**Abstract**

Internationalization has gained momentum in the last few years as a strategy that may allow small enterprises to grow. Frequently, import and export activities represent the first step of the internationalized process and an important challenge for small business. Quite a number of studies have investigated and tried to solve the implied problems. Starting from the theoretical and empirical literature, this research focuses on the most relevant economic and financial constraints faced by small Italian import-export companies and is specifically aimed at analyzing the characteristics of their financial structure between 2011 and 2020, as well as their performance over the same period. We selected small Italian enterprises and identified the subset of importexport companies. We applied a set of performance indicators to reclassify financial statements to highlight the dynamics of investments, profitability, financial independence, and liquidity over the 10 years under analysis. The economic and financial characteristics of the small import-export companies are determined by comparing their performance with that of all Italian small enterprises. The findings show that small Italian exporting companies are not characterized by significant growth in turnover but present a situation that is certainly better in terms of economic and financial sustainability compared with non-internationalized companies.

**Keywords:** small companies, import-export companies, financial constraints, cultural barriers, internationalization, economic and financial sustainability
