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Small and medium-sized enterprises

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses
(SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The
abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank, the European
Union, the United Nations, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In any given national economy, SMEs sometimes outnumber large companies by a wide margin
and also employ many more people.[1][2] For example, Australian SMEs makeup 98% of all
Australian businesses, produce one-third of the total GDP (gross domestic product) and employ
4.7 million people. In Chile, in the commercial year 2014, 98.5% of the firms were classified as
SMEs.[3] In Tunisia, the self-employed workers alone account for about 28% of the total non-farm
employment, and firms with fewer than 100 employees account for about 62% of total
employment.[4] The United States' SMEs generate half of all U.S. jobs, but only 40% of GDP.[5]

Developing countries tend to have a larger share of small and medium-sized enterprises.[6][2]
SMEs are also responsible for driving innovation and competition in many economic sectors.[7]
Although they create more new jobs than large firms, SMEs also suffer the majority of job
destruction/contraction.[8]

Overview
SMEs are important for economic and social reasons, given the sector's role in employment. Due to
their sizes, SMEs are heavily influenced by their Chief Executive Officer, a.k.a. CEOs. The CEOs of
SMEs are often the founders, owners, and managers of the SMEs. The duties of the CEO in a SME
mirror those of the CEO of a large company: the CEO needs to strategically allocate their time,
energy, and assets to direct the SMEs. Typically, the CEO is the strategist, champion and leader for
developing the SME or the prime reason for the business failing.

This definition is provided in Section 7 of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development Act,
2006 (MSMED Act) and was notified in September 2006. The Act provides for the classification of
enterprises based on their investment size and the nature of the activity undertaken by that
enterprise. As per MSMED Act, enterprises are classified into two categories - manufacturing
enterprises and service enterprises. For each of these categories, a definition is given to explain
what constitutes a micro-enterprise or a small enterprise or a medium enterprise. In India, if an
enterprise does not fall under the above categories, it would be considered a large-scale enterprise.

At the employee level, Petrakis and Kostis (2012) explore the role of interpersonal trust and
knowledge in the number of small and medium enterprises. They conclude that knowledge
positively affects the number of SMEs, which in turn positively affects interpersonal trust. Note
that the empirical results indicate that interpersonal trust does not affect the number of SMEs.
Therefore, although knowledge development can reinforce SMEs, trust becomes widespread in a
society when the number of SMEs is greater.[9]

Legal boundary on SMEs around the world

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Multilateral organizations have been criticized for using one measure for all.[10][11] The legal
boundary of SMEs around the world vary, and below is a list of the upper limits of SMEs in some
countries.

Africa

African small businesses frequently struggle to

get the cash they require to thrive. According to
the SME Finance Forum, the formal financing
gap for African SMEs averaged 17% of GDP
across the 43 countries assessed in 2017.[13][14]

According to the World Bank, women own 58%

of all MSMEs in Africa.[13][15][16]

The European Investment Bank's Banking in Results from the European Investment Bank's
Africa survey, 2021 suggests that most of the Banking in Africa survey, 2021. Expected change in
responding banks had a non-performing loan credit demand from small and medium-sized
(NPL) ratio of at least 5%. NPLs account for at
enterprises in 2021 in Southern Africa.[12]
least 10% of the SME portfolio in approximately
one-third of African banks. Furthermore, 50%
of the banks had at least 5% of their SME portfolio under the moratorium, and 40% had at least 5%
of SME loans under some type of restructuring.[13]

Egypt

Most of Egypt's businesses are small-sized, with 97 percent employing fewer than 10 workers,
according to census data released by state-run statistics body CAPMAS (Central Agency for Public
Mobilization and Statistics).

Medium-sized enterprises with 10 to 50 employees account for around 2.7 percent of total
businesses. However, big businesses with over 50 employees account for 0.4 percent of all
enterprises nationwide.

The data is part of Egypt's 2012/13 economic census on establishments ranging from small stalls to
big enterprises. Economic activity outside the establishments – like street vendors and farmers, for
example – were excluded from the census.

The results show that Egypt is greatly lacking in

medium-sized businesses.

