SMEs in Spain represent more than 98% of the national business fabric. However, Spain remains the European country with the highest percentage of small and medium-sized enterprises in a situation of economic vulnerability with a percentage of 7.1%, according to a report by the European Central Bank.
A situation that has worsened with the economic crisis. According to the Spanish Confederation of Guarantee Companies (Cesgar), through the Financing of SMEs in Spain report, 56% have needed financing in 2021, compared to 34% in 2019 (before the pandemic). A percentage that increases even more if microenterprises are excluded (with less than 10 employees), standing at 77%.
Wafa Khlif, professor of TBS in Barcelona, has indicated: “Many SMEs have a precarious economic situation and cannot pay for business advice when the company is in a difficult situation.”
With the intention of helping and advising companies, TBS in Barcelona launches its project, CAPManagement, with the aim of supporting these companies and providing their ADE students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge in practical cases.
TBS in Barcelona offers a support service for managers, entrepreneurs and freelancers. The purpose of this project is to help companies, shops, associations or organizations with their difficulties and advise them to find the solution. It is a free service led by TBS teachers in Barcelona, Fabien Pecot and Wafa Khlif.
This project was born with the intention of connecting theory with practice, so the team in charge of advising is made up of a ADE professor and three students. “It is unthinkable that a doctor graduates without having closely touched a patient, but many business students end up without having listened to or helped closely with a company”, highlights Pecot, one of the teachers leading the project.
The CAP Management project
The project is structured in three stages. In the first, the manager requests CAP Management services using a form and describes his problem. In the second stage, the CAP Management team (made up of a professor from ADE and three students from TBS) grants the manager a meeting based on his availability. (www.losaltosresort.com)
In the third stage the team provides the manager with their feedback, where it presents you with questions to consider, as well as options to deepen, training ideas to solve your problem in the long term or contacts, among others.
The advice is mainly focused on “SMEs, associations, businesses, etc. who suffer a lot and very often do not have the financial capacity for counseling services”, emphasize Pecot and Khlif, professors who lead the project.
