Financing growth: what if cash was the real issue?

Growing your business is an ambition — but being able to finance that growth is a strategy.

More mandates, more contracts, more units, more revenue on paper: growth is obviously good news.

But in reality, growing often costs money before it brings any in.

For a short-term rental professional (concierge company, real estate agency, property manager, master lessee or sub-lessee), moving up a gear can mean:

• hiring before new mandates or contracts generate enough revenue;
• financing the acquisition or integration of a portfolio;
• investing in your tech stack: PMS, automation, AI…;
• strengthening your sales and operations teams;
• financing a new location or expanding into a new market;
• absorbing several months of gap between spending and income.

This is where a company can run into a fairly classic paradox:

Having growth… and lacking the cash to finance it.

Growth also consumes cash

This is essentially the working capital requirement question (BFR in French): the financial resources needed to absorb the gap between a company’s spending and when it actually collects revenue.

And when activity increases, that requirement can increase too.

More revenue doesn’t automatically mean more available cash.

That’s why financing shouldn’t be a topic you only discover once cash flow gets tight. It should be part of the growth strategy from the start.

€550.3 billion in credit mobilized by SMEs

As of end of June 2026, SMEs (including companies that haven’t determined their size) accounted for €550.3 billion in outstanding bank credit in France.

Their outstanding balances grew by +2.5% year-on-year.

The average cost of new bank financing for this category stood at 3.64% in June, up from 3.53% in May.

More broadly, the Banque de France notes that bank financing for businesses continues to grow. Business credit is far from at a standstill.

But the challenge for a business leader isn’t just knowing whether money is available — it’s knowing what type of financing to look for, when, how to present your project, and which doors to knock on to finance your growth.

Source: Banque de France, Financement des entreprises, June 2026

96% of SMEs requesting an investment loan obtain at least 75% of the amount requested

This is probably the most interesting figure for Q2 2026: 20% of SMEs surveyed by the Banque de France applied for a new investment loan, and among those who did:

96% obtained all or at least 75% of the amount requested.

For equipment loans, the approval rate also reaches 94%.

On the cash-flow side, requests are much less frequent: only 6% of SMEs applied for a new cash-flow loan in Q2. Among them, 83% obtained all or at least 75% of the financing requested, compared to 82% the previous quarter.

Another interesting data point: requests for credit lines remain largely satisfied, with at least 90% of SMEs and mid-caps obtaining their requested lines in full or at more than 75%.

These figures mainly show one thing:

You don’t finance an investment, a cash-flow need, an acquisition or a growth acceleration with the same tools.

Source: Banque de France, Accès des entreprises au crédit, Q2 2026

Bank loans are only part of the equation

When financing comes up, the first reflex is often to think of your bank. Yet depending on the project and the company’s stage of development, different solutions can be considered:

• Bank debt and financing: investment loan, development loan, cash-flow line, leasing, refinancing…
• Operating cycle financing: credit line, authorized overdraft, factoring or other working-capital solutions.
• Alternative financing: crowdfunding, crowdlending, private debt or financing platforms.
• Equity: contributions from partners, investors, business angels, investment funds, or opening up capital.
• Growth transactions: financing an acquisition, buying a portfolio, a merger with another player, or refinancing.

Each solution answers a different situation, and each also has a cost: interest, guarantees, capital dilution, financial constraints or loss of autonomy.

So the right question isn’t simply “Where can I find money?” but rather:

“Which financing fits my project, my company, and the risk I’m willing to take?”

And in short-term rental?

Our industry talks a lot about distribution, technology, AI, regulation, hiring or acquiring new mandates.

But much less about cash flow, debt, capital and financing growth — yet behind many strategic decisions lies a financial question.

How do you finance the next step without weakening what you’ve already built?

This is exactly why we created Money Talks by MPM.

Money Talks: finally talking financing in short-term rental

On November 26, 2026 in Paris, MPM Consulting will launch the first edition of Money Talks, a new professional gathering dedicated to financing and growth for short-term rental businesses.

This first edition will take place alongside Scale France 2026 and will bring together entrepreneurs, business leaders, banks, financiers and experts around very concrete topics (financing growth, strengthening cash flow, refinancing your business, etc.).

You know where you want to take your company — how will you finance the next step?

Money Talks — November 26, 2026, Paris — 70 seats only. An MPM Consulting event held alongside Scale France 2026.

Marie Pistinier & Laura Gence — Co-producers Lenaïc Boucher — Editorial Director & MC

Money Talks is accessible only to Scale France 2026 pass holders.

Sources

• Banque de France — Financement des entreprises, June 2026: outstanding bank credit and its evolution, investment loans and cost of new financing, with a focus on SMEs.
• Banque de France — Accès des entreprises au crédit, Q2 2026: requests and approval rates for investment, equipment and cash-flow loans among SMEs.
• Bpifrance Création — Le besoin en fonds de roulement (BFR): definition of working capital requirements, the cash-flow gap between spending and income, and the impact of business growth on financing needs.
• Bpifrance Création — Financer son développement: overview of financing solutions to support business development — working capital financing, bank credit, leasing, investors and crowdfunding.