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This paper examines the importance of risk management within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and investigates the specific situation in Romania. SMEs represent a vital component of the European economy, making significant contributions to the generated value added and beyond. Effective risk management is essential for the survival and success of these enterprises. A correct understanding of the context, without actually facing the same challenges, is particularly important for guiding and advising other entrepreneurs. The utility of this paper lies in offering a comprehensive perspective on the importance of risk management in SMEs and proposing directions and solutions for its improvement. The paper highlights the need for implementing effective risk management internally at the SME level to protect and sustainably develop them. By identifying and assessing risks, developing risk management plans, and continuously monitoring and updating these plans, SMEs can become more resilient to changes and challenges in the business environment. To achieve this, the paper proposes a risk assessment checklist for evaluating and accurately planning the directions of action and development for SMEs. This evaluation is valuable for any SME in different stages of its existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to contribute to the better knowledge and understanding on entrepreneurship education and its role in supporting the development of entrepreneurial intentions in Romania. Analyzing the role of entrepreneurship education on influencing decision to of starting up a business is on the rise worldwide, a lot of importance being put on the importance of entrepreneurship education in supporting diversification of careers and transitions from unemployment or inactivity to self-employment. The empirical evidences for Romania, even if they are already addressed by several papers mainly focused on entrepreneurship education in universities still provide a lot of food for quantitative and qualitative analyses. The paper uses the data provided by Flask Eurobarometer 354 to depict the profile of Romanians that were involved in entrepreneurship education, but also to define an index on perceived effects of education in order to link the participation to entrepreneurial programs to the decision of individuals to start-up their own business. The findings on the profile of those ever engaged in entrepreneurship education in Romania points out to the structural inequalities embedded in the Romanian educational system, but also emphasize the rapid extension of the curriculum in this direction. Education is perceived as very important in building up attitudes and knowledge that support entrepreneurial intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With this paper, the author wishes to highlight the importance of financial education in the entrepreneurial field from the earliest stages of starting a business and, on the basis of real observations, to mark the main problems and difficulties that arise in this context. The article is structured by considering a research in the scientific literature, a presentation of Romania Start Up Plus program, an outlook on the particularities and characteristics of the Sud-Muntenia region, and, finally, a close observation and analysis on financial training through Romania Start Up Plus program. Lack of financial knowledge and fair financial planning at the entrepreneurial level are the major impediments both in the start of a business and in its further development, among the major obstacles being the access to financing, which in the case of Romania is among the lower in the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the main results of a research activity conducted in the South - East region of Romania during November 2009, over 117 small and medium-sized enterprises. The results help to better explain some of the social problems that have been generated in the region as a snow ball effect, due to the economic and financial crisis. The research has revealed the following: The majority of the employees of the companies that were interviewed do not participate in training courses related to project management and personal development. However, company administrators consider that such courses are useful to increase competitiveness in times of economic and financial crises. Personnel under 40 years of age suffer from a lack of professional training and dedication to job requirements. Companies have expressed an interest in accessing European Union funding. However, they do not have complete information that would allow them to start a project and finalize it. This lack of information is mainly due to lack of access to specialists who would write the projects and submit them. The majority of entrepreneurs consider they cannot write the projects themselves but on the other hand they do not have access to consulting companies or other organizations that could help them. Their main information source is the mass-media. As a result, companies have adjusted to the effects of the economic crisis, diminishing their activity and laying off people, decreasing the running expenses and stopping investing in their development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]