Here’s a question for you, what is it that all SMEs, regardless of sector and location, have in common? The answer – a need for funding.
Whether it’s to help drive innovative product development, purchase capital assets or to implement a sales and marketing strategy, everyone needs a helping hand at some point.
The trouble is that funding is not always guaranteed and even when it is available it has a long developed reputation of sometimes causing more trouble than it’s worth. Back in the day you may have taken out a short-term debt (an overdraft) or a small-term loan, usually from a bank, and had to give some form of personal guarantee, which really translated as – “your house is on the line”. Not a risk many are willing to take anymore!
These days of unstable financial times call for a need to step outside your comfort zone when it comes to funding sources. Funding sources have progressed far beyond the old-fashioned bank loan, with the rise of crowdfunding, business angels, equity funding and grants. Depending on your business and what you are looking to achieve the choices for SMEs to raise some extra capital in an innovative way are now greater than ever.
A big step away from the norm for some companies is HMRC’s R&D tax credit scheme. A source of funding from the government, the scheme is driven by innovation, rewarding companies with tax relief based on the amount of money they have put into research and development. Understandably some companies may feel out of their depth if they do not see themselves as doing ‘traditional R&D’. However, R&D can be found in the most unlikely of places and you should not rule R&D tax relief out without first thinking about your potential eligibility, particularly if you find yourself constantly solving seemingly unsolvable problems in a bid to make advancements in your field – whatever sector your company is in.
