Small and medium-sized enterprises play a major role in national economy. However, their lifetime is limited by the micro-economic climate. This paper discusses whether credit exposure has a major impact on the rate of bankruptcy and this hypothesis is verified by means of statistical methods, based on official statistical data and selected published studies and researches. The hypothesis was not fully confirmed in our investigation. The output of the paper was an evaluation of the dependency of bankruptcy of SMEs on their credit exposure and the presentation of other factors that might have an impact of SMEs, making them either successful or going to bankruptcy.

David Mares, Gabriela Dlaskova (2016). Small and Medium-Sized Enterprizes – Opportunities and Challenges, European Research Studies Journal Volume XIX Issue 4, 78-87