The article, based on a statistical review, considers the main directions of trade entrepreneurship, identifies current trends in trade entrepreneurship in Ukraine, the study of the state and main problems of small business development. The ways of development of small business are offered. Entrepreneurship is a leading sector of the market economy, which provides market saturation with goods and services, promotes healthy competition, creates a new layer of entrepreneur - owner. Today, the state connects with small business the hope for quick positive structural changes in the economy, the fight against economic crises and the creation of conditions for expanded reproduction of the economy. Prerequisites and determining factors for the development of entrepreneurial activity are private property, free activity and competition. The establishment and development of private property, freedom of entrepreneurial activity is impossible without small business. As stated in the Law of Ukraine "On State Support of Small Business", it is considered as "a leading force in overcoming negative processes in the economy and ensuring sustainable positive development of society as one of the areas of employment, unemployment prevention, job creation." Small enterprises are an integral part of the socio-economic country. Firstly, they help maintain the stability of market relations, as a significant part of the population is involved in this system of relations (according to foreign scholars, the stability of the system is provided provided that 20-30% of Ukrainian citizens have their own business). Secondly, they guarantee the necessary mobility of production in market conditions, deepening specialization and broad development of production cooperation, without which its high efficiency is inconceivable. Ultimately, this leads to the dynamics of economic development and growth of the national economy. Thirdly, the role of small enterprises in the activities of large and medium-sized enterprises is constantly growing. Of particular importance is the ability of small businesses to expand the scope of supplementation of labor, to create new opportunities not only for employment, but also, above all, for entrepreneurial activity of the population and the use of free production opportunities. Enterprises that carry out several types of activity (multidisciplinary) are small on the basis of the criterion of the type of activity that brings the largest share of total revenue from sales (work performed, services rendered). Small businesses also include individuals who engage in entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity. Experience shows that small business makes it possible to create conditions for increasing the interest of each employee in the final results of work. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, within its powers, provides financial support for the development of small business, directs and coordinates the activities of executive bodies that ensure the implementation of state policy to support it.