Testing and evaluation of a direct business transfer awareness raising campaign with the Grenoble Chamber of Commerce.
Every year, approximately 150,000 business transfers fail in Europe threatening some 600,000 jobs. BTAR's European project, launched in early 2015, aims to target the vulnerabilities in business transfer systems and draw on best practices in order to develop methods for raising awareness and improving the ecosystems that enhance transfers.
For most buyers and sellers, transferring an SME is their first experience of a business transfer. However, studies have already shown that a lack of preparation and planning is a major cause of business transfer failure. Awareness is the key to better preparation of the business transfer and therefore increased chances of a transfer succeeding.
THE BTAR PROJECT
The BTAR (Business Transfer Awareness Raising) project has also set itself the objective of developing a model of measures for raising awareness about business transfers in Europe.
This model will consist of a portfolio of measures - activities and tools - and a framework for their implementation. It will be based on an assessment of best practices and will be tested and evaluated in each of the project's partner countries.
The project is intended for both sellers and buyers, along with service providers and business support organizations.
Our report presents the situation of the ecosystem of business transfers in France in 2015, which has been in trouble since 2009 due to the financial crisis and the euro zone. In fact, the transmission market is poorly documented and most transfers do not receive any communication.
The result is widespread ignorance of the transmission market, despite the existence of many players to increase the chances of successful transmissions.
Authors: Erno Tornikoski, Christophe Bonnet