Small business owners is a term I use throughout this site, because these remarkable people are the focus of everything I do here. In fact, there’s a better than 9 in 10 probability that you are a small business owner yourself, such is the targeted nature of the site and its readership. So, it’s little wonder that readers often ask me;
When you talk about small business owners, what actual size of business are you referring to Jim?
Small business owners & numbers
I have no hard and fast rule for determining what a small business is. After all, you can have businesses with just a handful of employees, turning over millions, and businesses that employ 100 people, which hardly cover their costs. Is it right to refer to Bob as a small business owner, if his internationally respected business is extremely profitable and turns over ten million a year; just because he “only” employs 3 people? I don’t know.
Until recently, Twitter would have been classed as a small business in The USA and The EU; despite raising hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and having tens of millions of users. That’s because in The EU (European Union), a small business is one with fewer than 50 employees and in The United States, the term is commonly applied to businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Some agencies use a more effective combination of employee numbers and revenue figures, but these vary a lot in how they are used. Getting it right is a real challenge.
The Small business owners I write for
Governments, business organizations and banks etc must have a hard limit for what THEY class as a small business, for allocation of; grants, loans, taxation, health and safety etc. I allow myself a little more scope when writing for small business owners here on the blog. I typically think of my readership as being on the lower end of the numbers mentioned earlier.
In short: I write for business owners, who typically don’t have access to in-house, high level marketing expertise. These range from freelancers, trainers, coaches and consultants, to businesses employing several hundred people.
Over to you!
I would like to know what you regard as a small business? Do you go by employee number, turnover / revenue or another metric? Is it possible to measure a business by the size of its thinking, or is that nuts? What do you think?
IMPORTANT: If you want to make more sales, boost your profits and grow an amazing business, this will help you!