企业的融资方式 Corporate financing

融资，简单来说就是“从外部找钱”。

Financing is simply "finding money from outside."

企业有两种主要的融资方式。一种是债务融资，比如向银行贷款，一种是股权融资，也就是找投资人。

There are two main financing methods for companies. One is debt financing, such as bank loans, and the other is equity financing, which is to find investors.

这两类融资方式，在财务报表中，对应的是资产负债表右边的“债权”和“股权”。

These two types of financing methods correspond to the "debt" and "equity" on the right side of the balance sheet in the financial statements.

融资原则：时间匹配和风险匹配 Financing principle: time matching and risk matching

一般企业在启动新项目时，就会考虑向外部融资。那么融资应该用债权融资还是股权融资？在财务管理中，这叫“资本结构”问题。其次，如果使用债权融资，比如银行贷款，那么应该用短期贷款还是长期贷款呢？

Generally, when companies start a new project, they will consider external financing. So should the financing be debt financing or equity financing? In financial management, this is called the "capital structure" problem. Second, if you use debt financing, such as bank loans, should you use short-term loans or long-term loans?

你可能会说，这两个问题很容易回答啊，哪种方式便宜就用哪个呗。尽量用便宜的钱确实是融资决策的一个重要原则。用财务的话说，就是让资金成本尽量低，这样才能尽量增加经济利润。

You might say that these two questions are easy to answer, whichever method is cheaper. Trying to use cheap money is indeed an important principle in financing decisions. In financial terms, it is to keep the cost of capital as low as possible, so as to maximize economic profits.

但是，用便宜的钱虽然重要，但并不是融资决策最重要的原则。

However, although the use of cheap money is important, it is not the most important principle of financing decisions.

融资决策的第一原则是，融资方式和投资项目之间必须要匹配。这里说的“匹配”有两层意思：一是时间上的匹配，二是风险上的匹配。

The first principle of financing decision-making is that there must be a match between financing methods and investment projects. The "matching" mentioned here has two meanings: one is a match in time, and the other is a match in risk.

期限匹配 Maturity match

重资产的项目通常都会涉及银行贷款，一般来说，短期债务因为贷款时间短，银行要承担的风险比较小，所以利率会比长期债务的利息要低。换句话说，短期贷款比长期贷款便宜。

Asset-heavy projects usually involve bank loans. Generally speaking, short-term debt has a short loan time and the bank has to bear relatively small risks, so the interest rate will be lower than the interest on long-term debt. In other words, short-term loans are cheaper than long-term loans.

所以如果从资金成本角度看，所有企业似乎都应该使用短期贷款。但现实情况是这样吗？

So if you look at the cost of capital, it seems that all companies should use short-term loans. But is this the reality?

根据统计，中国的上市公司当中，超过60%的企业都有长期债务。明知道短期贷款便宜，为什么企业还会去选择长期贷款呢？

According to statistics, more than 60% of listed companies in China have long-term debt. Knowing that short-term loans are cheap, why do companies choose long-term loans?

原因就在于，短期债务和长期投资项目的期限是不匹配的。

The reason is that the maturities of short-term debt and long-term investment projects do not match.

比如要兴建一座主题乐园，前几年属于投资期，现金流通常是负的，到了后期项目正常运转了，才会开始产生比较多的正现金流。

For example, if you want to build a theme park, the first few years belonged to the investment period, and the cash flow was usually negative. Only when the project is running normally in the later period will it begin to generate more positive cash flow.

根据迪士尼游乐园的经验，从修建、开业，到收回成本大约需要11年。假如迪士尼为了节省一点利息费用，使用1-2年的短债，那么迪士尼就必须在2年内把债务还清，而2年内游乐园的现金流可能还是负的，或者很少，靠这个项目本身，根本支撑不了贷款的利息和本金。

According to the experience of Disneys amusement park, it takes about 11 years from construction and opening to cost recovery. If Disney uses 1-2 years of short-term debt in order to save a little interest expense, then Disney must pay off the debt within 2 years, and the cash flow of the amusement park within 2 years may still be negative, or very small, depending on the project itself , The interest and principal of the loan cannot be supported at all.

短期债务用于长期项目的做法，财务管理中叫“短贷长投”。

The practice of using short-term debt for long-term projects is called "short-term loans and long-term investments" in financial management.

很多企业因为短期贷款便宜好借，所以会使用短期贷款用于长期项目。

Many companies use short-term loans for long-term projects because short-term loans are cheap and easy to borrow.

但是，短贷长投是一种非常危险的财务运作。

However, short-term loans and long-term investments are a very dangerous financial operation.

这就好比说你月初在某互联网平台上借了5000块钱，买了一个新手机，这笔钱月中就得还，但是你月底才发工资。那到了月中的时候，贷款还不上怎么办？

This is like saying that you borrowed 5,000 yuan from an Internet platform at the beginning of the month and bought a new mobile phone. You have to pay back the money in the middle of the month, but you will only be paid at the end of the month. What should I do if the loan is not repaid by the middle of the month?

