Problems of creating small enterprises in the Russian Federation. Problems of small business development in Russia. Problems and prospects of small business in Russia

The economy of the Russian Federation is often called a transition economy, so the financial sector is also in the process of transition to a market economy. One of the factors for successful development is small business. It is this segment that determines such important indicators for the country as stability and growth rates.

Entrepreneurial activity collectively influences the development of new forms of sectors of the national economy. But, unfortunately, the share of small businesses in Russia's GDP is only a quarter of the total. In countries with more developed economies, this number exceeds the fifty percent mark.

The topic of small business development in Russia is very relevant today, because there are problems that hinder such a promising line of activity.

Sector advantages

The state of small business in Russia leaves much to be desired. At the same time, it is enterprises in this sector that have the following positive features:

1. Small businesses in Russia contribute to the creation of more jobs. Moreover, the employed population is quite extensive. Specific working conditions make it possible to employ elderly citizens, students, housewives and people with disabilities. Today, only a quarter of the human resources of the Russian Federation are employed in enterprises in this sector. The optimal situation would be a value of this indicator that is twice the current value.
2. Unlike large giants, it is easier to reorient the production of such enterprises to other products. This will bring lower costs, although small businesses in times of crisis and economic instability are more susceptible to fluctuations and surges.
3. Simplified system of organization and management. Management is able to make flexible and prompt decisions when unforeseen circumstances arise.
4. Small businesses are realizing the opportunity to bring living income to the country's budget during the destabilization of the local currency.
5. Joint cooperation with large industrial facilities allows activities to benefit both parties. All types of small businesses in Russia, cooperating with old enterprises, are able to take them to a new level.
6. Entrepreneurship requires less initial investment.
7. Small business is focused on the needs and opportunities of the regional market.

History of small business development

Problems of small business in Russia existed at various stages of its formation. In total, there are three stages in the historical development of this area.

This type of entrepreneurship dates back to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The transition period lasted for five years, during which the active formation of small and medium-sized businesses took place.

Having moved to the second stage of its development, this sector has undergone some changes. Competition appeared, the market began to become saturated. The two years of this stage were characterized by the structural development of the industry.

Since ninety-eight, a distinctive feature of the small business sector has been the modernization of production processes.

In the late eighties, the idea arose to organize a small business from scratch. Ideas were nipped in the bud by the very type of economy. The economy was planned, since it was not possible to introduce anything new. All ideas of an official nature were forced. Enterprise managers were not interested in the development of industrial facilities subordinate to them. They did not have freedom of choice, control levers and economic decisions. The initiative of the workers was also zero. There was no choice of raw materials, suppliers and sales sources. This greatly constrained movement and did not allow for intensive growth.

The problems of small business development in Russia were obvious. Such a policy led to a deterioration in the quality of products and low labor productivity. In the absence of the introduction of any innovative technologies, the situation only worsened. This ultimately affects consumers. The market for finished products did not provide a wide range of products. There was no competition, and this did not stimulate manufacturers to grow and improve.

According to the authorities, who did not see any problems, centralized management should have contributed to the formation of a unified production complex. He, in turn, had to ensure uniform and balanced development of all sectors of the national economy. But against the backdrop of constant disagreements and contradictions, this idea could not be achieved.

The first stage of formation

The problems and prospects of small business in Russia became the subject of much debate during the era of perestroika. Since the country’s financial sector found itself in a crisis situation during this period, drastic decisions were required. A number of reforms carried out indicated that the state's economy is in a transitional state between planned and market.

Management at the highest levels was involved in introducing changes in social relations. One of the features was a slight relaxation of the current regime. This was expressed in publicity and openness. Such changes have led to the emergence of new forms of management, in particular small businesses. Support for small businesses was expressed in the adoption of laws establishing provisions on individual labor activity and the organization of small enterprises.

A separate impetus for the development of this sector was given by the organization of scientific and technical centers, creative teams and corresponding team contracts. We can say that the emotional and psychological ground was prepared for the formation of this sphere.

The beginning of the nineties was marked for small business by the fact that it acquired the character of a mass movement. The number of new entrepreneurs grew rapidly. This has provided diversity in the consumer goods market. Most people had no experience in this field. Everyone learned through trial and error, acquiring the skills to run a successful business. Some went bankrupt, others accumulated decent capital.

