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Accountants are in the midst of a “great opportunity” to cement closer long-term relationships with their clients, according to the new SME Growth Index from Scottish Pacific.
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Opportunity for accountants in SME funding
21 September 2015
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9 minute read
The index indicates that funding and cash flow issues are increasingly prominent among SMEs, with 89.4 per cent of small businesses relying heavily on their own capital to fund growth.
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In addition to a majority of businesses failing to obtain adequate funding, the research highlighted that accountants are only privy to approximately 16 per cent of conversations that SMEs are having regarding strategies to best fund their business.
Peter Langham, Scottish Pacific CEO, stated that proactive moves by accountants in relation to funding advice are bound to lift the relationship with their clients.
“I think there’s a great opportunity for accountants to be more proactive in having these discussions with their clients, because so few of them do go outside their family and friends' circles looking for advice”, he said.
Mr Langham added that due to their being time-poor, small business owners are reluctant to pick up the phone and search for advice since they may be overwhelmed by the options or simply unaware of where to start.
“I think they’re very receptive to someone calling them,” Mr Langham said.
“This highlights that with such a low proportion of business owners seeking outside advice and assistance [there is a] great opportunity for accountants to pick up the phone and make that call,” he added.
The Growth Index also highlighted that one third of SMEs have no plans for new products or services, with Mr Langham stressing that it was up to the accountants to assist these businesses and offer advice and new alternatives.
“SMEs and business owners appreciate people challenging them and saying, ‘Are you looking at new products? Have you looked at new initiatives?’ It really is a great opportunity for accountants to go to the business owner and really assist them, because they do appreciate it,” he said.
According to Mr Langham, small business owners, due to the nature of their position, will always be faced with “something they should be looking at” in addition to “the day-to-day, run of the mill running of the business”, and it was paramount that accountants make themselves and their services available.
“If the accountants can help their clients become more successful, then the accountants will become more successful themselves,” Mr Langham concluded.
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