 2013. The survey found that 12% of high growth businesses were using invoice finance against c. 0.86% of businesses generally.This reflects the advantages of using invoice finance when you are undergoing fast...
- 21 Sep
Types Of Companies Using Invoice Finance
This is an analysis of the types of company that were found to be using invoice finance in our recent survey: Types Of Companies Using Invoice Finance.The users were analysed according to industry sector, number of employees, level of turnover and size classification....
- 09 Sep
Wales Can Show The Way By Embracing Invoice Financing for SMEs
Great piece in Wales Online about the need to build awareness of invoice financing for SMEs: Wales can show the way by embracing invoice financing for SMEs - Dylan Jones-Evans - Wales Online.This was my comment: "Awareness of invoice finance is a significant issue, in our research survey of existing users 21% thought that awareness and lack of promotion of these products, was the key barrier to...
- 08 Sep
Growing Number Of Small Businesses Borrowing Against Assets
New article from Startups.co.uk showing that asset finance is growing as a source of finance for businesses.This contrasts with the recent Close Brothers Invoice Finance study that showed the reduction in SMEs turning to traditional bank overdraft and loans as sources of funding:Â Post About The Close Brothers Research...
- 29 Jul
New Invoice Finance Research Summary In Production
I am currently working on the next summary from our invoice finance market research summary. It should be available within the next few days and will summarise the findings from January 2015 through to the end of July 2015. Watch this space for details....
- 20 Jul
Reduction In "Would Be Seekers" Of Finance
The good news is that where businesses feel they need finance, they are increasingly likely to seek it according to a recent survey.The Q1 2015 SME Finance Monitor from BDRC Continental found that only 3% of SMEs had not applied for finance when they had wanted it, down from 6% for 2013 as a whole. The key reasons were assuming they would be turned down or feeling that the borrowing process would...
- 06 Jul
The Best Thing We Did For Our Business
"I think it?s the best thing we ever did for our business" This was the comment that one invoice finance user made when asked about using invoice finance products. This particular customer was one of 98% of users that said that they would recommend the products....
- 05 Jul
Improve Cash Flow And Secure Deals
"Yes, improved our cash flow and helped us secure deals".This was a quote from an existing invoice finance customer that we asked "Would you recommend invoice finance to other businesses?".You can read the further quotes here: Existing Invoice Finance User Quotes...
- 04 Jul
What Existing Invoice Finance Users Think
This article sets out some actual quotes from existing invoice finance users, of which 98% that answered our survey said they would recommend invoice finance:Quotes From Invoice Finance Users...
- 04 Jul
Invoice Finance Customer Doubles Turnover
"[Invoice Finance] . . . helped us to double our turnover".This is a comment from an existing invoice finance user who said that they were prepared to recommend invoice finance to other businesses:This demonstrates the link between invoice finance and being a fast growth company....
- 11 Jun
Do Businesses Want Selective Invoice Finance and Invoice Auction Sites?
Do businesses want invoice auction sites and selective invoice finance? This article looks at our research about the options that are available:Do Businesses Want Selective Invoice Finance and Invoice Auction Sites?....
- 22 May
Only 22% Have Checked Invoice Finance Price
Only 22% of existing invoice finance user told our survey that they had price checked their factoring or invoice discounting facility against the market, over the course of the last year.Ironically, many of these users also told us that they would like to see their financing charges reduced!You can get a free, independent price check, for factoring or invoice discounting, by following the link on...
- 11 May
New Invoice Finance Article - Why Non Bank Introduced Users Picked Their Facility
Latest article: Why Non Bank Introduced Users Picked Their Invoice Finance Facility.It shows that, perhaps not unsurprisingly, the choice made by non bank introduced users is rarely to use their bank for their invoice finance facility. Whereas the majority of bank recommended users do utilise their bank....
- 09 May
78% Haven't Price Checked Their Invoice Finance Costs
Recent research suggests that 78% of existing invoice finance users have not price checked their invoice finance costs, against the market, over the course of the last year. Read the full article: 78% Have Not Price Checked Invoice Finance Costs...
- 07 May
ABFA Briefing On Our Invoice Finance Research Findings
I was pleased to be able to brief the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA - the industry body for the UK invoice finance market) on the results that have arisen from our invoice finance research programme, over the last few years.The presentation (in Powerpoint) that I used as a basis for the discussion can be found here: ABFA BriefingThis follows us being asked to brief one fo the major high...
- 05 May
UK Invoice Finance Research Group Tops 900 Members
The membership of the UK Invoice Finance Research group on LinkedIn has now topped 900 members. The membership reads like a who's who of the invoice finance industry with members from most of the major invoice finance companies.The purpose of the group is to share and discuss research findings that are relevant to factoring and invoice discounting, with the ambition of helping to expand the UK...
- 25 Apr
Quote From Invoice Finance Client About Overdraft
This quote was given by an existing invoice finance client responding to our research study.They were asked why more businesses don't use invoice finance and said: "[Businesses] just go down the overdraft route as probably don?t know what other options are out there"....
- 19 Apr
How Clients Think We Should Promote Factoring And Invoice Discounting
These are a couple of actual quotes from existing factoring or invoice discounting users that were asked how the industry should address the low levels of awareness of these products amongst UK businesses:Source: Survey of 100 Existing Invoice Finance Users February 2015...
- 18 Apr
How To Increase Factoring and Invoice Discounting Client Numbers
Another new article, this time documenting the views of 100 existing invoice finance users about what factoring companies and invoice discounting companies could do to increase the number of users of their products.It includes their actual comments about how the industry could promote itself:Â The Answers - How To Increase Invoice Finance Client Numbers....
- 17 Apr
Revealed - Why Clients Pick Particular Invoice Finance Facilities
A new article is available that reveals why clients pick particular invoice finance facilities. It details the reasons that they gave for choosing their facility. Key drivers such as help with collections and flexible growth finance are included:Article: Revealed - Why Clients Pick Particular Invoice Finance Facilities...
- 14 Mar
Invoice Finance Market Research Overview March 2015
This is the research overview presentation (an abridged version in Powerpoint) that we recently presented to one of the high street banks. It covers our findings over recent years: Powerpoint IF Market Research Overview...
- 13 Mar
Help With Collections A Key Driver
needing help with the collection of outstanding sales invoices was one of the key drivers that encouraged businesses to seek invoice finance.16% of the responses to our survey of 100 invoice finance customers mentioned needing help with collections as their key driver.It is also interesting to note that throughout the survey, several respondents suggested that the factoring industry should focus...