This period is characterized by an impetus for the development of rental relations. The reforms included small-scale privatization, which provided fertile ground for small business.

In the first two years after the collapse of the USSR, there was simply a boom in the business sector. About two hundred thousand enterprises were created and registered. This was facilitated by the regulatory framework that was adopted by the authorities at that time. Many laws were very loyal, which could not but attract young businessmen.

The end of this stage was marked by mass privatization. Examples of small businesses in Russia were found in every sector of the national economy. This includes catering, trade, and light industry. Companies in the service sector occupied a separate niche. Enterprises were structured and divided into levels depending on certain criteria. These include the number of employees, volumes of products and the cost of working capital.

The second stage of entrepreneurship development

Due to the fact that by 1995 more than half of private enterprises entered the sphere of small business, the authorities had to purposefully develop appropriate legislation.

A distinctive feature of this stage is that the sector began to become overgrown with companies providing service services. These are proposals in the field of consulting, law, education, information technology and finance.

There has been stabilization in the development of the industry. The market has become saturated, and the growth of enterprises has decreased. The dynamics were very slow, but its character was positive.

The third stage of small business development in Russia

The new millennium has brought to the surface all the problems of small business in Russia. And over the short period of existence of the sphere, quite a lot of them have accumulated. The dynamics of development have turned from positive to negative. By 2003, there were about eighty thousand small businesses. But for a market economy there should be tens of times more.

People understood that not the most profitable small businesses in Russia are individual enterprises, which are characterized by family management. They had no prospects, and crisis phenomena were observed in this area.

Afterwards the situation stabilized a little and the number of enterprises began to grow. The number of jobs, goods produced and services provided increases. However, to this day there are fluctuations in this sector.

Factors influencing

The risks that cause problems for small and medium-sized businesses in Russia are of a different nature. Depending on the source of influence, they can be divided into two categories:

• factors of internal influence;
• factors of external influence.

The first group of risks is characterized by a set of features that determine the life activities within the company.

The second group of risks is due to the prospects of this industry. This includes those factors, changes in the values ​​of which lead to problems in doing business.

External environment

This component of a business is important for its development. It simultaneously creates all the necessary conditions for entrepreneurial activity, as well as problems. Environmental factors refer to the opportunities and threats that it may pose.

Suppliers primarily fall into this category as sources of resources. Equally important are customers as a source of product sales. After all, it is the end consumers who are the main indicator of the success of entrepreneurial activity. The strategy and nature of the methods chosen to achieve the goals have an impact.

This entire large category of environmental factors is divided into two groups. The first is opportunities and prospects for further development, the second is threats and risks that cause inhibitory or oppressive actions and lead to forced liquidation. The enterprise's policy should be aimed at maximizing benefits from the current situation and minimizing the impact of threats.

The first problem is that a person takes a lot of risk when starting a small business from scratch. Ideas can be suppressed by the political and social situation, the situation in a given industry. In addition to the general problems characteristic of enterprises of any level, both large industrial facilities and small firms, there are risks associated directly with the size of the enterprise.

The main overwhelming factor for organizations of this size is volatility in the market. If the giant is absolutely sure that it will stay afloat, then small businesses are in doubt. That is, any force majeure circumstances may simply leave no chance of survival.

The second problem is the uncertainty of government financial structures, which control the small business sector. This is due to the fact that most of the objects in this area do not have a very wide market. This environment is characterized by a high degree of flexibility and variability, to which businessmen cannot always adapt and adapt.

Internal environment

The problems of small businesses in Russia are largely determined not only by external opportunities and threats, but also by the situation within the company. The success of a business is determined by the way work is prioritized, personnel are assigned, and responsibilities and obligations are distributed among them. Equally important is the marketing program and competent financial policy.

