How to strengthen your SME: assessing business performances to improve its competitiveness

Many reports and academic research bring evidence about the difficulties small companies have to face to access financial and non-financial resources to survive and expand their activity. Two main and recurrent causes emerge from the long list of alleged causes of the rationing of small companies: 1)  their opacity 2)  their low ability in proposing clear and reliable information on their project and business plan. None of them can be neither solved nor alleviated by a proper financial regulation. Instead, a possible solution comes from a specific support designed for entrepreneurs and managers of these companies. The seminar will focus on how researchers, business support structures, and policymakers can contribute to a better endowment of entrepreneurial skills and knowledge thanks to the development of informational systems adapted to small companies business models.
Taking a small business assessment tool developed in a European project named, The Next Society, we show why, this important, but still disadvantaged part of the productive system can benefit from a better knowledge of their positioning on the market, of their strengths and advantages, and, last but not least of the threats by competitors. We will demonstrate how a better knowledge of the firm strategy is mandatory to improve its robustness and its performance. Initially dedicated to small companies located in developing countries, this approach and the resulting assessment tool are also suitable for the smallest companies of developed countries. It provides an effective example of South-North and North-South cooperation in the field of entrepreneurship and small business development.