I do not want to work for my uncle - small and medium-sized businesses in Russia.

10.10.2019

Small and medium business- concepts often considered in a single context. However, it is not always right to identify them.

Small Business Facts

Term "small business" can be used both in an informal context and in the provisions of normative acts. As for the first variant of its use, in many respects it is carried out based on the subjective perception of a particular person of the peculiarities of conducting commercial activities on an appropriate scale. In most cases, people tend to understand by such a completely modest entrepreneurial activity, often carried out on an individual basis. A person who has a small shop, kiosk, workshop, in the understanding of the Russians, is the owner of a "small business".

However, there are also legal criteria for classifying certain commercial activities in the category in question. Based on the provisions of the Federal Law No. 209 of July 24, 2007, as well as Decree No. 702 of July 13, 2015, enterprises are classified into micro, small and medium depending on:

on the number of employees;
from annual revenue.

In accordance with the norms of the Federal Law No. 209 and Decree No. 702, it is legitimate to classify as small enterprises those firms in which:

15-100 people work;
annual revenue - 120-800 million rubles.

Obviously, not every owner of a small shop or workshop is able to build a business that meets the above criteria. If the performance of his commercial activities falls short of those listed above, from a legal point of view, his firm should be classified as a micro-enterprise.

Thus, a Russian entrepreneur can de facto call "small business" even his smallest firm. But in order to comply with this de jure status, it is still necessary to try to bring its indicators to those established by law. Otherwise, you will have to be content with the status of a “micro-enterprise”.

Facts about medium business

In turn, the concept "medium business" It can also be understood at the level of everyday, subjective perception or disclosed in normative acts. Regarding the first aspect, in Russia it is customary to understand an “average” company as a company that, on the one hand, is not very large-scale, on the other hand, plays a very significant role in the economy of a city or district. It can be, relatively speaking, not one small shop or workshop, but a network of several organizations of the corresponding type.

Legislative criteria for classifying firms as medium-sized are also spelled out in the provisions of the Federal Law No. 209 and Decree No. 702. In accordance with them, a "medium business" is an enterprise in which:

101-250 employees work;
annual revenue - from 800 million to 2 billion rubles.

In turn, if a Russian entrepreneur opens even the most modest network of stores or workshops across a city or district, then, in principle, his brand can already be considered as meeting the above criteria for being classified as a medium-sized business.

Comparison

From the point of view of everyday perception of both categories, this is, firstly, the significance, and secondly, the scale. However, both criteria are very subjective. In turn, from the point of view of the company's compliance with the legislative characteristics, a medium-sized business can be, strictly speaking, 2.5 - 16.67 times larger than a small business in terms of staff size or revenue.

table

So, we found out what is the difference between a small business and a medium one. Let's display the criteria we have identified in the table.

Business is an entrepreneurial activity. It is conducted by the subjects of a market economy, government agencies with the help of borrowed funds under their own responsibility or their own funds. The main goal of the above activities is to make a profit for the further development of your enterprise.

A sole proprietorship is a form of business organization in which the owner of the firm is one person, who simultaneously performs the functions of a manager and bears unlimited property liability.

Sole proprietorship is based on the individual or family property of the entrepreneur. There is no distinction between capital and personal property of an entrepreneur. Property liability extends to all property of the entrepreneur, regardless of its inclusion in the capital. capital individual entrepreneur small - this is the lack of individual entrepreneurship.

This form of entrepreneurial activity also has advantages: each owner owns all the profits, he can make any changes himself. An individual businessman is not a legal entity, so the owner pays only income tax; it is exempt from corporate tax. This is the most common form of business, typical for small shops, services, farms, as well as the professional activities of lawyers, doctors, etc.

Partnership (partnership) is an association closed type with a limited number of participants carrying out joint activities on the basis of shared ownership and directly participating in management. The partnership is also not a legal entity, so the partners are subject to income tax only and bear no limited liability for all company debts.

The advantages of a partnership are that it is easy to organize, the association of partners allows you to attract additional funds and new ideas. The disadvantages include:

- limited financial resources in a developing business that requires new capital investments;

- an ambiguous understanding of the goals of the company's activities by its participants;

- the difficulty of determining the measure of each in the income or loss of the company, in the division of property acquired together. The partnership firm organizes brokerage firms, audit firms, services in the service sector, etc.

Corporation - a set of persons united for joint business activities as one legal entity. The right to property of a corporation is divided into parts by shares, so the owners of the corporation are called shareholders, and the corporation itself is called a joint-stock company. Corporation income is subject to corporation tax. The owners of corporations have limited liability for the debts of the corporation, determined by their contribution to the shares.

Corporation benefits include:

– unlimited opportunities to raise capital through the sale of shares and bonds;

– division of shareholders' rights into property and personal. Property includes the right to receive a dividend, as well as part of the value of the company's property in the event of its liquidation. Personal rights include the right to participate in the management of the affairs of a joint-stock company. The shareholder may not take part in the management without losing anything in the property right;

– attraction of professional specialists to perform managerial functions;

- the stability of the corporation. The fact is that the retirement of any of the shareholders from the company does not entail the closure of the company.

The disadvantages of the corporate form of business organization include:

- double taxation of that part of the income of the corporation, which is paid in the form of dividends to shareholders;

– Favorable opportunities for economic abuse. It is possible to issue and sell shares that have no real value;

– separation of the functions of ownership and control. Owners-shareholders are interested in increasing dividends, managers-managers - in expanding production.

There are other disadvantages of corporations, but their advantages outweigh them, so a corporation is the most economical meaningful form business organization.

In the conditions of a developed market economy, state property does not lose its significance. In this regard, it is necessary to analyze another important form of entrepreneurial activity - state entrepreneurship.

State entrepreneurship is the direct participation of the state in productive activities.

Every country in the economy has a public sector of the economy, which is a common feature of the modern market economy. It is formed by enterprises that are either fully owned by the state, or under its control through the ownership of a controlling stake. In different countries, the share of this sector is different: from 3 - 4% in the US to 15 - 17% of the gross domestic product in Western Europe. In the public sector, as a rule, there are inefficient or even unprofitable enterprises that are irrational to use in the framework of private business activities. In order to support enterprises that are abandoned by private entrepreneurs, the state sometimes nationalizes them. Thus, in the face of a deteriorating economic situation, the public sector is increasing. The state, as it were, takes upon itself the problem of bringing the economy out of the crisis, preserving the scientific and technical potential, and the tasks of technical and technological re-equipment of enterprises. On the contrary, in a favorable economic situation, the public sector is reduced. The state relies to a greater extent on private initiative, concentrating its efforts in this situation on solving social and other problems.

