Spreadsheets, revenues, customer acquisition costs, EBITDA, cash flow, burn rate....words that can make entrepreneurs turn to stone in fear and their anxiety bubble to bursting. There is no magic formula to making a small business become a great business, but there is a golden rule for ensuring the path is smooth; the management team, especially the CEO, need to live, breathe and dream the business financials.

I have been struggling these past few days as to whether I should write this. After all, what do I know about politics and what could I, above others, express about the events of the past week that has inference on my life and business?  I decided that I, as everyone else, have a right to express my opinion, to be concerned at the impact of decisions made by our government and their implications on the UK, on our future. So I write. My concerns cut deep and wide – the consequences of Cameron’s actions on Friday seeded thoughts of the UK’s competitiveness, of what can be done to resolve the unfortunate situation we are in and my conclusion that the long-term solution must rely on fostering a better environment for entrepreneurship.

I watched George Osborne's Autumn Statement on Tuesday with a great deal of interest. I was eagerly anticipating the statement confirming exactly how £20billion in funding will be delivered to SMEs, a story that had been circulating in the press for the previous few days.

NESTA, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, (www.nesta.org.uk) in collaboration with Sam Gyimah, MP for Surrey East, today published the long awaited report proposing recommendations to help improve British SME's access capital.

Credit/lending to SMEs continues to catch the headlines. The banks' promises under Project Merlin are still not being met, though the situation has improved. Interestingly, the proportion of lending through various means of asset based finance has apparently risen, with ABFA's recent press release specifically highlighting the growth of invoice finance over the past year.

Following a period of discussion between the Government and the major UK banks, known as 'Project Merlin', a statement was made by the banks on 9 February 2011.As part of that, the banks stated a capacity and willingness to lend £190 billion of new credit to business in 2011, with £76 billion of this lending capacity allocated to small and medium-sized enterprises – 40% of the total lending target.