The Key Challenges to Utilize Innovative Opportunities of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Surabaya, Indonesia

The world has entered into an era of disruptive innovation where transformation is needed. In the conceptual age, a business needs to have new experiences and create ideas. This paper aims to identify the most important challenges of Small Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in exploiting innovative opportunities. The main issue facing many SMEs - industrial and service with less than 50 employees, is how they can foster effective innovation. There are 118 questionnaires were distributed and gathered from SMEs in Surabaya, Indonesia. This research is using factor analysis which shows the six main challenges: lack of managerial training and experience, inadequate education and skills, national policy and regulatory environment, technological change, lack of market information, and lack of credit. Qualitative approach through interview is also used for interpretation of data. In conclusion, human capabilities and intelligence are not enough to compete but require technology and information to creatively transform