When the economy falters, small businesses face trying times
and there's no doubt that this is one of them.
After years of cheap and readily available funding, businesses
are finding credit harder to secure. For example, U.S.
structured financing - the financing behind the financing -
went from more than $300 billion per month in June 2007 to
less than $50 billion per month in November 2007. Rising
prices have put increased pressure on the cost of doing
business. Consumers are tightening their belts in the face of a
rising cost of living, a decline in home values and fears of a
sharp economic slide being stoked by the press.
For the moment, one downturn seams to lead to another, and
businesses - large and small, across virtually all sectors of
the economy - are feeling the squeeze. While the overall
business bankruptcy rate is climbing, small businesses -
particularly those whose owners used home equity or personal
money to fund their enterprises - are battling for survival and
are at risk for delinquency or default.
Business owners need every tool at their disposal in times like
these to avoid trouble and spot opportunities to grow. When
success depends on the ability to build capital, business credit
monitoring can help.
That's why it's no surprise that we see the use of monitoring
growing rapidly year after year - especially in the current
economic environment.
