Small business: main features, differences, prospects. Which enterprises are small, medium, large

Everyone knows such concepts as “small business” and “medium business”. When registering his company, the entrepreneur is given a questionnaire, one of the points in which is to determine which business entity is being registered - small or medium. However, not everyone knows the differences between small and medium businesses. Today we will try to shed some light on this topic.

The concepts of medium and small businesses are divided on the basis of legislative acts. To classify an enterprise into one group or another, it is necessary to take into account the following factors:
Number. If an enterprise employs 16-100 people, then it belongs to a small business, if 101-250 – to a medium-sized one. Firms with 1-15 employees are called microenterprises and can also be classified as small businesses.
Income from the sale of goods or services/asset value. These values are established by the Tax Code every five years.

Percentage of state ownership and foreign investors (for both types of enterprises no more than 25%).

At enterprises classified as small businesses, the number of employees is in the dozens. Such firms have a more or less well-formed corporate structure and regulation of business processes.

The main key to small business success is people. Main value Any small company has qualified employees, professionals who love this business and strive for one common goal. The interaction between employees is very close, and if they gain mutual understanding regarding the main goal of the company, it confidently moves forward.

Small businesses include all legal entities that have an average annual number of employees of no more than 50 people.

Medium business

When we talk about a medium-sized business, we already mean a company that employs a couple of hundred people. Sometimes employees are separated geographically. Such companies already have clear and regular management, which is easy to maintain due to the relatively small size of the company (compared to large businesses). Medium business has a greater amount of resources than the small one.

The main key to the success of medium-sized businesses is products and sales. In this business, any troubles and misunderstanding of each other by individual employees can hardly have a significant impact on the success of the company, so the main emphasis should be placed on high-quality production of products (or provision of services) and competent presentation of them to consumers.

Medium-sized businesses include all individual entrepreneurs and legal entities that have an average annual number of employees of more than 50 people.

Differences in lending to small and medium-sized businesses

Different banks often use their own criteria to determine which business entity a particular enterprise belongs to ie. These criteria are established based on internal bank company analysis methods. Therefore, a situation may arise that when analyzing one bank, a particular company will be classified as a small business, and another bank will be classified as a medium-sized one.

For small businesses, there are clearer and specific programs loans with clear titles, such as “business development” or “business growth”. In the case of medium-sized businesses, banks more often use an individual approach. Based on the goals and needs of a particular company, the size and terms of the loan are determined.

We can say that lending for medium-sized businesses has some advantages for business owners, since an individual approach always turns out to be more convenient and profitable than a standard program with clearly defined deadlines.

Not many people know the difference between small, medium and large businesses. Especially a novice entrepreneur should understand the differences between these concepts. In the case of identifying a business idea and writing a business plan, you should have ideas about your future occupation.

What it is

Small business is the most common form of entrepreneurship, chosen by most aspiring businessmen.

Medium business̶ this is the form entrepreneurial activity, which, compared to a small business, has a more impressive annual income and more extensive and varied resources for business activities.

Big business is a form of entrepreneurship that includes popular companies that cover an entire country or more than 2 countries of the world, and also have great demand among consumers.

Main characteristics of entrepreneurship

Each form of commercial activity - SME or large business - has its own characteristics, which is why they differ from each other.

Features of a small

Small businesses are not only individual entrepreneurs, but also companies whose average annual number of employees is at least 50 people.

The territorial activities of these companies are small, and the list of their areas of activity may include:

the shops;
firms with small production that produce small volumes of goods;
companies with tourism activities;
medical offices (dental, etc.);
various training courses, etc.

For small businesses, the period for conducting inspections has been reduced and annually is no more than 50 hours.

Until December 31, 2018, these businesses have been granted a two-year supervisory holiday, during which no supervision will be carried out. There will be no risk of visits from the Sanitary and Epidemiological Inspectorate and the fire inspectorate, and the activity license will not be checked.

According to Part 2 of Article 10 of the Federal Law “On the protection of the rights of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in the exercise of state control (supervision) and municipal control”, when complaints are received from consumers regarding violations of the law, an audit will be carried out.

In 2018, entrepreneurs who:

register for the first time;
carry out production, social or scientific activities;
provide services to the population.

