A study on the effects of small and medium enterprises development organization (KOSGEB) advanced entrepreneur support program on SMEs

Entrepreneurship is considered as the driving force of the economy, especially for developing countries. Enterprises not only bring vitality to the economy but also create new employment opportunities and ensure the preservation of socio-economic balance. The degree of commercialization of technological and scientific developments also depends on entrepreneurial activities. Therefore, the sustainability of economic development is possible by spreading the culture of entrepreneurship to society. However, with globalization, the competition between businesses has moved from the local to the global level. Financing is one of the most serious problems of entrepreneurial SMEs. In Turkey, the concept of entrepreneurship is almost identified with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (KOSGEB). KOSGEB's duties and responsibilities are to create a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem, develop and support entrepreneurship, promote entrepreneurship culture, solve employment problems, and finally bring businesses to a competitive level in the international market. This study aims to examine the contributions of the Advanced Entrepreneur Support Program implemented by KOSGEB to the small and medium enterprises. The results of the study conducted with the entrepreneurs who started the support process by giving a commitment within the scope of the Advanced Entrepreneur Support Program between the years 2019 and 2022 were evaluated. It has been observed that the program has positive effects on issues such as the number of employed personnel, net sales revenue, and exports. In addition, the relations between the variables affecting the support rates and the economic indicators were examined by hypothesis tests.