- 06 Mar
High Street Bank Requested Overview Of Our Research
I was delighted to be asked by one of the high street bank owned invoice finance companies, to provide an overview of our invoice finance research programme to their senior management team.My presentation covered:I will post up a copy of the key presentation slides on the main site....
- 01 Mar
Why More Businesses Don't Use Invoice Finance
The second most popular response to this question was some combination of the following:This was the question that we put to a group of 100 existing invoice finance clients, from a selection of different providers, as part of our recent study.More results will follow.Source: Invoice Finance User Survey 26th February 2015 (100 respondents that may have given multiple reasons)....
- 26 Feb
Invoice Finance Results - The
The research results from our latest survey of existing invoice finance users have finally been completed. I am in the process of analysing them and I will share the results shortly. Initial impressions are that they will be very interesting to the factoring and discounting companies, shedding light on why existing customers think that market penetration is so low (estimated at c.0.86% of UK...
- 25 Feb
High Street Bank Wants Briefing On Our Research Findings
It is nice to have been asked by one of the major high street banks to give them a briefing on the findings from our invoice finance research programme. I will post up a copy of the slides from the presentation once its completed but its really positive that someone is serious about trying to understand what factoring and discounting customers want in order to increase the penetration of these...
- 23 Feb
Historic Trend In Invoice Finance Market Penetration
In the continuing UK Invoice Finance Market Research Group discussion about market penetration on LinkedIn I was asked if I had statistics for the historic trend in the market penetration of invoice finance products.Whilst I have nothing directly comparable, I did a similar exercise detailed here: Historic Market Penetration and as you will see using BIS figures of 4.8m businesses in the UK at...
- 18 Feb
UK Invoice Finance Market Sizing Against Factorable Businesses
I was asked if the 0.86% market share of businesses using invoice financing was of just of factorable businesses i.e. trades that would be acceptable to a factoring or invoice discounting company to fund against.To answer the question, no the market share, at the beginning of 2014, that I estimated was c.0.86% of all businesses - not just factorable ones (view market sizing infographic).To...
- 17 Feb
UK Invoice Finance Market Sizing
I have added a new infographic in PDF form to the FundInvoice site sumarising our sizing of the UK invoice finance (factoring & invoice discounting) findings. It shows a scale diagram of the current number of product users against the total number of UK businesses.It then contrasts that low market penetration (c. 0.86%) with the penetration that we have found within segments such as "fast...
- 30 Jan
Construction Sector Research From Bibby Financial
Bibby Financial Services have just published the results of their October 2014 construction sector research which has some interesting findings. The study encompassed 200 small construction businesses.The key highlights were:Full detail of their study can be found here: Bibby Financial Services Construction Research...
- 02 Jan
FundInvoice - Our Plans For Invoice Finance In 2015
We have great plans for FundInvoice during 2015.We finished 2014 on the news that our business' health rating has just been upgraded to the highest category by one of the credit rating systems and that we are finalists for the Business MoneyFacts Awards 2015 in the category of "Best Asset Based Finance Broker". We have assisted many new clients and prospects during 2014 and built our business and...
- 03 Dec
New Study Of How Invoice Finance Users Pick Companies
I have just finished setting out the questionnaire for our next study which will canvass a sample of existing invoice finance users. The questions are varied but we are seeking to find out how existing clients came to use factoring or invoice discounting, and how they pick between different companies.We are also going to be asking them about any issues that they have with their invoice finance...
- 13 Aug
Results Of Our Invoice Discounting Mystery Shop To Follow
We have conducted a mystery shopper exercise amongst our panel of invoice discounting companies.We asked them to quote the charges for a standard invoice discounting client and then made a comparison based on some assumptions.Results to follow....
- 12 Aug
On Average Clients Use 2.1 Different Invoice Discounting Companies
On average an invoice discounting client will use 2.1 different invoice finance companies during the time for which they use such services.The key driver for making this switch is is to make "cost savings"....
- 11 Aug
Reasons To Move Invoice Discounting Companies
As part of our study of existing invoice discounting clients, we asked them the reasons that they would move discounters.The top answer, which represented 71% of the answers given, was for "cost savings".If you are looking to move to an alternative invoice discounting company in order to make a cost saving, FundInvoice have had success in achieving this for clients and they do not charge you to...
- 08 Aug
Invoice Finance Research Article Hub
I have put together a summary "hub" of our key invoice finance related research findings. It includes:...
- 07 Aug
Invoice Discounting Clients Survey
Below you will find a link to the first results summary from our survey of 54 businesses that are currently using invoice discounting. The respondents were asked about the time during which they have used invoice finance and they were also asked to provide a rating regarding their overall level of satisfaction with their invoice discounter. Further results will follow shortly. Invoice Discounting...
- 06 Aug
Invoice Discounting Clients Research Results
The summary of the results of our research regarding a group of 54 existing invoice discounting clients is now available.It includes:Summary of Invoice Discounting Clients ResearchI will shortly be adding the reasons that they gave to move between invoice discounters....
- 05 Aug
3.8 Years Average Time With Invoice Discounter
Our survey of 56 invoice discounting clients revealed that on average they had been with their existing invoice discounting company for 3.8 years. That is slightly higher than the results from our survey of factoring users, 2.2 years, this suggests that the invoice discounting clients are slightly more stable with their provider. This probably reflects the fact that they tend to be larger more...
- 02 Aug
Invoice Discounting Client Survey Findings To Follow
We have conducted a survey of 54 existing users of invoice discounting.The users were asked about the time during which they had been using invoice finance and they were asked to provide a rating for their overall satisfaction with their current invoice discounting company.We also questioned them about what would be required to encourage them to leave their existing provider.An analysis of the...
- 30 Jul
UK Invoice Finance Research Group Tops 800 Members
The UK Invoice Finance Research group, on LinkedIn, now has over 800 active members.The group discusses research findings from surveys related to the invoice finance industry and it is open for anyone with an interest in growing the invoice finance industry to join.If you click on the "Research" tab at the top of this page you'll see a link to the group....
- 22 Jul
Read This Before Choosing An Invoice Finance Company
Before you choose an invoice finance company, please read this: Invoice Finance Research Our invoice finance market research page contains details of the research that we have completed so far and links to resources that will be helpful deciding which invoice finance company to choose. In addition please read our article: 10 Things To Consider When Choosing Invoice Finance If you need advice...