Small businesses do not need status confirmation. You only need to adhere to the above limits (income, number of employees and share in the authorized capital). If the limits were exceeded within 1 or 2 years, this is not grounds for loss of status. In this case, it will be retained for 3 calendar years.

Signs of average

Compared to a small enterprise, medium-sized businesses include entire networks of enterprises working for a large consumer audience. This entrepreneurial form can carry out its activities not only within the whole city, even within the region.

Compared to small businesses, where a larger role is assigned to personnel, on average - the quality of the product (service) is put in the foreground. Since a medium-sized enterprise is small in size, it will not be difficult for it to adapt to changing market conditions.

Big or big business

Large businesses can spend money on advertising commercials for their products on the most popular television channels. In different cities and countries, this form of business has its own branches and representative bodies employing hundreds of thousands of employees.

Large business entities are large companies that:

engaged in the production of equipment: Apple, Bosch, Samsung, Lenovo, etc.;
produce food products: MC.Donald, Nestle, Coca Cola, etc.;
produce vehicles car brands: Ferrari, Bogati, Alfa Romeo, BMW, etc.

The criteria are simple. In order to be a major entrepreneur you must meet the following:

have at least 251 employees:
receive an income of at least 2 billion rubles;
Conduct timely inventory and revaluation of fixed assets.

Since 2016, a unified register of SMEs has been in operation, which contains enterprises that have received SME status.

These forms of entrepreneurship acquire the status of SMEs if they meet the criteria below:

have a certain amount of income;
have a certain number of employees;
have a certain share of participation of other companies in the authorized capital.

According to Article 4 of the Federal Law “On the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the Russian Federation”, these limits do not apply:

persons holding shares in the economic high-tech sector;
persons participating in the Skolkovo project;
companies that practically apply the latest technologies developed by their owners - budgetary and scientific institutions;
companies whose founders are included in the government list of persons who provide state support for innovation activities.

If an individual entrepreneur does not have employees, then its status is determined by the criterion of their annual income. If individual entrepreneurs and LLCs were included in the unified register of SMEs for the first time, then their status should be determined by the criterion of the number of employees.

If an enterprise receives SME status, it is provided with certain benefits, namely:

you are given the right to keep as much money in the cash register as you want and no fine will be imposed for this.
the ability to conduct simplified accounting. This does not apply to individual entrepreneurs, since they are not responsible for accounting. And companies are required to charge depreciation annually, and not once a month.
are given an advantage in the purchase of state and municipal real estate, etc.

List of enterprises that meet the specified criteria, annually formed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. This list is submitted to the Federal Tax Service of Russia, after which the tax authorities enter certain information in the register.

We bring to your attention a video that explains why it wins big business.

Main advantages

Both SMEs and large companies have their advantages and disadvantages.

The list of advantages of small business is as follows::

the presence of a small need for initial capital;
relatively low expenses during business activities;
the ability to quickly respond to changes in the market;
the presence of a relatively fast turnover of equity capital;
there is a tendency for vacancies to increase, which has a beneficial effect on the increase in population employment.

The main advantages of medium-sized businesses include:

creation of new employment opportunities;
high productivity of capital investments;
relatively high profitability;
high ability to compete and mobility.

Large businesses are also endowed positive qualities, namely:

the ability to ensure economic stability in the country;
ability to change the external business environment;
the opportunity to save on production costs;
implementation in business modern technologies etc.

Cons and risks

In order to start building your business, an entrepreneur must become familiar with the main disadvantages of various enterprises. For example, a small business has the following negative aspects:

relatively high level of risk;
dependence on big business;
presence of low professional level managers;
difficulties in obtaining loans and subsidies.

The size of the initial capital also matters. For example, if this size is large, then the company will be able to survive during the crisis period.

Medium-sized businesses also have certain disadvantages, namely:

the presence of fierce competition and the threat of being swallowed up by large companies;
the presence of barriers and difficulties in obtaining licenses and patents;
frequent shortage of working capital;
difficulties in obtaining loans due to mistrust of banks.

Big business is also not without problems. The main disadvantages of this business are the availability:

excessive economic concentration;
localization of economic relations;
blocking horizontal commercial ties that do not extend beyond the boundaries of a particular company.