Industry problems

At the moment, the main problems that have a significant impact on small businesses are:

1. Lack of qualified personnel. Today, finding true professionals in their field can be quite difficult. Firstly, most often this work falls on the managers themselves, who, relying only on their own preferences and requirements, form the team. Only twenty percent of small businesses are provided with competent workers.
2. The tax burden. An incorrectly structured collection system takes away a huge percentage of enterprise profits. Many simply cannot afford contributions to the state budget, which is why they are forced to keep “black accounting” or simply declare themselves bankrupt.
3. Tight credit system. Start-up capital or project implementation requires significant financial resources, which are most often borrowed at high interest rates from relevant institutions. But the longer they are involved, the less chance that the bank will issue such an amount.
4. Depriving its employees of a social package of services. This is also due to excessively high taxes, which leads to the payment of “salaries in envelopes.”
5. Difficulties in purchasing or renting land plots and premises. And also in the lack of access to infrastructure facilities. High electricity tariffs leave businesses without energy.
6. Corruption and robbery by officials. Frequent and unfounded inspections, fines and the lack of organized administration force even law-abiding citizens to act accordingly.
7. Low level of solvency of the population. The segment of the population that is the main target audience is simply not able to pay the set price. All costs are included in the final price, and entrepreneurs simply cannot work at a loss.

Specific features of small business in the Russian Federation

The problems of small businesses in Russia have a number of specific features. For example, some regions, such as Siberia, lack transport infrastructure. This makes it impossible to supply raw materials and sell finished products. Such regions of the Russian Federation are characterized by delayed receipt of information. The competence and objectivity of officials also leaves much to be desired.

In terms of difficulties associated with lending, taxation and rent, the state has placed small businesses on a par with large industrial giants. This is under no circumstances acceptable.

This situation has led to a reduction in the number of enterprises in various sectors of the national economy. Most often, such organizations have a trade, purchasing and intermediary direction. Although they position themselves as diverse, providing a huge range of services and producing a variety of products, in fact they are narrowly specialized.

Unlike other countries, support for small businesses in Russia does not have any educational character. It is the incompetence of managers and staff that often leads to collapse. In countries that pay more attention to this sector, special programs have been created that provide business training to everyone.

Prospects for further development

The state understands that this sector is important. That is why the government supports this area to a certain extent. After all, without small business, irreparable changes will occur, which will be expressed in the deterioration of the social situation. This will certainly lead to even greater stratification in society. The people will be divided into two sectors - the elite and the poor. There will be discrimination. The government will no longer control the pricing process.

In connection with such threats, the government is implementing a state program, within the framework of which a number of global reforms will be carried out. At the legislative level, this will be expressed in the impact on the taxation of small businesses in Russia. It must be justified and appropriate.

It is planned to increase the number of small businesses by two million over the next two years. Particularly favorable conditions await those businessmen who plan to start their own business related to the production of essential goods. The area of ​​providing technical services is also promising. To achieve this, lending to small and medium-sized businesses in Russia is being simplified. The state also provides for the provision of benefits and subsidies. The possibility of free business training is being considered.

This article touches upon the problem of the development and effective functioning of small businesses in Russia at the present stage of socio-economic development. It also raises the question of the need to support small businesses from the state.

In general, small business is the engine of the market economy in many countries. However, in Russia its role is significantly underestimated.

Let's start with a definition: small business is a set of independent small and medium-sized enterprises acting as economic entities of the market. The activities of small enterprises are characterized by a small scale of production and, accordingly, low profitability, compared to large enterprises. The number of employees of a small enterprise, including employees working under civil contracts, should be:

1. from 101 to 250 people inclusive - for medium-sized enterprises.
2. up to 100 people inclusive - for small enterprises, and up to 15 people - for micro-enterprises.

Also, the cash turnover of medium-sized enterprises should not exceed 2 billion rubles, small enterprises - 800 million rubles, micro-enterprises - 120 million rubles.

Currently (since August 1, 2016), the Unified Register of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (hereinafter referred to as the Register) has begun its work. The register is maintained by the Federal Tax Service (FTS) and is posted on its website in the public domain. This Register allows you to obtain information about an enterprise in real time from any device by INN, OGRN, OGRNIP, full name of individual entrepreneur or name of the organization. The SME register allows small and medium-sized businesses to receive tax benefits without paper confirmation, as well as to freely participate in government procurement.

The Register data does not reflect entirely accurate information about the state of small business in Russia. They do not take into account those enterprises that are “in the shadows”, whose activities are practically extremely difficult to track.

