The beginning of a new era for small businesses?

In today’s strong business environment, almost everyone is familiar with some business fundamentals such as accounting or marketing, or at the very least understands some basic information technology (IT) skills. Knowledge, Lebanon’s most important resource, has changed society’s needs as well as the structure and purpose of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It has led to the demand for digital technology related jobs highly exceeding supply, hence introducing a tech-savvy entrepreneurship trend. However, startups and SMEs, which make up the bulk of all free markets, are unable to operate at their full potential due to serious difficulties regarding financing. With hard assets being a rare commodity for technology-based companies, the huge amount of collateral required by banks for securing loans has been an important funding barrier. Market regulators are more aware than ever that a lack of SMEs’ growth would hurt an economy, let alone increase a country’s unemployment, and