The Economic Power of Small Businesses – The Case of Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

The concept of small and medium sized enterprises includes the legal subjects, entrepreneurs and self-employed persons. These enterprises represent the spinal cord of the economy of a country. According to the statistical data in the Republic of Macedonia, these enterprises include 99% of the total number of active enterprises, although the importance of these enterprises is not seen only from their presence in the total number of enterprises. We will realize this through many analyses which are part of this research. Hence, despite their number in the economy of the Republic of Macedonia, we will analyze their presence in various sectors, their distribution in different cities (regions), their role in employing people, their participation in total value of gross product, their financial structure, their profit and loss realization, their importance regarding innovations, etc. Also was disseminate a questionnaire to 119 small and medium sized enterprises to see which are the main motives for starting a small business, factors affecting the success or failure of small business and problems facing the small business owners.

Keywords: Microenterprises, Small and Medium Enterprises, Employment, Sectors, Gross-Product, Inventions, Innovations, Loss, Profit

JEL Classification: G38