This paper examines the current factors that affect the competition of SMEs in Macedonia as a representative country of the transitional economy from marketing and legal perspective, as well as the state policies that are being implemented in Macedonia on one side and the developed countries on the other.?he development of SMEs depends on the mutual collaboration and engagement of the enterprises and the national institutions, because SMEs are one of the greatest sources of strength of world economy, quality way of creating new jobs and competitive economy. In transitional economies this fact gets even greater significance in light of the gradual integration of the countries in the European Union. Having in mind that the European Union (the Lisbon Strategy) has set a very high goal - to become the leading economic force by the end of 2010, and SMEs are identified as the most significant factor, Macedonia, as a contender to join the EU should have the same goal.
In Macedonia, SMEs are usually organized as Ltd., as a hybrid form of company which contains elements of personal and elements of a capital company.Supporting the development and long-term survival of SMEs in the market is achieved among other things, with a good formulation of the legal and administrative framework of the company itself. This is particularly reflected in the use of the opportunity offered by the Macedonian Company Act for independent and autonomous regulation of a number of issues that are of particular interest to the company's founding act of the company, in this case-the contract of the company. By using this opportunity that the law offers and the self regulation of number of issues within the founding act, SMEs become more competitive in the market, can successfully built their reputation and avoid problems that can occur with the operation of the company at the very beginning, and thus would avoid costly and lengthy court procedures.
In order to discern the current situation of SMEs in Macedonia in terms of how they work, we have conducted two studies (research technique: questionnaires; purposive sample of 1st - 40/ 2nd – 50 entrepreneurs in service and production industry; June – September, 2009/February 2011; tool of analysis: SPSS software). The first research was done to determinate the degree to which SMEs in Macedonia use marketing activities and provide an answer to the following:
1. Do the owners/managers of enterprises carry out research before beginning or during the work of the enterprise in the domestic or on foreign markets?
2. What data sources and research methods do they most often use?
3. Whether they need more information of the markets where they are performing?
The second research had an aim to provide information about:
1. Whether the founders of the companies in establishing their agreement despite the mandatory regulations have provided optional regulations that would have been helpful for further work?
2. Whether they know the meaning of the founding act?
3. How detailed is the contents of the Founding Act?