Small UK businesses are being hurt by slow paying larger companies and being helped by the time and money savings involved with cloud computing.

The Federation of Small Businesses reports that about 4,000 small UK firms failed in the past year as a result of late payment of accounts by large companies. One third of small firms now wait longer to be paid.

60 days is now the usual payment period, with 90 days and 120 days now not uncommon. A 10% discount is sometimes charged for paying within a 60 days period. 

On a more positive note, small firms can now effectively compete with large companies in the IT area by the use of cloud computing. Microsoft reports that the number of medium sized and small businesses using the cloud has increased by 30% in the last year. 

The cost and time efficiencies of storing information on the internet and the ability of being able to access it from any location at any time is a great boost for small firms. 

The movement of their information and records systems to online also avoids problems created by theft or fire. 

Rackspace reports that 11% of mid sized UK businesses and 5% of micro businesses are now using the cloud. 60% of smaller businesses say they will use the cloud in the future. 

So while slow paying of accounts by large companies is a major problem for small UK firms, cloud computing offers new cost economy and improved efficiency. 

We assist small businesses with our Local Search Facility in our UK Business Directory, which has over 1.6 million businesses listed. Most are small businesses and we send them qualified prospects at no cost to them. 

Monte Huebsch, CEO.