The purpose of the article is to deepen the theoretical and methodological foundations of the creation and functioning of family farms in entrepreneurial activity and reveal their socio-economic orientation. Research methods. It is based on the concept of an active policy for the implementation of entrepreneurial potential in the countryside, the components of which are measures for the development of farms and family farms, including through the transformation mechanism of formalizing personal peasant farms into a market economy environment. In the process of research, the following scientific methods were used: dialectical scientific knowledge of processes and phenomena; monographic (analysis of scientific achievements of Ukrainian and foreign scientists, analysis of the stages of business development); graphic (to obtain a synthesized representation of the object of research, identify its components, establish causal relationships); empirical (based on a comprehensive assessment of the current state of the research object); comparative analysis (identified the problems and directions of the formation and development of farming; taking into account the specific conditions of agricultural activity and comparing the processes of farming development at the national level); prognostic (forming the conceptual framework for regulating and improving the entrepreneurship development strategy); abstract-logical (theoretical generalizations and formulation of conclusions). Research results. On the basis of generalization, measures were introduced, in particular, to compensate part of the single social payment (SSP) to family farms, according to the calculations, they can provide in the near future up to 200 thousand such farms (in the total potential of domestic family farming is about a million farms), which is possible both through a change in organizational and the legal form of already existing small farms, and through formalization of personal peasant farms into the market environment, acquiring the official status of physical person entrepreneur - SPE. Analyzing the role of the potential of family farming, it should be noted that its formation affects the development of Ukraine, since agriculture directly or indirectly ensures the achievement of many sustainable development goals provided for by the Sustainable Development Goals of Ukraine for the period up to 2030. The study made it possible to determine the socio-economic orientation and socio-economic efficiency of the development of family farming both for the Ukrainian economy and communities, taking into account the institutional, legal and financial and economic prerequisites for their functioning. Scientific novelty. The methodological representation and identification of the category of family farming have received further development, which is considered here as an organization of agricultural production, forestry, fisheries, livestock, aquaculture, which is managed by the family and can be organized both in the form of an individual and a legal entity. Practical significance. It was revealed that the peculiarity of the functioning of family farms lies in the fact that they simultaneously represent production and consumer unit, and therefore combine two goals - production (maximizing income) and consumer (increasing the well-being of all members of the household). The following models of development of subjects of the rural family economy have been systematized: a model of labor farming; the farm model based on the use of hired labor; family corporation model. It was found that on the basis of the family organization of labor, a small local economy “family farm” is formed, the features of which include: the duality of development goals, that is, the implementation of the entrepreneurial ability of its members to manage the land and maximize income; the reproductive process depends on the existing system of informal institutions; the defining norms of behavior of its members include: loyalty to traditions and cultural heritage, social orientation, innovation, sustainability, trust and predictability of actions of household members; a combination of multi-vector, contradictory processes; a combination of technological, economic and cultural conditions for the functioning of a family farm, which determine the synergistic effect.