According to official data from the Register, the number of small businesses in Russia as of December 10, 2016 is 5,841,509 enterprises employing 15,922,438 workers (not including employees working under civil contracts), which is 10.8% of the total population of the Russian Federation. Moreover, the largest number of small enterprises (1,759,400 enterprises) are registered in the Central Federal District (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Small businesses in Russia

Small business is the most important element of a market economy. Without it, it is impossible to create a market structure of the economy. Small business not only participates in the development of the country's economy as a whole, but also promotes scientific and technological progress and plays a major socio-economic role. The advantages of a small business over a large one are its flexibility and adaptability to external, constantly changing market conditions, due to its small scale. A small enterprise is more able to focus on the consumer.

The importance of small business for a market economy cannot be exaggerated. Firstly, small businesses participate in creating the country's GDP. For example, in Russia the share of small and medium-sized businesses in GDP is 20%, while in the USA the contribution of small and medium-sized businesses to GDP is about 35%. Moreover, small businesses participate in creating GDP both directly and indirectly. as an “assistant” of a large enterprise.

Secondly, the increase in small businesses contributes to increased competition in the market, which stimulates the work of all enterprises in the market and leads to scientific and technological progress, through the creation of new inventions, and the development of the economy as a whole.

Thirdly, small business is one of the sources of budget formation at all levels. It is one of the sources of tax revenue. Entrepreneurs make tax contributions to the budget from the profits of their organizations, and small businesses are also a source of income for individuals - employees of enterprises.

Fourthly, small businesses play a major socio-economic role by creating new jobs, thereby reducing the unemployment rate in the country.

Fifthly, small business contributes to the development of the country's monetary system. After all, the main source of financing for the activities of small enterprises are banks and non-bank credit institutions. The demand for credit money from small businesses stimulates the movement of cash flows and an increase in the money supply through the money multiplier effect.

From all of the above, it follows that small business is one of the most important elements of any economic system and constitutes the structure of a market economy, performing functions to stimulate the market, being a source of tax revenue, creating new jobs and preventing unemployment, participating in the creation of the country’s GDP and contributing to the development of the country's monetary system.

In Russia, small business is at a low level of development relative to more developed countries. And the conditions for its development are unfavorable. In the “Doing Business” rating, which assesses the favorable conditions for doing small business, conducted by the World Bank as part of the “Doing Business” project, in 2016 Russia took 39th place (Table 1), having risen by 11 positions compared to 2015.

New Zealand
Singapore
The Republic of Korea
Norway
Great Britain
Macedonia
Finland
Australia
Germany
Ireland
Iceland
Malaysia
Portugal
Czech Republic
Netherlands
Slovenia
Switzerland
Slovakia
Kazakhstan
Belarus

Small businesses in Russia face a number of problems that hinder their development. First of all, this is the unavailability of credit resources. The vast majority of beginning entrepreneurs do not have sufficient capital to start a business. They most often choose a bank as a source of financial resources. But, unfortunately, getting a loan for small business development is not so easy. Banks often refuse to issue loans to small entrepreneurs for fear of non-repayment of funds. Banks also have a number of objective and subjective reasons for this:

• weak government support for small businesses in Russia;
• unreliability and vagueness of the business plan proposed by the entrepreneur;
• unstable economic situation, economic crisis, high inflation;
• the entrepreneur has a bad credit history or lack thereof (if there is no credit history, the bank has no information about the integrity of the entrepreneur and risks not getting the loan amount back);
• short period (or lack thereof) of work in a small business.

Table 2 presents the conditions for lending to small businesses by some banks.

Table 2. Conditions for lending to small businesses in Russia

As can be seen from the table, the interest rate on the loan is quite high, despite the fact that in European countries it is 4 times lower (the weighted average rate is about 4%), which again indicates that the conditions for the development of small businesses in Russia are not favorable relative to more developed ones. countries

The next problem on the path of an entrepreneur is the high tax burden. Provided that the entrepreneur managed to get a loan at a fairly high interest rate, the next obstacle to business development is paying taxes. Of course, the state is trying to solve this problem by introducing special tax regimes, but, nevertheless, some types of activities become inaccessible to the entrepreneur, he is forced to be limited in the number of full-time employees, and such restrictions as the ban on opening branches and representative offices generally make it impossible to develop a business .

