DUAL TRAINING SCHEMES PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS TRANSFERS – EXPERIENCES FROM LITHUANIA

While many political strategies focus on the promotion of start-ups, the existing companies are often neglected. Recent studies confirm, that more jobs are lost due to failed business transfers, then new ones are created. In fact, the generation change has reached the European SMEs and they suffer from a lack of successor to take over the business. Suitable successors are entrepreneurs and this article sets out to investigate a feasible way to educate and attract them to the SME sector. Based on solid literature research the paper argues, that a dual training, where students receive training in school and at the same time on the job can provide this needed expertise for entrepreneurship education. In 2016 such a dual training was initiated in Lithuania, this papers highlights results of the first comprehensive evaluation and provides an outlook on whether the graduates can become suitable successors in the long run.