PROBLEMS OF MICRO & SMALL ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT IN LATVIA
PROBLEMS OF MICRO & SMALL ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT IN LATVIA

Summary/Abstract: Small, medium enterprises and multinational companies are the reality of our life and essential elements of the market economy. Logically, the success of the company depends on the decision of consumers. So, the company aims to produce product or service which satisfies the needs of consumers and attract buyers by some advantages in comparison with competitors. However, the most interesting question is which factors influence the decision of consumers toward different products? The factors which influence consumer behaviour can be summarized in economic, social, psychological and cultural factors. Cultural factors have a significant impact on the life of consumers. Culture is a difficult system formulating under the influence of values, beliefs, norms etc. Development of technologies and other external factors make changes in culture - but culture is also changing over time. The review paper deal with intercultural marketing which is a combination of marketing and culture. The main aim of the paper is summarizing theories related to the culture from a marketing perspective and define importance and connection with consumer behaviour Small business is a vital factor in the economy of any country and its regions. The objective of the research is to identify and rank high-priority and major problems of small business development in Latvia. The object of the research is micro and small businesses in Latvia. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time an expert assessment of high-priority problems faced by micro and small enterprises in Latvia has been performed, and solutions to these problems have been proposed. The goal of the research is to identify the most important problems hampering the successful development of small business in Latvia; to suggest solutions to the problems. The research methods comprise expert evaluation of the importance of problems faced by small businesses, using modern methods of mathematical processing of examination results. It has been found that the most important issue for micro enterprises is the purchase of the manufacturing equipment, for small businesses – the availability of seed capital. The second place in order of importance for micro enterprises is taken by the problem of obtaining a loan, for small businesses – the problem of tax burden. Difficulties of micro enterprises to obtain loans are mainly associated with the lack of pledged assets. The problem of tax burden is important both for micro enterprises (ranked 3rd) and for small enterprises (ranked 2nd). The problem of purchasing the manufacturing equipment is ranked third for small businesses. The current problems of the development of micro and small businesses in Latvia are largely caused by a lack of state support and unstable taxation policy. Other issues, such as a lack of qualified employees and entrepreneurs themselves could be addressed more effectively, if at the state level there were close cooperation between entrepreneurs and public vocational schools. There is a need to develop a comprehensive program for the development of micro and small enterprises in Latvia with participation of governmental and other interested parties

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