Seventy percent of the country's 24 million

businesses have only one or two employees. But
less than 0.1 percent – only 784 businesses –
employ between 45 and 49 people.

Kenya

In Kenya, the term changed to MSME, which Results from the European Investment Bank's
stands for "micro, small, and medium-sized Banking in Africa survey, 2021, for the expected
enterprises". change in credit demand from SMEs in East Africa[12]

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For micro-enterprises, the minimum number of employees is up to 10 employees. For small

enterprises, it is from 10 to 50. For medium enterprises, it is from 50 to 100.

Nigeria

The Central Bank of Nigeria defines small and medium enterprises in Nigeria according to asset
base and a number of staff employed. The criteria are an asset base that is between ₦5  million
($15,400) to ₦500 million ($1,538,000), and a staff strength that is between 11 and 100
employees.[2][17]

Somalia

In Somalia, the term is SME (for "small, medium, and micro enterprises"); elsewhere in Africa,
MSME stands for "micro, small, and medium enterprises". An SME is defined as a small business
that has more than 30 employees but less than 250 employees.

South Africa

In the National Small Business Amendment Act 2004,[18] micro-businesses in the different
sectors, varying from the manufacturing to the retail sectors, are defined as businesses with five or
fewer employees and a turnover of up to R100,000 ZAR ($6,900). Very small businesses
employ between 6 and 20 employees, while small businesses employ between 21 and 50
employees. The upper limit for turnover in a small business varies from R1 million ($69,200) in
the agricultural sector to R13 million ($899,800) in the catering, accommodations and other trade
sectors as well as in the manufacturing sector, with a maximum of R32 million ($2,214,800) in the
wholesale trade sector.

Medium-sized businesses usually employ up to 200 people (100 in the agricultural sector), and
the maximum turnover varies from R5 million ($346,100) in the agricultural sector to R51
($3,529,800) million in the manufacturing sector and R64 ($4,429,600) million in the wholesale
trade, commercial agents and allied services sector.

A comprehensive definition of an SME in South Africa is, therefore, an enterprise with one or more
of the following characteristics:

Fewer than 200 employees,

Annual turnover of less than R64 million,
Capital assets of less than R10 million,
Direct managerial involvement by owners[19]

Asia

Hong Kong

Hong Kong defines Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as any manufacturing business that
employs less than 100 people or any non-manufacturing business that employs less than 50
people.[20]

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98% of business establishments in Hong Kong are defined as SMEs and employed 45% of the work
force.[20][21]

India

India defines Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises based on dual criteria of investment and
turnover. In June 2020, India updated the definition as follows:

Sr No Classification Criteria (in ₹)

1 Micro Enterprises Investment <= 1 cr and Turnover <= 5 cr

2 Small Enterprises Investment <= 10 cr and Turnover <= 50 cr

3 Medium Enterprises Investment <= 50 cr and Turnover <= 250 cr

Businesses that are declared as MSMEs and within specific sectors and criteria can then apply for
"priority sector" lending to help with business expenses; banks have annual targets set by the
Prime Minister's Task Force on MSMEs for year-on-year increases of lending to various categories
of MSMEs.[22] MSME is considered a key contributor to India's growth and contributes 48% to
India's total export.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, the government defines micro, small, and medium enterprises (Indonesian: usaha
mikro kecil menengah, UMKM) based on their assets and revenues according to Law No.
20/2008:[23]

Type Maximum assets, Rp Maximum revenue, Rp

Micro 50,000,000 300,000,000

Small 500,000,000 2,500,000,000

Medium 10,000,000,000 50,000,000,000

An annual revenue of Rp 50 billion is approximately equal to US$3.7 million as of November 2017.

