Utilization of Financial Support Programs by Slovak Enterprises

Small and medium-sized enterprises are in general facing a wide range of barriers and one of the most important barrier for their development is a lack of money. Therefore, the governments usually create a collection of support programs that help companies to eliminate these obstacles. The main aim of the paper is to evaluate how Slovak SMEs utilize support programs of the Slovak government and European Union in their business activities. On the base of the findings the paper will also contain suggestions how this type of support can become more available for Slovak companies in future. Design/methodology/approach: The main objective of the paper is achieved through the empirical research performed in 2016 on the sample of Slovak companies via electronic questionnaire. We have distributed questionnaires to the 2 500 potential respondents, the rate of return was 3,2 %. We have formulated two hypotheses, the first one defined an assumption that Slovak micro enterprises were mostly interested in obtaining grant for self-employed person. The hypothesis H2 was based on the premise that the bureaucracy and administrative burden are the strongest barriers in applying for financial support programs.Findings: The paper brings empirical findings about how the Slovak enterprises perceive the financial support programs provided by the state institutions and institutions from European Union; it also identifies main obstacles for obtaining of this type of financial resources.Research/practical implications: The study includes implications for the improvement of the state system that is supporting Slovak companies. It also analyses current activities of the public sector, e. g. the existence of Better Regulation Centre and National Business Centre. In future it is necessary to extend the existing research in the number of respondents and also deeper insights into specific support programs. Originality/value: This study contains feedback from enterprises, i. e. recipients of the support programs that bring important information for the state institutions and European institutions in order to provide more effective support in future