The SME sector in SwedenMore than 99 percent of all enterprises in Sweden are classified as SMEs since they have less than 250 employees. Of the total number of enterprises, approximately 580,000 are small and medium-sized and 1,000 are large, i.e. with over 250 employees. The majority of enterprises (94%) have up to 9 employees while about five percent have between 10 and 49 employees. Two-thirds of the enterprises have no employees at all. Altogether, the SME sector in Sweden accounts for 60 percent of total private employment. Profile of the Swedish Entrepreneur 2002Throughout the 1990s the desire to work independently or otherwise to realise ideas were the two top motives for starting an enterprise. Approximately half of the new entrepreneurs stated either of these two primary motives. Significant changes have however occurred regarding the role of unemployment as the main motive. The share of new entrepreneurs stating unemployment or risk of unemployment as the primary motive decreased from 25 to 8 percent between 1994 and 2000 SME programmes and activitiesSwedish SME policy is implemented by a number of organisations all over the country. Their mutual goals, whether they are governmental or private, national or regional, are to encourage individuals to become entrepreneurs, to create favourable conditions for business start-ups and growing enterprises, and to improve the competitiveness of SMEs. This section gives a brief description of different operators in the SME arena and of the major programmes and activities in favour of entrepreneurship and SME development. Below the description of each organisation and programme there is a link to an official website for further information. Sweden Innovation Centre (SIC) supports innovators in their earliest phases of development – with financing, advice and a network. One of the main objectives is to create a better innovation climate in Sweden. The innovation centres are located in each region. About 95 qualified innovation advisers work within the network of Innovation Sverige. More information: http://www.almi.se/ The Swedish Industrial Development Fund (Industrifonden) was established in 1979 by the government with the aim of encouraging industrial growth, profitability and renewal in Swedish business society. This is done through different kinds of loans or venture/equity capital to small and medium- sized companies. The financial engagement is always connected with competent advice or membership in the board. More information: http://www.industrifonden.se/ The Ego blog The Ego blog is a Swedish blog written entirely in English by Martin Lindeskog. Martin blogs from Sweden's industrial port city of Gothenburg. As its title suggests, the writings in the Ego blog are based on the philosophies of "Reason - Egoism - LaissezFaire Capitalism." This is a blog very much about Ayn Rand Objectivism and capitalism in its purest sense.
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