State entrepreneurship has its own special potential, the task of which is not to maximize profits, but to maximize social welfare. Moreover, the scope of application of state entrepreneurship is not limited to production. public goods. It is indispensable in stimulating priority areas of scientific and technological progress and fruitful in resolving the problems of natural monopoly.

In the Russian Federation, state entrepreneurship is carried out in two forms - state unitary enterprises and joint-stock companies with state capital.

State unitary enterprises are divided into:

a) federal. These include those enterprises, the property rights to which belong to the State Committee for State Property Management,

b) government. These are those enterprises, the property rights to which have been transferred to the Property Management Committees of the republics within Russia, national administrative entities, territories, regions, Moscow and St. Petersburg,

c) municipalities. These include those enterprises, the property rights to which have been transferred to the Property Management Committees of the district and city authorities.

The legal regime of state enterprises also applies to firms of other forms of ownership, if the share of state property in their capital is more than 50%. The presence of the public sector in the economy, along with state regulation, allows us to call the modern market economy a mixed market economy.

One and the same form of organization of entrepreneurial activity may include relations of property powers, principles of organization and management that are heterogeneous in nature, which requires their appropriate legal registration. Therefore, in practice, entrepreneurial activity is carried out in specific economic and legal forms, reflecting not only the functional features of the organizational forms themselves, but also the national features of the country's legal regime.

On the basis of the size of the company, there are: small business, medium business and large business. The optimal size of a firm is determined by the value of transaction costs, depends on the industry, technology, degree of integration of the firm, etc.

The economic and technical power of the country is determined by big business. A large business is more durable than a medium or small one. Its monopoly position on the market gives it the opportunity to produce cheap and mass products designed to meet the needs of a wide consumer.

The comparative efficiency of production in large, medium and small enterprises allows you to determine the potential advantages of large business, which are based on investment opportunities, capital maneuvering and diversification of production.

The contribution of big business to Russia's GDP can be estimated in the range of 20-22%, and taking into account state monopolies (Gazprom, Transneft, RAO UES) - up to 27-28% of GDP. Large business enterprises account for 25-30% of credits and loans received by the real sector of the economy (and taking into account state monopolies - about 40-50%), which indicates a greater availability of borrowed funds for them; 20% assets bank funds The country is in the hands of banking monopolies merged with industrial ones, which is about 8% of GDP.

Analyzing the threat of monopolization of Russian markets, it can be stated that the largest domestic companies, even controlling 70-80% of sales in Russia, as a rule, will not be able to impose anything on their consumers, since by the standards of the global market, they are very average firms. Domestic companies are many times inferior in size to their competitors. AvtoVAZ, with a turnover of $2 billion, is 100 times less than its partner General Motors; Power Machines, with a turnover of $350 million, is 290 times inferior to General Electric.

Therefore, it is necessary not so much to strengthen the antimonopoly component of economic policy (not to mention radical recipes for the division of large companies), but to stimulate creative competition, as well as mergers and cooperation of firms. Without the development of big business, including financial and industrial groups, Russia will not be able to take a prominent position in the world market.

Medium business plays a less prominent role. It is fragile, as it has to compete with both large and small businesses, as a result of which it either develops into a large one, or ceases to exist altogether. The only exceptions are firms that are a kind of monopoly in the production of any specific product that has its own permanent consumer (production of disabled equipment, repair of city clocks, etc.).

Small business (small enterprise) is a small enterprise of any form of ownership, characterized by a limited number of employees and occupying a small share in the total volume of activity in the country, region, which is the profile for the enterprise.

Small business, or small business, is represented by the most numerous layer of small proprietors. In terms of living standards and social status, they belong to the majority of the population of developed countries. small size small enterprises, technological, production and management flexibility allows them to respond in a timely manner to changes in market conditions.

The economic role of small business in the developed countries of the world is determined by the fact that the vast majority of enterprises operate in this sector of the economy, most of the active population works and about half of GDP is produced.

The place of small business in the economic life of different countries is clearly shown in Table 10.1.

Table 10.1. The share of small enterprises in the economy of the leading countries of the world and Russia (data as of the beginning of 2000)

What do top managers really do, how exactly does Russian reality contradict the classics of business literature, and what keeps Russian companies afloat, despite their shortcomings? We compare small, medium and large businesses.

As a media manager, I managed to work in companies at different times different sizes. The recent change of work has become an occasion for me to compare how they differ different types of Russian business and what it is like for a manager to live in each of them. The comparison is purely subjective, but the conclusions are confirmed not only by my own, but also by other people's experience.

1. Small business

Companies of one or two people are a separate story. Let's look at those where there are dozens of employees, that is, there is a certain corporate structure and more or less conscious regulation of business processes. According to management theory, a top manager is engaged in strategy and general management, and delegates smaller tasks "to lower levels." V small companies The first part of this postulate is more than relevant - there is no one to deal with this very strategy except you. As a rule, it is you - the proud owner of a managerial education - who feels like a kind of missionary, implementing a sacred scientific approach. Without your planning and "magic kicks" the company is unlikely to fly anywhere. But at the same time, in a small business, with the growth of the rank of a manager, the responsibilities do not shift towards "general driving with the hands", as they say in smart books, but simply expand. Therefore, during working hours, you act as a specialist in the subject area and as a coordinator of heads of various areas - and at night you make far-reaching plans. The main task of the top in a small business is to develop the company, maintaining a balance between work and personal life, tactics and strategy.

Main advantages

Small business opens up huge opportunities for you as a top. The most obvious - in fact, it is very easy to move "out of the simple." You just need to plow, "like Papa Carlo", in the area where you are really talented and can be successful. You are constantly in sight, and it will not be difficult for a business owner to appreciate you. There is no "unbending" staffing, so the position can be created especially for you, taking into account your individual inclinations and abilities. Actually, there is no bureaucracy or rigid hierarchy in the company at all - another "bonus" for you. A giant plus is absolute freedom under full responsibility. You can set your company any direction of movement - and it, obeying a sensitive hand, will follow your course. The feeling of creativity, creation is delightful. At the same time, the realization that the fate of the whole business, all its employees and, in addition, its customers, depends on you makes your decisions a hundred times thought out and balanced.

Main cons

You can't help feeling that the company's resource base is constantly lagging behind your ingenious development plans. "In order to sell something unnecessary, you must first buy something unnecessary, but we don't have money" - this is just about small business. You see a lot of opportunities - but far from everything you have enough money, time and effort. Hence another important disadvantage - instability. There is no reserve fund either (do you want to say that you resist the temptation to immediately use all the money that appears for development?). Therefore, small businesses operate under the mottos "the feet feed the wolf" and "there will be a day - there will be food." And it often misses out on great market opportunities.