Differences between each other

For a clear example of the differences between small medium and large businesses, the following table can be given.

The basis of success

Despite the dependence on the external environment, small businesses can also be successful. Only the best employees in their field work here. The success of this business is determined by having a strategic plan for the development of the enterprise.

Medium-sized businesses can easily adapt to changing market conditions. Success also depends on having effective management.

The main success of a large enterprise is the presence effective business models that are built in such a way that even after 10 years they continue to work, surviving crisis situations and generating huge income.

Regulatory regulation

Questions regarding the implementation of business activities of SMEs and large companies, are regulated by a number of legislative acts, namely:

Federal Law “On the protection of the rights of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in the exercise of state control (supervision) and municipal control” dated December 26, 2008 No. 294-FZ.
Federal Law “On the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the Russian Federation” dated July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ.

Despite some general signs, in practice, the actual activities of entrepreneurs vary greatly. This is due to the fact that in certain types business, various competitive advantages and risks arise; realizing the former and overcoming the latter forces entrepreneurs to modify the mechanisms of functioning of their business. There are also features in the mechanisms of legal regulation and legal support for entrepreneurial activity in different types business.

A modern market economy is characterized by a complex combination of industries of varying scale - large ones, with a tendency to monopolize the economy, and medium and small enterprises that arise in industries that do not require significant capital, volumes of equipment and cooperation of many workers. The size of enterprises depends on the specifics of industries, their technological features, and the effect of economies of scale. There are industries associated with high capital intensity and significant production volumes, with a large share of fixed assets among the entrepreneur’s costs. Large businesses are mainly concentrated in these industries. These include the automotive, pharmaceutical, chemical, metallurgical industries, and most enterprises in the extractive industries. The industries that determine scientific and technological progress are growing at the highest rates, since they accumulate financial, production and human resources faster than others. In industries that do not require large capital expenditures, where the share of personnel costs in the costs of entrepreneurs is large, small enterprise sizes are preferable.

Firms of different sizes play different roles in ensuring the sustainability and competitiveness of a market economy and have different risks and benefits. There are large, medium and small businesses.

Big business doesn't give in simple definition Typically, the concept of “big business” is applied to such giants as IBM and General Motors. Among the world's largest companies in different time included such companies as General Electric (USA), Roal Dutch (Great Britain - Denmark), Coca-Cola (USA). Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (Japan), Exxon (USA). This list also included one Russian company, Gazprom. The main element of the capitalist economy, the carrier of the evolutionary process in the economy, is to ensure the stability of the market economy and its main components: prices, production structure. Today they produce most of given mass of products. Thanks to large enterprises Business development is underway, based on mechanisms for reducing production costs. Large firms are carriers of scientific and technological progress; they accumulate and then introduce methods of rational entrepreneurship. In addition, most modern large firms are international companies operating in global markets, which allows them to take advantage of the relatively cheap resources of the world economy by placing different stages production in various countries. These properties of big business are most clearly manifested in the activities of modern transnational corporations. The latter, thanks to the enormous concentration of resources and centralization of financial and material flows within corporations they are able to create for themselves an effective market and social infrastructure. Coming to less developed countries transnational corporations They themselves create communications, shape the behavior model of employees and consumers, and actively influence domestic and international legislation.

Along with competitive advantages, large businesses also have weak sides. The growth of a company is often accompanied by a decrease in the efficiency of its management. Very often, large firms have the ability to regulate demand and prices for their products, which reduces incentives to increase efficiency and makes large businesses inflexible. These features of large firms create opportunities for sustainable development businesses in medium and small sizes (Table 1.1).

Table 5. Strengths and weaknesses of large businesses

Strengths of big business	Weaknesses of big business
Ability to actively change external environment entrepreneurship	Reduced incentives to increase production efficiency
Opportunities to create and accumulate achievements of scientific and technological progress and procedures and rules of rational business	Opportunity to limit the access of other firms to the achievements of scientific and technological progress and rational business
Savings on production costs	Decrease in management efficiency with growth of firm volume
Sustainability	Inflexibility, possibility of losing contact with the consumer

If the concept of big business is a mainly economic concept. Legislation as foreign countries, and the Russian one does not specifically highlight the concept of “big business”. Small business is defined both economically and legally. As the experience of countries with highly developed economies shows, it is the most important component of a market economy. IN modern conditions the role of small business in market economy growing.

