SME Financing | Introducing the New Code of Conduct for Dutch SMEs and Alternative Finance Platforms

Financing Conference: Heads or Tails for SME Financing?

The Financing Conference “Heads or Tails (Dutch: Kop of Munt)” was a successful and informative gathering, which was held on Monday 13th June 2022 by the SME Financing Foundation (Dutch: MKB Stichting Financiering). More than 150 SME financiers, financial advisers and other interested parties who are active in the SME financing market heard from prominent speakers about their vision of the challenges and opportunities for SME financing.

In this special event, special speakers, such as Jacco Vonhof of MKB-Nederland, Chairman of the Committee of Entrepreneurship Jacques van den Broek, Lecturer and researcher Lex van Teeffelen, CEO of Fairphone Eva Gouwens, and Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Micky Adriaansens, also participated in this conference.

 

Chairman of the SME Financing Foundation, Ronald Kleverlaan says:

The SME finance market is undergoing a development in which a much wider range of specialist financiers and advisors are available to support SME entrepreneurs in financing the energy transition, growth plans and innovation. During this conference, policy makers, financiers and advisors will come together to discuss how entrepreneurs can make the best use of this.

No Nostradamus

Jacco Vonhof of MKB-Nederland stated that in addition to overcoming the Covid-19 crisis, there are more challenges ahead for SMEs. Stuck supply lines, the war in the Ukraine, rising fuel prices, stricter environmental requirements, the energy transition and the current staff shortage seem to be a prelude to an upcoming recession.

There is a lot on the plate of the entrepreneur, who can be better helped financially by getting credit more easily, for example with the establishment of a win-win arrangement. This tax scheme is very successful in Belgium. The provision of information to the entrepreneur about the possibilities of non-bank financing and financiers with a quality mark could also be improved. MKB-Nederland, together with the Stichting MKB Financiering, wants to promote these through their affiliated branches.

More Cooperation and Coherence

Chairman of the Committee of Entrepreneurship Jacques van den Broek spoke about a system change and called for more cooperation and coherence between public and private financing solutions. From his experience in coaching growth companies, he indicated that uncertainty about financing is disastrous for the growth and further development of a company. “An entrepreneur who has problems finding funding is not going to invest, or hire staff.” says Jacques van den Broek.

In addition, he indicated that there is enough money available, but the challenge is how this capital can find its way towards SMEs. He concluded the talk by indicating that in addition to good financing, automation and education are also part of a future-proof SME.

Minister Considering Platform-like and Alternative Financing Solutions

After these speakers, the participants were questioned by the chairman of the day Ronald Kleverlaan and the visitors were given a few more propositions to answer, for example about the role of the government.

70% of the audience indicated that the measures taken by the government were not really in line with the wishes of SMEs and financiers. This surprising result was a prelude to the discussion with Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate, Micky Adriaansens. She closely follows developments in the non-banking financing sector and finds the sector of great value for the engine of our economy. She is currently investigating the possibility of a platform-like solution that SME financiers can use. After her words, Ronald Kleverlaan presented the minister with the updated Code of Conduct for Approved SME Financiers.

 

Small Business Scoring Less Marks

Lecturer and researcher Lex van Teeffelen came up with research figures of the small business sector. Researcher van Teefelen’s figures showed that the small business sector is not doing well. The fact that the Central Planning Bureau (CPB) still shows positive figures is because the figures of small business (less than 5 employees) were not measured nor included in the analyses. Therefore, the government gets to see figures that only count for a small percentage of all businesses in order to take action in the economy.

Lex van Teefelen also thinks it is time for Smart Financing and the introduction of the win-win scheme. According to him, it is not only in the access to finance but also the sales skills of the small entrepreneur must be increased.

Influence and Green Industry

Eva Gouwens, CEO of Fairphone, spoke about the ideological motivations and genesis of the company and phone. Social entrepreneurship is paramount at Fairphone and through their methods, the company trys to influence and render the whole chain and electronics market “greener”.

Fairphone is a great example of how a company can be financed alternatively through crowdfunding in the early stages. Crowdfunding is a method of financing that uses public funding of a project or venture. Investors can subscribe to funding requests that are published on the Internet through a crowdfunding platform. The deposit per person can start from relatively small amounts, so the group of investors / investors who raise the required funding can be large.

Fairphone proves that it is possible to work with the crowd to bring a completely new product to the market, with its new product Fairphone 4 currently on the market.

Funding Conference 2023

To finish off, there was an opportunity to talk and network during the drinks. The SME Financing Foundation thanks all speakers and visitors for coming. We look forward to organizing the next financing conference in 2023.

Download the updated Code of Conduct

The updated Code of Conduct for Approved SME Financiers can be downloaded from the website SME Financing Foundation.

The financiers in the list below comply with the Code of Conduct and have the Quality Mark Approved SME Financier. Each year they are audited by the SME Financing Foundation to see if they still meet the requirements of the quality mark.

• Collin Crowdfund – Crowdfunding
• Fiduciam – Direct lending
• FundIQ – Direct lending & Mezzanine financing
• Geldvoorelkaar – Crowdfunding
• NPEX – SME Trade fair
• October – Crowdfunding
• Qredits – Micro-financing & Various business loan products
• Voldaan – Factoring & Individual factoring
• Svea Finans – Factoring
• NLInvesteert – Private crowdfunding
• Startgreen Capital – Crowdfunding
• Voordegroei – Crowdfunding
• FreelanceFactoring – Factoring
• Mogelijk – Real Estate Financing