Guide to managing business debt
It's fair to say that the last 18 months have been challenging for everyone across the UK, small businesses and business owners included.
The severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic sent many businesses into survival mode, where the priority was finding ways to overcome the enforced closures, the lockdowns and the financial hardship that the spread of coronavirus brought.
For some businesses, this remains a priority.
While it's true that survival is still on some businesses' minds, others have been able to recover and can now look positively towards the future.
We've designed this guide to provide impartial information to help businesses through survival and onto recovery, helping them stabilise and move forward to growth and future success.
We've focused on the following areas:
- Understanding debt finance
- Managing debt
- Improving your cash flow
- Moving from survival to recovery and growth
- Resources for businesses worried about their debt
We've produced the contents of this guide with contributions from Be the Business, an independent, not-for-profit organisation whose goal is to help business owners and leaders improve their businesses' performance.
Chapter 1: Understanding debt finance
- What is debt finance?
- Why your business might need debt finance
- Why debt might be helpful for a business
- How debt now can affect your credit later
Chapter 2: Managing debt
- What you can do if you have concerns about managing your debt
- How an accountant could help manage your debt
- Concerned about repaying your Bounce Back Loan? What are your options?
- Consolidating and refinancing business debt
- Getting back on track
Chapter 3: Improving your cash flow
- What is cash flow and how do you manage it?
- Creating a cash flow forecast
- How to prevent and manage late payments
Chapter 4: Moving from survival to recovery to growth
- Your business's financial recovery: key steps
- Making your business more resilient to change
- Adapting to change
- Case study: Papersmiths
- Moving from survival to recovery and growth
- Case study: Bare Kind
Chapter 5: Useful resources
- Debt information and resources for businesses
- Basic financial management for small businesses
- Mental health support
Please note that this guide and the content provided is for information purposes only. The guide is not intended to provide advice (including legal, financial, tax or other professional advice). You should always get professional or specialist advice before doing anything on the basis of the content contained within this guide.
Reference to any organisation, business and event on this page does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation from the British Business Bank or the UK Government. Whilst we make reasonable efforts to keep the information on this page up to date, we do not guarantee or warrant (implied or otherwise) that it is current, accurate or complete. The information is intended for general information purposes only and does not take into account your personal situation, nor does it constitute legal, financial, tax or other professional advice. You should always consider whether the information is applicable to your particular circumstances and, where appropriate, seek professional or specialist advice or support.
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