Often in small businesses you can find family business management: it is inherited by the owner’s relatives, which dictates the latter’s direct involvement in all the activities of the enterprise.

The functions of a small enterprise are, first of all, economic, determined by its role as, firstly, an employer; secondly - a manufacturer of products and services, thirdly - a catalyst for scientific and technological progress, fourthly - a taxpayer, fifthly - an agent market relations.

An equally important function, in my opinion, is social. Thus, through small forms of entrepreneurial activity, many people reveal and realize their creative potential. Basically, the labor of socially vulnerable groups of the population (women, students, disabled people, pensioners, refugees, etc.) who cannot find employment in large enterprises is used here. Small enterprises are the main place of industrial training and a kind of “testing ground” for testing young personnel.

But all the listed advantages of small business do not appear automatically. The problem is that small businesses are generally exposed to much greater risk than large firms. The advantages and weaknesses of small businesses are presented in Table 1.2.

Table 6. Advantages and weaknesses of small businesses

Small business is not sustainable. Half of the enterprises die in the first period of their existence, but their place is immediately taken by newly emerging firms. The bankruptcy rate of firms is especially high in the first three years.

Small businesses are highly dependent on market conditions. The small size does not allow the creation of modern structures and effective specialized management within the company. Most small firms are characterized by unity of ownership and management. Most relationships within the company and business partners are built on the basis of informal connections. Small firms often turn to informal resource markets, finance their business with private loans, and use their own funds and funds from friends and relatives. It is not uncommon for small businesses to use the informal and even shadow labor market (involving illegal immigrants, minors, etc.). Competitive advantages and the profitability of production is ensured by implicit costs, which are often based on high (higher than in large enterprises) labor intensification and working hours, and low payment for resources compared to large businesses. All this determines the extremely unstable and high-risk nature of small business.

In a word, the main difference between small businesses is that, regardless of country, in most cases it is a typical intuitive business. Without the active support of big business and the state, small businesses are a source of economic and social risks. Therefore, the legislation of developed countries allocates small businesses to a special category and actively supports small businesses.

In a modern market economy, in addition to large and small businesses, there remains a significant layer of medium-sized businesses. Just like large businesses, medium-sized businesses do not have a special legal status. It occupies an intermediate position between small and large businesses located at different poles of the economy and plays an extremely important role. He acts as an intermediary and link between large and small businesses, between small businesses and the state.

The small size of firms, the instability and high riskiness of small businesses do not allow them to establish stable direct ties with large businesses. Medium-sized businesses take on this role, creating a complex network of connections with both large and small businesses that are diverse in form, legal and organizational design.

The scope of activity of small and medium-sized businesses is very extensive. The main areas of activity of small enterprises are trade and public catering, Agriculture, industry and construction. However, it should be noted that the most common type is trade and intermediary activities (more than 70%). Approximately every tenth entrepreneur is engaged in production activities; approximately the same number provide transport, construction and household services to the population, and are engaged in processing agricultural products. A small number of small enterprises are involved in the market of information, medical and real estate services.

The main consumers of products and services of small and medium-sized businesses are the local population, as well as residents of nearby cities and towns. In addition, their products and services are used by private firms and entrepreneurs, government agencies and organizations, trade and intermediary organizations.

The important role of small and medium-sized businesses is that they provide a significant number of new jobs, saturate the market with new goods and services, and satisfy numerous needs large enterprises, and also produces special products and services.

In the current conditions of market relations in Russia, small and medium-sized businesses are one of the most promising forms of business.

The main features of small and medium-sized businesses are: activity in the economic sphere with the aim of making a profit, economic freedom, innovative nature, sale of goods and services on the market, flexibility, as well as the limited scope of its scale causes special, personal character relations between the owner and the employee, which makes it possible to achieve real motivation for the work of staff and a higher degree of job satisfaction. Relatively small markets for resources and sales do not allow the company to have any serious influence on prices and the overall industry volume of product sales. In small business there is a personalized nature of the relationship between the entrepreneur and clients, i.e. A small enterprise is designed to serve a relatively narrow circle of consumers. Small businesses mainly rely on relatively small bank loans, their own funds and the “informal” capital market (money from friends, relatives, etc.). Also, in small businesses the share of working capital is high compared to fixed assets. If for large enterprises this ratio is 80:20, then for small enterprises it is 20:80.

