The role of SMEs and self-employment in Belgium and in many other countries is very prominent in terms of employment creation and value added (European Commission 2013). From a policy perspective, two central questions are: (1) what are the determinants of the strategies, including innovation, by SMEs and the self-employed? ; and (2) how does this link to their performance, particularly in terms of (growth in) employment and value added? This executive summary briefly reports the outcomes from a BELSPO research project, coined SMESESAP1 (2011-2014).