Scientific literature lacks of the research on what barriers and business environment peculiarities an individual faces when starting up and developing self-employment in transition economies. The purpose of the article is to analyse what conditions of business environment are characteristic to transition economies during the transition period. With reference to the methodologies of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the World Bank and the Heritage Foundation, the peculiarities of business environment in advanced transition economies have been established considering the factors of micro and macro environment. The established peculiarities of business environment in advanced transition economies enable proposing the recommendations on the business environment improvement