engleski

Position of legal economic clinic on the map of business support institutions in Croatia

Business support institutions, as part of business infrastructure in Croatia, are among the best rateddeterminants for growth and development of small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs). At the same time, other determinants, such as government policies and programs, education, R&D transfer, internal dynamics, etc., are rated belowaverage by different studies(- GEM, Doing Business, Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Study). Taking into account the number of business support organizations (centers for entrepreneurship, development agencies, business incubators and parks, technology centers, etc.) per capita, Croatia has one business support institution per 50, 000 inhabitants, which could provide necessary help for everyoneinterested in starting a business with growth potential. Despitesuch a large number of business support institutions, entrepreneurs, especially those in the growth phase, very rarely seek professional advice. Among the main reasons for not using professional advice, entrepreneurs pointedout that business advisers do not have the necessary knowledge, that they have had bad experiences in the past, and that they have ultimately managed to solve the problem on their own. The purpose of this research is to check if there is space in the Croatian business ecosystem for another business advice provider – the Legal Economic Clinic, which focuses on the problems ofstart-upcompanies. The main issues and obstacles will be identified using primary data (analysis of the advice provided to entrepreneurs by the Legal Economic Clinic in the period 2013-2015), while secondary datawill be used as thesource for finding answers and solutions. The main findings will help business support institutions to better position their services and ensure the level and quality of advice that can help start-up entrepreneurs solve their problems efficiently.

Legal Economic Clinic, clinical education, business support organizations, business advisers, small and medium-sized companies

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