The importance of high-growth enterprises for job creation has been widely substantiated by economic research in recent years. The number and share of high-growth enterprises is relatively small, but the number and share of jobs they create is disproportionally large. The small and medium enterprises with the potential of growth are in the focus of this project. Two overarching goals of this project are:

1.       Development of growth potential prediction models for SMEs in Croatia

The main activities leading up to this goal are: (i) to analyse previous studies relevant for the topic of SMEs’ growth potential; (ii) to develop growth potential prediction models for SMEs in Croatia; (iii) to make the models for assessing growth potential available to SMEs to use for purposes of assessing and improving their businesses; (iv) to compare differences in growth potential among SMEs from main industries; (v) to analyse growth potential of SMEs within creative industries and within manufacturing industries. 

2.       Providing recommendations to policy makers, recommendation for development of educational programs for SME owners and managers, and recommendations related to sources of finance available to SMEs

Based on the research results and models created as part of this project, the main recommendations related to growth potential of SMEs will cover areas of: (i) policy making; (ii) education; and (iii) sources of finance. In recent years policy makers have shown increased interest in fostering fast growing enterprises as they are seen as a key driver of economic growth and employment. Studies conducted in listed companies have showed that two key aspects in supporting high-growth companies are education and access to finance. To allow for comparison of other countries with Croatia, results of this project will be published in relevant scientific journals. To help boost Croatian economy, the results will be presented to all stakeholders interested in this topic.