- 02 Jun
New Article On Business Finance Research Results
My new article about our business finance research survey regarding the funding of fast growing businesses has been published by Ezine articles. You can read it here:http://ezinearticles.com/?Business-Finance-Market-Research-Results-For-Fast-Growing-Businesses&id=8529743The article details our findings regarding the funding options used by fast growing businesses and the role that invoice...
- 01 Jun
Combination Funding More Adequate Than Single Source For Fast Growth
Building on our analysis of the responses of high growth businesses about their funding options, I reported previously that 30% used combination funding methods rather than a single source.Correlating the use of combination funding with their ability to raise all the finance that was required, 63% of those using combination funding methods were able to raise all the finance that they needed to...
- 31 May
Combination Funding To Reduce Funding Risks
I was just reading a venture capital article about product/service diversification in order to reduce business risk and it occurred to me that a similar diversification may be being undertaken to mitigate funding risk. Our research amongst fast growing businesses found that 30% were using some form of "combination funding" (see yesterday's post - How Do Fast Growing Businesses Get Funded) and...
- 30 May
How Do Fast Growing Businesses Get Funded?
Source: High Growth Survey 2013 (100 respondents with 20%+ turnover growth pa)....
- 28 May
Interview With Innovation Finance Finished
Innovation Finance have been kind enough to provide an interview for the next edition of FundingVoice which is due out mid June.The interview centres around our research regarding the problems faced by new startups looking for finance and how Innovation can help with this....
- 14 May
FundingVoice Magazine May 2014 Available Online
Read the latest edition of FundingVoice here: FundingVoice Magazine May 2014...
- 12 May
Invoice Finance TV Advertising From Bibby
At last I see that one of the independent invoice finance companies have launched a TV advert! Bibby Financial Services have launched their #redcushion advert on Sky and Dave - I think its the first TV advertising since Alex Lawrie and their infamous fish ad?Perhaps this will start to get the message about invoice finance, as an alternative source of finance, out to UK businesses. Our survey of...
- 29 Apr
Invoice Finance Company's Clients Have Used Them For Over 3 Years
If you think invoice finance users only use alternative finance short term, think again. Another statistic to come out of our survey of 100 existing invoice finance clients, we asked them how long they had been with their existing invoice finance company and on average it was 3.08 years, clearly a long term relationship and not something that they used short term.Within the group that we surveyed...
- 22 Apr
Invoice Finance - Secret Funding Source
New article on the site about how invoice finance is a secret source of finance that is not well known amongst businesses. It includes some of our research findings regarding the funding of new startups and fast growing businesses.You can read it here:Â Invoice Finance Secret Funding...
- 10 Apr
New Start Ups Financing Research Infographic
Here is a new infographic which summarises the research findings or a survey about the financing of new start up businesses. Vital information about funding new start businesses that should be seen by anyone planning an new start up business or anyone that finances new start ventures.New Start Ups Financing Research Infographic...
- 03 Apr
Survey Result Top 6 Invoice Finance Service Companies
A survey of 2,000 invoice finance users, undertaken last year, asked the clients to rate their invoice finance company overall and these ratings were averaged and compared.These were the top 6 invoice finance service companies that received the highest ratings from their clients in the survey:Read the full article here:Â Top 6 Invoice Finance Service Providers....
- 31 Mar
Invoice Finance Clients Don't Change Providers Often
The fact that only 11% of respondents to our survey of invoice Finance users said that they had used more than two finance companies, indicates that clients do not tend to chop and change providers very often. This is contrary to the perceptions of some parties that believe invoice finance clients are constantly moving around the industry.The fact is that the low average number of providers used...
- 26 Mar
Satisfaction Levels With Independent Invoice Finance Companies 45% Higher Than Banks
In our survey of 100 existing invoice finance clients we separated those using high street bank owned invoice finance companies from those using independent providers. We went on to calculate the average satisfaction scores and make a comparison. All clients had been asked to rate their existing invoice finance company overall.The result was that the clients of the independent invoice finance...
- 22 Mar
New Article From Close Brothers Invoice Finance - Ideal Invoice Finance
Another new article kindly contributed to FundingVoice magazine by Close Brothers Invoice Finance: Ideal Invoice Finance.The article shares some research about the concerns of small businesses - cash flow and late payments - it then goes on to outline one solution, the IDeal invoice finance product. IDeal automates invoice discounting reconciliations and allows clients to access their invoice...
- 19 Mar
UK Invoice Finance Research Group Image Updated At Last!
The group shares and discusses research findings relating to the industry with the mutual aim of helping the industry to grow. If you subscribe to those aims and would like to join the group its open to anyone with an interest in the invoice finance industry (clients, providers, brokers, accountants, introducers etc) there is a link in the column on the right hand side....
- 18 Mar
Most Invoice Finance Clients Switch Invoice Finance Companies For A Cheaper Deal
The most commonly mentioned reason for moving was to get a cheaper deal - 42.4% of the responses mentioned a cheaper invoice finance deal as the reason for moving to their existing provider. This was also the leading reason by far with the next most common response being mentioned in only 16% of cases. I will publish a full list of the reasons for moving invoice finance companies shortly.This...
- 18 Mar
Top 5 Reasons For Moving Between Invoice Finance Companies
These were the top 5 reasons that clients gave for moving to their existing invoice finance company from another provider - research results from our market research survey of 100 existing invoice finance users. These answers accounted for 80% of the responses:By far the key reason for moving invoice finance companies is cost savings - moving between providers for cheaper invoice finance deals....
- 10 Mar
Average Time Using Invoice Finance Is 5.28 Years
On average businesses said they had been using invoice finance for 5.28 years.We have just completed our new survey of 100 randomly selected existing users of invoice finance. We asked them a number of questions about who they used, what they thought etc and one of the first questions was "how long have you been using invoice finance". The average time was 5.28 years - longer than we had...
- 17 Dec
Research Expects Growth
Interesting findings from a piece of research conducted by an invoice finance company recently. They found that 69% of the businesses that they spoke to were expecting pro active growth in the not too distant future. A very positive sign for the UK economy. This is also good news for the UK invoice finance industry as there is a close association between high-growth companies and a high uptake...
