{"id":3204,"date":"2025-07-22T10:35:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T08:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/een.si\/smes-in-slovenia-and-the-eu-ambitions-are-high-but-obstacles-remain\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T09:49:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T07:49:35","slug":"smes-in-slovenia-and-the-eu-ambitions-are-high-but-obstacles-remain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/smes-in-slovenia-and-the-eu-ambitions-are-high-but-obstacles-remain\/","title":{"rendered":"SMEs in Slovenia and the EU: Ambitions are high but obstacles remain"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3204\" class=\"elementor elementor-3204 elementor-2884\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5641a762 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5641a762\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-616ce99a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"616ce99a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><\/p>\n<p>A recent survey of more than 17,000 companies, including 13,000 from the EU-27, provides valuable insights into the situation and plans of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Among the EU respondents, 5% identified themselves as start-ups and 18% as scale-ups. <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>The results clearly show that SMEs are highly ambitious despite the many challenges &#8211; almost half of them have seen growth in revenues and headcount since 2021. However, their continued growth is still hampered by complex regulations and administrative barriers, which remain a central concern. <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Key findings of the survey<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>1. SMEs&#8217; biggest challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Regulatory and administrative barriers<\/strong> are the biggest problem for SMEs &#8211; <strong>64% of<\/strong> them cited this as a key challenge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Late payments<\/strong> are a problem for <strong>39% of<\/strong> the companies surveyed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Access to finance<\/strong> is a barrier for <strong>27% of<\/strong> companies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Positive growth plans<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Since 2021, <strong>almost half of SMEs<\/strong> have <strong>increased their revenues and employment<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the future, <strong>67% of<\/strong> companies expect revenue growth and <strong>46%<\/strong> plan to expand their workforce &#8211; most of them at a gradual pace (up to 10% per year).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Start-ups stand out<\/strong>, with almost one in five expecting annual growth above 20%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Barriers to expansion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Growth-focused companies cite the following as the main barriers:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lack of adequate staff<\/strong>,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>high energy prices<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>intense competition<\/strong>,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>regulatory burdens<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Challenges of cross-border enlargement<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Although many SMEs want to enter foreign markets, they face the following obstacles:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Different business environments<\/strong> &#8211; a problem for <strong>33%<\/strong>,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>unclear rules<\/strong> &#8211; <strong>30%<\/strong>,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>tax and VAT legislation<\/strong> &#8211; <strong>29%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>European SMEs: resilient and future-oriented<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Despite the existing problems, the survey reveals a picture of a resilient and ambitious SME sector with a large untapped potential. To effectively support their development, it is crucial to simplify the regulatory environment, improve access to finance and provide support measures to facilitate internationalisation. <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>With optimism, innovation and a clear growth orientation, SMEs remain the backbone of the European economy &#8211; but they need support to identify and remove systemic barriers to their development.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>A look at Slovenia: what does the survey say?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>The Flash Eurobarometer 559 survey covered <strong>451 SMEs<\/strong> in Slovenia and its results reveal specific challenges and opportunities in the Slovenian business environment:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Main challenges for Slovenian SMEs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Administrative barriers and regulation<\/strong> remain a key problem for us, with <strong>41% of<\/strong> companies citing them (EU average: 64%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Late payments<\/strong> are a problem for <strong>19% of<\/strong> Slovenian companies (EU: 39%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Access to finance<\/strong> is slightly less emphasised than in the EU &#8211; <strong>12% of<\/strong> companies see it as a barrier (EU: 27%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Barriers to cross-border expansion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Slovenian companies doing business across borders cite the following as key barriers:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Different business environments and language barriers<\/strong>: 18% (EU: 33%),<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Access to information on rules and requirements<\/strong>: 23% (EU: 30%),<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tax and VAT problems<\/strong>: 12% (EU: 29%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Barriers to innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Slovenian entrepreneurs are less likely than the EU average to report barriers to innovation:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Difficult to predict market response<\/strong>: 11% (EU: 36%),<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Legal\/administrative framework <\/strong>8 % (EU: 29 %),<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lack of skills<\/strong>: 10% (EU: 23%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Future plans<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Slovenian companies are optimistic:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>41%<\/strong> plan to grow both revenues and employees (EU: 37%),<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>25%<\/strong> revenue growth is planned (EU: 30%),<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Only <strong>1% of<\/strong> companies in Slovenia have no growth plans (EU: 3%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Use of advanced technologies<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cloud computing and big data analysis<\/strong>: used by <strong>48% of<\/strong> Slovenian companies (EU: 46%),<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cyber security<\/strong>: 23% (EU: 32%),<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Artificial intelligence<\/strong>: 17% (EU: 14%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Slovenian SMEs represent a vital and increasingly digitalised part of the economy, in many respects outperforming the European average &#8211; especially in terms of growth and adoption of new technologies. However, challenges remain in the areas of regulation, access to information and the innovation environment. Targeted support policies should be even more targeted to address these specific barriers.  <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>More at<a href=\"https:\/\/europa.eu\/eurobarometer\/surveys\/detail\/3359\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">:https:\/\/europa.eu\/eurobarometer\/surveys\/detail\/3359<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Author Edina Babnik, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1ab4226 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"1ab4226\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4dd95f3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"4dd95f3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/een.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MSP-Slo-vs-EU1-1024x1024.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-2888\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/een.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MSP-Slo-vs-EU1-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/een.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MSP-Slo-vs-EU1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/een.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MSP-Slo-vs-EU1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/een.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MSP-Slo-vs-EU1-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/een.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MSP-Slo-vs-EU1.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent survey of more than 17,000 companies, including 13,000 from the EU-27, provides valuable insights into the situation and plans of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Among the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-eu-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3204"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3210,"href":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204\/revisions\/3210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/een.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}