Definition: Small Business


AKA SME (Small To Medium Enterprise) or SMB (Small to Medium Business).

Official definitions of a “Small Business” vary from country to country and industry to industry.

The definition is usually based on the number of employees. It varies by industry as it is often based on a company’s relative size compared to its competitors. It can also be judged on revenue as well as a variety of other criteria.

In Australia, a small business is said to have less than 15 employees, whereas many government assistance programmes for Small Businesses in the USA state they must have less than 5,000 employees.

The advantages of being a small business are often overlooked because of the precarious nature of competing against larger companies.

Being able to change and adapt to overcome problems quickly is something larger companies are often unable to do, however, while small companies can (and must) do it frequently.

 

7 Things To Know About Small Business Websites

  1. Small businesses can use their small size to their advantage. Small websites can be completely changed quickly (and without much disruption to business), compared to large websites which require months of detailed work and planning to revamp.
  2. Small websites should use AdSense as their ad platform (as it’s easy to set up and manage, and it’s not worth wasting time on anything more complicated yet).
  3. Email Marketing is the most popular digital channel for small businesses (with around 50% take-up), followed closely by social media marketing (at 48%). All small businesses should be doing both of these.
  4. Small websites are freer to try new things (as they have nothing to lose).
  5. The vast majority (70%) of small business websites don’t have a Call To Action on their homepage. Tell people what it is you want them to do, and they might just do it!
  6. Small businesses can often adapt much faster than their larger competitors. This means you need to stay on top of the latest trends, as they are more to your advantage than bigger businesses.
  7. Around half of small businesses still don’t have websites, so if you do then you’re ahead of the curve.

 

Summary

Small Business definition

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