Innovative firms in Europe face significant problems in accessing the funding they need to start, grow and compete on global markets. European firms (especially SMEs) turn mostly to banks to obtain external finance and only in limited cases to alternative sources of financing - such as venture...

Nowadays, the importance of the SME field becomes more and more a real basis for establishing and developing a modern, dynamic knowledge�based economy. The experience of the European Union clearly demonstrates that the SME sector can make a substantial contribution to Gross Domestic...

Globalization has brought a shift to the economic environment of the European SME. The progressively disappearing barriers and borders are exposing all companies both to new markets and to international competition. Consequently SMEs that do not consider internationalisation are self imposing a...

Business incubators are institutions that support the entrepreneurial process, helping to increase survival rates for innovative startup companies and for small companies. Entrepreneurs with feasible projects are selected and admitted into the incubators, where they are offered business support...

In a highly competitive global economy, improved access to financing by innovative small and medium-sized enterprises has become essential for enhancing competitiveness and meeting the objectives of the Lisbon Partnership for Growth and Jobs. Although venture capital is a small part of the...

Currently, the correlations between the naturally environment problems and the economic and social situation are the important part of the national policy for every country. As a starting point, a series of measurable targets – the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) from the United Nations –...

In order to support the development of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), the European Commission adopted the “Small Business Act for Europe” (SBA) in 2008 which include ten leading principles, a set of new legislative measures and strategic actions to be put into practice at the...

Many factors (internal and external) can make a business vulnerable. In the context of the international financial crisis, the firms, and especially the small and mediume enterprises (SMEs) have to face new challenges. Smaller businesses are particularly prone to financial difficulties as they...

In the context of the international financial crisis, the necessity to attract new financing sources and to ensure the correlation between the capital supply and demand became a new challenge for the firms, especially for the SMEs. The concept of "investment readiness" refers to the capacity of...

Nowadays, the importance of the SME field becomes more and more a real basis for establishing and developing a modern, dynamic knowledge-based economy because their capacity to stimulate private ownership and entrepreneurial skills; to be flexible and to adapt quickly to a changing market; to...