FINANCING YOUR BIZ IN 2011
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- Category: SME toolkit
- Written by with Bridget Olotu
- Hits: 480
By the middle of last year, my company began to seriously look at the issue of facilitating financing for SMEs in the country. We discovered that many clients we handled their business plan projects always wanted us to advise them and in some instances were concerned about the financing or refinancing of their business operations for the sake of expansion and growth or for them to be able to take advantage of business and market opportunities as they arose.
We also discovered that while facilitating finance for these businesses is something that can be done, at the same time, many SMEs are not structured or run in ways that make them financeable. This is because some SMEs, even the large ones, cannot meet the criteria of financiers because some lack business ethics, business structures, financial accountability, proper documentation of business operations and proper corporate governance. All these shortcomings, among others, mass together as a stumbling block denying them of the chances to get financing to meet their business needs.Imagine a business owner that claims to be in business for some time and doesn’t have financial statements, doesn’t have identifiable income and expenses, basically has no track records to suggest they’ve been in business for that long. Such a business owner sends the wrong signal to investors or financiers, no matter how beautiful, convincing and robust the business plan is.
To facilitate financing for SMEs in Nigeria, we are working with and are expanding our network of (project or business) financiers both within and outside the country. A few of these financiers handle mega business projects, while majority of them are established to meet the funding needs of small and medium enterprises.
Therefore to help SMEs qualify for funding, I shall also write on the various criteria SMEs need to meet and how they can meet such criteria so that those interested in expanding and growing their businesses through external funding can begin to package themselves for these financiers. Interestingly, too, I shall also focus on non-banking sources of finance open to SMEs.
In all, what I am saying is that in this first quarter, I would love to share with SMEs formal and non-banking sources they can raise finance to meet their business needs, whether for start-up, expansion, growth, working capital provision or for other purposes. At the same time, I will also share with SMEs some of the criteria they have to meet in order to receive favourable or expected responses from project and business financiers.
–Bridget Olotu
Articles
FINANCING YOUR BIZ IN 2011
Category: SME toolkit Written by with Bridget Olotu Hits: 480
By the middle of last year, my company began to seriously look at the issue of facilitating financing for SMEs in the country. We discovered that many clients we handled their business plan projects always wanted us to advise them and in some instances were concerned about the financing or refinancing of their business operations for the sake of expansion and growth or for them to be able to take advantage of business and market opportunities as they arose.
We also discovered that while facilitating finance for these businesses is something that can be done, at the same time, many SMEs are not structured or run in ways that make them financeable. This is because some SMEs, even the large ones, cannot meet the criteria of financiers because some lack business ethics, business structures, financial accountability, proper documentation of business operations and proper corporate governance. All these shortcomings, among others, mass together as a stumbling block denying them of the chances to get financing to meet their business needs.Imagine a business owner that claims to be in business for some time and doesn’t have financial statements, doesn’t have identifiable income and expenses, basically has no track records to suggest they’ve been in business for that long. Such a business owner sends the wrong signal to investors or financiers, no matter how beautiful, convincing and robust the business plan is.
To facilitate financing for SMEs in Nigeria, we are working with and are expanding our network of (project or business) financiers both within and outside the country. A few of these financiers handle mega business projects, while majority of them are established to meet the funding needs of small and medium enterprises.
Therefore to help SMEs qualify for funding, I shall also write on the various criteria SMEs need to meet and how they can meet such criteria so that those interested in expanding and growing their businesses through external funding can begin to package themselves for these financiers. Interestingly, too, I shall also focus on non-banking sources of finance open to SMEs.
In all, what I am saying is that in this first quarter, I would love to share with SMEs formal and non-banking sources they can raise finance to meet their business needs, whether for start-up, expansion, growth, working capital provision or for other purposes. At the same time, I will also share with SMEs some of the criteria they have to meet in order to receive favourable or expected responses from project and business financiers.
–Bridget Olotu