The listed problems are components of the monetary and fiscal policy of the state. It follows from this that government support for small and medium-sized businesses is not effective enough.

The forecast of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030, developed by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, provides for the expansion of measures of property support for small and medium-sized businesses (sale of state and municipal property; increase in the number of infrastructure facilities for supporting small and medium-sized businesses - clusters, business incubators, technology parks and others). This measure is intended to stimulate the implementation of public-private partnership mechanisms, which will have a beneficial effect on the development of small businesses in the Russian Federation.

Another problem in the development of small businesses in Russia is the acute shortage of qualified personnel who could ensure the competitiveness of enterprises. Recently, there has been a tendency to humanize education. There are fewer and fewer technical specialists. More and more young people, as a future profession, choose such areas as state and municipal administration, personnel management, economics, law, and management. The labor market is crowded with economists, lawyers, managers, and executives. There is an acute shortage of representatives of technical applied sciences, such as chemistry, physics, biology, capable of inventing technical innovations and bringing an enterprise to a new level of competitiveness. Many potentially promising young people, “choking” on their knowledge, not knowing where to apply it correctly, or faced with low wages, go abroad. There is a so-called “personnel drain”.

The state is trying to solve this problem in different ways, for example, by increasing the number of budget places in universities focused on technical specialties. Also, during the Unified State Examination procedure for schoolchildren, the question of introducing mandatory testing in physics is already raised. But, at this stage, the trend of humanitarization of education still remains relevant. Thus, the lack of qualified personnel becomes an obstacle to the development of small businesses in Russia.

Statistical authorities in the Russian Federation annually monitor the dynamics of the demography of organizations by calculating birth rates and the official liquidation of organizations.

The birth rate of organizations is the ratio of the number of registered organizations during the reporting period to the average number of organizations registered by state statistics bodies in the Statistical Register according to state registration data in the reporting period, calculated per 1000 organizations. Fertility rate of organizations for the period from 2005-2015. depicted in Table 3.

Table 3. Birth rate of organizations per 1000 organizations

As can be seen from Table 3, the highest value of the birth rate of organizations was recorded in 2006. The lowest value of the coefficient was in 2009. This is due to the crisis situation that arose in 2008. Over the past few years, the birth rate has decreased slightly in 2014, also due to the economic crisis. But, as we see, in 2015 the situation improved noticeably, and the birth rate increased by 10.6 units.

The coefficient of official liquidation of organizations is the ratio of the number of officially liquidated organizations during the reporting period to the average number of organizations registered by state statistics bodies in the Statistical Register according to state registration data in the reporting period, calculated per 1000 organizations. (Table 4)

Table 4. Rate of official liquidation of organizations per 1000 organizations

As we see from Table 4, the liquidation ratio of organizations took a minimum value in 2005. The maximum value, 89 units, was recorded in 2012. In the crisis year of 2014, the coefficient also took a high value, but already in 2015 it decreased by 17.3 units.

A comparison of birth rates and liquidation of organizations is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Demographics of organizations in Russia as a whole from 2005 to 2015.

As can be seen from Chart 1, the situation with the birth rate and liquidation of organizations was most stable in the period from 2005 to 2010, when the liquidation rate changed proportionally relative to the birth rate of the organization. However, in the period from 2011 to 2014, the liquidation rate came very close to the birth rate, which indicates the unfavorable situation of small businesses in Russia due to the economic crisis. In 2015, the coefficients began to diverge again and tend to normal values. Also in 2015, as part of the import substitution program, due to the introduction of the food embargo, small enterprises and organizations began to emerge that produced products included in the “sanctions” list. Thus, the economic crisis of 2014, in a sense, stimulated the emergence of Russian small enterprises.

To create more favorable conditions for the development of small businesses in Russia, the state must provide serious support to entrepreneurs. First of all, the state must adjust monetary and fiscal policy measures in such a way as to encourage entrepreneurs to create and develop businesses. You can pay attention to foreign experience in supporting small entrepreneurs. For example, in Japan, the basis for financing small businesses is “soft” loans, the essence of which is to reduce the interest rate on the loan by 50%. So instead of 4-8%, the entrepreneur receives a loan at 2-4%. Also, low-profit enterprises receive special support from the government in Japan. By doing this, the state is trying to maintain strong competition in the market.

