Regional aspects of business environment creation in the SME Segment in Slovakia

The aim of this article is to define, quantify and compare the significant attributes of creation and development of the business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in selected regions of Slovakia. Within this stated objective, relevant factors and business relationships between entrepreneurs and the socio-economic system were analysed. The entrepreneurs´ perception of their environment (state, company, banks etc.) was evaluated. The data was collected through a questionnaire. The whole research was conducted in the Bratislava region on a sample of 102 SMEs, in the region of Trencin on a sample of 105 SMEs and in the Zilina region on a sample of 168 SMEs. Thus we compared important factors of business environment in the most economically developed region of the Slovak capital to the average regions of Trencin and Zilina. Entrepreneurs stated a quality of not being afraid to risk as the most essential characteristic feature of a businessman. The following qualities were mentioned as well: expertise, responsibility and persistence. The largest number of entrepreneurs in all the regions of Slovakia said that the state institutions just bully them and create unnecessary obstacles. Entrepreneurs indicated that commercial banks´ approach to SMEs financing remains problematic.