First, the demand analysis and evaluation before financing-to be fair.
The so-called pre-assessment refers to the enterprise's assessment of whether it needs financing. For example, for capital turnover and temporary needs, enterprises need financing; Enterprises need financing in order to purchase equipment, expand scale, introduce new technologies and develop new products; Enterprises need financing in order to invest abroad and merge other enterprises; In order to repay debts and adjust capital structure, enterprises need financing; Wait a minute.
Whether financing is needed or not does not depend entirely on the above reasons. For example, enterprises often face some temporary capital needs, but the funds needed for these needs do not have to be solved by financing, because enterprises can completely solve these needs by revitalizing their current assets and using their own funds. At this time, enterprises should compare the impact of using their own funds and using foreign capital on enterprises, and if there is a good impact, use it; Otherwise, it won't be necessary.
After deciding to use foreign capital, it is necessary to compare whether the investment income and capital cost and their corresponding risks match on the basis of financing demand. For example, what is the average annual rate of return (or average annual profit rate) of investment projects in the future? What is the cost (or capital cost rate) of funds occupied by financing activities? What risks do enterprises need to bear? This is the most concerned by the decision-making level of enterprise management. Therefore, before financing activities, enterprise financial personnel must make a reliable prediction of future investment income. Only when the investment income is far greater than the cost of capital and can bear the corresponding risks can financing activities be determined.
Second, choose financing channels and methods-be cautious
In this link, enterprises should make decisions on a series of details of their financing, mainly including the following aspects:
(A) measure the scale of financing
When enterprises need financing, the next thing to do is to estimate the financing scale. How to estimate the financing scale has been specifically discussed in the first section of this chapter. As corporate finance personnel, no matter what channels and ways to raise funds, we must carefully estimate the amount of funds needed in advance. Only in this way can the amount of financing and investment be balanced with each other, so as to avoid that insufficient financing will affect the investment effect of enterprises or excessive financing will reduce the efficiency of funds.
(B) the choice of financing methods
After estimating the financing scale, enterprises should look for suitable financing methods. Generally speaking, the financing methods available to SMEs are nothing more than endogenous financing and exogenous financing. The so-called internal financing of enterprises mainly refers to the source of funds formed by depreciation and profit retention. This part of the funds is "naturally" formed within the enterprise. Although the use cost (opportunity cost) of the funds will occur when it is occupied, there is no need to pay the financing fee. Exogenous financing refers to the sources of funds formed by external integration when the internal financing of enterprises can not meet the needs, including debt financing forms such as bank loans, bond issuance, financial leasing and commercial credit, as well as equity financing forms such as absorbing direct investment and issuing stocks. Exogenous financing should not only pay the use cost, but also pay the financing cost, which is higher than endogenous financing. Therefore, enterprises should not be eager to find external funds, but should fully consider the availability of internal sources of funds, and then consider external financing.
Because of the various financing methods of enterprises, the difficulty, capital cost and financial risk of different financing methods are also different. Since it is necessary to integrate funds from the outside, enterprises must consider maintaining a good and reasonable financial structure and capital structure after financing, so as to keep financial risks at a safe level and reduce the comprehensive capital cost. Under this overall financing strategy, enterprises should design a variety of financing schemes, and sort these schemes financially, so as to implement dynamic optimization in specific financing practice.
When choosing financing methods, we should also consider the basic situation of our country and enterprises, and must not copy the experience of foreign countries. For example, in foreign countries, entrepreneurs will use a large number of mathematical models when choosing financing methods, and make decisions through many empirical analyses. It is true that these methods and models are scientific, but China's market is different from foreign markets after all. The personal credit system is not perfect, many economic sectors belonging to market individuals have a strong administrative color, and the available financing tools are single and not rich enough. The financing methods of enterprises in different industries, enterprises in different development stages of the same industry and similar enterprises in different regions are also different. Therefore, managers of small and medium-sized enterprises must pay attention to the assumptions of conditions and application environment when using financing methods, and use them after appropriate modification.
Generally speaking, enterprises should try their best to use commercial credit methods such as credit purchase to solve the liquidity demand generated by short-term operations. For short-term funds that must be borrowed from outside, enterprises should make a debt repayment plan on the basis of prudent cash budget, and then obtain short-term financing (such as credit line, revolving credit agreement, etc.) at relatively favorable interest rates. They must not rush to carry out short-term financing, and when they cannot repay their debts at maturity, they will repay their short-term debts through high-cost and high-risk long-term financing. In this way, it will inevitably lead to the deterioration of the financial situation of enterprises and the increase of financial risks.
As mentioned above, enterprises must make full use of internal sources of funds to meet the demand for long-term capital loans arising from production, operation and capital operation, and take the low cost of funds and the lowest financial risk as the financing goal, and treat the specific situation in a specific way.
