700,000 small and medium-sized businesses closed in losses in 2023

The General Council of the Colleges of Administrative Managers has carried out a new gA Barometer during the week of February 5 to 9, through the consultation carried out among the 6,000 practicing Administrative Managers (gA). The volume of responses allows us to offer high reliability of the data obtained, ensuring a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of +- 5%. The consultation carried out is based on information on small and medium businesses, exclusively.

In the opinion of Fernando Jesús Santiago Ollero, president of the General Council of the Colleges of Administrative Managers, “we continue with more than 700,000 businesses in losses, 600,000 with serious liquidity problems, and about 700,000 businesses that have increased their debt last year, the “The same number of businesses that last year invoiced less than in 2022. And although the percentage of businesses that operate “outside the system” has been reduced to 12%, it is still a high number and a tremendously negative figure.

39% of businesses have reduced debt during the past year, compared to 26% that have increased it. Around 600,000 small businesses continue to have serious liquidity problems, which has meant that at least 12% of businesses are operating “outside” the system. On this occasion, we consulted about the existence of businesses that do not “declare” all the salaries they pay, and the result is that 5% of businesses have some salary that is not.

According to the gA Barometer, 7% of existing businesses have been created during the past year. Of these new constitutions, 6% (0.42% of the total businesses) come from entrepreneurs who previously had a business and had to close it as a result of the pandemic.

Another of the significant data that the Barometer shows is that 13% of businesses have requested European Next Generation Funds; 76% have already obtained a positive response, compared to 6% who have been denied funds. 17% of the businesses that requested the funds are waiting for a resolution.

56% of Administrative Managers recognize that they have clients who would have needed to request Next Generation Funds, but who have not done it correctly due to lack of transparent information (55%, several answers could be chosen), or because they consider that the procedures are very complicated (45%) or because they did not meet the required requirements (38%).

Finally, it should be noted that 64% of GA considers that 2023 was a good year for business. Of these, 34% believe that 2024 will be better, 41% believe that it will be the same as 23, and 25% think that 2024 will be worse.

36% of gA consider that 2023 has been bad. Of them, 17% believe that 2024 will improve, 39% think it will be the same and 44% think that 2024 will be worse.

“Most of my colleagues consider that 2023 has been a good year,” Santiago continues, “but liquidity problems are persistent and the debt of many businesses is increasing, in the same percentage of businesses that have invoiced less. I sincerely believe that the resistance level of many of them has already been reached and that 2024, with the uncertainties that are facing us, may be the final straw for many of them.

The president of the gA believes that “we must focus on proposing solutions for that percentage of businesses that are not lifting their heads, around 20/25%, because if many workers disappear, they will go unemployed.” “I hope that the optimism of many of my colleagues that 2024 will be better is fulfilled and that someone takes the reins of those who are badly injured and we can recover the majority,” concludes Fernando Santiago.