Challenges of Small Businesses :: Essays Papers

Challenges of Small Businesses Growth in the small and medium business in Canada and other developed countries has been very significant. This sector of the business community now represents about 40 percent of GDP and accounts more than half of total employment. Today small businesses are more diverse and more vigorous than ever, but they also faces newer and more challenges or inhibitors to their growth than their older conter parts. This research will attempt to find the answer to the following hypothetical question: "What are the barrier to entry, inhibitors to growth, and detriments to the health of small business and entrepreneurship today?" Access to capital and credit at various stages in the business life cycle is identified as the major hurdle by the entrepreneurs. For many small firms and most start-ups, the personal funds of the business owners and entrepreneur and those of relatives and acquaintances constitute as the major source of capital. For many small businesses, especially during the early years of their operation, credit is simply not available. For many others, the limited available credit is not through bank loans. Due to this many of them rely on multiple credit card balances and home equity loans as major sources of credit for start-up firm. Because banks are bound by laws and regulations to prudent lending standards that require them a risk management assessment for each loan made. These regulations were made more vigor during the late 1980'' and early 1990 . Banks always found that lending to manufacturing firm with hard asset such as property, equipment, and inventory has always been easier than lending to today's expanding service sector firms. Because the service sector firms own few hard asses, therefor lending judgment have to be based in terms of character, markets, and cashflow, which make it difficult to the bank to meet the regulations for the approval of the loan. Additional, the banking industry, as well as the entire financial sector of the economy, is undergoing rapid change. In the future banking industry will be divided into global, national and super-regional banks and a much smaller number of community banks. It is expected of these banks primarily super regional banks and community banks will extend their services to the needs smaller business through large loan processing centers utilizing credit-scoring techniques and "intelligent models" (artificial intelligence-derived computer-based models) .