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, Bangladesh Bank defines Small and medium enterprises based on fixed asset,
employed manpower and yearly turn over, and they are definitely not Public Limited Co. and
requires these characteristics -

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Fixed Asset other than Land and

Building (Tk) Yearly Turn Over (Tk)
Serial Employed
Sector SE (Small Enterprises) & ME
No Manpower (N/A-Not Applicable)
(Medium Enterprises)

For SE 1000,000 - 200,00,000 &

SE - 16-50 & ME
01 Services N/A
For ME 200,00,000 - 30,00,00,000 - 51-120

SE 10,000,000-
02 Business For SE 1000,000 - 200,00,000 SE - 16-50
120,000,000

For SE 7,500,000 - 150,000,000

For Me 150,000,000 - SE - 31-120 &

03 Industrial N/A
ME - 121-300
500,000,000

Philippines

According to the Department of Trade and Industry's 2020 List of Establishments report, there are
957,620 registered business enterprises operating in the country, composed of 99.51% MSMEs and
0.49% large firms. The MSMEs consist of 88.77% microenterprises, 10.25% small enterprises, and
0.49% medium enterprises. Among the top industry sectors include (1) wholesale and retail trade;
repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (445,386); (2) accommodation and food service activities
(134,046); (3) manufacturing (110,916); (4) other service activities (62,376); and (5) financial and
insurance activities (45,558) which accounted for about 83.77% of the total number of MSME
establishments. Prior to the pandemic, MSMEs generated more than 5.38 million jobs or 62.66%
of the country's total employment with a 29.38% share from micro-enterprises followed by 25.78%
and 7.50% for small and medium enterprises.[7]

Singapore

With effect from 1 April 2011, the definition of SMEs is businesses with annual sales turnover of
not more than $100 million or employing no more than 200 staff.[24]

Europe

European Union

Small companies are important to the European economy as

they account for 99.8% of non-financial enterprises in the
European Union (EU) and employ two-thirds of the workforce
in the EU.[25][26] The majority of European firms are small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), employing over 100 million
people. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large majority of
SMEs saw a decline in revenue during 2020- Small and medium enterprises that
2021.[27][28][29][30] invested in becoming more digital as
a response to COVID-19 and
The pandemic has had a greater impact on SMEs than on large received public financial support
businesses, with an average sales loss of 26% versus 23% for over the past three years
large businesses.[31][32] Government assistance appears to have
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benefited SMEs more than large corporations among the companies that do have overdraft
facilities, indicating a successful application of policies to ease financial limitations for SMEs even
when they receive help from the banking sector.[31][33]

SMEs were more quick in altering output during the pandemic, despite the intensity of the shock.
In reaction to the crisis, one-third of major enterprises altered their output or services, compared
to 37% of SMEs.[31][32]

Large businesses, on the other hand, embraced digitization to a greater extent than small
businesses, with 26% boosting their online distribution of products and services, compared to 22%
for SMEs. The most significant difference in adaption measures was shown in the chance of
expanding remote work, which increased by 25% among SMEs but 50% among large
businesses.[31][34]

The criteria for defining the size of a business differ from country to country, with many countries
having programs of business rate reduction and financial subsidy for SMEs. According to the
European Commission,[35] SMEs are enterprises which meet the following definition of staff
headcount and either the turnover or balance sheet total definitions:

Company category Staff headcount Turnover Balance sheet total

Medium-sized < 250 ≤ €50 million ≤ €43 million

Small < 50 ≤ €10 million ≤ €10 million

Micro < 10 ≤ €2 million ≤ €2 million

In July 2011, the European Commission said it would open a consultation on the definition of
SMEs in 2012. A consultation document was issued on 6 February 2018 and the consultation
period closed on 6 May 2018. As of November 2019, no conclusions or responses have yet
emerged.[36]

In Europe, there are three broad parameters that define SMEs:

Micro-enterprises have up to 10 employees

Small enterprises have up to 50 employees
Medium-sized enterprises have up to 250 employees.[37]

The European definition of SME follows: "The category of micro, small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) is made up of enterprises which employ fewer than 250 persons and which
have an annual turnover not exceeding 50 million euro, and/or an annual balance sheet total not
exceeding 43 million euro."[38] In order to prepare for an evaluation and revision of some features
of the small and medium-sized enterprises definition European Union established public
consultation period from 6 February 2018 to 6 May 2018. Public consultation is available for all
EU member country citizens and organizations. Especially, national and regional authorities,
enterprises, business associations or organizations, venture capital providers, research and
academic institutions, and individual citizens are expected as the main contributors.[39]

EU member states have had individual definitions of what constitutes an SME. For example, the
definition in Germany had a limit of 255 employees, while in Belgium it could have been 100. The
result is that while a Belgian business of 249 employees would be taxed at full rate in Belgium, it
would nevertheless be eligible for SME subsidy under a European-labelled programme.

