Comparative analysis of traditional and alternative financing of SMEs in Slovakia

Access to finance is a key precondition for the development of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Slovakia as well as in the other EU countries. Bank lending is the most common source of external finance for many SMEs, which are often heavily dependent on traditional financing to fulfil their start-up, cash flow and investment needs. On the other side, alternative financing is available for newer, innovative and fast growing companies whose owners can't get traditional financial resources as bank loans or overdrafts. Access to alternative financing together with traditional financial resources represents one of the most significant challenges for new SMEs not only in the Slovak Republic but all over the world. The aim of this paper is to characterize traditional and alternative financial resources of SMEs and to present the selected results of own questionnaire survey focused on financing of SMEs in Slovakia.