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European businesses are having to examine their business models and in some cases reinvent themselves because of the slowdown in demand, and their situation is not helped by lack of funding. In February this year, the European Central Bank (ECB) published its report on the results of the “Survey on the access to finance of small and medium-sized enterprises in the euro area — second half of 2009”.
The survey was conducted between 19 November and 18 December 2009 and covered 5,320 firms in the euro area. The survey found that in the second half of 2009, while half of the SMEs reported an unchanged need for bank loans, a quarter of them reported an increased need, compared with the preceding six months. However, the availability of bank loans to SMEs deteriorated in the second half of 2009. 42% of SMEs reported deterioration.
An important aspect of any small company obtaining a loan or investment is for the company to be able to show clearly what assets are securing that loan or investment.
CIPM therefore works with a range of companies and support organisations to help to identify those assets. CIPM shows them that it is important to understand where the value lies in the business – many organisations do not know how to evaluate this and put a tangible value on it – or to protect and commercialise that value.
Jim Asher, COO of Coller IP Management, says. “We help companies to understand the differences between intellectual property, intellectual capital and intellectual assets. By Intellectual Capital we mean the intangible assets of a company which includes the Intellectual Property (IP) that provides the legal underpinning to company operations. However, the role of Intellectual Assets (IA) includes workforce skills, business processes and know-how. These people-based assets are often the key to successful business operations. In addition, the wider intellectual capital of business relationships, branding and reputation provides the route to commercialisation. Successful businesses need a mixture of all three – IA, IP and IC, working together, along with finance to provide investment and working capital – and we help organisations to achive this success. The diagram below illustrates the three elements:-
CIPM is also working with The Intellectual Assets Centre in Scotland
For more information do feel free to call Coller IP Management on 0870 402 1611
March 2010
