Dr Raymond K. Dziwornu, the Dean of Faculty of Accounting and Finance (FAF), University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), said in interacting with businesses, one could realise that most of their relationship with customers was not business-like and, therefore, needed to improve on that.

Dr Dziwornu said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the side-lines of a seminar organised by FAF, on the theme: “Growing and Sustaining Your Business”. The seminar aimed at training some SME players within the University’s catchment area on the need to build customer relations, keep financial records, market products and access credit facilities.

Dr Dziwornu noted that another challenge SMEs encountered was the lack of requisite skills to manage their finances and keeping records of their operations, making it difficult for financial institutions to evaluate businesses and offer assistance.

The objective of the seminar was, therefore, to build the capacity of SMEs to improve and build their businesses and become more profitable, he said. Mr Ahmed Jamal Iddrisu, a Lecturer at the Banking and Finance Department, UPSA, said utilisation of resources by SMEs was one of the challenges and urged them to also strengthen their record keeping procedures.

He urged SMEs to complement each other and build healthy relationships between themselves and their customers.Mrs Christine Avorti, an Expert in Lending and Credit Management, underscored the need for participants to know the various types of credit facility they go in for. She said not all SMEs needed cash but other credit facilities that would help them access, buy goods on credit and sell with the Bank’s support, which they could pay later.