Question:

What is the definition of Small Business? -Rose L.

Answer:

The Small Business Administration uses certain standards, such as number of employees or average annual receipts, in order to define a for-profit small business. For instance, retailers qualify as “small” if they sell up to $7 million worth of merchandise in a year. While service industries, such as computer programming, data processing and systems design, have a size standard of $25 million, according to the SBA. (The SBA’s size standards, which may change over time, are based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries.) As for employees, a small firm is typically allowed to hire up to 500 workers and still qualify for various SBA and federal government procurement programs for small businesses. (For more about the SBA’s size standards, click here.)