- 28 Nov
New Article Disadvantages Of Bank Overdraft For New Start Ups & The Alternative
This article describes the research we conducted amongst a sample of new start up businesses. It highlighted some disadvantages of using bank overdraft. Despite bank overdraft being the most popular form of finance for start ups with over half of them using it, nearly half of those experienced funding restrictions.Read the full article here: Disadvantages Of Bank Overdraft For New Start Ups And...
- 18 Nov
Reasons Why Fast Growing Businesses Miss Out On Invoice Finance
This is a summary of the reasons non users of invoice finance (84% of 100 high growth companies) gave for not considering invoice finance as a funding option for their high growth business (20%+ growth pa - note these values are rounded hence the total):...
- 14 Nov
Why Fast Growing Companies Are Missing Out On Available Finance
This article explains recent research conducted into the finance requirements of high growth companies (20%+ pa) and it identified the reasons why very few fast growing companies are finding their way to invoice finance as a funding source.The key reasons were "invoice finance not being mentioned as an option" by the bank, accountant or advisers and "not knowing what invoice finance was". These...
- 11 Nov
Only 5% Of High Growth Companies That Didn't Use Invoice Finance Considered It As An Option
Another result from our survey of 100 high growth businesses (20%+ growth pa). As previously reported 12% of our sample used invoice finance and we asked the remaining 88% if they had considered using invoice finance to funding their high growth business.Only 5% of the fast growing businesses that were non users (the 88%) had even considered invoice finance as an option - many of the reasons for...
- 01 Nov
The Consequences Of Insufficient Funding To High Growth Companies
When we surveyed 100 high growth companies we identified 59% of them that said that they had not had access to sufficient finance and funding to support their growth rate (growing faster than 20%+ pa). We went on to question them about the consequences of that lack of funding and these were their responses:...
- 31 Oct
52% Of Maximum Growth High Growth Companies Use Invoice Finance
That might read like a strange title but let me explain!In our study of high growth companies (20%+ growth pa) we identified 79% that said that with more funding they could grow even faster. That leaves 21% that said that they couldn't increase their growth rate even with more funding. We analysed that 21% of "maximum growth" businesses and we found that 52% of them used invoice finance to fund...
- 25 Oct
79% Of High Growth Businesses Want More Finance For Additional Growth
We recently surveyed 100 high growth businesses (defining high growth as 20% or more turnover growth in the last year). We asked them: "If you had more finance available to your business could you increase your growth rate even further?". The answer was unanimous - 79% of those fast growing businesses said that they could increase their growth rate even further if they had access to further...
- 09 Oct
UK Invoice Finance Research Group Reaches 700 Members
The UK Invoice Finance Research Group which I started on LinkedIn.com has reached the 700 member mark.The group is a platform for sharing research findings related to the invoice finance industry with the objective of expanding the market penetration of invoice finance products such as factoring and invoice discounting.There are numerous historic discussions on the groups forum that you can read...
- 23 Aug
High Growth Companies Are 43% Short Of The Funding They Require
I recently reported that 59% of the 100 high growth businesses (turnover growing by more than 20% over the last 12 months) we interviewed said that they had less funding than they required. These businesses were using a combination of overdraft, loan and family money to fund their businesses. We went on to ask them how inadequate their funding was.On average these high growth businesses that...
- 16 Aug
48% Of Loan Funding To High Growth Businesses Is Inadequate
Our survey of high growth businesses recently revealed that 59% of them did not have enough funding and we went on to ask those what type of funding they were using.The results were as follows (note one respondent could use multiple sources of finance):This clearly demonstrates that invoice finance is highly suited to funding high growth businesses where traditional funding sources such as...
- 07 Aug
59% Of High Growth Companies Don't Have Enough Funding
Further results from our market research survey of 100 high growth companies (turnover growing at 20% or more per annum).59% of fast growing businesses said that they did not have enough funding to support their current growth rate. Amongst those businesses that did not have enough funding, none of them was using invoice finance (factoring & invoice discounting).All 12 of the respondents that...
- 21 Jul
Recruitment Sector Features In High Growth Sector Survey
Staff recruitment businesses, both temporary staff hire, permanent placements and sector specific recruiters featured heavily in our market research survey of fast growth UK businesses.The list was compiled by calling a randomly selected database of businesses until 100 were identified for interview, all with annual turnover growth rates of at least 20%.Within that list recruitment was the most...
- 20 Jul
59% Of Fast Growth Businesses Don't Have Sufficient Finance
The available finance is not enough to support many high growth UK businesses. In our recent market research survey of 100 fast growth businesses (high/fast growth being defined as 20%+ turnover growth in the last year) we found that a staggering 59% of respondents said that they had not had sufficient finance to support their current growth rate.Worrying news for the UK economy when you couple...
- 17 Jul
High Growth UK Businesses Survey Results - Higher Proportion Of High Growth Businesses Use Invoice Finance
Our market research survey of "high growth UK businesses" follows on from the series of business segments that we have surveyed recently. Our sample for this survey was a group of 100 fast growth businesses i.e. businesses that had grown their turnover by 20% or more over the last year.The average growth rate across the respondents was 37.5% with the lowest being 20% and the highest 75%.We asked...
- 05 Jul
New Start Ups Don't Realise Invoice Finance Is A Funding Option
Our recent survey of 100 new start up businesses found that 31% were unable to raise all the funding that they wanted but none of those with funding restrictions considered using invoice finance. Their reasons for not considering invoice finance, given by the 31 respondents that couldn't get enough funding, were as follows:...
- 01 Jul
Membership Of An Industry Body On Your Website Increases The Liklihood Businesses Will Buy From You
More results from our research into online buying behaviour amongst businesses purchasing from finance related websites. We asked if various items being present on a business' website increased the chances of businesses purchasing from that business. 35% of respondents (100 randomly selected businesses) said that they would be more likely to buy from a business that was a member of an industry...
- 26 Jun
87% Are Not Swayed By Celebrity Endorsements
We have conducted a lot of market research into online web related buying habits in order to improve our own.Another statistic from our market research survey of 100 SME businesses. We asked them if they thought that businesses were more likely to buy from companies that had celebrity endorsements on their website. 87% said they would not be more likely leaving just 13% that would be more likely...
- 25 Jun
Full List Of Advice For New Start Up Businesses From Business Owners
This is the complete list of advice for new start up businesses, from business owners based on our survey of 100 new #startup businesses:...