Basis for success

What allows a small business to be successful, despite the dependence on the external environment, volatility and a host of other restrictions?

People. In a small company there is no place for "plankton", only the best in their field work. Each of them is incredibly effective, dragging a huge load of a wide variety of duties. All of them together act in close conjunction with each other, support each other, reach mutual understanding - there are no resources for squabbles and failures. Everyone has enthusiasm and love for this business, for their work. Everyone is ready for a feat - they have to do a lot and often. And without enthusiasm and love in this mode, you won’t last long.

If in small company at least some big money comes - she straightens her shoulders, inhales deeply and ... goes into the "middle weight category".

2. Medium business

A typical average company is hundreds of employees, sometimes geographically distributed. According to business books, such an organization already has regular management, so it works like a clock, while maintaining flexibility and maneuverability due to its small size. Indeed, everything in an average company is done under the motto "we are a serious company!". But in most cases "seriousness" takes peculiar forms. For example, impenetrable bureaucracy and overregulation, the level of which does not correspond to the scale of the company. Two people sitting across the wall, or even across the table from each other, can communicate exclusively through memos drawn up according to special corporate templates (which do not exist anywhere outside this company), registered in the office and endorsed by senior management. The main task of the top in such an organization is not to go crazy to build a system of personal connections with other key people, which allows you to easily and quickly "solve issues." After all, each individual employee in an average company is the sweetest, most adequate person, and together they are a merciless corporate machine, held together by procedures and rituals.

Main advantages

There are many more resources than in a small business. You can not only draw a general line and outline a goal on the horizon, but actually move towards it. Most of the tools to achieve the goal will no longer be cut in a hurry on the knee and will work quite predictably and reliably. No need to demand daily feats from your team - people just need to work well. Consequently, it is easier to recruit staff - there are more good workers in the labor market than ideal heroes. Your managerial knowledge and skills will help you in this albeit distorted, but still regular management.

Main cons

Most of the time, you feel like you're at work, like you're at the Mad Hatter's tea party. Everything is distorted - information, relationships, the meaning of words, the essence of processes and procedures. To work effectively, you need to fully immerse yourself in these intricacies and learn to play by the rules. And for real efficiency - to keep in memory, as a standard, "normal" analogues of everything that happens around you. Then you can, knowing the rules, successfully break them. But you risk becoming a schizophrenic.

Basis for success

What drives medium-sized companies to business results that allow them to contain and develop this distorted reality?

Production and sales. The average company produces something and offers it to its customers in such a way that the customers pay for all the corporate "eccentricities" with their own money. And it seems to the company that it is the model of behavior that leads to its success - and it is fixed at the level of indestructible rituals.

3. Big business

Large companies have thousands of employees. Even sitting in the same office, colleagues can meet in person no more often than employees from different regions. Many systems and procedures, ridiculous in other organizations, here acquire justification and meaning, many rituals provide a successful, efficient work saving from chaos. But a huge business machine is, in fact, a collection of smaller projects, departments. Smart books teach that the manager of each project must think not only about his unit, but also about the interests of the entire company. In practice, everyone pulls the resource blanket over themselves, not caring about the others, and those who dare to apply a "strategic approach" and think not only about their own unit, but also about others, will be disadvantaged in their opportunities: it turns out that he took care of everyone, but nobody about him. The main job of a top manager of large companies is to ensure that very balance of interests, reining in the "rat-twisting" project and direction managers and distributing resources according to personal preferences in the general interests of the company.

Main advantages

Naturally, this is a huge resource base. As one marketing manager who moved to a large holding from a small business said, "Here I apply technologies that I used to only admiringly read about." These are streamlined processes, powerful, stable systems, and developed infrastructure. In addition, this is an excellent social security, caring for employees, built into a procedure, here the boat of love for work will not break on the reefs of everyday life. In general, all the conditions for accomplishments.

Main cons

The bureaucratization and slowness of the huge machinery stifle the initiative. If there is something somewhere, it means that either “it was lowered from above”, or “it was always here”, no one asks questions about expediency or modification. Huge scale excludes full awareness and provokes irresponsibility, and in big business there is a place for mediocrity, laziness, inefficiency. Changes are possible only at the behest from the very top and are slow and difficult.

Basis for success

What drives the huge spaceships of clumsy large companies forward, what gives them the strength to drag all their ballast on themselves?

business models. Once invented by the founders, they are so effective that, with minor updates, they continue to work and make a profit in changing conditions, no matter what.

Term "small business"

on the number of employees;
from annual revenue.

15-100 people work;

Thus, a Russian entrepreneur can de facto call "small business" even his smallest firm.

Differences between small and medium businesses

But in order to comply with this de jure status, it is still necessary to try to bring its indicators to those established by law. Otherwise, you will have to be content with the status of a “micro-enterprise”.

Facts about medium business

In turn, the concept "medium business"

101-250 employees work;

Comparison

table

Introduction

1. Theoretical foundations, features and problems of lending to small and medium-sized businesses in Russia

1.2 Current state lending systems for small and medium-sized businesses in the Russian Federation

1.3 Problems of lending to small and medium-sized businesses, credit risks

1.4 Methodology for assessing the creditworthiness of small and medium-sized businesses, credit monitoring

2. Analysis of lending to small and medium-sized businesses on the example of the Bryansk branch of OJSC "UNICORBANK"

2.1 Organizational and economic characteristics of the object of study

2.2 Analysis of the bank's loan portfolio

2.3 Loan products of the Bryansk branch of OJSC "UNICORBANK"

2.4 Assessment of the creditworthiness of small businesses in the Bryansk branch of OJSC "UNICORBANK"

3. Directions for improving the organization of lending to small and medium-sized businesses in the Bryansk branch of OJSC "UNICORBANK"

3.1 Main directions for improving lending to legal entities

3.2 Ways to improve the system of lending to small and medium-sized businesses in the Bryansk branch of OJSC "UNICORBANK"

3.3 Calculation of the economic efficiency of the implementation of the proposed measures

Conclusion

Bibliography

Applications

Introduction

The banking system, being an integral part economic system of any country, occupies a strategic position in the economy, which is determined by its goals, objectives, functions, as well as the impact on other systems. Any failure in the functioning of the banking system will affect the interests of all business entities.

In world practice, the development of the economy is inextricably linked with credit, which in various forms penetrates into all spheres of economic life. This is evidenced by the expansion of the range of bank operations, including in the field of lending. Performing banking operations with a wide clientele is an important feature of modern banking in all countries of the world with a developed credit system. Foreign experience shows that banks that provide customers with more diverse high-quality services usually have advantages over banks with a limited range of services.

