Business Transfer Barometer Croatia

BTB Croatia

During training event in Leeds Mirela Alpeza from CEPOR presented the results Business Transfer Barometer research conducted by in Croatia in 2015.

Successful business transfer process is one of the key preconditions for long-term sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises, which is most often associated with the retirement of the company owner and pulling out of the management, and often the ownership role in the company. In 2015 CEPOR - SMEs and Entrepreneurship Policy Centre has implemented Business Transfer Barometer Croatia survey and published the results. The survey was conducted on a random sample of 200 majority owners of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Based on the conducted survey in Croatia, it was determined that the share of enterprises whose owners belong to the 55+ generation amounts to 31% of the total number of enterprises in Croatia, that those enterprises have a share of 16.1% in the total number of employees in legal entities and a share of 18.9% of the total income generated by legal entities in Croatia. More than 5,300 enterprises with about 57,000 employees represent the risk group whose owners underestimate the complexity and length of duration of the business transfer process. An important characteristic of enterprises in the hands of 55+ generation is that majority of them were established in the 1990s (76%), and that their owners are also their founders in as much as 92% of cases, without personal experience of participation in the business transfer process. Based on the conclusions of the Business Transfer Barometer survey, and the recommendations of the European Commission for the improvement of national support systems for entrepreneurs in that process, CEPOR – SMEs and Entrepreneurship Policy Centre proposed a framework for future activities.