Effective economic activity of any enterprise, regardless of size, is an important factor in the economic and social development of the country's economy, improving the welfare and quality of life of the population, increasing the GDP of the state and the like. To succeed in business today, entrepreneurs need to be flexible and have good planning and organization skills. The growing uncertainty and variability of the external environment require entrepreneurs and managers to be highly competent in setting up business structures. Accordingly, the question arises of determining the ultimate goal of the creation and operation of the business (enterprise), as well as the formation of the terminological field (set of terms), which are used for this purpose. The purpose of the article is to deepen the study of the problem of assessing the success of entrepreneurship and ways to increase the success of small and medium-sized businesses. The relevance of the article lies in the need to disclose the content of the concept of "enterprise success", which is an integral qualitative characteristic of the state of the enterprise, reflects the presence of competitive advantages and the potential for further development. The article describes the characteristics of the concept of "enterprise success" through the systematization of the definition of the concept by other authors and highlighting the key aspects of focusing attention. The methodological approaches to assessing the success of the business of various scientists are highlighted and their developments are analyzed. Theoretical research methods have been applied to form new hypotheses regarding the definition and analysis of academic performance. The result of the study was the selection and meaningful disclosure of the most important criteria for the success of an enterprise, including measures of success for both owners and consumers and partners / investors. A “portrait” of a successful enterprise has been formed.