How savings can boost SME businesses

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IN an environment where liquidity is tight, how does one raise the liquidity required to fund a small business so that it grows.

IN an environment where liquidity is tight, how does one raise the liquidity required to fund a small business so that it grows.

Most of the time we think of debt, we think of borrowing from friends, family and even from the bank. Sometimes small and medium enterprises (SME) owners even resort to expensive options.

Using the wrong kind of financing can sometimes literally destroy a good business idea.

AS SME businesses, sometimes the key to success is mobilising the right kind of money at each growth stage in the business.

For example, debt may be good for a business, but it may be best to take on debt when a business has run successfully for a while, not when it is just starting up.

It is not only dangerous to start a new business entirely financed through borrowed funds. If the business idea fails, you may fail to repay the loan and possibly damage your financial reputation permanently.

So what is the best way of funding a new growing start-up? The answer, difficult as it may seem, is to mobilise personal savings.

Personal savings as a the primary source of equity for a business In one of our previous articles, we discussed the concept of “equity first” for funding SMEs.

Before rushing of to your bank to ask for a loan to fund your start-up business or even to expand your existing operations, we highlighted several innovative equity-based financing ideas for possible adoption by SMEs.

Savings were one aspect that can prepare an SME business for a successful long-term relationship with the bank.

Successful business people usually have taken huge personal financial risk at the onset.

Apart from generating the entrepreneurial ideas that have made some into millionaires or even billionaires, they sacrificed a huge chunk personal savings as initial capital investment into their businesses.

Using personal savings means that you exercise total creativity in getting your business off the ground.

You have the flexibility to drive your business in the direction that you want and implement your ideas to the maximum without being accountable to other investors or a bank.

It also lays a strong basis for other investors and lenders to trust you with their money when eventually your business reaches a stage when it needs an external injection of capital.

Therefore, developing a personal savings culture can result in building a sound basis for a successful business in the form of cash in the bank or assets that can be used productively in the business.

Generating internal business savings No matter how big your business idea is, it is advisable to start small and reinvest the profits into future growth.

This again is a form of savings. In as much as surplus cash is invested in the business, some of the cash should be kept as cash in the bank as much as is possible.

Cash in hand allows the business flexibility to take immediate advantage of opportunities when they arise, but also gives the SME a critical cash cushion when things turn out not so well during lean periods.

Effective use of internal finance also means that you will need smaller amount of initial capital to start the business.

Your small pot of personal savings generated during your working years may therefore be sufficient to fund your start up enterprise and as you trade, you must reinvest the proceeds and profits into the business.

This will naturally enhance the growth potential of your business.

This is called funding the business from “internal resources”, meaning that cashflows from the business together with your personal savings will fund the initial growth phase of the business until such a time it has gathered credibility to attract outside investors.

Organised savings groups Sometimes it is difficult for one to save on their own or in their own business.

However, it is possible for SME owners of like mind to form what are now known as self help groups, which are traditional savings unions. In Zimbabwe we know them as “savings clubs”.

It is, however, important for such outfits to have a self regulatory constitution that governs the behaviour and contributions by members.

It is also important that the constitution spells out clear financial and banking policies to safeguard the savings of members.

After a while the pool of savings can be used as cash collateral in securing facilities from banks.

The business groupings members can also give each other what is known as social collateral, by giving each other cross guarantees for loans accessed.

Savings lead to easy access to bank loans Many potential business people with pretty good ideas end up killing their ideas because they can’t get access to a bank loan.

However, from our discussion above, having a pool of savings and a savings culture within the SME manager or owner makes for easier access to banking facilities in future.

A business that has developed a reasonable saving record is a good candidate to approach a bank for funding.

If you have a savings track record, either in personal, or business capacity, it usually demonstrates a level of discipline and patience that will make your SME a good candidate for a successful bank loan application.

 Clive Mphambela is a Banker. He writes in his capacity as advocacy officer for the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ). BAZ expressly invites players in the MSME sector and all other stakeholders to give their valuable comments and feedback related to this article to him on [email protected] or on numbers 04-744686, 0772206913