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The 2008 recession might have been a few years ago, but the British population are still coping with the initial shockwave as well as dealing with the financial aftershocks. The economic downturn has made many businesses go bankrupt, and if you’re a small company looking to expand, it’s proving to be extremely tough to get a loan or financing.

Seeing as the banks started the problem in the first place, you’d expect a little help somewhere along the line in order to get your finances on track. However with the list of ‘high risk’ businesses on the rise, banks are closing up shop and refusing to lend to new starters who can’t produce a big enough return. If you’re a small business or you’re looking to start one up, here are a few tips on how to raise some much needed cash to get things going.

First things first…

Check out Social & Peer-to-Peer Lending

This type of borrowing has become increasingly popular over the last few years, with young entrepreneurs choosing to find finance online instead of camping outside the banks. Simply put, social lending puts your needs in touch with people online that are willing to help you out. A broker will determine the amount of money you need, and then put you in contact with people online that are willing to lend the same amount. Basically, you decide the type of the loan, the length and how much interest you want to pay, and then the broker matches your credentials with lenders. This way of lending has many benefits, most notably not involving any banks or institutions. Both borrower and lender get better rates than if they were to go through a bank too. Just sit back and let the site compile all the necessary paperwork and transactions!

Crowd-Sourced Funding

Similar to social lending, crowd-sourced funding also involves a network of people lending money. However instead of a set amount, the individuals involved in crowd-sourced funding lend as much or as little as they want, backing a project instead of loaning cash that could be for a number of things. For example, crowd-sources funders may lend money to a project they believe in, whether it’s a film, an album, or a product. In return for the cash loan, the investee will offer rewards related to the project, maybe a credit in the film, or a song title on an album. They may even name their product after an investor. The size of the loan will depend on the size of the project, and terms/rewards will have to be ironed out and put on paper before any cash is exchanged.

Angel investors

Relatively new in the lending business, put simply, these investors will front large amounts of money in exchange for equity in your business when the banks aren’t interested. If they believe in your business, they’ll back it, however they will need to see detailed and convincing business plans which show a return on their investment – if your pitch isn’t right, you’ll lose the cash!

Small companies are the backbone of UK corporate land and David Cameron, Britain’s Prime Minister, no less, has recently said that he believes that they are crucial in creating jobs, wealth and opportunity. Small businesses are seen as having a key role to play in play in the UK’s economic recovery – more major economic turmoil from continental Europe notwithstanding.

Even so it is still depressingly tough for small companies with a host of problems to overcome and it seems little in the way of real meaningful support from government or the banking sector. For them, it appears, that any kind of business lending is just still too difficult or unattractive.

Moreover, smaller companies are often finding that they are being squeezed financially by larger ones who are effectively using their size and power to dominate smaller companies and use them in effect as a source of finance. According to the Federation of Small Businesses’ statistics as many as 30% of small businesses say they are being paid late on a regular basis.

Whilst there is some legislation around to prevent this (late payment interest etc.) many small companies are reluctant to use these methods as they risk damaging the relationship with their customers.

There are a few practical things that all companies (even the larger ones) should do to help minimize late payments and reduce the pressure that this puts on cash and the ever increasing risk of default.

Firstly make sure that your terms of payment are agreed in writing. See a lawyer if you haven’t already got some well written and legally enforceable Terms & Conditions of sale.

Make sure you have a formal system in place for credit check all your customers. There are many ways to do this with a number of web sites available online, it doesn’t cost very much and it is quite an easy thing to do. This will help you to make informed credit decisions and many of them will tell you if your debtor has a track record for paying people on time.

Try to have a champion at your customer (usually the person buying your goods or services) who can help pressure the finance department if needed and will help smooth out any issues.

Make sure you get your billing right, errors and omissions are the commonest reasons for delayed payment. Don’t provide your debtor with any excuse; check and double check names, addresses, purchase order numbers, prices and all calculations.

Make sure that you or someone in your team calls your debtor well in advance of the invoice falling due for payment to make sure it has been received, is being processed and that there are no problems with it – don’t wait until it is overdue.

Review you overdue debts position regularly (create an aged debtors report) and make sure that all overdue debts are escalated for management intervention.

You are here because you want to know more about how to trade foreign currency. Foreign currency, also known as foreign exchange, or FX as it is most popularly called, is traded on one of many markets collectively called the FX market. Naturally, you want to know how to make money trading FX, but you’ll also want to learn how to avoid losing money while trading FX. This is the key to successfully trading FX – trade smart. You trade smart by doing exactly what you are doing here – learning all that you can about every facet of the FX world.

One of the most important things you can do to save yourself a lot of heartache and heartburn is to learn about the forex brokerage firm that you plan to associate with. Fly-by-nights and Johnny-come-lately FX companies are creating and opening up websites every day. Not all of them are legitimate, unfortunately, and there is little recourse to the investor who unwarily opens and establishes an FX trading account with his hard-earned cash.

