Baranyuk C. Ensuring the competitiveness of small businesses in the food industry

In the dissertation work in order to ensure the competitiveness of small businesses and their efficiency, the essence of the categories «competitiveness of small businesses» has been improved and defined and the content of the basic concept of the economic category «competitiveness» has been clarified. Based on the analysis of the formation, functioning and development of small business in foreign countries and in Ukraine, qualitative and quantitative features have been identified and a classification of the main advantages and disadvantages of small businesses in the food industry has been formed. The developed methodological approach to assessing the competitiveness of enterprises depending on the levels of research and assessment objects, has been perfected and external and internal factors influencing the level of competitiveness of small businesses in the food industry depending on organizational, marketing, technological, production, sales and financial -investment stages of normal activities of enterprises have been determined. The dissertation improves the methodological approach to assessing the competitiveness of small businesses in the food industry based on the method of effective competition. This method is based on use of the tools such as: performance evaluation and assessment of enterprise competitiveness. The system of indicators has been improved and an evaluation scale of the level of competitiveness of small businesses in the food industry in the system of EFC-analysis of enterprises, with the allocation of the overall indicator of competitiveness of small businesses, has been developed. For the first time, use of customization as an effective marketing method in the system of EFC-analysis has been proposed to assess and ensure the competitiveness of small businesses in the food industry, which is structured by the scale of implementation and key characteristics. To ensure and increase the level of competitiveness of small businesses in the food industry, the efficiency of their operation and development, a methodological approach to managing the customer base of enterprises based on cluster analysis, has been substantiated and proposed as well as the use of subcontracting (contracting) has been improved and proposed. Based on international experience and analysis of normative documents on state regulation of small businesses in Ukraine, differences in the content of the categories «state regulation», «state aid» have been identified and substantiated and areas of state support for small businesses in the food industry and its components have been substantiated and formed.