The Netherlands Chamber of Commerce recently published a report entitled In Control of the Company: Entrepreneurs on their financial literacy, which explores the general level of knowledge of money matters amongst Dutch entrepreneurs. The research offers particularly interesting insight for fintech firms, since it provides valuable knowledge about the competencies and financial literacy of their clients.

To gain insight into the financial literacy of Dutch entrepreneurs, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce distributed an online questionnaire amongst more than 4,000 members of its Business Panel. In total, 1,676 entrepreneurs responded to the questionnaire – a 41.1% response rate. The survey is highly representative of SMEs in the Netherlands, and was first published at the end of 2016. Now the results of have been outlined in this freshly published English report.

Report highlights

• 50% of entrepreneurs in the Netherlands are insecure about their own financial literacy
• Lack of knowledge mainly concerns tax matters (49%), basic principles of the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts (52%), and preparing a profitability forecast (54%)
• Entrepreneurs claiming to have extensive knowledge of financial matters are more likely to out-perform entrepreneurs who say they are less financially literate.

Knowledge of money matters is an essential tool toward avoiding unwelcome situations like cashflow problems or bankruptcy. For this reason, the lack of knowledge and other results found in the study are reason for concern, and it is reasonable to assume that results would be similar in other European countries. For this reason, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce has committed to putting additional emphasis on strengthening the financial insights of business owners. One example of this is the recent publication of its Book on Money Matters [in Dutch], which was downloaded more than 86,000 times in 2016.

To see the complete English report by the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce, click here.here.