Did you know a small business in Australia is defined as having 15 employees or less?

March 6, 2013

Did you know a small business in Australia is defined as having 15 employees or less?

I didn’t.

Anyway, I’ve been mulling this over the past week as SBA is proposing eliminating the personal resource test for its borrowers. That will expand the pool of eligible small business borrowers.

SBA does have a broad definition. SBA defines a small business concern as one that is independently owned and operated, is organized for profit, and is not dominant in its field.

And, the alternate size standard of a $15 million net worth casts a wide net.

This article helps aid the discussion.

The author list seven stages of small businesses (Note he specifically says a small business can be successful at each level)

1) Solopreneur – Sales less than $100,000
2) Partnership – Sales between $100,000 and $300,000
3) Steady Operation – Sales between $300,000 and $1 million
4) Local Success Story – Sales between $1 million and $5 million
5) Managed Operation – Sales between $5 million and $20 million
6) Mature Company – Sales between $20 million and $40 million
7) Corporate Player – Sales between $40 million and $100 million

One may quibble with some of the buckets, but I like this as a start of a discussion of what is truly a small business. Which of course leads us to the next discussion, what is the proper definition of a small business loan.

1) Boefly story
2) BDO comp
3) List webinars and events.

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