engleski

Advisory services to small and medium-sized enterprises during the Covid-19 virus pandemic

The complete shutdown of economic activity during March, April and May 2020 was aimed to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19 virus and prevent a collapse of the health system in the Republic of Croatia. The virus pandemic, as well as the economic consequences of the crisis caused by the pandemic, posed a new challenge for all commercial entities, especially the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, which, during the last financial crisis in 2008, was also in a much more unfavourable position compared to large enterprises. Entrepreneurship Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia 2013-2020 defines the role of entrepreneurship support institutions, which includes the provision of advisory assistance. Since 2010, when there were 88, the number of business support institutions has grown to 473 institutions, as of November 20, 2020. Such a network of institutions, whose work is co-financed by budget funds, makes their services available to all economic entities. On the other side of the market of advisory and consulting services, there are private initiatives (business entities engaged in this activity), whose services and work are not co-financed from the state budget. The aim of this paper is to examine how and to what extent entrepreneurship support institutions truly support the SME sector, especially in times of crisis, and how much they monitor their needs. The paper compares the offer of both types of institutions and analyses the extent to which the offer was in line with the needs of the SME sector during crisis caused by pandemic. Data were collected through primary research (interviews with representatives of 4 business support institutions and 4 representatives of private consulting companies) and secondary research (an overview of the services offered on official websites of all business support institutions). Research results indicate a lack of timely support of business support institutions in the form of innovative products and services that would be tailored for entrepreneurs affected by the crisis. At the same time, private consulting firms demonstrated speed and flexibility and promptly approached clients from the SME sector and offered them appropriate service and support. Concluding remarks of the paper indicate a reduction in the capacity of business support institutions for entrepreneurial activity (proactive and innovative) whose causes should be sought in the sources of funding, and almost complete orientation towards EU projects which, with their longer period of preparation and implementation, reduce the sensitivity of entrepreneurship support institutions to problems of those to whom, according to their mission, they should primarily be focused.

advisory services ; SME sector ; entrepreneurship support institutions ; COVID-19

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