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A small business may be defined as a business with a small number of employees. The legal definition of "small" often varies by country and industry, but is generally under 100 employees in the United States while under 50 employees in the European Union (In comparison, the American definition of mid-sized business by the number of employees is generally under 500 while 250 is for that of European Union). These businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships. Seinfeld is an Emmy Award-winning American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989 to May 14, 1998, running a total of 9 seasons. ...
The Mom & Pop Store is the 94th episode of NBC sitcom Seinfeld. ...
In economics, a business is a legally-recognized organizational entity existing within an economically free country designed to sell goods and/or services to consumers, usually in an effort to generate profit. ...
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ...
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ...
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ...
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ...
A corporation (usually known in the United Kingdom and Ireland as a company) is a legal entity (distinct from a natural person) that often has similar rights in law to those of a Civil law systems may refer to corporations as moral persons; they may also go by the name...
A partnership is a type of business entity in which partners share with each other the profits or losses of the business undertaking in which all have invested. ...
A sole proprietorship, or simply proprietorship, is a type of business entity which legally has no separate existence from its owner. ...
However, other methods are also used to classify small companies, such us annual sales (turnover), assets value or net profit (balance sheet), alone or in a mixed definition. These criteria are followed by the European Union, for instance (headcount, turnover and balance sheet totals).
Small businesses are common in many countries, depending on the economic system in operation. Typical examples include: convenience stores, other small shops (such as a bakery or delicatessen), hairdressers, tradesmen, solicitors, lawyers, accountants, restaurants, guest houses, photographers, small-scale manufacturing etc. Small businesses are usually independent. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Bakery foods A baker is someone who bakes and sells bread, cakes and similar foods. ...
This article is about food stores. ...
A cosmetologist, sometimes called beautician or beauty specialist, is someone who specializes in giving beauty treatments, usually to women. ...
A tradesman is a skilled manual worker in a particular trade or craft. ...
A solicitor is a type of lawyer in many common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and in a few regions of the United States. ...
For the fish called lawyer, see Burbot. ...
Accountant, or Qualified Accountant, or Professional Accountant, is a certified accountancy and financial expert in the jurisdiction of many countries. ...
For other uses, see Restaurant (disambiguation). ...
Holiday Inn Great Sign Exterior of a Howard Johnsons motor lodge. ...
A photographer at the Calgary Folk Music Festival Paparazzi at the Tribeca Film Festival A photographer is a person who takes a photograph using a camera. ...
Manufacturing (from Latin manu factura, making by hand) is the use of tools and labor to make things for use or sale. ...
The smallest businesses, often located in private homes, are called microbusinesses (term used by international organizations such as the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation) or SoHos. The term "mom and pop business" is a common colloquial expression for a single-family operated business with few (or no) employees other than the owners. When judged by the number of employees, the American and the European definitions are the same: under 10 employees. The World Bank logo The World Bank (the Bank) is a part of the World Bank Group (WBG), is a bank that makes loans to developing countries for development programs with the stated goal of reducing poverty. ...
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries as a way to reduce poverty and improve peoples lives. ...
The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo, or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ...
For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ...
Advantages of small business
A small business can be started at a very low cost and on a part-time basis. Small business is also well suited to internet marketing because it can be very manageable to serve a niche, something that would have been more difficult prior to the internet revolution which began in the late 1990s. Next big thing redirects here. ...
For the band, see 1990s (band). ...
Adapting to change is crucial in business and particularly small business; not being tied to any bureaucratic inertia, it is typically easier to respond to the marketplace quickly. Small business proprietors tend to be intimate with their customers and clients resulting in greater accountability and responsiveness. The Politics series Politics Portal This box: This article is about the sociological concept. ...
Several organizations also provide help for the small business, like Internal Revenue Service in Small Business and Self-Employed One-Stop Resource.[1]
Problems faced by small businesses Small businesses often face a variety of problems related to their size. A frequent cause of bankruptcy is undercapitalization. This is often a result of poor planning rather than economic conditions[2] - it is common rule of thumb that the entrepreneur should have access to a sum of money at least equal to the projected revenue for the first year of business in addition to his anticipated expenses. For example, if the prospective owner thinks that he will generate $100,000 in revenues in the first year with $150,000 in start-up expenses, then he should have no less than $250,000 available. Failure to provide this level of funding for the company could leave the owner liable for all of the company's debt should he end up in bankruptcy court, under the theory of undercapitalization. Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration—see text) in the United Kingdom. ...
