working capital . So , they question : ‘ how do I fund that growth , how do I get access to the cash sooner ?’. For example , you ’ ve just sold 40 cakes to a local restaurant and need to buy some more ingredients for the next big order . How are you going to get access to that ? Because that restaurant will pay you in 45 days , how are you going to get access to that unless that proposition exists ? And at a reasonable cost ?

It brings forward the cash flow . You ’ ve raised your invoice , you ’ ve done the work , now you need some of that money , well , here ’ s a way of getting 85 % of it immediately in the balance for a very low cost . It works for you to improve your cash flow and allows you to reinvest that . For example , paying your suppliers if you need to , buy some more machinery , some more raw materials or pay bills or staff , depending on the nature of the business .

Where do you see the financial market in five years ?

The big banks were a mile wide , they will still be there providing wholesale services and the big-ticket stuff . But there will be 1,000-miledeep propositions serving specific specialisms that help different propositions . That could be something like Clear Factor , deep in invoice finance , serving a particular niche , through embedded finance propositions . People like us , in all sectors , are trying to digitise things that allow you to become really specialist and serve a particular market really well at a low cost .

The next markets for me would be Germany , Brazil and Singapore , where they offer a huge opportunity for what we do in established , wellregulated markets . There are different rules in each country so you ’ ve got to adapt and be agile in the way you move overseas as well .

Do you have any last advice for SMEs when it comes to finance strategy ?

My advice would be to focus on the cash flow . Nobody ever went out of business if they focused on their cash flow and made sure they got money in the bank . Make sure you ’ re dealing with good , reputable people , who will pay you .

After that , try and have fun – business is good fun . If you ’ ve got something you enjoy and you ’ re passionate about , stay focused on that . �

TRY AND HAVE FUN – BUSINESS IS GOOD FUN . IF YOU ’ VE GOT SOMETHING YOU ENJOY AND YOU ’ RE PASSIONATE ABOUT , STAY FOCUSED ON THAT .

So , my prediction , is five years from now there ’ ll be thousands of mile deep specialists and very few that are very big and broad . Because it ’ s difficult to be big and broad and innovative .

What are Clear Factor ’ s goals for the future ?

We are now embedding with several distribution partners in the UK , where they are looking at overseas markets . Germany , Singapore and Brazil are really good markets for what we do .

We have to raise money ourselves as we are technically a small business and hope to become a relatively large small business – everyone ’ s expecting to grow .

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