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Abstract
Access by SMEs to finance is constrained by demand-side weaknesses. Most businesses are not investment ready. Their owners are unwilling to seek external equity finance and those who are willing do not understand what equity investors are looking for or how to ‘sell’ themselves and their businesses to potential investors. These weaknesses, in turn, compromise the effectiveness of supply-side interventions, such as initiatives to stimulate business angels or which create public sector venture capital funds. This has highlighted the need for investment readiness programmes that seek to increase the pool of investable businesses. This paper reviews the design and delivery of investment readiness programmes in the UK and draws out lessons for best practice.
Acknowledgements
This paper was produced for the Conference on Access to Finance: improving new investment finance options in the Western Balkans, which took place on 8 June 2010 in Skopje. The work was funded by the OECD Investment Compact for South East Europe, a leading programme designed to improve the investment climate and to encourage private sector development in South East Europe (www.oecd.org/daf/psd).