Rant – That’s not a Small Business!

IMHO applies throughout.

NPR ran a story yesterday that got me ‘on my soapbox’ so here’s my rant.  The story was about the economy and small business but the example they used was a woman who owned two small telecom companies.  Now wait a minute!  I love NPR but sometimes they miss it big-time, somebody that owns two telecom businesses (however small) doesn’t fit into the category ‘small business.’  They said she’s only got one employee but what about everyone that is employed by these two telecom companies?  They count too, even if they are mostly contractors.  So this got me thinking, well what is a ‘small business’? 

Definitely a Small Business

• Home-based business (as long as there are no outside employees or maybe just one)
• Single location store with fewer than 5 full-time employees and annual revenues under a million dollars
• Small Shop with fewer than 5 full-time employees and annual revenues under a million dollars
• Mobile business with one vehicle (Ice cream truck, auto-detailing, mobile dog grooming, etc.)
• Truck drivers that are known as owner/operator, they own their (one) truck, drive it and may have a driving partner/employee
• Tent-Maker who travels around preaching the Gospel

Definitely not a Small Business

• Owner makes more than $250,000 a year (this includes all compensation not just what they report)
• A store or shop with multiple locations
• Any business with more than one company vehicle

Somebody is going to say that doctors and lawyers in private practice make more than $250,000 but they are a small business, but they’re not small business, they are in their own class and are an exception outside of the normal person’s world.

So what do you call a business that is bigger than small but not a big business?  It’s just called a business.