Conditions of development and success criteria for small and medium-sized enterprises

Abstract

Given the current economic challenges facing many countries around the world, the idea of fostering entrepreneurial activity became an important goal for many governments. The importance of entrepreneurship for economic development is emphasized by many researchers, and it is now well established that education and training opportunities play a key role in nurturing future entrepreneurs and in developing the abilities of active entrepreneurs to develop their businesses to higher levels of success. More globally, governments around the world are increasingly recognizing the positive impact that start-ups can have on the employment levels as well as competitive advantages that small frms can bring to the marketplace. Moreover, while entrepreneurship offers benefts in terms of social and economic growth, it also offers benefts in terms of personal fulfllment. Yet still, determining how small businesses can be transformed into growth-oriented frms remains elusive, and despite the breadth of research on the growth frms, researchers remain uncertain as to why some frms grow and others do not when they emerged in similar environments. The purpose of the paper is to determine what entrepreneurial skills are essential to develop a growth-oriented businesses and how those skills can be improved.