Abstract

Micro-enterprises, which refer to a subset of small and medium enterprises, represent over 95% of European enterprises. Nevertheless, little is known about micro-enterprises. Location is one of the key factors concerning the development of business, and several studies have indicated the differences between urban and sparsely populated areas. However, there is a lack of literature concerning the growth management priorities of micro-enterprises, especially of micro-enterprises in sparsely populated areas. To address this gap in the literature, this multiple-case study aims to answer the following research question: What are the critical managerial incidents that occur during the growth of service-based micro-enterprises in a sparsely populated area? The results of the case study showed that the highest priority of the owners-managers of the service-based micro-enterprises was related to human resources.