Poor willingness to pay: Big people make little people wait for their money
While the Federal Council helps SMEs in distress in an unbureaucratic and solidary manner, large industrial and commercial companies postpone their payments and make SMEs wait longer for the money for delivered goods and products.
As if the loss of sales due to the Corona lockdown were not enough: now, a poorer willingness to pay on the part of larger companies is also putting SMEs in a tight spot. One of the primary goals of the Federal Council's emergency aid was to restore and maintain the liquidity of SMEs. The government quickly and unbureaucratically put together a package of measures worth billions of euros and put it into effect on March 25. Since then, SMEs in distress have been provided with urgently needed liquidity in the form of bridging loans. The formula is: "The banks pay, the federal government guarantees."
Do not further exacerbate liquidity bottlenecks
Many small and medium-sized companies are in a liquidity bottleneck due to the Corona crisis. They are therefore relieved and grateful for this help and solidarity. All the more, the behavior of some large industrial and commercial enterprises is incomprehensible. In the last few days, some SMEs have been informed that they will have to wait longer - 60 days instead of 30 days - for their money for delivered goods and products. The large companies argue with the crisis and speak of a currently valid practice in the industry.
Maintain willingness to pay
Business associations, above all Swissmechanic, the employers' association for SMEs in the MEM sector, regret this approach and very much hope that this behavior will not continue. After all, once the ball starts rolling, it is once again the SMEs that will suffer the most from the poorer payment morale and see their liquidity once again at risk. "Small suppliers are unfortunately often interchangeable. Thus, the means for SMEs to defend themselves against this behavior are limited," says Swissmechanic President Roland Goethe in response to our inquiry. He therefore appeals to the solidarity of large companies with all their suppliers. Large companies and SMEs must work together in these difficult times. Simply arbitrarily extending payment deadlines is therefore not expedient, he said. "If there really are problems, solutions can usually be found in a direct discussion," recommends Roland Goethe.
Source: Swissmechanic
