Financing of Innovative Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. A Research in Turkey

Abstract

Today’s business realm involves a vast variety of businesses and business groups; small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) being one of the most prominent. Despite countless investigations from many different business-related perspectives, their innovation perspective is rarely subjected. This current study chooses this perspective and moves a step beyond by considering financing of these businesses. In other words, this study covets to uncover how innovative SMEs are financed, how much these businesses care about professionalization towards financing issues, and what problems they face in their financing processes. Emphasizing innovative SMEs in techno parks in Turkey, this study discloses noteworthy facts from the Turkish context. Major findings pinpoint a low priority towards a professional financing approach and problems related with external and long-term financing opportunities. A noteworthy implication about both external and long-term financing is that they are entirely dependent on exogenous factors. Most of the participating businesses are on micro and small scales, besides being very young.