- 24 Jun
4 More Pieces Of Advice From Business Owners For New Start Up Businesses
Below are 4 more pieces of advice from our #startups market research survey, from business owners for people starting their own new start up businesses. These follow on from the top 3 pieces of advice published previously:The remainder of the results from the start ups survey will follow soon....
- 21 Jun
Top 3 Pieces Of Advice From Business Owners For New Start Ups
As part of our #startups survey we asked 100 new start up businesses: "If you could give someone starting a new business one piece of advice what would it be?".The top 3 pieces of advice for new start ups, from business owners, were as follows:I will publish the remainder of the advice for new start ups from business owners shortly....
- 20 Jun
Business Growth & Alternative Funding Discussion
I was invited to this morning's round table debate "Big Opportunities for Business Growth", which which I attended.It was an interesting debate that encompassed:The essence of the discussion was that it is down to everyone to seek growth. Businesses for their own sakes but also the government to incentivise and encourage growth and a positive culture for business in general. There seemed to be a...
- 19 Jun
Roundtable Discussion
I have been invited to attend a round table discussion regarding "Big Opportunities for Business Growth".I have also put forward the following question should there be time to address it:A POSSIBLE QUESTION FOR DEBATEOur recent survey of 100 businesses showed that:In previous of our surveys:Question:In view of the lack of access to funding that UK businesses continually report, how can the low...
- 18 Jun
We Found 92% Of Our Prospects The Funding They Wanted
I have read recently a number of statistics about businesses being unable to access sufficient funding, for example:A range of between 31% and 77% being unable to access the funding that they needed depending on which survey you look at.We therefore reviewed the last 50 new prospects that we have dealt with in order to see how many we were able to find funding for.This is a far better performance...
- 17 Jun
Deal Completed - CHOCS For A Business Refused An Overdraft Extension
We were recently able to help a small business that were looking to grow but had been refused an extension to their limited overdraft by their bank. The bank had recommended their own invoice financing division but we were asked to introduce them to some alternative invoice finance companies and we were able to find them a CHOCS facility that would provide the additional funding for growth.CHOCS...
- 12 Jun
Additional Support & Advice That New Start Up Businesses Want
We asked 100 new start up businesses what additional support and advice would have helped them when they first started their business.Of the 32% of start ups that said they wanted more support and advice, this was what they asked for:...
- 11 Jun
New Starts Want More Support Advice & Help From Their Bank But Haven't Considered Invoice Finance
32% of new start ups that we interviewed (from a sample of 100 new start businesses) said they would have liked more support and advice when they started their new business.Of those, nearly 41% said that they wanted more support from their bank.When we looked at the other answers from that 41%, all of them said that they were unable to raise enough finance when they first started and in all cases...
- 06 Jun
The Start Ups With Funding Restrictions Used Either Overdraft Or Family Money - Not Invoice Finance
In our recent survey of 100 new start up businesses we found that 31% of our sample said that they couldn't raise all the funding that they wanted initially.74% of those start ups that couldn't raise enough funding initially were using bank overdraft whilst the remaining 26% were either using their own or family money. None of these respondents that were unable to raise enough funding were using...
- 24 May
Invoice Finance Can Provide More Adequate Start-up Funding Than Overdraft
Continuing to share the findings of our survey of 100 randomly selected new start-up businesses, we asked them if they were able to raise all the funding that they wanted initially, when they first started business.Of the 52% of new start-ups that said they used overdraft, 44% of those said that they were NOT able to raise all the funding that they wanted initially, but unfortunately none of that...
- 17 May
17% Are More Likely To Trust A Business Finance Website That Ranks Highly In Search Engines
Continuing to build on the results from our survey of 100 businesses about what establishes trust with a business finance website, nearly 17% of the responses to the question we posed about what makes businesses trust business finance websites were that they rank well in search engines!High rankings in a search engine seems an odd way to determine whether a webiste it trustworthy, and it probably...
- 15 May
32% Of New Start Businesses Used A Bank Loan To Fund Their New Business
So in addition to the 52% of new start businesses that used a bank overdraft to fund their business, a further 32% of the 100 respondents to our market research survey of new start-up businesses used a bank loan for their initial funding.In total that is 84% of new start up businesses that were using some form of traditional bank finance in order to fund their startup.There are some very...
- 14 May
52% Of Start-ups Said They Used Overdraft To Fund Their New Business
More results from our market research survey of 100 start-up businesses. We found that 52% of the startups that we interviewed said that they used a bank overdraft to fund their new start business. Interestingly that figure is lower than the number of businesses that we have found to use overdrafts generally in previous surveys (we previously found that 88% of businesses said that they had a bank...
- 13 May
14% Of New Startups Use Their Own Cash Or Family Money To Fund Their Business
It might well be the cheapest form of funding - to use your own cash or family money, but 14% of the startups that we interviewed said that they used either their own money or family money to fund their new business initially. It is probably a good way to keep costs down, assuming your family are not charging you to borrow the money!However, you also have to factor in the loss of any return on...
- 12 May
Confirmed - Awards Make Businesses More Likely To Buy From Your Website
In our market research survey of 100 SME businesses we asked them about their buying behaviour from finance websites. One question we posed was "If the following things appear on a company website do they make you more likely to buy from the business?" - we then asked them to answer that question in respect of "Awards".The result was the a unanimous 100% of respondents said that the presence of...
- 11 May
Only 2% Of New Startups Used Invoice Finance To Fund Their New Start Business
In our recent survey of a randomly selected sample of 100 new start businesses only 2% said that they actually used invoice finance to fund their start up business.As I have posted previously, only 4% of those startups that we surveyed said that they had even "considered" invoice finance and of those that didn't consider it, 39% of them said they didn't consider invoice finance as they didn't...
- 10 May
Startups Just Don't Know That Invoice Finance Is For New Start Businesses
Yesterday I revealed that a startling 96% of new startups didn't consider invoice finance to fund their new start business. We then went on to ask them why they didn't consider invoice finance as an option.The top answer given by 39% of respondents that didn't consider invoice finance was that they "didn't think invoice finance was an option for start ups".This shows a real lack of understanding...
- 09 May
96% Of New Startups Don't Even Consider Invoice Finance As A Possible Funding Source
I have new results just in from our new business start-ups survey. We interviewed 100 new start businesses about how they funded their business. The target list were all businesses that were recently started but without any propensity towards the use of invoice finance i.e. a generic list of recent new start businesses.We asked a number of questions and I will share their responses over time but...
