Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Italy and Challenges they Face

SME is the acronym for small and medium sized enterprises. It is very difficult to provide a definition of SME since certain criteria have been used to define what SME stand for most especially according to the countries, sizes and sectors1. It should be stressed that these kinds of businesses arose as a result of entrepreneurial activities of individuals. A commonly accepted definition of SMEs in UE countries is enterprises which employ less than 250 people, whose annual revenue does not exceed 50 million Euro or whose the total balance sheet does not exceed 43 million Euro2. The importance of the SMEs in the world’s economy is not an unexplored topic and their strong impact on the countries’ economies is unanimously recognized3 . SMEs’ features such being: