Small businesses play a hugely important role in our world as we know it. After all, there are more small businesses in this country than any other type of business, as recent data has actually found that more than 99% of all businesses seen all throughout the country could be classified as a small business. This simply means that there are no more than 50 total employees working there. Ultimately, there are well over 28 million small businesses operating all throughout the United States.

So it is clear to see that small businesses matter quite a bit when it comes to our economy. But in addition to this, small businesses are essential to local communities – and to many of our loved ones. It’s more likely than not that you know at least one person who owns a small business, and even more people who work for them. Because of this, you likely have a more direct tie to the success of small businesses than you realize. And this success matters, as many small businesses provide the support that many families need. In addition to this, owning a small business of any kind can be a huge passion for many as well.

But small businesses are also quite a bit more likely to struggle to stay alive than their much larger counterparts. Unfortunately, this can be seen in the data showing that bankruptcies are very much on the rise all throughout the United States – with small businesses quite largely affected. As a matter of fact, it has been found that more than 25,000 various companies (of varying size) filed for bankruptcy in the second quarter of the year of 2016, marking a considerable jump of more than 1,000 companies from even the first quarter of that very same year. And in the years that have followed since, bankruptcies have only continued to become ever more common

But why do companies and particularly small businesses struggle so frequently and ultimately file for bankruptcy? In the vast majority of cases, it comes down to cash flow. This cash flow is essential to the success of any place of business but it particularly critical to small ones, which have considerably less buffer for cash flow problems than their larger counterparts. After all, of the businesses that have failed in recent years, more than 80% ultimately failed in a direct relation to issues with cash flow.

And much of this can be caused by invoices – and a lack of payment for them. After all, recent data even suggests that up to 60% of all invoices will actually be paid late. This is something, of course, that can make it incredibly hard to maintain a good cash flow, as these small businesses are owed money but are not getting them. Fortunately, through a service such as a small business factoring services or even an international factoring service, such payments can be made up for through the use of a factoring loan. There are even specialty trucking factoring companies (which sometimes fall into international factoring pursuits), as there are now more than 12 million trucks and other such motor vehicles used as part of the transportation industry here in the United States alone.

International factoring services – as well as all other factoring services offered all throughout the country and beyond – can help to convert outstanding payments into cash, typically for as many as 90 days into the past, though this will vary from international factoring loan to international factoring loan. While such international factoring loans will need to be paid back, they typically will be able to as soon as the invoice payment actually comes in.

Aside from international factoring services, simple changes can be made to reduce costs dramatically for the typical small business. After all, even just switching to digital invoices away from paper invoices can save a good deal of money. As a matter of fact, the data more than backs this up, showing that paper invoices are up to 57% more expensive than their digital and electronic counterparts for most business places.