Working capital and SMEs

2010

In the study of "Working capital and SMEs," Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and Creditreform looked at how 2,500 companies are managing their liquidity, and interviewed more than 300 managers to look at the results in detail.

Many companies have depleted their liquidity reserves since the crisis; but they need to act if they are to keep up with demand as it recovers again. Acquiring debt in the credit market is not that easy, or cheap, right now. German SMEs will need around EUR 60 billion just to buy the additional raw materials, resources and capital equipment they need by 2012. So they will find working capital management, that is, managing their assets, receivables and payables, will become increasingly important.

Conclusion: German SMEs may have caught up to a large extent, but the unused potential is still enormous. The resources companies need to safeguard their own liquidity, can often be found within the companies themselves. The untapped cash potential across all industries is approximately EUR 120 billion.