(3) determine the financing object
The financing object refers to the object of financing work, not only the fund provider, but also the participants or influencers in all financing activities, such as government agencies and financial intermediaries. The financing objects are influenced by financing channels, and there are many financing channels and corresponding financing objects. Therefore, if you choose different financing channels and methods, the financing objects will be different. For example, when choosing bank credit, the financing targets include relevant departments and personnel of banks, relevant departments of government agencies and intermediaries, such as credit guarantee centers (companies) for small and medium-sized enterprises, credit rating agencies and credit reporting agencies. Another example is to apply for a technological innovation fund for small and medium-sized enterprises. The corresponding work targets are technical experts, recommendation units, innovation fund management centers, banks, evaluation intermediaries, local science and technology commissions and the National High-tech Industrial Development Zone Management Committee. When determining the financing target, we must carry out relevant information collection, consultation and investigation activities, be familiar with the operation process of each financing channel, and make clear who is the decision-maker, influencer and operator of the fund provider. Small and medium-sized enterprises, especially some small enterprises, are unfamiliar with the financing market. When they need financing, they often don't know who to look for and where to start, or spend a lot of time and money but fail to achieve the effect of financing. This is the main sticking point. In addition, when determining the financing target, we should also pay attention to some potential financing targets. For example, for the current financing projects, banks may not be the target, but in the long run, enterprises are likely to deal with banks. Therefore, from the perspective of the whole financing strategy, enterprises should also determine banks as the working objects and achieve the purpose of reducing information asymmetry through conscious contact.
Third, determine the amount and duration of financing-be practical.
Some people say that people who can only see through one or two moves in chess are only junior players, those who can see through three or four moves can be called players, and those who can see through more than five or six moves at a time can be called senior players. In fact, the financing of SMEs is often the same as playing chess. If a real master of financing wants to "strategize and win a thousand miles", he must stand tall and look far. To determine the financing strategy, we must grasp the following two points:
First of all: the pursuit of the rationality of the amount of funds.
For large enterprises represented by joint-stock companies, the purpose of financing is to achieve the best capital structure, that is, to pursue the lowest capital cost and the greatest enterprise value; For small and medium-sized enterprises, the purpose of financing is to directly guarantee the funds needed for production and operation. Lack of funds will affect the development of production, while excess funds will also lead to the reduction of capital use efficiency and waste. Due to the financing difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises, operators are often prone to make the mistake of "more Han Xinbing, the more the better" when encountering a relatively relaxed financing environment. However, if the raised funds are used irrationally or are not really needed, then good things will become bad things, enterprises will be dragged down by excessive financing, and may bear a heavy debt burden, further affecting the financing ability and profitability of enterprises.
Secondly, the pursuit of efficiency in the use of funds.
Small and medium-sized enterprises don't have too many choices in financing channels and methods like large enterprises, but this doesn't mean that small and medium-sized enterprises can only be "hungry" and blindly envy others. On the contrary, due to the weak anti-risk ability of small and medium-sized enterprises, it is difficult to raise funds. We should cherish and weigh each fund, comprehensively consider the enterprise's own production and operation needs, capital cost, financing risk, investment income and many other factors, and then analyze the relationship between capital cost ratio and investment income in combination with capital source and investment situation to avoid financing decision-making mistakes as much as possible.
Determine the financing type and capital structure-be reasonable.
The use of funds by small and medium-sized enterprises determines the type and quantity of financing. We know that the total assets of an enterprise consist of current assets and non-current assets. Current assets are divided into two different forms: one is current assets whose quantity fluctuates with the change of production and operation, which is called temporary current assets; The second is the current assets that have maintained a stable level for a long time like fixed assets, that is, the so-called permanent current assets. According to the principle of structural matching, it is appropriate for small and medium-sized enterprises to raise funds for fixed assets and permanent current assets by medium and long-term financing; Funds required for changes in business activities due to seasonal, cyclical and random factors; (,) It is advisable to raise funds mainly by short-term financing. It is particularly important for small and medium-sized enterprises to emphasize the matching relationship of financing in their capital structure. According to the survey, many cases of financing failure of small and medium-sized enterprises are not directly caused by the inability to raise funds, but because the operators do not understand the characteristics of various funds and inappropriately use short-term funds for long-term investment projects.
Verb (abbreviation for verb) Preparation and packaging of financing materials-medium.
Prepare hardware materials to show enterprise value. Detection and identification of intangible assets of the company, such as products; The formulation of enterprise standards; Applications for patents, trademarks and copyrights; Appraisal of scientific and technological achievements; Selection of scientific and technological progress award and enterprise credit rating; Application for key new products; Valuing reputation and abiding by contracts; Choose export-oriented enterprises; Then ISO9000 quality system certification; Identification of high-tech projects (enterprises) or software enterprises; Well-known experts and consultants are the most convincing hardware materials for enterprises.
With the help of external resources, comprehensive packaging. Packaging is not fraud, but through detailed analysis, it evaluates the core technology, advantages and disadvantages of the production market, development potential and financial situation of the enterprise, and fully excavates the intrinsic value of the enterprise. This is what we usually call value discovery. At the same time, with the help of external resources, such as inviting industry experts and celebrities to join the project team and become consultants.
Sixth, financing communication and negotiation-be calm.
