Con Foo, Harry Rodney Ernest (2010) Successful exit processes of SMEs in Australia. Other Degree thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) play a significant role in the Australian economy. The OECD (2000) reports that SMEs are the core to a nation’s future economic growth and account for 95 percent of enterprises and 60 to 70 percent of jobs. The existing literature on small business primarily focuses on three specific areas: SME start-up/entrepreneurship, general management of the enterprise, and SME failure. Whilst it may be an idealistic notion that businesses will grow and long outlast their founders, the reality is that most businesses have finite lives with the vast majority of Australian business start-ups ceasing to exist within fifteen years. In the Australian context there are significant studies on business cessation but little research has focussed on business exits that do not include business liquidation (voluntary or involuntary). This study deals specifically with the subject of business harvesting associated with owners who voluntarily and successfully exit their businesses. The main aim of this study was to undertake an empirical study of SME exits focussing on details of the process to identify its major stages and contributing factors. To conduct this study a research framework for business exits was developed based on the conceptual framework for managing growth and change in small businesses proposed by Joyce and Woods (2003).

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