Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

Partnerships and networks between big and small companies will contribute to the success in the future (Delaney, 2009).

(Business Management: a contemporary compilation). The Growing interest in the area of Entrepreneurship has developed in changing roles of small businesses. Small Entrepreneurship has great potential in developing countries. Due to Statistics and analysis of several countries, it is shown that Small Industries have grown faster than large industries. Large Industries lost jobs as Small Industries created workplaces. The Focus is on Small Industries which led to the main source of employment in the country.

In 2014 SMEs account for 99.3% of firms (4.8 million companies), 47.8% of employment (15.2 million people) and 33.2% of annual turnover (£1.6 Billion)6. The European Commission SME Performance Review provides estimates for the EU private sector. In 2014 SMEs account for 99.8% of firms (21.6 million companies), 67.5% of employment (88.8 million people) and 58.4% of annual turnover (€3.6 Trillion)9.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) have proved to be the dynamo for the many economies of the world. SME helps in creating jobs, driving innovation, growth and economic diversification.

Every business’s goal is to maximise profit, generate more revenue and increase customer satisfaction. Although to achieve these goals could be changing, barriers from the economic conditions, government and competition has increased the difficulties. Governments and businesses are interdependent, the interdependence will grow further by globalisation of the economy when it comes to international business. Mamman (2004) states: “One of the manifestations of globalisation is the blurring of political and economic boundaries and the diminishing traditional role of national governments.” The role of government has always been an important factor in business, they create rules and frameworks that let businesses compete against each other. Business is affected by the government policy, the rules and frameworks can force them to change the way how they operate. The policies of the government can have implications. For example the requirements of licensing, other permissions, regulations, taxation and formalities. All these restrictions have a direct impact on doing business.

Internationalisation is a critical part of the growth of a small firm. This essay will critically look at the reasons why small firms would want to go international and what the advantages and disadvantages might be. Entrepreneurs are one of the main factors of local economic development and new activities of SME’s help drive the economic growth as well as the firm’s own growth.

The political environment can have significant impact on a business. It affects consumer confidence and business spending. The political stability of a foreign environment is important to consider for companies entering new markets. The government’s policies pertaining to regulations and taxation vary from country to country. It

Entrepreneurs establish Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), which are playing an increasingly significant role in the global economy. According to the recent statistics of UK, of all private sector businesses, SMEs accounted for 99.3% at the start of 2015; 60% employment at 15.6 million; and 47% annual turnover at £1.8 trillion (FSB.org, 2015). Thus, it is of vital importance to understand how to formulate and operate an SME.

Beck, T., Demirguc-kunt, A. & Maksimovic, V. (2005), ‘Financial and Legal Constraints to Growth: Does Firm Size Matter?’, Journal of Finance, 60(1), pp. 137-177.

Small and medium enterprise has always the engine of growth for every country, in developing as well as in transition economies. Their role in

By definition, SMEs are “small and medium-sized” enterprises. The most standard classification of SMEs is by number of employees although sometimes revenues are also used. Many SMEs are of a stable size and are content to remain small. Firms in this category include many family businesses, most sole proprietorships and many other micro, small and medium sized firms. While SMEs are clearly a large and critical part of most economies around the world, SMEs differ greatly in their growth orientation. The term “SME”, which describes a firm’s size, is therefore not adequate for measuring entrepreneurship or anticipating internationalization of firms. Growth orientation as well as both the inclination and ability to internationalize are important characteristics in SME internationalization. Entrepreneurs can actively compete in the international market through five avenues: exporting, importing, joint ventures, direct foreign investment, and licensing. Further I will analyse all the options.

Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) form the majority of the enterprises in Singapore’s economy. They employ over 70% of Singapore’s workforce and generate about 50% of the country’s total GDP. Most SMEs in Singapore grow from small enterprises into large competitive companies. Manufacturing and wholesale SME sectors have increased impressively with the number of employees in these sectors increasing by up to 8%. SMEs in the Finance, Property and holdings sector hold the top three sectors in terms of the amount of profits accrued. Competitive strategies in Singapore’s SMEs are based on the “3MK” key success factors; Management, Markets, Money and Knowhow (Bull & Winter, 1991). In this paper, the contribution of SMEs to Singapore, the economic constraints that face them, and the steps that can be taken to strengthen SMEs to ensure its sustained contribution to Singapore‘s economy will be discussed.

Small businesses are generally regarded as the driving force of economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction in developing countries. They have been the means through which accelerated economic growth and rapid industrialization have been achieved (Harris and Gibson, 2006; Sauser, 2005; Arinaitwe, 2002; Kiggundu, 2002; Monk,

In his book (Prasad C. S., 2004) has predicted the vision of SMEs up to 2012, regarding the employment generation and open economic development of trade from India. The author explained that due to Liberalization, Globalization and WTO a rethinking is being made to analyse the targets before the SMEs sector. The author suggested that with the inherent advantage of flexibility and innovativeness of the sector, the major constraints of economies of scale could be met by adopting the cluster development and formulation of appropriate policies. The book is based on the compilation of the various articles of the author published in different journals on the theme of WTO and SMEs, SMEs financing, SMEs policy, Employment Generation in SMEs and Export potential and cluster development among SMEs etc.

The importance of small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) in the economy of any country cannot be overlooked. In fact for nearly 15 years, most researchers dealing with economic planning have highlighted the significance of these enterprises stating that they are a key player in realizing any country’s economic goals. As such, governments as well as other organizations with interest in development are laying plans and strategies to promote the establishment of Small and Micro Enterprises. This is seen as a move to ensure that there is full participation of SMEs in the country’s economy. The Small and Micro Enterprises have been known to contribute to a large extend as a source of innovation, entrepreneurial skills as well as source of employment. For example, statistics in 25countries of the European Union show that 99% of the jobs provided to its citizens come from the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Rowe (2008) points out that the British economy relies heavily on the participation of SMEs. On the other hand, 99% of the UK’s economy is composed of small and micro enterprises.