- 05 May
Customer Recommendations & Testimonials Are The Most Important Factor In Making Customers Trust A Finance Website Online
With our latest market research survey we have taken a slightly different tack and questioned a random sample of 100 businesses about their use of finance related websites online.The first question we asked them was: When a business visits a finance related website what do you think makes them more likely to trust that business? We then went on to ask them if there was anything else that would...
- 25 Apr
Free, Independent Invoice Finance Search Service To Introduce To Clients Of Accountants, Advisers & Consultants
Our research amongst accountants found that most accountants can appreciate the benefit of offering our free, independent quotation search for invoice finance to their clients. We are happy to offer this service to your clients in partnership with you if you are a firm of accountants, advisers, consultants or similar.Our findings were that approximately 15% of accountants regularly referred...
- 27 Mar
Only 14.7% Of Construction Businesses Raise Applications For Payment And Wouldn't Benefit From Them Being Funded
Our #constructionfinance survey of 100 construction sector businesses identified only 14.7% of construction businesses that raise applications for payment didn't think they would benefit from having funding against them - a very small percentage, highlighting strong demand for funding from this sector.However, of this segment - 64% of them said they could forsee the need to raise business finance...
- 22 Mar
UK Invoice Finance Research Group Has 600 Members On Linkedin
Anyone who is anyone within the invoice finance arena should join the the UK Invoice Finance Research Group on Linkedin - its completely free and it shares and discusses research findings relating to the future of the invoice finance, factoring and invoice discounting industries. You can use our research findings to better understand what invoice finance customers really want and use it to shape...
- 14 Mar
Businesses Need £43.2K Funding To Grow More Than 14.6% This Year
A while back we reported the results of our research study amongst 100 randomly selected SME businesses. They said that on average they expected to grow by 14.6% over the next 12 months.We then asked them how much additional funding they would need within their business to exceed their projected growth figures. On average they said they would need an additional £43,200 of additional funding in...
- 06 Mar
19% Of Construction Businesses Have Had An Invoice Finance/Applications Finance Quote
Of the 100 randomly selected construction sector businesses that we interviewed in our #constructionfinance survey only 19% said that they had ever received a quote for construction finance either in the form of invoice finance or finance against applications for payment.Of those 19 - 2 had subsequently taken up a facility - one with Lloyds TSB and one with Bibby.We did a quick analysis of the...
- 01 Mar
Even Construction Companies That Don't Need Capital Would Benefit From Payments Against Applications For Payment
Another querky piece of information that arose from our recent #constructionfinance research survey of 100 construction sector businesses. 35% of the respondents said that they didn't forsee the need to raise any finance over the next 12 months. However just over a third of those (34%) said that their business would benefit from getting payments against uncertified applications for payment! A...
- 10 Feb
Construction Finance Against Invoices Not Applications For Payment
There has been much focus on construction finance against uncertified applications for payment but in 25% of cases construction businesses just raise straight credit sales invoices rather than applications for payment (according to our recent construction finance sector survey of 100 construction businesses).We didn't find that any of these 25% of construction sector businesses used invoice...
- 07 Feb
Construction Sector Businesses Still Haven't Heard Of Finance Against Uncertified Applications For Payment
Following our recent #constructionfinance survey of 100 construction sector businesses I have started to analyse the results a little more deeply.Of the total, 75% raise applications for payment (rather than invoices) and so I focused on just this group. Of those that raise applications for payment:...
- 28 Nov
The Reasons Why Only 2% Use Construction Finance
As part of our recent #constructionfinance survey we asked 100 construction businesses if they needed to raise finance over the next 12 months - 65% said they did. However, we also asked if they used invoice finance or finance against applications for payment (hereafter called construction finance). Only 2% used construction finance so we went on to ask those that didn't use construction finance...
- 22 Nov
Only 19% Of Construction Businesses Have Had An Invoice Finance/Applications Finance Quotation
Our construction sector finance survey revealed that 65% of construction business (100 surveyed) anticipate the need to raise finance over the next year and only 2% of construction sector businesses (in our survey) used invoice finance/applications for payment finance.We also asked these construction sector businesses if they had ever received a quotation for invoice finance/applications for...
- 02 Nov
65% Of Construction Businesses Need To Raise Finance
My previous post was that only 2% of construction sector businesses (we surveyed 100 randomly selected #construction businesses) said they used invoice finance or finance against applications for payment.We went on to question them about their future funding requirements and 65% said that they expected to need to raise further finance during the course of the next 12 months!This should present a...
- 01 Nov
Construction Finance - Invoice Finance - Applications For Payment Finance
Further results from our #constructionfinance research study during which we questioned 100 randomly selected construction businesses about their finance related requirements.We asked them if they used any form of invoice finance or finance against applications for payment and of the 100 businesses interviewed only 2 said that they did use invoice finance or applications for payment finance. We...
- 04 Oct
Businesses Expect 14.6% Turnover Growth During Next 12 Months
Recent figures showed a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) contraction in Q2 2012 of 0.4% but we wanted to understand the level of confidence that businesses had in future growth potential within the UK.So as part of our recent survey of SME businesses we asked 100 business owners "by what percentage do you expect to grow your business' turnover during the next 12 months". Only a handful within our...
- 14 Sep
Why Do Businesses Think Invoice Finance Is Easier To Get Than Overdraft?
As you may have seen from my previous posts only 7% of businesses think that it is easier to qualify for invoice finance rather than a bank overdraft. This is a major misunderstanding as invoice finance is often available in cases where an overdraft is not.Of those businesses that said that they thought it would be easier to qualify for invoice finance than overdraft we went on to ask them...
- 12 Sep
20% Think Its Harder To Get Invoice Finance Than Overdraft
Just to complete the statistics, following on from my previous posts:20% of respondents, in that survey of 100 SME businesses, thought that it would actually be harder to get invoice finance than to get an overdraft! There is a great amount of misunderstanding here as invoice finance is freely available to businesses that would not qualify for an equivalent overdraft in many cases.We asked that...
- 08 Sep
UK Invoice Finance Research Group Breaks 500 Member Mark
I am pleased to announce that the UK Invoice Finance Research Group, which I manage via Linkedin.com, has broken the 500 member mark with 502 existing members as of yesterday.The group is free to join and discusses research and research related issues relating to the invoice finance industry with a view to trying to encourage the expansion of the UK invoice finance industry. We publish all of our...
