Purpose – individuals or families own and at the same time manage a large proportion of private enterprises. Previous studies mostly refer to owner-manager of the enterprise as an individual with own personal traits, styles and preferences. Purpose of this article is to propose a new typology of the owners-managers of the small and medium en-terprises representing all variety, determined by their different ownership status and managerial authorities in companies.

Research methodology – research started with a systematic rapid literature review using an overview method. Data for research were collected through 52 semi-structured interviews with SME owner-managers representing broad range of industries and companies of different age. Key findings were discussed and approbated in two focus group discussions.

Findings – as a result of this research, a preliminary typology was developed, consisting of ten types of the SME own-ers-managers, with a brief description of each type constructed.

Research limitations – conclusions from this research are relevant to those SMEs analysed in this particular research and shall not be generalized without additional research and validation. Practical implications – the typology suggested in this article provides a structured way to explore the diversity of SME owners-managers and raise understanding of their behaviour when planning, controlling and managing their business.

Originality/Value – the proposed typology is a step towards filling the knowledge gap caused by the lack of a holistic and systematic approach in addressing the diversity of the SME owners-managers.

https://doi.org/10.3846/cibmee.2021.603