At this stage, the small and medium-sized enterprises that have made the financing plan should meet with the fund suppliers to discuss the details of the use price, term, provision method and repayment method of the funds, and the fund suppliers should also make a decision on whether to provide the funds.
In order to achieve the purpose of financing, enterprises must pay full attention to this link, make full preparations before negotiations, and pay attention to appropriate skills in negotiations.
(A) the preparatory work before the negotiations
In the preparatory stage of the negotiation, the enterprise should first conduct detailed integration and investigation on the finance, personnel and management of the enterprise, fully grasp the accurate situation of the enterprise in these three aspects, and prepare a business plan with meticulous logic and detailed data, which can reflect the characteristics of the enterprise.
Sometimes small and medium-sized enterprises are financing a specific project, so in this case, it is necessary to provide an excellent project description to the fund supplier.
For project financing, enterprises should first make the project attractive and let investors see the investment prospects and opportunities with less risk. Therefore, enterprises must prepare the project description from the perspective of investors and highlight the characteristics of the project.
(2) negotiation
After making preliminary preparations, the enterprise should contact the fund supplier. There are many ways to contact. The author thinks that it is the first choice to know the fund suppliers through the familiar communication network, because through this platform, the fund suppliers and enterprises can get to know each other more or less through different channels, and the information obtained through this platform can be accepted by both parties quickly, which will undoubtedly shorten the time for both parties to establish mutual trust and lay a good foundation for the smooth financing of enterprises.
When the use of the above-mentioned platforms is restricted and enterprises can't find a suitable fund supplier, it becomes a reasonable choice to find a suitable financing intermediary. Intermediaries generally have a lot of information about capital supply and standardized business. They can not only find a suitable fund supplier for the enterprise in a short time, but also provide additional financing services and even put forward reasonable suggestions for the production and operation of the enterprise. Enterprises that have no available funds to supply resources and can bear the intermediary costs can consider this contact method.
The third form of contact is that enterprises directly contact unfamiliar fund suppliers. Because the fund suppliers are not familiar with the enterprise, and there is no other intermediary agency to provide consulting services for the enterprise, all things need to be negotiated between the enterprise and the fund suppliers, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty and workload of enterprise financing. This kind of small and medium-sized enterprises should pay special attention to the negotiation link. Due to the lack of prior communication and introduction and the help of intermediaries, small and medium-sized enterprises can only show their corporate image to the fund providers in this link and persuade them to provide funds.
No matter which way you contact with capital suppliers, you have to go through a * * *, that is, face-to-face negotiation with capital suppliers. The negotiation process is actually a sales process, that is, the idea of the enterprise, the whole management team and the long-term goal of the enterprise are sold very successfully. For capital suppliers, they can establish trust with enterprises as soon as possible and have a * * * relationship with enterprises as soon as possible, so enterprises can easily obtain funds.
VII. Implementation process and management links of financing organization-to be explained in detail.
In order to ensure the normal production and operation of enterprises or the scheduled investment projects of enterprises, it is necessary to make the financing funds enter the enterprises according to the planned time and amount, otherwise the enterprise financing will lose its due role. If the capital flows into the enterprise in advance, it will increase the financial cost of the enterprise. If the capital flows into the enterprise late or the inflow amount is insufficient, it will seriously affect the production and operation activities or investment plans of the enterprise. Therefore, after the financing decision, the financing plan should be implemented in time to manage the whole process of financing activities. At the same time, because financing activities are restricted by many factors, enterprises can only grasp internal factors, and the changes of external factors, that is, the changes of financing environment in the process of financing, are beyond their control. When making financing decisions, enterprises should not only make necessary predictions, but also monitor the financing process, carry out financing activities in time, or change financing plans in time. For example, bank credit, found that most of the costs and time spent, but the loan prospects are still unclear. At this time, it is necessary to adjust the financing plan in time.
Financing schedule management should be grasped from three aspects: workload, time and cost required for financing. First of all, from the perspective of financing workload, the completion of financing projects needs the completion of various sub-projects, and each sub-project is difficult and easy. For example, when an enterprise applies for bank credit, there are five steps: the enterprise applies for a loan, the bank examines the application, signs a loan contract, the enterprise obtains a loan and returns the loan, and each step involves some specific work. For example, enterprises should assist banks to provide relevant information in a timely manner during the stage when banks examine loan applications. Secondly, from the time point of view, enterprises should formulate the timetable of financing projects so that financing can complete the required workload within the specified time. From the perspective of cost, enterprises should effectively control the expenses incurred in fund-raising activities, and when considering the total cost of fund-raising in fund-raising decision-making, they should list the corresponding expenses budget of fund-raising activities, so that fund-raising can be carried out in strict accordance with the budget.
Eight, financing risk prevention and whole process control-be keen.
There are risks in every link of the financing process. According to the changes of financial market, exchange rate market and financing environment at home and abroad, enterprises must flexibly master risk avoidance methods, transfer risks in time, control the occurrence and spread of risks as much as possible, and reduce the amount of risk losses.