Undercapitalization refers to any situation where a business owner cannot acquire the capital they need. ...
An entrepreneur (a loanword from French introduced and first defined by the Irish economist Richard Cantillon) is a person who operates a new enterprise or venture and assumes some accountability for the inherent risks. ...
A trial at the Old Bailey in London as drawn by Thomas Rowlandson and Augustus Pugin for Ackermanns Microcosm of London (1808-11). ...
Undercapitalization refers to any situation where a business owner cannot acquire the capital they need. ...
In addition to ensuring that the business has enough capital, the small business owner must also be mindful of gross margin (sales minus variable costs). To break even, the business must be able to reach a level of sales where the gross margin exceeds fixed costs. When they first start out, many small business owners underprice their products to a point where even at their maximum capacity, it would be impossible to break even. The good news is that cost controls or a price increase can often resolve this problem. Gross margin can be defined as the amount of contribution to the business enterprise, after paying for direct variable unit costs, required to cover overheads (fixed commitments) and provide a buffer for unknown items. ...
Sales are the activities involved in providing products or services in return for money or other compensation. ...
Variable costs or direct costs are expenses that change in direct proportion to the activity of a business. ...
Fixed costs are expenses whose total does not change in proportion to the activity of a business, within the relevant time period or scale of production. ...
In the United States, some of the largest concerns of small business owners are insurance costs (such as liability and health), rising energy costs and taxes. In the United Kingdom and Australia, small business owners tend to be more concerned with excessive governmental red tape.[citation needed] Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. ...
In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a hindrance, or puts individuals at a disadvantage. ...
“Taxes†redirects here. ...
Red tape (or sometimes paperwork) is a derisive term for excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making. ...
Another problem for many small businesses is termed the 'Entrepreneurial Myth' or E-Myth. The mythic assumption is that an expert in a given technical field will also be expert at running that kind of business. Additional business management skills are needed to keep a business running smoothly. E-Myth in the business vernacular refers to the Entrepreneurial Myth, and means that most businesses fail because the founders are technicians that were inspired to start a business without a true entrepreneurs perspective. ...
For the computer game, see Myth (computer game). ...
Marketing the small business Common marketing techniques for small business include networking, word of mouth, customer referrals, yellow pages directories, television, radio, outdoor (roadside billboards), print and internet. Electronic media like TV can be quite expensive and is normally intended to create awareness of a product or service.
Many small business owners find internet marketing more affordable. Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing are two popular options of getting small business products or services in front of motivated Web searchers. Advertising on niche sites can also be effective, but with the long tail of the internet, it can be time intensive to advertise on enough sites to garner an effective reach. A Google promotional graphic, highlighting AdWords AdWords is Googles flagship advertising product, and main source of revenue. ...
Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture Services, Inc. ...
A niche market also known as a target market is a focused, targetable portion (subset) of a market sector. ...
The phrase The Long Tail (as a proper noun with capitalized letters) was first coined by Chris Anderson in a 2004 Wired Magazine article [1] to describe certain business and economic models such as Amazon. ...
In the application of statistics to advertising and media analysis, reach is defined as the size of the audience who listen to, read, view or otherwise access a particular work in a given time period. ...
Franchise businesses Franchising is a way for small business owners to benefit from the economies of scale of the big corporation (franchisor). McDonald's restaurants are an example of a franchise. The small business owner can leverage a strong brand name and purchasing power of the larger company while keeping their own investment affordable. However, some franchisees conclude that they suffer the "worst of both worlds" feeling they are too restricted by corporate mandates and lack true independence. Franchising (from the French for honesty or freedom[1]) is a method of doing business wherein a franchisor authorizes proven methods of doing business to a franchisee in exchange for a recurring payment, fees and a percentage of sales or profits. ...
