Financial terminology and jargon stops half of professional services SMEs applying for business finance

Despite struggling with some of the jargon, however, only 39.8 per cent of them have been turned down for finance against an average of 46.9 per cent across the sectors surveyed – professional services, administrative services, wholesale & retail, human health/medical, manufacturing and construction.

The term COGS is the least understood with 42.2 per cent of the professional services SME decision makers not understanding it followed by ROCE and EBITDA with 38.6 per cent not knowing what they mean.

The research by LDF, the independent provider of small business finance solutions, also shows that over three out of five (62.7 per cent) of SME decision makers in the sector felt that the approval of, or time taken to receive money, or both, had a negative impact on their business, with 13.5 per cent having to move out of their flat or house and 30.8 per cent saying they didn’t pay themselves.

The delay in receiving finance also had an emotional impact, with 65.4 per cent saying that they felt stressed, the highest level across the sectors.

“It’s interesting to see the professional services sector’s view on business finance and the terminology around it,” says Peter Alderson, managing director of LDF. “Despite 48.2 per cent of them being put off from applying for finance by the terminology only 39.8 per cent of them have been turned down for finance.

“At LDF, we are committed to making not just the terminology of finance, but access to it, as easy, quick and trouble-free as possible.”

SMEs in the professional services sector, however, generally have a positive attitude to business finance with 25.3 per cent likely to think that it’s a sensible way to spread costs and are the most likely (42.2 per cent) to think it’s a normal part of business. Among those that have a negative view, however, over half (51.7 per cent) think it sounds like you are struggling to make ends meet or are a business failure.

Elsewhere, LDF’s research shows that 38.6 per cent of professional services SMEs admit to making a poor financial decision in the last 12 months, with 25 per cent saying it was caused by taking on too many staff.

The research was conducted for LDF by Opinion matters between 27.01.17 and 06.02.17 and sampled 506 SME decision makers in construction, professional services, administrative services, wholesale & retail, human health/medical and manufacturing.