Creditors — suppliers who give you time to pay and lenders who advance funds — allow a business to commit to work before it has been paid for it. That timing shift is what makes growth possible: you can take on the contract, buy the machine or hire the capacity ahead of the income, rather than waiting until you have saved for it.
Supplier credit does this quietly and usually free of interest, which is why the terms you negotiate with suppliers matter as much as anything a lender offers. Lender credit does it at a price, in exchange for a fixed repayment commitment and often security or a personal guarantee.
The trade-off is that both create obligations that outlast the enthusiasm for the project. Growth funded on credit tightens cash flow before it improves it, and businesses more often get into trouble growing too fast than too slowly. Overdue supplier accounts and missed repayments also feed into credit reference data that other funders will see.
If your business is already struggling to pay creditors, that is a different situation and not one to solve with more borrowing. Speak to your accountant, and if debts are becoming unmanageable, to a licensed insolvency practitioner. Free, impartial help is available from Business Debtline and Citizens Advice.