A reputable company will be one that has been around for years. It’s important that you read the company’s “about us” page and learn who they are, where they are located, what they stand for, and what their policies are, try to read out source forex brokers reviews and see what other traders think about them. It’s also important to learn what protections and safeguards your account will have. Also consider seeking out the opinions, criticisms and testimonials of other forex traders who have used their services to help you assess the company before you open and fund your trading account.

And speaking of funding, be certain that you know exactly what the brokerage firm requires of you. A disreputable firm may lure you in with a low initial deposit, only they neglected to clearly state that that low initial deposit was below the minimum trade. Be absolutely clear as to the minimum and maximum amounts you need to start your account and start trading with your account.

While it’s absolutely true that experience is the best teacher, it’s equally true that forewarned is forearmed. If you want to trade FX – trade smart!

No one ever wants to think that something terrible might befall them or their family, or even their car, flat or home, but unfortunately, these things do happen. Many wind up in quite large amounts of debt, or even bankruptcy, simply because something that they were unprepared for happened, be it an illness, a car accident, or even a home repair disaster.

In most cases, insurance will cover the necessary damages, but not always, and that is where the concept of having an emergency fund comes into play. An emergency fund, also called a rainy day fund by some, is basically just as it sounds a stash of money which has been saved and is to be used in the event of an emergency.

Many people stockpile their emergency fund for things like sudden car repairs, say on the way to the office the brakes on your automobile start squeaking, unless you have planned for brake replacements, or have your rainy day fund in place, it could be quite difficult to just reach into the wallet and fork over hundreds of pounds for an unexpected issue. Home repair problems are another big source of uses for any emergency fund, a flooded shower, a termite infestation, a hole in the roof, are all things that can put any sort of emergency fund to use quickly.

And in this volatile economy, building up an emergency fund is an intelligent idea for if another deep market fluctuation occurs and jobs are made redundant, getting sacked, while certainly an unexpected disappointment, might not be quite as terrible if a few months mortgage were sitting in the rainy day fund.

So how to get started, right then, first things first, take a look at your budget and determine just how much funds you will be able to put away. Next, set up an automatic withdrawal from your account, preferably right at the same time you might receive each pay check, then you won’t even know the money was ever there. Set up these withdrawals each month, or even every two weeks. After six months or so of saving, you will be pleasantly surprised to find such a tidy sum sitting in your emergency fund.

The goal of this fund is really to never use it. Do not borrow from the emergency fund to go on holiday, or buy the family Christmas gifts, the funds in that account are only be used in case of an emergency. Once this fund is set up, you will be able to rest easily that if any unexpected crisis were to occur, you would be able to finance it with the money in your emergency fund (or at least partially finance it), and not skip much of a beat in your regular financial life. It is a piece of mind that is relatively painless to set up and get going.

Controlling your finances is essential if you want to reach your financial goals. Fortunately, taking control of your money isn’t an impossible task. The following strategies have worked for millions of people who wanted to get out of debt, save money, and build wealth.

1. Put something into savings every month.

Some financial advisors name a percentage of your total income, while others name a dollar amount. Whichever method you choose, make sure that you put a percentage of your paycheck into a saving account. This is a sure-fire way to know that you are living within your means.

2. Pay off your highest interest debt first.

It’s nearly impossible to do anything without taking on debt at some point, but it is critical that you work to get your debt paid off as quickly as possible. By starting with your highest interest debt, you are insuring that you are paying the least amount of interest every month. As you pay off a loan, use the money that you were paying towards it to cover the next highest interest loan. Repeat this process until you are out of debt.

3. Have an emergency fund.

Everyone has unexpected expenses in their lives. Unfortunately, too many people choose to deal with them by pulling out a credit card. With an emergency fund, you will be able to pay for small and large disasters without relying on high-interest debt. While having several months of your expenses set aside is ideal, even having as little as $100 in a savings account can pay for minor disasters.

4. Start saving for retirement early.

With so few people eligible for pensions and Social Security becoming less and less reliable, odds are that you will have to take on the majority of the responsibility for your retirement. Fortunately, there are several different ways to prepare. The key to all of them, however, is to start saving as early as possible. By putting funds aside in your twenties and thirties, you earn the benefit of compound interest and increase the leeway you’ll have with saving for retirement in your later years. In other words, the more you put aside now, the less you’ll have to come up with later.

5. Teach your kids about money.

No matter how well you plan and save, you will someday have to pass on everything to your kids. You may even have to put them in charge of your finances for a while. Make sure that they know everything they can about money management. In addition to becoming proactive about protecting your assets, your kids will also be much less likely to make poor financial decisions that will have them asking for a loan.

While no strategy or piece of advice will prevent you from making mistakes or experiencing financial setbacks, following these five strategies will make it a lot easier to deal with these events if they arise in the future.