This article deals with how certain economic, social, demographic, and political factors influence the short- and long-term performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Eight variables were chosen, from which we expect a specific influence in both the short- and long-run. SMEs' performance is defined by using the value-added (VA) by SMEs, as a percent of the total VA by enterprises. The VA at factor costs for SMEs was firstly reported by the European Commission in 2008. The article analyzes the countries of the Visegrad Four during the period from 2008 to 2019. The article uses the tools of time series econometrics, especially the panel cointegration analysis, and the Granger causality test. The long-term relationships were confirmed between the SME's performance and the corruption index, the gross domestic product, the life expectancy, and the unemployment rate. The short-term relationships were confirmed between the SME's performance and the gross domestic product and the life expectancy. EViews software version 11 has been used for the calculations.