- 05 Sep
85% Of Construction Businesses Would Benefit From Immediate Payments Against Uncertified Applications For Payment
The construction sector is an area that several invoice finance companies now fund and we have successfuly assisted many construction sector businesses find funding. To better understand the sector we have just completed a survey of 100 randomly selected businesses within the construction sector. I will publish the answers to a variety of the questions asked on this blog over the coming weeks.One...
- 26 Jan
Switching From Overdraft to Invoice Finance
My recent article "How to switch customers from overdraft to invoice finance" has just been published by Commercial Finance Today.The article explains the results of our recent research into the reasons for customers using overdrafts and what customers say is needed in order to entice them to switch from overdraft to invoice finance.If you are interested in switching from overdraft to invoice...
- 11 Jan
UK Invoice Finance Research Group Tops 300 Members
Good news, the membership of the UK Invoice Finance Research Group (see Linkedin.com) is now 306 members, having broken through the 300 member mark recently.This is something of an achievement when you consider the size and specialist nature of our sector.If you would like to join our free discussion group please follow this link: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3323843...
- 29 Dec
Will Invoice Finance Grow In 2012?
We have posed this question to the UK Invoice Finance Research Group on Linkedin.To give your opinion on whether the UK Invoice Finance market will grow in 2012 please vote...
- 30 Nov
CFT Article Published - Do Clients Want Selective Invoice Finance & Auction Sites?
My latest article published in Commercial Finance Today - "Do Clients Want Selective Invoice Finance and Auction Sites?"The article explains research findings from research that we have recently conducted with a group of SMEs regarding their views about selective invoice finance and auction sites that can be used to access invoice finance....
- 17 Nov
Invoice Finance Auction Sites For More Competitive Pricing?
Through our ongoing research we wanted to find out if there was a demand for accessing invoice finance through an online ebay style auction site. Recently there have been some developments in this area with new invoice finance auction sites being launched and as invoice finance brokers we have been asked to introduce business to these auction sites.We therefore consulted a sample of 100 SMEs and...
- 17 Nov
SME Loan & Overdraft Research Published by BDRC Continental
A huge piece of lending related research, the SME Finance Monitor, amongst 10,118 SMEs has just been published by BDRC Continental. The key findings were:...
- 19 Oct
93% of SMEs Think the UK Government Should Promote Invoice Finance
Finally we have the results through from our 5th survey group! There was some unsolicited suggestion in one of our previous surveys that the UK government should promote invoice finance and that not all businesses are aware of the benefits of invoice finance. Therefore we specifically asked a sample of 100 randomly selected SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) "Should the UK government...
- 03 Oct
Has A Lack Of Bank Lending Created An Opportunity For Invoice Finance?
Commercial Finance Today have published my latest article "Has A Lack Of Bank Lending Created An Opportunity For Invoice Finance?"...
- 01 Sep
Invoice Finance Research Conclusions So Far | Commercial Finance Today
My recent article has been published in Commercial Finance Today:Invoice Finance research conclusions so far.It summarises the 9 key conclusions arising from our invoice finance related research activity....
- 30 Jun
Are Banks, Banking Packages & Banking Offers The Key To Growing Invoice Finance?
Much of our research has shown that invoice finance is not well known within business circles. Some 41% of businesses thought that lack of knowledge/promotion was the key reason for invoice finance not being taken up by more businesses.Our attention turned to what should be done about that. Therefore, we questioned 100 SMEs and asked them the following question: "Our research suggested that...
- 06 Jun
Are Banks Cutting Back On Credit For Business Finance?
We surveyed 100 SMEs and asked them if they anticipated problems raising business finance during 2011. 59% said they did and we went on to ask the 59% why.The top response, from 39% (23 respondents) of those that anticipated problems raising finance, was that they thought that banks were cutting back on credit.A curious perception as the major banks have been targetted to increase their lending...
- 25 May
My Latest Article Published In Commercial Finance Today
This is a link to my latest article - "What Customers Hate About Invoice Finance" which has been published in Commercial Finance Today the ENewsletter written by Commercial Finance People: What People Hate About Invoice FinanceIt describes the results of our research into customer's "pet hates" about invoice finance but also promotes the view that most of their pet hates are not common across all...
- 26 Apr
What Is Missing From The Invoice Finance Market?
We questioned 100 SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) regarding what they thought was missing from the invoice finance market. I have already published some of the results but below is a full list of the responses that were received:...
- 16 Apr
Invoice Finance Not Promoted Enough
When we questioned 100 SMEs about what was missing from the invoice finance market 14% said "advertising" and 12% said "general awareness of what invoice finance is".In total these reponses represent 26% of all respondents to our market research survey that are raising the issue of the lack of promotion of invoice finance as a significant market gap. This is an opportunity to be addressed by...
- 12 Apr
28% Of Businesses Want Instant Online Set Up & Approval For Invoice Finance
In our recent poll of 100 SME businesses, we asked them what they thought was missing from the invoice finance market. After "flexibility" of funding - which was the most popular response, 28% of respondents said they wanted "instant online set up & approval" for invoice finance.This reflects the growing demand we have seen for online access to financial products as businesses have become more...
- 22 Mar
Invoice Finance 19% Overpriced On Average
My previous post revealed that 68% of SMEs we spoke to said that they thought that invoice finance was overpriced. We asked them by how much, and these were their replies:? 2% of respondents felt it was overpriced by 5%? 10% of respondents felt it was overpriced by 10%? 19% of respondents felt it was overpriced by 20%? 46% of respondents felt it was overpriced by 25%? 2% of respondents felt it...
- 10 Feb
Customer Choices Affect Pricing Expectations
Our recent research has addressed what SMEs would expect to pay for invoice finance and we also asked them if they would prefer to use a bank owned or an independent invoice finance company.We found an interesting quirk in the response data. We compared those that said they would prefer to use a bank owned invoice financing company with those that said they would opt for an independently owned...
- 15 Dec
Why Do 56% of SMEs Prefer An Independent Invoice Finance Company?
In our survey 56% of SMEs questionned said that they would prefer to use an independent invoice finance company rather than one owned by a bank. 41% of those respondents said the reason for their choice was due to a desire for "personal service"....
