Dutch SME's are in a better place financially than last year

Dutch medium- and small-sized companies (SMEs) struggling with payment issues a year ago are now financially better. "Companies have more meat on their bones," said NLInvesteert, which aids SME entrepreneurs with their company's finances and has invested over a billion euros since its founding in 2015.

Last year, many business owners had to deal with rising costs, tax debts that had to be paid, and problems in the supply chains. These problems have now been reduced.

According to NLInvesteert, investment in SMEs is still lagging because entrepreneurs prefer to hoard their profits. In addition, SME owners are struggling to borrow money from banks. "Banks have increasingly turned off the money tap for SMEs, meaning entrepreneurs depend on non-bank financing. This makes it more complex for entrepreneurs," the financing platform stated.

NLInvesteert supports SMEs who initially cannot or can only partly get a bank loan. This happens with private investors who take on the risky part of the loan. A bank or other lender then provides the remainder of the loan.