Sustainable development of rural areas is a multifaceted and complex concept. One of the factors affecting the prosperity of the regions is the presence of small and medium-sized businesses. Improving government programs to support small and medium-sized businesses is a priority of state policy. The theoretical methodological and practical foundations of the strategic development of small and medium businesses were investigated. We have identified the main factors affecting the development of small business in Russia, such as low population density, low pre-emptive activity of the population, low support from the regional authorities. Creating an entrepreneurial environment is a priority to stimulate the development of small and medium-sized businesses.

The transition to new formats of education interprets the need for us to search for new methods of managing educational organizations. In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to lean manufacturing as one of the most effective management methods. After all, it is the introduction of lean manufacturing that will allow us to form a management concept based on a constant striving to improve all processes occurring within educational institutions and eliminate all types of losses. Also, lean production involves the involvement of each employee in the optimization process and maximum focus on the end consumer, that is, applicants and their parents. One of the directions is the creation of a completely new model of university management - the model of “change management”. Change management is designed to help any educational institution find a way out of this situation, to promote the formulation and implementation of the set goals of a new level, which are designed to positively influence the emotional component of the team, which ensures the conditions for the breakthrough development of the university through digitalization of all aspects of activity for the transition to competitive educational and scientific - the research model.

The article is devoted to improving the methodology for assessing the effectiveness of regional support for small business. The article uses an indicator that takes into account discounted cash flows resulting from the activities of small enterprises, as well as tax and non-tax revenues to the regional budget, the wage fund of employees of small enterprises, the value of real options received by regional governments from participating in managing small businesses, the costs of the regional budget for the financial support of small business. The indicator is calculated on the example of the Ryazan and Pskov regions.

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