- 01 Dec
73% Of SMEs That Prefer A Bank Do So Because Its A Well Known Name
In our survey of 100 SMEs only 33% said they would prefer to use a bank owned invoice finance company. Of that 33% - 73% of them, nearly three quarters, said that the reason for their preference was that the "bank was a well known name"....
- 23 Nov
56% of SMEs Prefer An Independent Invoice Finance Company
We asked 100 SMEs whether they would prefer a bank owned invoice finance company or an independent invoice finance company.The results were as follows:I will be looking at the reasons why over the next few days....
- 09 Nov
Average Business Loan Represents Just 4.7% Of Sales Ledger
In our SME survey we asked SME businesses if they had business loans and if so what percentage it represented of their outstanding sales ledger. Of the 7% that had a business loan, the average value represented only 4.7% of their outstanding sales ledger.This figure is much lower than that for invoice finance, which can be an alternative to getting a business loan. Recent figures from the ABFA...
- 11 Oct
Banks Not Increasing Overdrafts - Lending Survey Results
We asked 100 SMEs if their overdraft had increased, decreased or stayed the same over the course of the last year.Not a single respondent reported an increase in their overdraft over the last year, more evidence that the banks are not increasing overdraft lending to SMEs....
- 05 Oct
Article Published The 8 Most Well Known Invoice Finance Companies
Commercial Finance Today have just published my recent article: The 8 Most Well Known Invoice Finance Companies....
- 22 Sep
100% of Businesses Surveyed Can't Name the Invoice Finance Industry Body
As part of our latest SME survey we asked 100 SME businesses if they could name the industry body for invoice finance.Not a single respondent was able to give the name!The ABFA (Asset Based Finance Association) is the main industry body for invoice finance and these latest results highlight that the profile of the ABFA is very low, reflecting the generally low awareness of invoice finance amongst...
- 07 Sep
Linkedin UK Invoice Finance Research Group Link
This link should take you to the page where you can join the UK Invoice Finance Research Group on Linkedin:Â https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3323843/You will need to join Linkedin to join the group but all our research results are being published to that group....
- 01 Sep
Finance Cost Is The Biggest Issue That Is Being Addressed By Some Invoice Finance Companies
The research that we have published in the past demonstrated that 41% of SMEs thought that cost was the biggest reason for businesses not taking up invoice finance. Our research has also revealed that 100% of SMEs think that the availability of business finance has reduced over the last year and 86% also believe that the cost has increased over the same period.This may be true generally but there...
- 20 Aug
UK Invoice Finance Research Group Launched On Linkedin
Last night I created a group on Linkedin called "UK Invoice Finance Research" group which already has 22 new members! The purpose of the group is to share research findings relevant to invoice discounting in order to aid the expansion of the market.Initially I will update it with some of the findings that I have posted to this blog but we are constantly conducting new research so that will also...
- 03 Aug
Newsletter Published
The July 2010 newsletter has now been published.This issue includes articles about:...
- 02 Aug
Cash Crunch - Only 7% Of SME Businesses Face A Lack Of Credit
Contrary to popular opinion, our recent research survey found that only 7% of SME businesses questioned stated that a "lack of credit" was the biggest issue facing their business over the next year i.e. an inability to get credit from suppliers and/or financiers.71% were concerned with cash or cash flow related issues and 22% were concerned about the lack of sales, but lack of credit was far less...
- 30 Jul
Lack Of Sales Is A Big Issue For SME Businesses
The joint second biggest issue facing SME businesses over the course of the next year was the "lack of sales".This is interesting as with only 22% of respondents stating "lack of sales" as their biggest issue it ranks some way behind the 71% of respondents that stated a cash or cash flow related issue as being their biggest forthcoming issue.Whilst finding sales is obviously an issue, financing...
- 26 Jul
49% Of SME Businesses Expect To Have Insufficient Cash
In our recent research survey, 49% of the SME businesses that were interviewed said that they expected the biggest challenge facing them this year to be having insufficient cash.This should present a huge opportunity for the invoice finance industry - the need for cash is apparently the biggest issue facing small and medium sized businesses which confirms there is a need for the products that...
- 01 Jul
Article Published In Commercial Finance Today By Commercial Finance People
My thanks to Prue Heron at Commercial Finance People for her kind invitation to publish my article "Why Don't More Businesses Use Invoice Finance" in their monthly enewsletter - Commercial Finance Today.Commercial Finance Today is compiled by Commercial Finance People, a long established recruitment consultancy specialising in the Invoice Finance/ABL, Banking, Leasing/Asset Finance and...
- 30 Jun
Is Only One Factoring Company Marketing & Advertising?
Yesterday I posted that 80% of SMEs in our recent invoice finance survey said that they had not seen any advertising whatsoever for invoice finance. This lead us to question the remaining 20% about what they had seen.In all cases, the only advertising they said they had seen was an information pack that was sent to them by one of the invoice finance arms of a single major high street clearing...
- 24 Jun
42% Of SMEs Can't Name Any Invoice Finance Companies
As part of our recent invoice finance related survey we asked 100 SME businesses to tell us the first invoice finance companies that came into their mind.Our expectations were that their answers would reflect the handful of proactive invoice finance companies that are making a good job of promoting themselves. However, some aspects of the resulting answers were quite shocking - in particular the...
- 18 Jun
SMEs Dramatically Over Estimate The Number Of Invoice Finance Users
Our research amongst SMEs also revealed that 49% of those SME businesses we questioned dramatically over estimated the proportion of UK businesses that use invoice finance, when the actual number is very low, in part due to poor promotion of these cash flow products by the industry.In fact the number of UK businesses using invoice finance is less than 1% of the total number and we have some more...
- 19 Feb
Are UK Businesses Being Over Optimistic?
Are UK businesses being over optimistic about the UK economy?We recently published results of our market research survey of 100 SMEs that 73% of SMEs thought that the UK economy would improve over the course of 2010. 17% thought it would stay the same and only 10% thought it would decline.The results are certainly in keeping with the prevailing opinions on various newsites and blogs around the...
- 11 Feb
Business Climate & Invoice Finance Market Survey Results
The first question we asked 100 SME's was "How do you expect the economic conditions in the UK to change over the course of 2010?".73% of respondents expected economic conditions in the UK to improve over the course of 2010....
- 18 Jan
UK Business Conditions Survey
It would be much appreciated if you would complete our 10 question multiple choice survey about current UK Business Conditions, the results of which will be published on the blog and in future newsletters.Survey ClosedThanks...
