CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IN BUSINESS STRATEGIES AS A CONDITION FOR THE SUCCESSFUL OPERATION OF SMALL ENTERPRISES IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA.

Creativity and innovation in small enterprises are a condition for their survival and development. Creativity and innovation are crucial for the successful functioning of small enterprises over a long period of time. Creativity is important because it offers opportunities for: solving problems, achieving organizational goals, while innovation increases the profitability of small enterprises. Creativity and innovation are realized through making and implementing appropriate strategies of small enterprises. In order to create suitable strategies, a suitable analysis of the environment is necessary. The analysis of the environment is a constant process whose goal is to detect the changes that are already happening, but also to predict the changes that are possible to happen. There are several ways of analyzing the environment. For this paper, we consider the following to be the most appropriate: Environmental analysis using weak signals and Market analysis by considering the matrix of buyers. The people who set up and run small businesses are most responsible for creating strategies. Those persons are usually named as entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs need to possess or develop, among other things: vision and passion, leadership, willingness to change and willingness to take risks. Other managers and workers should be involved in the creation of strategies. Their involvement should be according to the specifics of the company and the market. Managers and workers in small enterprises in the Republic of North Macedonia should know these specifics and develop: a special approach to observing and analyzing the environment, skills and characteristics in decisionmaking, making and implementing strategies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]