The active work of commercial banks in the field of lending is an indispensable condition for the successful competition of these institutions, leading to an increase in production, an increase in employment, and an increase in the solvency of participants in economic relations. At the same time, we are talking not only about improving lending techniques, but also about developing and implementing new ways to reduce credit risks.

The problem of lending to small and medium-sized businesses in our country remains unresolved for a long period of time. On the one hand, entrepreneurs need Money Oh, and banks are ready to provide them, but on the other hand, according to surveys conducted among representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, only about 12% of businessmen regularly use bank loans.

To obtain a loan, the activity of the enterprise must be more or less "transparent". In the environment of small and medium-sized businesses, not many enterprises are ready to take this step. The low legitimacy of the business, which appears in the accounting reports, becomes the basis for refusing to receive a loan. However, higher profits come with an increased tax burden. This is fraught for the enterprise with a significant decrease in profits and loss of competitiveness. At present, we can say that the basic prerequisites for the growth of interest in small business projects on the part of credit institutions have been formed: there has been a decrease in profitability in the capital markets, the practice of working with a small number of large borrowers has prompted banks to realize the need to diversify their loan portfolios.

The relevance of the topic of the thesis work is determined by the role of small enterprises in the scale of the country's economy as a whole and their importance as a consumer of banking services. Small business is not only an essential component and mass subject base of a civilized market economy, but also the most flexible, efficient and transparent form of management due to its size.

The significance of studying the problem of small business is enhanced by the fact that, as the authors of most publications on this topic emphasize, it is he who is the least fortunate in terms of state and other support; the infrastructure that ensures the normal operation of small enterprises has not yet been created throughout the country. The underestimation of small business, ignoring its economic and social opportunities during almost the entire period of reforms can be regarded as a major strategic miscalculation, fraught with a further deepening of the crisis of the Russian economy as a whole. All the above circumstances testify to the relevance of the chosen topic, due to the need to solve the problem of finding and applying new forms of lending to small and medium-sized businesses in the Russian Federation, which, if not replace traditional ones, then at least supplement them.

Thus, the purpose of this work is to consider the features of the system of lending to small and medium-sized businesses on the example of the Bryansk branch of OJSC "UNICORBANK". To achieve this goal, the following tasks are solved in the work:

1. The study of the theoretical aspects of the process of lending to small and medium-sized businesses in Russia, the economic essence of small and medium-sized businesses and the need for its lending;

2. Conducting an analysis of the organization of work on lending to small and medium-sized businesses on the example of the Bryansk branch of OJSC "UNICORBANK";

The subject of the study is the forms and types of lending to small and medium-sized businesses.

The object of study is the branch of Bryansk OJSC "UNICORBANK".

The research methodology was based on the use of dialectical logic and a systematic approach. In the course of work, we used general scientific methods and techniques: analysis and synthesis, methods of classification, grouping and comparison, statistical analysis and etc.

The theoretical basis of this work was the works of leading domestic and foreign experts, revealing the patterns of development of a market economy, monetary aspects of the economic policy of the state, the fundamentals of the functioning of commercial banks, their place and role in a market economy. The study used the works of economists M.I. Bakanova, L.A. Drobozina, V.V. Kovaleva, G.T. Korchuganova, N.N.

Medium business is

Selezneva, E.B. Shirinsky and others.

The information base in the performance of the final qualification work was the regulatory and legislative acts of the Russian Federation, the developments of leading organizations in banking, materials of international practice, monographs and articles in scientific journals, as well as the accounting and financial statements of the Bryansk branch of UNICORBANK OJSC for 2006-2008.

The paper presents an analysis of the dynamics of the results of the bank's credit department in terms of assessing the profitability of loans, the structure of the bank's loan portfolio, its share in the total assets, the structure of collateral for loans, contains a number of proposals for improving the activities of the credit department and the use of various forms of collateral.

The final qualifying work consists of an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion, the material of the work is illustrated with figures and tables. It also contains a number of appendices to visualize the process of lending and the use of collateral. At the end of the work, a list of used literature is given, including the Laws of the Russian Federation, regulations of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, monographs and articles from the periodical press.

Chapter 1. Theoretical foundations, features and problems of lending to small and medium-sized businesses in Russia

1.1 The economic essence of small and medium-sized businesses, the prerequisites for the need for its lending

Economic theory under small business - as opposed to large - usually understands a form of business that is distinguished by the combination of the owner and manager in one person. In small business, the owner of the company, as a rule, not only invests his own funds, not only controls the directions of their use, but also personally manages all the main processes: marketing, fundraising and investing, transactions and mutual settlements, hiring and firing employees, etc. d. It bears all the risks and goes bankrupt if it fails. But in case of success, he alone enjoys the fruits of success.

It is clear that small business is a difficult business and involves numerous risks and dangers. The development of small business is caused by two circumstances:

— features modern stage development of scientific and technological progress, providing an appropriate material base for the effective functioning of small businesses.

— differentiation of consumer demand in the context of rising incomes of the population and the growth of the service sector.

The advantages of small business lies in flexibility, high adaptive ability to changes in market conditions, more quickly reflects changes in consumer demand, and greatly facilitates the territorial and sectoral overflow of labor and capital. The large number of small firms creates opportunities for widespread competition. Those small enterprises that function effectively keep afloat.

Small business: main features, differences, prospects

Small and medium-sized businesses are concepts that are often considered in the same context. However, it is not always right to identify them.

Small Business Facts

on the number of employees;
from annual revenue.

In accordance with the norms of the Federal Law No. 209 and Decree No. 702, it is legitimate to classify as small enterprises those firms in which:

15-100 people work;
annual revenue - 120-800 million rubles.

Facts about medium business

101-250 employees work;
annual revenue - from 800 million to 2 billion rubles.

Comparison

table

So, we found out what is the difference between a small business and a medium one. Let's display the criteria we have identified in the table.

The difference between small business and medium business

Briefly: Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are a social, legal and economic category that includes companies and individual entrepreneurs with a small number of employees and profits. Entrepreneurship of this type responds flexibly to changes in market conditions, but needs additional support for development.

in detail

Small business is a type of entrepreneurship, which is characterized by a small number of employees (up to 100 people), average revenue (up to 800 million rubles per year), and an emphasis on equity. This is not only an economic, but also a socio-political category, whose representatives are characterized by a special worldview.

Businessmen of this type quickly adapt to new changes, have high adaptability to any working conditions. SMEs often open those facets of the market that look too risky and dangerous. Importing Chinese goods, long-lasting nail coatings, making sushi - all this was first mastered by small companies, and only then they tried to subdue big business.