An example of supporting small businesses from the point of view of fiscal regulation is Germany. Where, since 1978, there has been a program to support small and medium-sized enterprises, under which newly created organizations receive an interest-free tax credit for a period of 2 years. Thus, an enterprise may not pay taxes for 2 years, and after this period, when it is already operating successfully, repay the debt to the state.

In my opinion, adapting foreign experience in the field of monetary and fiscal regulation to Russian conditions, along with the establishment of public-private partnership mechanisms (in particular, the public procurement system) will help the development of small businesses in Russia.

For small businesses to operate efficiently, they need skilled workers. I believe that in order to provide all enterprises with qualified personnel and, in general, ensure the highest level of education of the population, reforms are needed in the field of secondary, secondary vocational and higher vocational education. It is important to develop schoolchildren’s knowledge of fundamental and applied sciences, programming, so that in the future they can ensure the invention of new technologies and innovations leading to scientific and technological progress.

Russian small business still needs strong support from the state, but is already on the path to development. State support for small and medium-sized businesses in Russia is an important step towards the formation and development of a market economy.

Literature

1. Small entrepreneurship and small business [Electronic resource]. URL: http://www.lawru.net/podd/podd22.html. (access date 12/17/2016)
2. On the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the Russian Federation: Federal Law of July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ (with amendments and additions) [Electronic resource]. The document was not published. Access from reference - legal system "ConsultantPlus".
3. Website of the Federal Tax Service [Electronic resource]. URL: https://rmsp.nalog.ru/. (date of access: December 21, 2016).
4. Saibel N. Yu., Eskevich O. V. Formation of an effective system for supporting small businesses in Russia // Economic Bulletin of the Southern Federal District. 2011. No. 5. P. 92-97.
5. World Bank website. Assessment of Business Regulation “Doing Business” [Electronic resource]. URL: http://russian.doingbusiness.org/rankings (accessed 03/01/2017).
6. Forecast of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for the period until 2030; Main directions of state support for small and medium-sized businesses for 2013 - 2030 [Electronic resource]. The document was not published. Access from the reference legal system "ConsultantPlus".
7. Website of the Federal State Statistics Service URL: http://www.gks.ru/ (access date 03/01/2017).

Introduction

2.1 Benefits of small business

2.2 Disadvantages of small business

3. The role of small business

4. Problems of small business

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

Small business in a market economy is the leading sector that determines the rate of economic growth, structure and quality of the gross national product. In many developed countries, small businesses account for 60-70% of GNP. But it's not just about quantitative indicators. This sector is inherently typical market and forms the basis of modern market infrastructure, because it primarily ensures a competitive environment for the economy.

Unfortunately, in Russia small business is at the initial stage of development. Despite the measures taken by the government to support small businesses, their activities are limited by a number of problems. Quantitative indicators are several times lower than the corresponding indicators of developed countries.

The purpose of the work is to understand what stands in the way of small business development, i.e. analysis of its problems and development prospects.

In accordance with the goal, it is necessary to solve a number of problems:

Define small business

Reveal its features

Determine the place of small business in the economy

Consider its evolution

Classify small business problems

Think through possible ways to solve these problems

It can be assumed that one of the factors in our country’s recovery from the crisis and building a market economy is the development and normal functioning of small businesses, which implies the relevance of this topic.

1. The concept of small business

The main factor in classifying an enterprise as small is the average composition of employees, but sometimes additional factors are used, such as sales volume, value of assets, etc. Legislatively in Russia, small businesses are defined by Federal Law of June 14, 1995 N 88-FZ “On State Support small business in the Russian Federation". The direction of the law is the implementation of the right of citizens to use their abilities and property to carry out entrepreneurial and other economic activities not prohibited by law.

According to the law, small business entities are understood as commercial organizations in the authorized capital of which the share of participation of the Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, public and religious organizations (associations), charitable and other foundations does not exceed 25 percent, the share owned by one or more legal entities does not being small businesses, does not exceed 25 percent and in which the average number of employees for the reporting period does not exceed the following maximum levels (small enterprises):

in industry - 100 people;

in construction - 100 people;

on transport - 100 people;

in agriculture - 60 people;

in the scientific and technical field - 60 people;

in wholesale trade - 50 people;

in retail trade and consumer services - 30 people;

in other industries and when carrying out other types of activities - 50 people.

