Recently we have covered the current lack of funding available for small businesses in America. Most of this is due to higher lending standards and it has been especially rough on startups and younger small businesses. This credit drought comes at the most inopportune time as many small business owners are now finding themselves in a cash crunch thanks to the sluggish recovery. Indeed, a recent Citi survey released this week found that, of the 750 owners surveyed, roughly 50 percent of small business owners were dangerously low on cash at some point during the past year. Despite this, almost 78 percent were forced to provide payment extensions to their customers as cash for them as well became tight. Topping the list of concerns going forwards was the maintaining and growth in sales, reported 66 percent of the respondents.  

When questioned about reasons for the slump, many cited lower than expected sales and lackluster consumer spending as key issues, with late customer payments, and bankruptcies as further concerns. Fox News continues, “Still, nearly three-quarters of them said they manage their cash flow daily and were "on top of it." The portion of respondents who reported business conditions improved slightly increased to 38% in August from 34% a year earlier. The portion who thinks the economy may see another downturn declined to 85% from 90%. While more than a third of respondents said they expect their business will see better results this year than during 2011, only 27% reported they had seen that improvement during August…”