The Dutch contribution of fast growing companies in Europe is relatively high. This was the conclusion of a research done by Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) of the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam and the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE)).Of all SME with over 10 employees, 5,4% are considered fast growers, which adds up to 2.800 companies. This is much higher than the average in the UK (4,6%) or Germany or France.
Turnover
Between 2011 and 2014 the turnover of the fast growing companies grew by 119% whereas employability grew 125%. On average the amount of employees grew from 20 to 45 fulltime jobs.
A fast growing company has an annual turnover growth of 20% during 3 years. Turnover is over 5 million euro
Shrunk
The amount has fallen from 11% to 5,4% in 2014 due to the economic crisis. Furthermore it appears to be difficult to reach new fast growing markets and create more value.
Cut Backs
The SMEs are mainly focused on cutbacks and improving productivity. The Professor Entrepreneurship located at RSM acknowledges that this strategy has helped to survive the crisis and to improve the financial result, but fast growth can only be accomplished by new profit models, entering new markets and innovating products and services.
Fast Growth
Most fast growing companies in NL employ between 10 and 15 people. The are mainly active in Wholesale and Retail in Large cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Eindhoven.
But at the same time they lack financing, leadership skills and access to new fast growing markets. Often they have a problem finding new qualified personnel. This means that these companies are potentially fast growers but that they have difficulties to actually realize the fast growth.