Small businesses also mean individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity. Small enterprises carrying out several types of activities (multi-industry) are classified as such according to the criteria of the type of activity whose share is the largest in the annual turnover or annual profit. The average number of employees of a small enterprise for the reporting period is determined taking into account all its employees, including those working under civil contracts and part-time, taking into account the actual time worked, as well as employees of representative offices, branches and other separate divisions of the specified legal entity.

The organizational and legal form of a small enterprise is established in accordance with the Civil Code, as well as the laws “On Joint-Stock Companies” and “On Limited Liability Companies”. They can exist in the form of individual (family) private enterprises, partnerships, joint-stock companies, production cooperatives, state (municipal) enterprises.

2. Economic characteristics of small businesses

Let's consider the main advantages and disadvantages of small businesses compared to large ones, and evaluate their role in the economy.

2.1 Benefits of small business

1. Relatively lower management costs due to the absence of unnecessary bureaucratic apparatus and, accordingly, high flexibility and efficiency of decisions in the management of small enterprises, which increases labor productivity (especially in micro-enterprises where the number of employees is less than 10 people). These conditions make it possible to quickly and flexibly respond to market changes, including by maneuvering capital when switching from one type of activity to another.

2. According to some scientists, large sizes increase the degree of formalization of the organization and reduce the ability to make organizational changes, therefore small enterprises are more flexible and efficient in making and implementing decisions and adapt more quickly to changing conditions.

3. Lower capital requirements and ability to quickly introduce changes in products and production in response to local market demands

4. Small businesses know better the level of demand in local markets. The orientation of producers primarily towards the regional market is ideally suited for studying the wishes, preferences, customs, habits and other characteristics of the local market.

5. Relatively higher capital turnover of small enterprises.

6. Small businesses require less capital investment. They have shorter construction times, are small in size, it is faster and cheaper for them to re-equip, introduce new technology and production automation, and achieve the optimal combination of machine and manual labor.

7. Small business employees have a high level of motivation to achieve success, as well as the opportunity to realize their ideas and demonstrate their abilities.

8. Small businesses provide livelihoods to more people than large ones. It has significant potential in the field of employment of the population, involving labor reserves in production, which cannot be used in large-scale production due to its technological and other features. These are pensioners, students, housewives, disabled people, as well as people who want to work after regular working hours in order to receive additional legal income.

2.2 Disadvantages of small business

1. Compared to large enterprises, small enterprises have a higher level of risk, and, consequently, a high degree of instability in the market.

2. Small businesses are dependent on large companies.

3. Weak competence of managers and less professional workers.

4. Increased sensitivity to changes in business conditions.

5. Small businesses face great difficulties in attracting additional funds and obtaining loans.

6. SEs do not have market power and a good resource base

7. Despite increased flexibility, small businesses' ability to change is limited.

8. Small businesses have little propensity for investment activities due to insufficient capital and long-term returns on investments.

From the above characteristics we can conclude that small enterprises have significant competitive advantages and are capable of more efficient operations than large enterprises in some areas of activity.

What can an effectively functioning small business give to the country's economy?

Small business can give the economy:

Necessary market saturation and mobility;

The trend towards price stability, increasing product quality due to price and non-price competition;

Accelerating the process of introducing new technologies;

An environment of competition that large monopolistic giants lack so much;

Deep specialization and cooperation;

The environment and spirit of entrepreneurship, without which a market economy is impossible.

Small business, quickly responding to changes in market conditions, gives the market economy the necessary flexibility. That is, small business creates such economic conditions without which high market efficiency is unthinkable. Finally, the creation of this sector of the economy is a positive alternative to underground business, eliminating its monopoly position in the market by improving the legal conditions for the activities of legally operating small enterprises. It is obvious that any country needs developed small business, so it is necessary to give freedom for the development of small businesses. For a country of the size of Russia, small business cannot become the basis of the economy; in our conditions, it can only become a connecting link that would ensure the uninterrupted operation of large industrial enterprises. But, nevertheless, in the conditions of transition from an administrative command economy to a normal market economy, the formation and development of small businesses is one of the main problems of economic policy. The formation of a competitive environment, facilitated by small businesses, is of paramount importance for our highly monopolized economy.

