I'm a one woman shop. I often find myself reading advice aimed at small business and finding it doesn't really apply to my situation. I recently realized this is in part because a one person shop is really smaller than the small businesses targeted by most such articles.
Instead of being a small business, I actually fall under the definition of MicroEnterprise. According to Wikipedia, here are the number of employees used to define microenterprise versus small business in four jurisdictions:
I'm American. I associate terms like MicroEnterprise and Micro Loans with charities aimed at Third World countries. But if you search for such information, there are actually organizations in the US aimed at supporting American MicroEnterprise.
Given all the years I have spent trying to figure out how to be an entrepreneur, you would think this would not be news to me, but it is. I learned of it the same day I realized I am running a MicroEnterprise, not a small business.
In the "I am not actually a total idiot" column, a little internet search also seems to suggest that such organizations are not as visible nor as easily accessed as, say, the Small Business Administration. This means that very small businesses in the US are frequently left trying to sort the wheat from the chaff and figure out what information for small business is pertinent to their micro enterprise.
Instead of being a small business, I actually fall under the definition of MicroEnterprise. According to Wikipedia, here are the number of employees used to define microenterprise versus small business in four jurisdictions:
| Australia | US | Canada | European Union | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micro | 1-2 | 1-6 | 1-4 | Under 10 |
| Small | Under 15 | Under 250 | 1-99 | Under 50 |
I'm American. I associate terms like MicroEnterprise and Micro Loans with charities aimed at Third World countries. But if you search for such information, there are actually organizations in the US aimed at supporting American MicroEnterprise.
Given all the years I have spent trying to figure out how to be an entrepreneur, you would think this would not be news to me, but it is. I learned of it the same day I realized I am running a MicroEnterprise, not a small business.
In the "I am not actually a total idiot" column, a little internet search also seems to suggest that such organizations are not as visible nor as easily accessed as, say, the Small Business Administration. This means that very small businesses in the US are frequently left trying to sort the wheat from the chaff and figure out what information for small business is pertinent to their micro enterprise.
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