There are over 6 million small businesses in the United States, each generating up to $10 million in revenue each year. These organizations employ about a third of the entire working-age population with a permanent or temporary job. It is from here that the notorious “middle class” is formed, which is the backbone of the economic well-being of the country.

RF: legislative consolidation of small business

In our country, there is Federal Law N 209 of July 24, 2007 “On the development of small and medium-sized ...”, which defines the basic principles for classifying a company in this category. There are requirements for the organizational form, the average number of employees and revenue (maximum). The maximum income that an organization can receive is subject to revision by the Government of the Russian Federation, the current Decree is valid from August 1, 2016. Information about all individual entrepreneurs and organizations belonging to this category is collected in a special Register.

The main signs of a small business

The above Federal Law lists the various requirements for which an enterprise falls into the desired category. Legal entities cannot have a total share of participation of subjects of the Russian Federation, foreign firms, religious charitable, public associations over 25%. In addition, the company cannot be owned by other companies that are not SMEs, in the amount of more than 49%.

In the 1st half of 2016, about 218,500 small businesses were created in Russia, while 242,200 companies left the market. Just a year ago, the trend was different: instead of one organization that left the market, 2 new firms appeared. Most of them are in the Central federal district- 1.636.987. The record holder for the number of SMEs is Moscow: 451,979 microorganizations, 170,000 entrepreneurs: comparable to the population of a small European country.

Who is the engine of small business in Russia?

Approximately every 10 able-bodied person in the Russian Federation works for himself. Moreover, the vast majority of the self-employed (about 70%) are not registered as individual entrepreneurs and operate illegally. The unwillingness to officially secure the status is associated with bureaucracy, high contributions to the Pension Fund and uncertainty about one's own future. Another factor is that people simply don't see where their money is going, which causes legal nihilism.

Small and micro businesses are based on the following areas:

Construction, repair and decoration (at least 20%);
Programming, computer repair and related industries (about 11%);
Interior design (10%);
Hairdressing and beauty services at home (6%);
Tutoring (5%).

Small business in Russia - powerless and illegal?

In the Russian Federation, about a third of the population are citizens who are of working age, are not registered as unemployed, but are not registered at any enterprises. Approximately half of these people are interrupted by odd jobs, people have been employed in organizations for years, but receive a “salary in an envelope”. This is more typical for the province, where there are no other conditions for employment and employment.

However, another 8-9 million are representatives of small "gray" businesses who work either in splendid isolation or in small teams. Let's compare this with the number of legal individual entrepreneurs - 3.7 million people - and we will get the real figure of the shadow market. After all, all the money that the self-employed help out is in the economy, but for objective reasons they cannot be invested in banks, equipment and further development of their own business.

Problems of small business in Russia

Difficult access to support, subsidies, loans, new technologies;
Administrative measures of influence on the part of state bodies (high fines for violations of the law);
Difficult competition with large organizations in certain areas (trade, production, transport);
Wrong tax policy, drawing out of the new venture too a large number resources.

Differences between small and medium businesses

MB - mainly self-employment or seasonal involvement of workers to perform unskilled tasks: harvesting, transportation, packaging. The company or individual entrepreneur is localized in one locality and collects a small profit. Medium business is a mandatory attraction of more personnel (both qualified and unskilled workers), investments, active investment in the development of the enterprise.

Summary

So, small business is a pioneer in those areas in which it is difficult and risky for the state and large companies to invest. People come up with original models, and although many entrepreneurs “burn out”, some businessmen earn start-up capital for further growth.

The real assistance of the state should be to create such conditions under which it will be easier for the self-employed to legalize than to work "in the gray." In other words, people just need to be left alone for a while and see what happens.

Pyotr Stolypin, 2016-09-12

Questions and answers on the topic

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Small, medium and large businesses.

Small business (small business) the activity carried out by certain subjects of the market economy, having the signs established by law, constituting the essence of this concept, is recognized. As world and domestic practice shows, the main criterion on the basis of which enterprises (in an organization) of various organizational and legal forms are classified as small businesses is the average number of employees employed in the enterprise (in an organization) during the reporting period. In a number of scientific works, small business is understood as an activity carried out by a relatively small group of persons, or enterprises managed by one owner.

Small business entities are also individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity.

A small business has a number of features:

- employees make up a small team united by common goals;

- work uses interchangeability and mutual assistance;

- high intensity of employees' activity, which is due to a heightened sense of personal responsibility;

- Innovations of the leader are quickly implemented.

The benefits of small businesses include:

· — an opportunity for many citizens to become co-founders (due to small initial investments in fixed and working capital);

· — the possibility of using local raw materials and production wastes;

- Creation of new jobs;

- a small administrative apparatus in comparison with large enterprises and, as a result, lower overhead costs;

· - the revival of subsidiary industries and folk crafts;

· — assistance to economic and social development of small towns and small settlements.

In addition, participation in small business allows you to unlock your creative potential, realize the activity and ability to work of millions of citizens, fill the market with the necessary goods and services.

Medium business. In Russia, there is still no clear definition of the concept of "medium business", that is, they do not distinguish it as an independent unit of economic relations.

How is a small business different from a medium one?

Basically, the concept of medium business goes "hand in hand" with the concepts of small and large businesses and remains in the background as a "burden" to enterprises in these categories.

There are no signs by which an enterprise can be attributed to an object of medium business, as well as how exactly a medium business differs from small and large ones. This looks at least ridiculous, because even if we assume that the gross production of goods and services in the country by large businesses is 50%, and small businesses - 15%, then the gross production of medium-sized businesses accounts for 1/3 of all goods and services, and this is not enough. In fact, in Russia even now there is no clear distinction between the concepts of medium and small businesses.

Medium-sized companies are, as it were, an unspoken intermediary between large and small businesses. Until now, unlike small businesses, large and medium-sized businesses do not have a legal status. Medium business is in the middle between large and small, and is their intermediate layer.

Medium-sized businesses act as "connectors" of large and small enterprises, and the state and small enterprises.

There is such a thing as the network economy. It is medium-sized enterprises that have taken on the solution of the main tasks of large and small businesses, since these two categories of companies do not have the opportunity to cooperate directly. This is due to the fact that small businesses have market volatility, high-risk activities and small firm sizes.

Medium business companies help regulate organizational and legal issues that arise between large and small businesses. That is, medium-sized businesses form links with small and large businesses that are different in design and form.

The network economy has a structure that consists of three tiers: the upper tier is represented by representatives of large businesses, the lower tier is small, and the intermediate tier is occupied by medium-sized businesses that form the economic network.

