Contemporary Forms of Financing for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise: Country Case Study of Croatia

The paper analyzes the financing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Republic of Croatia. The fundamental goal of the paper is to determine the most common forms of funding sources used by entrepreneurs classified as SMEs, as well as the advantages and disadvantages that each financing model brings. The article pays special attention to financing methods that are less known to the average Croatian entrepreneur, such as peer-to-peer lending, initial coin offering, and security token offering. Unlike the banking system, which serves as an indirect financial system, modern forms of financing allow SMEs to raise funds directly from borrowers. To obtain the most relevant information from practice, the article presents the results of conducted research on financing models for SMEs in Croatia, with a particular focus on the awareness of entrepreneurs about new and contemporary forms of financing. Research was carried out in the form of a survey questionnaire created using Google Forms. The sample for the research consisted of 145 SMEs companies, selected to represent the population from various sectors of activity according to the national categorization of activities, from which 14.48% responded to the survey questionnaire. Research showed a higher rate of awerenes and the utilization of traditional forms of financing compared to modern ones. However, it also indicates a certain readiness to embrace the latter. Although the share of modern forms of financing remains small, research revealed that they constitute an appropriate alternative to traditional banking systems, both as a relatively solid investment channel and as a way to obtain loans with convenient terms.