Small firms lament lack of credit, slow payments and high business costs

A CONTINUED lack of available finance, slow payments by creditors and high costs of doing business are keeping many small firms under serious pressure, according to a new sentiment survey for the SME sector.

The Summer Business Sentiment from the Small Firms Association (SFA) has found 59% of SMEs rate the current business environment as either “poor” or “very poor” and only 21% of companies are confident about their own business prospects – 7% less than was the case in the first quarter of this year.

However, 16% of companies said they expect the overall business environment over the next three months to be positive – a significant increase on recent editions of the survey. SFA director Avine McNally said: “Entrepreneurial businesses that are well structured and well managed will see opportunity in uncertainty. However, they need assistance from government to provide support and create an environment that will put them on a sustainable growth path.”