Smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo finansavimas Lietuvoje : galimybës ir grësmës

Abstract

The purpose of the publication is to establish the basic opportunities of financing of SME in Lithuania. It is impossible to begin business without long-term capital investments which are necessary for premises’ purchase or rent, goods, technologies purchase, etc. In most cases it is not enough to use only own savings. There are many ways of grouping of the basic financial sources. In the first part of the publication the information on various forms of financing is presented: external and internal sources. The first section divides the basic attention to internal (own) sources of financing: profit of the enterprise, amortization, and incomes of sale of the long-term property, collected debts, and the commercial credit. When all these forms of financing are used, it is necessary to search for additional means in various credit institutions (banks, credit unions). It is necessary to note, that some businessmen are afraid of taking credits because of the fear to become dependent on creditors. In the second section of the first part advantages of use of proceeds of credit are analyzed. The majority authors name tax benefit, reduction of risk, and increase in liquidity. However credits are not the only one way to receive financing, which is necessary for the beginning or developments business. In this section such forms of financing as leasing, factoring, overdraft, guarantees, trade financing and forwards are presented. In the second part, on the basis of statistical data for more detailed analysis the Kaunas district has been chosen and representatives of SMEs were interviewed by e-mail, phone. After data processing research, the basic problems of financing of SMEs have been established. Besides it was found out that the majority of respondents’ approach of choosing financial source is a cautious and careful analyze of this or that way of financing. So, for example, the most important factor defining the choice is conformity of the financial source to the needs of the enterprise. In the final part of the publication possible ways of mitigation and elimination of SME financing problems are presented. The analysis of a situation has shown that the spectrum of financial sources is wide enough, but the basic problem of business steel is a shortage of financing. It is possible to allocate some reasons: lack of the information on various kinds and forms of financing, shortage of experience, absence of financial formation at the majority of heads, especially in very small companies. Stating offers the world tendencies of development of SME and the opportunities of this sector in Lithuania have been taken into consideration.