Small businesses are turning to credit cards, savings and borrowing money from friends to keep their companies afloat.
The findings follow new research which question what's happened to the banks that pledged to help businesses with money to help them survive the recession.
Failure by customers to pay promptly has also been sited as a reason for SME's to be reaching for the plastic.
According to the Federation of Small Businesses, the Government is claimed to be one of the worst offenders for this, with one in three bills paid late.
FSB chairman John Wright said: "Late payment has been a particular problem in the past year and it is more important than ever that this worrying practice is brought to an end".
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