What SMEs Should Be Supported to Increase the Number of Exporting SMEs?

The goal of this study is to identify the potential SMEs exporters, to which the export promotion programs should address with priority in order to increase their number. For that, the paper analyses differences on some basic economic and export-related characteristics of various groups of SMEs such as: exporters and non-exporters; low-tech and high-tech exporters; innovative and non-innovative SMEs; younger and older SME; and exporters at different stage of their export involvement. The data are obtained by a standardized questionnaire among 210 Bulgarian SMEs from both high- and low-tech sectors, and are processed through the ANOVA and the Kruskal Wallis tests. The results show that exporters and non-exporters differ significantly, while the differences between high- and low-tech exporters are smaller. The innovative, medium-innovative and non-innovative SMEs don’t differ significantly on most basic economic and export related indicators. The younger SMEs are smaller in size, experience the highest competition, sell the newest products, face bigger financial challenges, and have a greater need of operational support. The international new ventures differ from other exporters by being smaller, younger, export intensive, and most product innovative SMEs from both low- and high-tech sectors. The conclusion is that in order to increase the number of exporting SMEs and to be in line with the strategy of innovation, the export promotion programs should target younger and innovative SMEs, regardless of the sector. The limitations of the study refer to the cross-sectional nature of data and non-probability purposive sampling.