在宏观经济好的时候，风险是看不出来的，但是到了经济不景气，银行收紧银根的时候，风险和隐患就暴露出来。

When the macro-economy is good, the risks are not visible, but when the economy is in a downturn and banks are tightening money, risks and hidden dangers are exposed.

这就是为什么在财务高手眼中，融资决策的首要关注点，不是资金够不够便宜，而是资金背后的风险。“短贷长投”带来的财务风险，远远要大于使用短期贷款，节省财务费用带来的那点收益。

This is why in the eyes of financial experts, the primary focus of financing decisions is not whether the funds are cheap enough, but the risks behind the funds. The financial risks brought by "short-term loans and long-term investments" are far greater than the benefits of using short-term loans and saving financial expenses.

风险匹配 Risk matching

风险匹配，主要考虑的是选择债权还是选择股权？

Risk matching, the main consideration is to choose debt or equity?

一般来说，低风险、盈利能力有保证的项目可以更多考虑债权融资，没有盈利保障，风险高的项目通常要靠股权融资。因为投资人比债权人的风险容忍程度更高。

Generally speaking, projects with low risk and guaranteed profitability can be more considered for debt financing. There is no profit guarantee. Projects with high risk usually rely on equity financing. Because investors have a higher risk tolerance than creditors.

• 债权人在意的是项目收益的下限，也就是，这个项目能不能把本金和利息还清，还清之后，项目赚再多的钱，也和债权人没关系。

What the creditors care about is the lower limit of the project’s income, that is, whether the project can pay off the principal and interest. After the project is paid off, no matter how much money the project makes, it has nothing to do with the creditor.

• 股东更在意的是未来收益的上限，也就是最多能赚多少钱。

Shareholders are more concerned about the upper limit of future earnings, that is, how much money they can make at most.

创业公司就是一个典型的例子，常言说99%的创业项目会失败。这样的项目，银行肯定是不愿意贷款的。

Startup companies are a typical example. It is often said that 99% of startup projects will fail. For such projects, banks are definitely not willing to lend.

所以创业公司只能主要依靠股权融资来发展。所以你看，有一群专门给创业公司投资的机构，叫私募股权投资机构，也被称为“风险投资”机构。他们的钱投给创业公司，是不用还的。如果失败了，就会血本无归。但是一旦这个公司成为下一个独角兽，他们就会享受到最大的收益。

Therefore, start-up companies can only rely mainly on equity financing to develop. So you see, there are a group of institutions that specialize in investing in startup companies, called private equity investment institutions, also known as "venture investment" institutions. They don’t have to pay back the money they invest in startups. If you fail, you will lose everything. But once this company becomes the next unicorn, they will enjoy the greatest benefits.

刚才说的时间匹配问题，其实在风险投资机构和创业企业之间，也存在。创业者和公司是长期绑定的，而风险投资机构通常在创业公司上市之后两年，就会把手里持有的股份卖掉，从公司退出。

The time matching problem mentioned earlier actually exists between venture capital institutions and startups. Entrepreneurs and companies are bound for a long time, and venture capital institutions usually sell the shares they hold and exit the company two years after the startup is listed.

换句话说，风险投资机构是创业企业的短期股东。

In other words, venture capital institutions are short-term shareholders of startups.

这个期限错配，会引发什么问题呢？

What problems will this mismatch of deadlines cause?

那就是风险投资机构和创始人站的立场不完全一样。大家决策时候就会出现分歧。

That is, the positions of venture capital institutions and founders are not exactly the same. When everyone makes decisions, there will be differences.

创始人考虑企业长期发展，一定会愿意投资研发。但是创业投资机构呢？由于会计上目前还是把研发投入当成费用，会降低当期利润，所以他们就不太愿意了，因为研发投入越多，企业利润离证监会的上市要求就越远。

The founders are willing to invest in R&D considering the long-term development of the company. But what about venture capital institutions? Since accounting still regards R&D investment as expenses, which will reduce current profits, they are reluctant, because the more R&D investment, the farther away corporate profits will be from the Securities Regulatory Commission’s listing requirements.

事实上，私募机构的这种短视，对创业企业长期发展是没有好处的。

In fact, this short-sightedness of private equity institutions is not good for the long-term development of startups.

第一，融资决策的首要原则是融资方式与投资项目之间的匹配。匹配包括两个维度：期限和风险。

First, the primary principle of financing decision-making is the matching between financing methods and investment projects. Matching includes two dimensions: duration and risk.

第二，“短贷长投”的融资策略虽然能够节约财务费用，但却会大大提高企业风险。

Second, although the financing strategy of "short-term loans and long-term investment" can save financial expenses, it will greatly increase corporate risks.

Third, shareholders have a higher risk tolerance than creditors. Projects with low risk and guaranteed profitability can be more considered for debt financing. There is no profit guarantee. Projects with high risk usually rely on equity financing.