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According to the FinFind South African Smme Access To Finance Report, there is a large demand for SMME funding but a high percentage of the demand is from early stage SMMEs that battle to meet the traditional credit risk assessment requirements. The report findings also suggest that many business owners lack the financial knowledge or literacy needed to raise funding nor are they finance ready even if they have viable business models. Finance readiness refers to being able to produce the financial documentation required by lenders to assess how safe lending money to the company is, how much money to lend and what interest rates and terms should apply.

In this article we focus on the immediate actions you can take to realise and unlock cash flow within your business within 1 to 3 months. Cash flow is a challenge for many businesses and without it, your business will choke as this is the oxygen you need to keep your business alive. A cash flow crisis is even more challenging for small business owners and they do not always have the shock absorbers that larger businesses might have - Most businesses fail because they run out of cash. Not only is this information a great resource during a crisis, but key elements you should consistently revisit to help you avoid long term cash flow problems. These are not academic recommendations, we have also applied these same practices in our practice so we know these are effective. Don't worry about having all the right answers immediately, as a business is always a work in progress and some of the oldest companies are still figuring it out themselves!