Finance for Small and Entrepreneurial Business

Richard Roberts

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780415720991
• eBook ISBN: 9781317961314
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

The financial environment of small and entrepreneurial firms is changing rapidly and is a topic where significant disagreement remains amongst researchers and policy advisers. This concise textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the current and projected trends in this market for the benefit of students of entrepreneurship at an advanced level.

Written by an expert on SME finance, it provides a straightforward review of the external funding choices faced by small business owners, drawing on a range of new data sources which have emerged in recent years, along with a range of case studies. In addition, it includes an analysis of longer term trends and the role of the changing phases of the business cycle to equip readers to better understand the wider market environment both now and in the future.

Roberts provides students of entrepreneurship with everything they need to know to excel in understanding the financial environment and its effect on small business.

Routledge-ISBE Masters in Entrepreneurship

Edited by Susan Marlow and Janine Swail

The Routledge-ISBE Masters in Entrepreneurship series offers postgraduate students specialist but accessible textbooks on a range of entrepreneurship topics. Collectively, these texts form a significant resource base for those studying entrepreneurship, whether as part of an entrepreneurship-related programme of study, or as a new, non-cognate area for students in disciplines such as science and engineering, helping them to gain an in-depth understanding of contemporary entrepreneurial concepts.

The volumes in this series are authored by leading specialists in their field, and although they are discrete texts in their treatment of individual topics, all are united by a common structure and pedagogical approach. Key features of each volume include:

• A critical approach to combining theory with practice, which educates its reader rather than solely teaching a set of skills
• Clear learning objectives for each chapter
• The use of figures, tables and boxes to highlight key ideas, concepts and skills
• An annotated bibliography, guiding students in their further reading
• Discussion questions for each chapter to aid learning and put key concepts into practice.

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Stephen Roper

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Maura McAdam

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Creating Dynamic Entrepreneurial Learning Capabilities

Oswald Jones, Allan Macpherson and Dilani Jayawarna

Entrepreneurship, Small Business and Public Policy

Evolution and revolution

Robert J. Bennett

Finance for Small and Entrepreneurial Businesses

Richard Roberts

This book reflects the accumulated knowledge of someone who really knows about the nitty-gritty of small business finance from working for 30 years for Barclays Bank, whilst writing top quality academic papers and being a major influence on policy. Nobody knows more and I urge you to read it.

David Storey, Professor, School of Business Management and Economics, The University of Sussex, UK

A number of us have been waiting for this book for a long time. It provides a unique insight into SME finance. It is well written and makes an important contribution to the SME policy and research literature.

Robin Jarvis, Special Adviser to Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Professor of Accounting, Brunel University, UK

Finance for Small and Entrepreneurial Businesses

Richard Roberts

First published 2015

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2015 Richard Roberts

The right of Richard Roberts to be identified as author of this work has

been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced

or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other

means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and

recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without

permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks

or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and

explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Roberts, Richard G.

Finance for small and entrepreneurial businesses / Richard Roberts.

pages cm. — (Routledge-ISBE masters in entrepreneurship)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Small business—Finance. 2. New business enterprises—Finance. I. Title.

HG4027.7.R593 2015

658.15—dc23 2014036607

ISBN: 978-0-415-72099-1 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-415-72100-4 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-86664-2 (ebk)

DOI: 10.4324/9781315866642

Typeset in Perpetua and Bell Gothic

by Apex CoVantage, LLC

Dedicated to the memory of Mike Young, Southampton City Football Club supporter and Bank of England Official

1951–2012

Contents

• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Part I Context
  • 1. Defining small and entrepreneurial business finance
  • 2. Why is lending to – or investing in – a small firm difficult?
  • 3. External finance products used by small and entrepreneurial businesses
• Part II Product review
  • 4. Structured debt: term loans and commercial mortgages
  • 5. Cash-flow products: overdraft and business credit cards
  • 6. Factoring and invoice discounting
  • 7. Leasing
  • 8. Equity
• Part III A longer-term view
  • 9. The use of external finance over time: escalators and rollercoasters
  • 10. Current and future trends in finance for small and entrepreneurial businesses
• Appendix I: Case studies in external finance for entrepreneurial and small firms
• Appendix II: International data
• Index

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Frontmatter 1
• Frontmatter 2
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Part I Context
• Part II Product review
• Part III A longer-term view
• Appendix I: Case studies in external finance for entrepreneurial and small firms
• Appendix II: International data
• Index