Business transfer promotion in European countries
Tall, Juha; Varamäki, Elina; Viljamaa, Anmari (2021)
Lataukset:
Seinäjoen ammattikorkeakoulu
2021
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2021062339725
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2021062339725
Tiivistelmä
Business transfers are becoming an increasingly important and natural part of SMEs’ strategic development, renewal and growth. A business transfer can be a complex and demanding process due to financial, managerial, regulatory and administrative challenges. A well-developed business transfer ecosystem will help to develop dynamic business transfer markets and hence support the growth of SMEs. Promoting business transfers is the best possible promotion of growth entrepreneurship.
At the European level, business transfers have been an issue in entrepreneurship policy since the early 1990s. Currently, the aim is to improve the evidence base on business transfers in the EU Member States. In the line with earlier development measures, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences implemented a case study collection on best practices of SME Business Transfer Promotion in the EU Member States.
The main objectives are to 1) collect data on best practices in business transfer promotion, 2) collect preliminary data on business transfer ecosystems and 3) create and publish case stories of the best practices in business transfer promotion. An online survey was sent to 65 experts in 27 EU countries. The questionnaire resulted in responses representing 17 countries with 29 proposals for good practices. Based on these proposals, the research team chose 15 cases to represent best practices in promoting SME business transfers. Variation in the terminology of the case story drafts suggests there is a need to continue and strengthen international dialogue between the experts on SME business transfers.
Best practice cases
The case stories reflect the wide range of business transfer promotion practices. Usually each practice is well-fitted to its present context. All presented cases have some key takeaways. One example of a measure relatively easy to implement but with good potential impact in most business transfer ecosystems is the business transfer week implemented in Belgium. Reempresa in Spain and Sowalfin in Belgium are good examples of long-term cooperation with key stakeholders and of systematic approach. Business Start-up service in Austria utilizes administrative infrastructure, regulatory environment and synergy with other services to support business transfers. The concept provides good national coverage with a relatively homogenous business transfer service package. In Finland, a regular business transfer barometer provides input for evidence-based policy-making and promotes cooperation among key stakeholders in the ecosystem.
Business transfer ecosystems
Respondents were asked to give their interpretation of the national situation concerning ten key elements in business transfer ecosystems. On basis of this data, the research team assigned a final score concerning each element. Finland, Austria and Germany are good examples of well-developed national business transfer ecosystems. In addition, well-developed ecosystems exist in Estonia, Malta and Slovenia. Lower scores show higher potential to improve and develop business transfer ecosystems. Considering the key elements of a business transfer ecosystem, national advisory boards are relatively rare. Regarding online platforms there is a significant variation, and in the countries with no online platforms it is worth considering whether to create one, based on the existing benchmarking examples. Business transfer promoting legislation gets fairly low scores. This is a serious remainder that there is still much work to be done to improve the business transfer ecosystems in the EU countries.
Business transfer promotion gets attention in the EU countries. However, the level of attention, current overall functionality of the business transfer ecosystem and the extent of business transfer promotion measures vary significantly between the countries. International benchmarking enables exploration of different practices and offers ideas for renewal of existing practices on the national level. Differences in business environments make direct adoption challenging but there are many opportunities for adaptation to different contexts.
The results imply that there is an ongoing need for research-based policy development. Both descriptive and predictive data on business transfers would improve the promotion measures. This study highlights especially the need for systematic national level cooperation between the key stakeholders in awareness raising and in other business transfer promotion activities.
At the European level, business transfers have been an issue in entrepreneurship policy since the early 1990s. Currently, the aim is to improve the evidence base on business transfers in the EU Member States. In the line with earlier development measures, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences implemented a case study collection on best practices of SME Business Transfer Promotion in the EU Member States.
The main objectives are to 1) collect data on best practices in business transfer promotion, 2) collect preliminary data on business transfer ecosystems and 3) create and publish case stories of the best practices in business transfer promotion. An online survey was sent to 65 experts in 27 EU countries. The questionnaire resulted in responses representing 17 countries with 29 proposals for good practices. Based on these proposals, the research team chose 15 cases to represent best practices in promoting SME business transfers. Variation in the terminology of the case story drafts suggests there is a need to continue and strengthen international dialogue between the experts on SME business transfers.
Best practice cases
The case stories reflect the wide range of business transfer promotion practices. Usually each practice is well-fitted to its present context. All presented cases have some key takeaways. One example of a measure relatively easy to implement but with good potential impact in most business transfer ecosystems is the business transfer week implemented in Belgium. Reempresa in Spain and Sowalfin in Belgium are good examples of long-term cooperation with key stakeholders and of systematic approach. Business Start-up service in Austria utilizes administrative infrastructure, regulatory environment and synergy with other services to support business transfers. The concept provides good national coverage with a relatively homogenous business transfer service package. In Finland, a regular business transfer barometer provides input for evidence-based policy-making and promotes cooperation among key stakeholders in the ecosystem.
Business transfer ecosystems
Respondents were asked to give their interpretation of the national situation concerning ten key elements in business transfer ecosystems. On basis of this data, the research team assigned a final score concerning each element. Finland, Austria and Germany are good examples of well-developed national business transfer ecosystems. In addition, well-developed ecosystems exist in Estonia, Malta and Slovenia. Lower scores show higher potential to improve and develop business transfer ecosystems. Considering the key elements of a business transfer ecosystem, national advisory boards are relatively rare. Regarding online platforms there is a significant variation, and in the countries with no online platforms it is worth considering whether to create one, based on the existing benchmarking examples. Business transfer promoting legislation gets fairly low scores. This is a serious remainder that there is still much work to be done to improve the business transfer ecosystems in the EU countries.
Business transfer promotion gets attention in the EU countries. However, the level of attention, current overall functionality of the business transfer ecosystem and the extent of business transfer promotion measures vary significantly between the countries. International benchmarking enables exploration of different practices and offers ideas for renewal of existing practices on the national level. Differences in business environments make direct adoption challenging but there are many opportunities for adaptation to different contexts.
The results imply that there is an ongoing need for research-based policy development. Both descriptive and predictive data on business transfers would improve the promotion measures. This study highlights especially the need for systematic national level cooperation between the key stakeholders in awareness raising and in other business transfer promotion activities.