SMEs are a crucial element in the supplier network of large enterprises which are already on their
way towards Industry 4.0.[40] According to German economist Hans-Heinrich Bass, "empirical
research on SME as well as policies to promote SME have a long tradition in [West] Germany,
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dating back into the 19th century. Until the mid-20th century, most researchers considered SME as
an impediment to further economic development and SME policies were thus designed in the
framework of social policies. Only the Ordoliberalism school, the founding fathers of Germany's
social market economy, discovered their strengths, considered SME as a solution to mid-20th
century economic problems (mass unemployment, abuse of economic power), and laid the
foundations for non-selective (functional) industrial policies to promote SMEs."[41] Only around
20% of European SMEs are substantially digitalized, compared to almost 50% of major
businesses.[25][42] Small and medium-sized companies make up 56.2% of the non-financial sector.

Smaller companies account for more than 60% of the value

contributed to the non-financial sector in Belgium, Italy, and
Spain, three of the nations worst hit by the COVID-19
pandemic.[25][43] An estimated 50% of Europe's small firms
may fail because they lack the substantial financial reserves
required to weather the crisis.[25][44]
Obstacles faced by small and
The results of an EU survey conducted in 2021 suggest that
medium enterprises when investing
during the pandemic, in countries with larger fiscal packages,
in digital technologies.
SMEs were on average more likely to experience bankruptcy
even after controlling for the size of the shock, the use of bank
financing, and country and sector fixed effects. When policy assistance rises by 1% of GDP, the
probabilities of bankruptcy for a SME are 2.7 times higher than for a non-SME.[31][45] Credit
limitations are especially difficult for SMEs and new businesses to overcome. Credit constraints
affect 24% of SMEs and 27% of young businesses.[31]

Poland

The SME sector in Poland generates almost 50% of the GDP, and out of that, for instance, in 2011,
micro companies generated 29.6%, small companies 7.7%, and medium companies 10.4% (big
companies 24.0%; other entities 16.5%, and revenues from customs duties and taxes generated
11.9%). In 2011, out of the total of 1,784,603 entities operating in Poland, merely 3,189 were
classified as "large", so 1,781,414 were micro, small, or medium. SMEs employed 6.3 million people
out of the total of 9.0 million of labour employed in the private sector. In Poland in 2011 there were
36.2 SMEs per 1,000 inhabitants.[46]

Nearly seven million people are employed by small businesses in Poland, which accounts for
around half of the country's GDP, yet smaller businesses are less likely than larger ones to invest in
strategies to combat climate change or boost energy efficiency. In October 2021, the Bank Ochrony
rodowiska, a Polish bank that specializes in funding environmental protection initiatives received
€75 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for these small enterprises.[47]

The Polish bank wants to use at least 50% of the loan for initiatives with a clear emphasis on
tackling climate change, such improving building energy efficiency or turning to renewable energy
sources like solar power. The money is set to be distributed across Poland, with around 80% of it
projected to go to cohesive regions.[47]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom (UK), a company is defined as being an SME if it meets two out of three
criteria: it has a turnover of less than £25m, it has fewer than 250 employees, it has gross assets of
less than £12.5m.[48] Very small companies are called in the UK micro-entities, which have simpler
financial reporting requirements. Such micro-enterprises must meet any two of the following
criteria: balance sheet £316,000 or less; turnover £632,000 or less; employees 10 or less.[49]
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Many small and medium-sized businesses form part of the UK's currently growing Mittelstand, or
Brittelstand as it is also sometimes named.[50] These are businesses in Britain that are not only
small or medium but also have a much broader set of values and more elastic definition.

