Unsuccessful SME Business Transfers

Marko Matalamäki (), Elina Varamäki, Anmari Viljamaa, Juha Tall and Anna-Maria Mäkelä
Additional contact information
Marko Matalamäki: Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Elina Varamäki: Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Anmari Viljamaa: Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Juha Tall: Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Anna-Maria Mäkelä: Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, Finland

Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), 2020, vol. 28, issue 02, 121-146

Abstract: Business transfers are linked to both the beginning and the end of entrepreneurial processes. A person can become an entrepreneur by acquiring an existing business instead of starting one, and exit from entrepreneurship can occur through selling the business. Business transfers are gradually becoming more common among small businesses, largely due to entrepreneurs’ aging, and thus deserve attention from entrepreneurship scholars. In particular, the issue of why and how business transfer negotiations fail without achieving a transfer has received little research attention. The purpose of this paper is to explore this phenomenon from potential buyers’ and sellers’ perspectives. The findings are based on a sample of 156 responses. The results suggest that the problems occurring in unfinished business transfers are quite numerous and the gaps between the views of the two negotiating parties are wider than in cases where business transfer negotiations are concluded successfully, indicating that the initial negotiation positions can be crucial. This research proposes some key elements to consider when planning an exit by business transfer and highlight the importance of unfinished small business transfers as an essential element of a dynamic business transfer market; a substantial proportion of the potential buyers and sellers are satisfied with the outcome even though the transfer did not occur.

Keywords: Entrepreneur; business transfer; merger; acquisition; buyer; seller; SME (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0218495820500065
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:jecxxx:v:28:y:2020:i:02:n:s0218495820500065

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S0218495820500065

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC) is currently edited by Teck-Meng Tan

More articles in Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().