Mom and pop small businesses In North American English small or micro businesses that are family-owned and family-operated may be termed Mom and Pop businesses. People who speak of mom and pop businesses often refer to the unique perspective offered by patronizing a family business. Some encourage the unknown experience of entering a mom and pop establishment over patronizing franchise businesses, which typically offer comparable stores and similar consumer experiences, regardless of location. For example, mom and pop businesses are often highlighted in travel guides, because patronizing a family-owned and operated business allows a traveler to more fully experience and understand the people of another culture.
Small business bankruptcy When small business fails, the owner may file bankruptcy. In most cases this can be handled through a personal bankruptcy filing. Corporations can file bankruptcy, but if it is out of business and valuable corporate assets are likely to be repossessed by secured creditors there is little advantage to going to the expense of a corporate bankruptcy. Many states offer exemptions for small business assets so they can continue to operate during and after personal bankruptcy. However, corporate assets are normally not exempt, hence it may be more difficult to continue operating an incorporated business if the owner files bankruptcy.
Certification and trust Building trust with new customers can be a difficult task for a new and establishing business. Some organizations like the Better Business Bureau and the International Charter now offer Small Business Certification, which certifies the quality of the services and goods produced and can encourage new and larger customers. These services may require a few hours of work, but a certification may reassure potential customers. However, the most effective way to earn trust is through customer referrals. The Better Business Bureau (BBB), founded in 1912, is an organization based in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. ...
A professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation (often called simply certification or qualification) is a designation earned by a person to assure that he/she is qualified to perform a job or task. ...
Contribution to the economy Small Businesses are the major job providers in most economies. The top job provider is those with less than 10 employees, and those with 10 or more but less than 20 employees comes in as the second, and those with 20 or more but less than 50 employees comes in as the third. Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ...
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ...
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ...
Sources of funding Small businesses use several sources available for start-up capital: In brief, financial capital is money used by entreprenuers and businesses to buy what they need to make their products (or provide their services). ...
- Self-financing by the owner through Cash, equity loan on his or her home, and or other assets.
- Loans from friends or relatives
- Private stock issue
- Forming partnerships
- Angel Investors
- SME finance, including Collateral based lending and Venture capital, given sufficiently sound business venture plans
Some small businesses are further financed through credit card debt - usually a poor choice, given that the interest rate on credit cards is often several times the rate that would be paid on a line of credit or bank loan. Many owners seek a bank loan in the name of their business, however banks will usually insist on a personal guarantee by the business owner. In the United States, the Small Business Administration (SBA) runs several loan programs that may help a small business secure loans. In these programs, the SBA guarantees a portion of the loan to the issuing bank and thus relieves the bank of some of the risk of extending the loan to a small business. The SBA also requires business owners to pledge personal assets and sign as a personal guarantee for the loan. At the start of a business, owners put some funding into the business to finance assets. ...
For other uses, see Loan (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Stock (disambiguation). ...
In the common law, a partnership is a type of business entity in which partners share with each other the profits or losses of the business undertaking in which they have all invested. ...
Angel Investors (or simply Angels) are affluent individuals who provide capital for business start-ups, usually in exchange for an equity stake. ...
This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...
Venture capital is a general term to describe financing for startup and early stage businesses as well as businesses in turn around situations. ...
This article is about the payment system. ...
For other uses, see Bank (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Loan (disambiguation). ...
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a United States government agency that provides support to small businesses. ...
Canadian small businesses can take advantage of federally funded programs and services. See Federal financing for small businesses in Canada (grants and loans).
International differences The challenges facing small business owners vary from country to country, based on the overall business climate as well as the regulatory framework of each geographic location. It is extremely important for business owners to understand the legal requirements and obligations in their particular country of operation.
See also The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) is an American non-profit trade association that represents the interests of local independent businesses. ...
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) was formed in 1974 and is the largest UK organisation representing small and medium businesses. ...
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is a lobbying organization with offices in Washington, DC USA, and in all 50 state capitols. ...
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a United States government agency that provides support to small businesses. ...
Big Business or big business is a term used to describe large corporations, individually or collectively. ...
This article does not cite its references or sources. ...
References - ^ Small Business and Self-Employed One-Stop Resource
- ^ Small Business Administration
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