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills estimated that at the start of 2014, 99.3% of
UK private sector businesses were SMEs, with their £1.6 trillion annual turnover accounting for
47% of private sector turnover.[51][52]

In order to support SMEs, the UK government set a target in 2010 "that 25% of government’s
spend, either directly or in supply chains, goes to SMEs by 2015"; it achieved this by 2013.[53]

Norway

In Norway it is normal to design small and medium-sized businesses as businesses with less than
100 employees. Businesses with 1-20 employees are defined as small, while businesses with 21-100
employees are considered medium-sized. Businesses with more than 100 employees would be
considered a big business. Micro-sized businesses is a little used expression in Norway.NHO (http
s://www.nho.no/tema/sma-og-mellomstore-bedrifter/artikler/sma-og-mellomstore-bedrifter-sm
b/)

Small and medium-sized businesses make up more than 99% of all businsesses in Norway, and
together they employ 47% of all employees in the private sector. Together, SMEs account for 44%
of the economic value added each year - almost 700 billion Norwegian Kroners (NOK).Fakta om
små og mellomstore bedrifter (SMB) (https://www.nho.no/tema/sma-og-mellomstore-bedrifter/a
rtikler/sma-og-mellomstore-bedrifter-smb/)

Switzerland

In Switzerland, the Federal Statistical Office defines small and medium-sized enterprises as
companies with less than 250 employees.[54] The categories are the following:[54]

Microentreprises: 1 to 9 employees
Small enterprises: 10 to 49 employees
Medium-sized enterprises: 50 to 249 employees
Large enterprises: 250 employees or more

North America

Canada

Industry Canada defines a small business as one with fewer than 100 paid employees, and a
medium-sized business as one with at least 100 and fewer than 500 employees. As of December
2012, there were 1,107,540 employer businesses in Canada of the rally. Canadian controlled private
corporations receive a 17% reduction in the tax rate on taxable income from active businesses up to
$500,000. This small business deduction is reduced for corporations whose taxable capital
exceeds $10M and is eliminated for corporations whose taxable capital exceeds $15M.[55] It has

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been estimated that almost $2 trillion of Canadian SMEs will be coming up for sale over the next
decade, which is twice as large as the assets of the top 1,000 Canadian pension plans and
approximately the same size as Canadian annual GDP.[56]

Mexico

The small and medium-sized companies in Mexico are called PYMEs, which is a direct translation
of SMEs. But there's another categorization in the country called MiPyMEs. The MiPyMEs are
micro, small and medium-sized businesses, with an emphasis on micro which are one man
companies or a type of freelance.

United States

In the United States, the Small Business Administration sets small business criteria based on
industry, ownership structure, revenue and number of employees (which in some circumstances
may be as high as 1500, although the cap is typically 500).[57] Both the US and the EU generally
use the same threshold of fewer than 10 employees for small offices (SOHO).

Oceania

Australia

In Australia, a SME has 200 or fewer employees. Micro Businesses have 1–4 employees, small
businesses 5–19, medium businesses 20–199, and large businesses 200+.[58] Australian SMEs
make up 98% of all Australian businesses, produce one-third of total GDP, and employ 4.7 million
people. SMEs represent 90 per cent of all goods exporters and over 60% of services exporters.[59]

New Zealand

In New Zealand, 99% of businesses employ 50 or less staff, and the official definition of a small
business is one with 19 or fewer employees.[60][61] It is estimated that approximately 28% of New
Zealand's gross domestic product is produced by companies with fewer than 20 employees.[62]

See also
Confédération Européenne des Associations de Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (CEA-PME),
an international federation of SME associations
Environmental regulation of small and medium enterprises
Hidden champions
Mittelstand
Small and medium enterprises in Mexico
Small business

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External links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_and_medium-sized_enterprises 13/14
02/02/23, 23:14 Small and medium-sized enterprises - Wikipedia

SMEs and Entrepreneurship at the OECD (http://www.oecd.org/cfe/smes)

SME definition by European Commission (https://web.archive.org/web/20150208090338/http://
ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/sme-definition/index_en.htm)
Small Business Expo Events Schedule USA (https://web.archive.org/web/20140714215426/htt
p://www.thesmallbusinessexpo.com/exhibit.php)
MSME Loan 5 Important thing to know (https://socialmudda.com/msme-loan/)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Small_and_medium-sized_enterprises&oldid=1133435561"

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