Medium Business Criteria

You can still try to highlight the main criteria by which it is possible to identify representatives of medium-sized businesses:

The number of employees who work in the enterprise. Although this category has its own characteristics - it all depends on the industry. For example, a publishing enterprise can be considered medium if the number of employees is 15-20 people, and a car factory if it employs 10-40 thousand employees.

The turnover of the enterprise, although in this case it all depends on what it does. Currently, a medium-sized enterprise in Russia is considered to be one that has a turnover of 12-50 million dollars a year.

Part of the market occupied by the enterprise. Medium-sized companies can be called those whose market share is 1-2.4%.

Big business. There is no definition of big business. Such businesses include companies such as Coca-Cola, General Motors and other well-known large companies.

The main function is that these companies provide a high market economy for the country and the world. They produce the bulk of the products. It can even be said that thanks to big business, the rest of the business lives in the world. Basically, there are 3 reasons for the growth of such companies.

1. Technological economy - that is, this is the company's desire to save resources in production. It is achieved by increasing the volume of output by reducing costs. The company achieves such results by strengthening labor, raising the classification of workers, and introducing automatic equipment.

2. Increase the variety of products produced, this type is called the company's desire for economies of scale in the field of activity. Thanks to such an economy, large, global companies are formed. To form such corporations, such types of tools as vertical integration and diversification are used.

3. The third type is when the company saves on transaction costs. These costs are associated with the fact that there is a transition of goods from one technological structure to another. Reduction is achieved through vertical integration and diversification.

But, like any other type of business, a large one also has its drawbacks. As the firm grows, the effectiveness of its management decreases. Many types of large businesses have an inflexible system, as they can regulate the demand for the price of their products.

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All our materials are focused on small businesses and are grouped in such a way that it is convenient for the reader to find the type of business of interest to him, in any of the main industries: manufacturing, trade or agriculture or the provision of services.

Suppose a novice entrepreneur is considering the opportunity to create his own business in a crisis?

Small, medium and large businesses: concepts and main features

In the appropriate category, from the presented set of ideas, he will easily choose his anti-crisis idea, and in addition, he will get an idea of the many nuances that he will have to face when starting commercial activity in difficult economic conditions.

And if someone wants to organize a manufacturing enterprise in the field of import substitution (by the way, a super-relevant trend for the next few years), or trade goods from China (despite the weakening of the Russian currency is still a relevant option), or provide services in the B2B segment, then in all these areas there are detailed analytical reviews and instructions. We have not forgotten about pensioners, mums on maternity leave, or those who want to do vending and acquire a franchise - everyone will receive high-quality information.

A special position is occupied by the category of business from scratch, in it we have collected the most attractive ideas for start-up entrepreneurs, it also contains many instructions for starting a business (what needs to be done after registering an activity, how to get statistics codes, what documents need to be submitted to Pension Fund and many other very useful articles).

Advice from Moneymaker Factory: Be sure to check out the Success Story category. It contains interviews and stories of real entrepreneurs and merchants (what inspired them to become entrepreneurs, where did they start, where did they get the start-up capital, what difficulties arose in the course of their activities, and so on) .. Believe me, these are really useful materials that will allow you to understand what are businessmen ordinary people, who are no different from you, although they are not different, they were able to take a step and become a private entrepreneur.

Small business entity Tax period in payment

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are a social, legal and economic category that includes companies and individual entrepreneurs with a small number of employees and profits. Entrepreneurship of this type responds flexibly to changes in market conditions, but needs additional support for development.

RF: legislative consolidation of small business

The main signs of a small business

In the 1st half of 2016, about 218,500 small businesses were created in Russia, while 242,200 companies left the market. Just a year ago, the trend was different: instead of one organization that left the market, 2 new firms appeared. Their largest number is in the Central Federal District - 1.636.987. The record holder for the number of SMEs is Moscow: 451,979 microorganizations, 170,000 entrepreneurs: comparable to the population of a small European country.

Who is the engine of small business in Russia?

Small and micro businesses are based on the following areas:

Construction, repair and decoration (at least 20%);
Programming, computer repair and related industries (about 11%);
Interior design (10%);
Hairdressing and beauty services at home (6%);
Tutoring (5%).

Small business in Russia - powerless and illegal?

Problems of small business in Russia

Difficult access to support, subsidies, loans, new technologies;
Administrative measures of influence on the part of state bodies (high fines for violations of the law);
Difficult competition with large organizations in certain areas (trade, production, transport);
Wrong tax policy, drawing too many resources out of the new venture.

Differences between small and medium businesses

Summary

Depending on the size, there small, medium and big business. To what kind of business the created enterprise will belong, the entrepreneur himself chooses when registering a business, taking into account the conditions established by law. These conditions are established by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated January 31, 2006 No. "On Private Entrepreneurship" (with amendments and additions as of March 24, 2011). Criteria are also provided for correlating entities to small, medium or large businesses, namely: the average annual number of employees; average annual value of assets; in some cases, activities.

Let's take a closer look at each type of business in this category.

Small business is an entrepreneurial activity carried out by subjects of a market economy under certain criteria established by laws, state bodies or other representative organizations. The main features of small business are:

A small sales market that does not allow the company to have a significant impact on prices and volumes of goods sold;

Legal independence - the enterprise is not managed through a formalized management structure, but by the owner or partners-owners who themselves control their activities.

Personalized management, which assumes that the owner or partner-owners themselves participate in all aspects of management, in the process of making all decisions and are free from any external control.

In accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 6 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Private Entrepreneurship”, small businesses are:

Small businesses;

Individual entrepreneurs without forming a legal entity;

Peasant (farming) households

Constituent documents of small businesses do not require notarization (Article 4 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated May 2, 1995 "On business partnerships" (with amendments and additions as of March 25, 2011)). Financial statements are prepared in accordance with the National Financial Reporting Standards (Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated February 28, 2007 "On Accounting and Financial Reporting" (as amended as of July 05, 2011).

In most cases, the most favorable conditions for activity are established for small businesses. This is expressed in more acceptable terms for processing documents, reducing fees, and simplifying procedures. At the same time, the provision of benefits means certain restrictions on the scale of the enterprise's activities.

Western experts, speaking about medium business, as a rule, link the sphere of medium-sized business with the sphere of small business, since the foundations of their formation, development and, accordingly, many characteristics have a significant similarity. Two groups of medium-sized enterprises can be distinguished: those that came out of small enterprises; resulting from the reconstruction and market adaptation of large enterprises.

In accordance with paragraph 7 of Article 6 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Private Entrepreneurship", medium-sized businesses are:

Medium enterprises;

Individual entrepreneurs without forming a legal entity

Peasant (farming) farms.

