What Constitutes a Small Business

If you own a “small” business, it may be pretty big according to the Small Business Administration. The government agency recently shuffled the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) definition of industries, increasing size standards for six industries and decreasing them for two.

Depends on Industry

Size standards are generally defined by maximum average annual receipts or average number of employees. For instance, a graphic design services firm is “small” if average annual receipts are less than $7.5 million, while a computer systems design services firm qualifies as small with a $27.5 million limit.

Small information technology value-added resellers may have up to 150 employees, while most life sciences research firms can have up to 1,000 employees and qualify as a small business.

Small = Opportunity

Why does size matter? Those firms qualifying as small businesses are eligible for federal government grants, loans and contracts. For more information, check out www.sba.gov.