Respondents ranked problems with access to sales markets in fourth position, followed by “searching for suppliers of goods and services,” “access to production and training technologies,” and “infrastructure.”

“Unrealistically” high costs

Giving free-form comments, many entrepreneurs also noted high costs (“unrealistically high cost of connecting to power grids,” “increased electricity tariffs”).

This is not an exhaustive list of business challenges. High taxes and their increases were also mentioned (“Incredibly large contributions for employees!!!,” wrote one of the entrepreneurs), competition from shadow businesses, the spread of federal retail chains, “the relationship between entrepreneurship and administrative resources,” and low business awareness of the programs. support.

“The overall conclusion is that the challenges for business as a whole are not changing. Over time, their priority changes,” says Alexey Nazarov, director of the strategic and operational consulting group at KPMG Russia. If earlier the emphasis was on the business climate, he explains, then during the crisis financial resources came first, and the business climate moved to second.

The favorability score was calculated by summing the average ratings across all issue categories for each region. Accordingly, the higher this indicator, the more problems there are in the region, from the point of view of those surveyed.

According to the survey results, the most favorable regions for doing business were the Republic of Adygea, Voronezh Region and Chukotka Administrative District. The Magadan Region, the Republic of Buryatia and the Kursk Region were at the bottom of the ranking of subjects of the Russian Federation.

The authorities are aware of the problems of entrepreneurs: in April 2015, President Vladimir Putin ordered the development of a strategy to support small and medium-sized businesses. The final project must be presented by the Ministry of Economic Development before October 1, a representative of the Ministry of Energy previously told RBC. The details of the program will be discussed, but RBC will review the latest version of the document.

The system of measures aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses, in particular, includes affordable financing (stimulating bank lending, developing a system of guarantees), predictable fiscal policy (including mitigating the fiscal burden on business), qualified personnel, creating new market niches (including including demand stimulation).

Small businesses - small companies and private entrepreneurs - face a number of problems that are typical only for this segment of the economy.

Since the small business sector is involved in creating new jobs, creating a healthy competitive environment, generating income for the state budget and fulfilling the needs of the regional market.

Current problems of small business

In 2017, the share of small businesses in Russia's GDP was less than 20%. While in the USA this figure is 53%, in Canada - 43%, in the UK - 40%. It follows from this that Russia does not have the most favorable conditions for individual entrepreneurs and companies where the number of employees does not exceed 100 people.

This situation is due to a number of problems:

• imperfection of the legislative framework (unprotected position of individual entrepreneurs, constant changes in economic and tax legislation);
• shortage of start-up and working capital (complicated subsidizing process, low percentage of approval of applications for small business loans by commercial banks);
• shortage of commercial premises (small number of proposals for renting production space coupled with its high cost);
• lack of access to federal and municipal orders (small businesses are unable to compete with large businesses);
• monopolization of certain segments of the domestic market;
• low level of income of the population (the target audience of small businesses - the population of the lower and middle class - is not able to pay for goods/services at a cost that covers the costs of the entrepreneur).

Despite the fact that federal programs for small business development are updated annually, entrepreneurs are skeptical about them. Most problems never find their solution.

Hidden problems

In addition to the obvious difficulties in the small business segment, there are several hidden problems that hinder its development. They can be classified as social. The most acute ones include the incompetence of entrepreneurs and the negative image of small businesses among the population.

In domestic universities, specialties in the basics of entrepreneurship appeared only in the early 2000s. Before this, novice businessmen, when organizing their business, were guided only by their entrepreneurial instinct. But even without talent, you can learn anything. Therefore, with the development of the educational base and the assistance of the authorities in solving key problems of entrepreneurship, we can count on an increase in the share of small businesses in the country’s GDP.

Due to the fact that during the Soviet era, entrepreneurial activity was called “speculation” and was subject to criminal liability, it acquired a bad reputation. Small business was strictly limited by the authorities, who dictated working conditions. And, despite the fact that the situation has changed in the post-Soviet period, there is still a stereotype among the older generation that entrepreneurs steal or profit from “ordinary people.” It is quite problematic to fight existing stereotypes, which necessitates the formation of a new positive image among the younger generation.