Team-building activities and incentive schemes play an important in driving businesses performance and results. Regardless of their size, they have an impact. But they also have a price tag. Alternative finance can help small businesses meet the costs.

In today’s marketplace, team-building activities and incentive schemes are must-have business development tools, not least because they can be critical to recruiting and retaining key staff. These activities and schemes come in many forms, from staff communication sessions and company-wide bake-offs to orienteering days and quarterly sales competitions that earn winners prizes such as televisions, holidays and cars.

If carried out properly, all these activities and schemes generate returns, but at the same time, however big or small, they also require investment. Whether it’s dedicating a set number of working hours for an activity, making time to recognise and reward work achievements or setting up and running an incentive programme and supplying the prizes that go with it, there is a cost.

While larger firms have greater capacity to manage these costs, the picture is different for small businesses, not least because of the pressure on working capital of a raft of policy and non-policy costs, and difficult market conditions. So, how do small business owners work investment in team-building activities and incentive schemes into the equation?

Alternative finance can help.

In the wake of prolonged caution from traditional lenders, services such as invoice finance, asset finance, peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding are offering small business owners an alternative means of raising capital for essential investment, such as in team-building activities and incentive schemes.

This is how a Sussex small business used peer-to-peer lending, through a commercial finance broker that specialises in alternative finance, to raise the capital to invest in new resources.

Indeed, with Brexit poised to cause temporary cash flow issues, as consumers exercise increasing caution, the importance of alternative finance could grow hugely in the coming months as business owners look to access funds quickly, affordably and on flexible terms.

Employee satisfaction and competency are critical to the performance of any business, which is why team-building activities and incentive schemes are staple business development tools. To afford these tools, small business owners need to make use of all the funding options available to them, including alternative finance.

To find out more about A&T Business Associates services, contact Steve Bowles on 01903 602211 or steve.bowles@atbusinessassociates.co.uk.