Constituent documents of medium-sized businesses must be notarized (Article 4 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On business partnerships"). Financial statements are prepared in accordance with the National Financial Reporting Standards (Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Accounting and Financial Reporting”). For medium-sized businesses, as well as for small businesses, the most favorable conditions for activity are more often established. But, do not forget that the provision of benefits means certain restrictions on the scale of the enterprise.

big business is an enterprise that produces a significant, significant share of the total output of the industry or is characterized as large in terms of volume indicators: the number of employees, sales volume, size of assets.

In accordance with paragraph 8 of Article 6 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Private Entrepreneurship”, large business entities are

Legal entities engaged in private entrepreneurship, with an average annual number of employees of more than two hundred and fifty people or a total value of assets for the year of more than three hundred and twenty-five thousand times the monthly calculation index established by the law on the republican budget for the corresponding financial year.

Constituent documents of large business entities must be notarized (Article 4 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On business partnerships"). Financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Accounting and Financial Reporting”). Large business should not be opposed to small and medium-sized businesses, but on the contrary, they should complement each other, especially in the field of specialization of individual industries and in innovative developments. The absence of one of the types of entrepreneurship is an unfilled cell of the economy, resulting in a general decrease in production efficiency. Large, medium and small enterprises complement each other, create an integral organism of the economy.

Currently, the large business sector is the dominant sector of the national economy of Kazakhstan. Currently, it accounts for more than 80% of GDP. Within the private sector, individual private enterprises quantitatively predominate, which by their size belong to small and medium-sized businesses. However, the share of these enterprises in the creation of the republic's GDP does not exceed 25%. This means that big business, usually represented by corporations based on shareholding, plays a decisive role in the creation of the country's GDP.

Currently, the state owns 12 national companies, 166 joint-stock companies, 509 republican state enterprises and 4,232 utility companies. Of these enterprises, large businesses are mainly national companies.

As you know, state ownership plays an important role in the economies of developed countries, in which the share of the public sector in the creation of GDP ranges from 9 to 30%.

According to this indicator, the countries of Western Europe can be divided into two groups: in the first group of countries (Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany) this range is 9-15%, in the second group (Austria, Greece, Italy, Portugal, France) - from 18 up to 30%

Thus, in terms of the role of the public sector in the country's economy, Kazakhstan belongs to the second group of countries.

It should be noted the significant contribution of foreign capital to the creation of GDP, which distinguishes Kazakhstan from other CIS countries in terms of the structure of national ownership.

Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that at present the republic's economy is based on a combination of various forms of ownership (state and communal, private, non-governmental organizations and foreign ownership). It can be attributed to the type of mixed market economies.

The modern economy of Kazakhstan is characterized by a high concentration of property, capital and production.

According to N.A. Nazarbayev, "about ten mega-holdings control almost 80% of the country's GDP" ("Business Week", - 10/5/2004). The “mega-holdings” include both state-owned (national companies “Kazakhstan Temir Zholy”, “Kazakhtelecom”, “KazMunayGas”, “KEGOC”, etc.) and private (“Eurasian Industrial Association”, JSC “Temirtau Mittal Steel, Kazakhmys Corporation LLP, Kazphosphate LLP, Kazchrome JSC, Kazzinc JSC, Tsesna Corporation JSC, Seimar JSC, etc.) corporations.

The financial sector is dominated by three large banks (Kazkommertsbank JSC, TuranAlemBank JSC, Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan JSC), whose share by the beginning of 2006 was:

– in total assets of the banking sector 58.8%;

– in total assets and liabilities – 59.6%;

– in the total loan portfolio – 60.7%;

- in deposits individuals – 59,6 %;

- in deposits of legal entities - 70.7%.

Big business also includes companies established in the oil and gas industry with the participation of well-known foreign TNCs and our state. An example is the joint venture Tengizchevroil LLP, which has been developing the largest Tengiz field (Atyrau region) since 1993. In this enterprise, the shares of the US companies Chevron Texako and Exxon Mobil are 50% and 25%, respectively, Lukarko - 5%, and the national company KazMunayGas - 20%.

Summarizing the above, we can conclude that any entrepreneur in the process of carrying out his activities is not isolated, he interacts with other entrepreneurs, organizations, structures. In reality, there are no clear boundaries in dividing entrepreneurship into types. The same organization may be various types under certain conditions. In a market economy, an enterprise has to mobilize all its resources to stay afloat. If business partners fail, the company has to look for others or perform their functions in order to avoid a crisis. Thus, all types of entrepreneurship are combined with each other

The history of entrepreneurship begins in the Middle Ages. Already at that time, merchants, merchants, artisans, missionaries were beginning entrepreneurs. With the rise of capitalism, the desire for wealth leads to the desire for unlimited profits. The actions of entrepreneurs are taking on a professional and civilized character.

From the middle of the XVI century. a share capital appears, joint-stock companies are organized (the Dutch East India Company, the Hudson's Bay Company). At the end of the XVII century. the first joint-stock banks arise (the Bank of England, the Bank of Scotland). In parallel, the property of large family firms is divided into hundreds, thousands of shares of investors-owners of the shares. During this period of time, a new profession appears - an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial functions previously concentrated in one person are divided into specialized areas.

The terms "entrepreneur" and "entrepreneurship" were first used by an English economist of the late 17th century. R. Cantillon. The content of these terms was replenished and modified over time (Francis Walker, Joseph Schumpeter, David MacLalland, Peter Drucker, etc.).

In our opinion, the following terms are of particular interest:

1. Entrepreneurship is understood as an activity carried out by individuals, enterprises or organizations for the production, provision of services, purchase and sale of goods in exchange for other goods or money for the mutual benefit of interested persons, enterprises, organizations.

2. An entrepreneur is an economic entity that carries out any type of economic activity that is not prohibited by law, the activity of which is associated with risk.

The subjects can be both individuals and associations of partners. For the formation of entrepreneurship, certain conditions are necessary: economic, legal and social. Economic conditions are the supply of goods and the demand for them; types of goods that buyers can purchase; the amount of money that buyers can spend on these purchases; surplus or shortage of jobs. The social conditions for the formation of entrepreneurship are close to the economic ones. First of all, this is the desire of buyers to purchase goods that meet certain tastes and fashion. Needs may change at different stages. Any business activity operates within the appropriate legal environment. Therefore, the creation of the necessary legal conditions is of great importance. This refers to the existence of laws regulating entrepreneurial activity and creating the most favorable conditions for the development of entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship differs in types and forms. By type (or purpose), entrepreneurial activity can be distinguished into production, intermediary, advisory and financial. All of them can function separately or together (trade and intermediary activities, production and trade). According to the forms of ownership, property can be in private, state, foreign and mixed ownership, as well as in the ownership of public organizations.

Entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan had its own history, its own traditions and customs, its centuries-old experience. In the beginning, these were merchants who bought livestock from their owners, and then exchanged or sold for consumer goods and products in Russia, Uzbekistan, etc., as well as handicrafts, which were developed in large cities and towns. Since ancient times, Kazakhs have been engaged in dressing leather, rolling felt mats, weaving carpets, making dishes from clay, sewing national clothes, engaged in metal processing and the manufacture of silverware. And already at the beginning of the twentieth century, artisans represented a fairly large segment of the population.

During Soviet power Entrepreneurship in the republic was eliminated, and only with independence in 1991. her resuscitation began. Currently, in Kazakhstan, in accordance with the Civil Code, the following organizational and legal forms of entrepreneurial activity are being created: joint-stock companies, business partnerships, cooperatives, state enterprises. In turn, business partnerships are subdivided into limited liability partnerships, additional liability partnerships, general partnerships, limited partnerships (limited partnerships).

Types and forms of entrepreneurial activity. Large, medium and small businesses

The main forms of business organization in the modern market economy are individual enterprise, partnership, corporation (joint stock company), state entrepreneurship.

A sole proprietorship is a form of business organization in which the owner of the firm is one person, who simultaneously performs the functions of a manager and bears unlimited property liability.

Sole proprietorship is based on the individual or family property of the entrepreneur. There is no distinction between capital and personal property of an entrepreneur. Property liability extends to all property of the entrepreneur, regardless of its inclusion in the capital. The capital of an individual entrepreneur is small - this is the lack of individual entrepreneurship.

A partnership (partnership) is a closed-type association with a limited number of participants who carry out joint activities on the basis of shared ownership and are directly involved in management. The partnership is also not a legal entity, so the partners are only subject to income tax and have unlimited liability for all debts of the firm.

The advantages of a partnership are that it is easy to organize, the association of partners allows you to attract additional funds and new ideas. The disadvantages include:

- limited financial resources in a developing business that requires new capital investments;

- an ambiguous understanding of the goals of the company's activities by its participants;

Corporation benefits include:

– unlimited opportunities to raise capital through the sale of shares and bonds;

– attraction of professional specialists to perform managerial functions;

- the stability of the corporation. The fact is that the retirement of any of the shareholders from the company does not entail the closure of the company.

The disadvantages of the corporate form of business organization include:

- double taxation of that part of the income of the corporation, which is paid in the form of dividends to shareholders;

– Favorable opportunities for economic abuse. It is possible to issue and sell shares that have no real value;

– separation of the functions of ownership and control. Owners-shareholders are interested in increasing dividends, managers-managers - in expanding production.

There are other disadvantages of corporations, but their advantages outweigh them, so the corporation is the most economically significant form of business organization.

State entrepreneurship is the direct participation of the state in productive activities.

State entrepreneurship has its own special potential, the task of which is not to maximize profits, but to maximize social welfare. Moreover, the sphere of application of state entrepreneurship is not limited to the production of public goods. It is indispensable in stimulating priority areas of scientific and technological progress and fruitful in resolving the problems of natural monopoly.

In the Russian Federation, state entrepreneurship is carried out in two forms - state unitary enterprises and joint-stock companies with state capital.

State unitary enterprises are divided into:

a) federal. These include those enterprises, the property rights to which belong to the State Committee for State Property Management,

c) municipalities. These include those enterprises, the property rights to which have been transferred to the Property Management Committees of the district and city authorities.

The contribution of big business to Russia's GDP can be estimated in the range of 20-22%, and taking into account state monopolies (Gazprom, Transneft, RAO UES) - up to 27-28% of GDP. Large business enterprises account for 25-30% of credits and loans received by the real sector of the economy (and taking into account state monopolies - about 40-50%), which indicates a greater availability of borrowed funds for them; 20% of the country's banking assets are in the hands of banking monopolies merged with industrial ones, which is about 8% of GDP.

Small business, or small business, is represented by the most numerous layer of small proprietors. In terms of living standards and social status, they belong to the majority of the population of developed countries. The small size of small enterprises, technological, production and management flexibility allows them to respond in a timely manner to changes in market conditions.

The place of small business in the economic life of different countries is clearly shown in Table 10.1.

Table 10.1. The share of small enterprises in the economy of the leading countries of the world and Russia (data as of the beginning of 2000)

The country	Number of small and medium enterprises, thousand units	Number of small and medium enterprises per 1000 inhabitants, units	Employment in small and medium-sized enterprises, million people	Share of small and medium enterprises in the total number, %	Share of small and medium enterprises in GDP, %
USA			70,2		50-55
EU countries					63-67
Japan			39,5		52-55
Italy			16,3		57-60
Great Britain			13,6		50-53
Germany			18,5		50-54
France			15,2		55-62
Russia	836,2	5,7	8,1	9,6	10-11

According to the UN, in the global economic system, small and medium-sized enterprises are employers for almost 50% of the working population. The share of small and medium-sized firms is from 80 to 99% in the total number of enterprises. The volume of their production in different countries ranges from 33 to 66% of the gross domestic product. Small businesses are more dynamic in creating new jobs, accounting for 65% of job growth in the US alone. The facts show that the small business sector is an integral element of any effective economic system. Without them, a market economy cannot exist and develop normally. Small enterprises give dynamism and flexibility to the business life of a country.

What are the main advantages of small business and why is it so widespread in most countries? This is due to the following reasons:

1) small-scale production can quickly respond to changes in market demand;

2) small business contributes to the development of entrepreneurship, practically gives every person the opportunity to express themselves, to bring their ideas to life;

3) the development of a network of small enterprises makes it possible to widely use local raw materials, and in many cases, production waste;

4) at small enterprises, overhead costs are much less than at large ones, the management apparatus is minimal;

5) small enterprises have a lower capital intensity than large ones, and, accordingly, quickly pay off the funds invested in them;

6) the development of small business creates a favorable climate for the intensification of labor;

7) the development of a network of small enterprises can reduce the unemployment rate as much as possible.

Along with the advantages of small business, there are some disadvantages:

– dependence on market conditions;

- the ability of relatively small capital owned by small enterprises to narrow the scope of production, limit the possibility of attracting additional resources (scientific and technical, financial, industrial, labor, etc.);

- combining the functions of the owner and manager in the person of the owner of a small enterprise, establishing personal relationships with performers, an informal management style, i.e. anything that leads to his extreme self-exploitation and overtime work.

One of the most important features of small and medium business is its instability. A significant number of small and medium-sized enterprises go bankrupt, especially in the first five years of operation. Therefore, an important task of the government is to give stability to the development of a small economy.