The role of KSGEB supports on firms: A research on the TRB2 region

SMEs are an important factor for our country's economy as in many countries. When the distribution of SMEs in our country's economy is examined; According to TURKSTAT data, 99.8% of all enterprises in our country are SMEs. In other words, only 2 out of 1000 enterprises in our country are not classified as SMEs and the remaining part is defined as SMEs. It is very important in terms of economic development to support SMEs, which are so many and important in numbers. When the survival of SMEs in Turkish the economy is examined; according to TURKSTAT data and studies, it has been concluded that 95 out of every 100 SMEs in our country cannot survive for five years, and 60 cannot even continue business for two years. When the course of the global trade in Turkey and the world changes, the economic conditions to which businesses and SMEs are exposed vary. It is important to support SMEs to adapt to these new circumstances and also the permanence of this support. The most important institution established in our country to support SMEs is KOSGEB (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization). The establishment of KOSGEB is an important development in terms of understanding the importance of SMEs in real terms and giving the required value. KOSGEB was established with the law numbered 3624 in 1990 for the purposes of increasing the share of small and medium sized enterprises in the economy, their efficiency, competitiveness, and their integration in the industry. KOSGEB is affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Technology. In the KOSGEB's web site under the heading of "What are the Supported Sectors? (NACE) ", it is stated that three thousand five hundred different business lines in fourteen different sectors are supported. In addition, KOSGEB supports eighteen different programs under seven main headings. In the study, eighteen programs in effect and under the seven main headings in question have been evaluated in terms of the provinces of Bitlis, Van, Hakkari and Muş in the TRB2 Region. The aim of the study is what kind of support entrepreneurs receive from support programs or how much aid they get, to find out whether there is an impact on their businesses with the support they receive, and if an effect occurs; it is determined as to evaluate whether the effect created has a role on the opening of the company firstly to the country market after the region and finally to the world market, and to evaluate the views and interactions of entrepreneurs towards KOSGEB in the support process. In order to collect data, a questionnaire was created by scanning the literature in detail and applied to companies benefiting from any of the supports in the TRB2 region. As a result of the detailed evaluation of the survey data and the data received from KOSGEB, both the SPSS program and the other: The supports provided by KOSGEB has a positive role on firm employment, firm profitability, net sales revenue, firm's export figures, staff productivity, solution of financial problems, expansion of product range, establishment of e-commerce infrastructure, and this positive effect has a role on the opening of the company to the region, country and world market, companies in the TRB2 region have a positive image that KOSGEB is an important organization, supports business idea-oriented projects, training and information activities are sufficient, it is easy to reach KOSGEB, they get quick and effective answers to questions and problems, KOSGEB's website is adequate; on the other hand they think that the support items and amounts aren't sufficient, they don't receive aids in a short time and they complain about procedures in the support processes. The most important suggestion of our study is that the necessary work should be done by KOSGEB to correct these negative opinions.