In order to study the interpretation of the term "entrepreneurship" and its economic content on the basis of the study of the Genesis of rural small business and development trends considered its economic activity, Genesis and development trends. The concept of rural entrepreneurship is clarified: in our opinion, a person using scientific achievements in the agricultural sector can be considered a rural entrepreneur. When considering the Genesis of rural entrepreneurship revealed its social base (employees of agricultural organizations) and three stages. There was a trend of reducing the scale of rural entrepreneurship by operation of the law of concentration of capital.