The main indicator that allows an enterprise to be recognized as small is the number of employees for a specific period of time. Criteria such as the size of his assets, size authorized capital and annual turnover.

In Russia, a small enterprise is a commercial organization in the authorized capital of which the share of participation of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, charitable and other foundations, as well as religious and public organizations is not higher than 25 percent. In addition, a share that belongs to several legal entities or one legal entity. person, should also not be more than 25 percent.

The number of employees for a certain period should not exceed the standard established in a particular area. If it is construction, industry or transport, the number of employees of a small enterprise cannot exceed 100 people. If it is wholesale trade - no more than 50 people, if it is household services or retail- no more than 30 people, if any other activity - no more than 50 people.

Medium enterprises

The definitions of medium and small businesses around the world are quite similar. What sums them up is economic entities, which do not exceed a specific indicator in terms of the number of employees, the amount of gross assets and turnover. Medium-sized enterprises are also entitled to simplified reporting. In order to understand the scope of the number of employees - after all, this criterion is most often the main one - it is worth considering several examples.

If we take a consulting or research agency, it can be classified as a medium-sized enterprise when the number of its employees ranges from 15 to 50. If we talk about a travel company, then it can be classified as a medium-sized enterprise when the number of its employees ranges from 25 to 50. 75. A medium-sized print media will be an editorial office with the number of employees not exceeding 100. Just as with small enterprises, medium-sized enterprises are considered in terms of turnover and the market share they occupy.

Large enterprises

A large enterprise is one that produces a significant share of the total commodity volume of any industry. It is also characterized by the number of people employed, the size of assets and sales volume. To classify an enterprise as a large business, it is necessary to take into account territorial, industry and state specifics. For example, for the field of mechanical engineering, the main factors are the volume of output, the number of workers and the cost of fixed assets. If we take the agro-industrial complex, we can only focus on the number of livestock or the area of land.

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are a social, legal and economic category that includes companies and individual entrepreneurs with a small number of employees and profits. Entrepreneurship of this type reacts flexibly to changes in market conditions, but requires additional support for development

Small business is a type of entrepreneurship that is characterized by a small number of employees (up to 100 people), average revenue (up to 800 million rubles per year), and an emphasis on equity capital. This is not only an economic, but also a socio-political category, whose representatives are characterized by a special worldview.

Businessmen of this type quickly adapt to new changes and are highly adaptable to any working conditions. SMEs often open up those facets of the market that look too risky and dangerous. Import of Chinese goods, long-term nail coatings, making sushi - all this was first mastered by small companies, and only then they tried to take over large businesses.

There are over 6 million small businesses in the United States, each generating revenues of up to $10 million annually. These organizations employ approximately a third of the total working population with permanent or temporary work. It is from here that the notorious “middle class” is formed, which forms the backbone of the country’s economic well-being

Russian Federation: legislative support for small businesses

In our country, Federal Law No. 209 of July 24, 2007 “On the development of small and medium-sized ...” is in force, which defines the basic principles for classifying a company into this category. There are requirements for the organizational form, average number employees and revenue (maximum). The maximum income that an organization can receive is subject to revision by the Government of the Russian Federation; the current Resolution has been in effect since August 1, 2016. Information about all individual entrepreneurs and organizations belonging to this category is collected in a special Register.

Main features of a small business

In the above Federal law lists the various requirements by which a particular enterprise falls into the desired category. Legal entities cannot have a total share of participation of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, foreign companies, religious charities, and public associations exceeding 25%. In addition, the company cannot be owned by other companies that are not SMEs in an amount exceeding 49%.

In the first half of 2016, about 218,500 small enterprises were created in Russia, while 242,200 companies left the market. Just a year ago, the trend was different: instead of one organization that left the market, 2 new companies appeared. The largest number of them are in Central federal district- 1.636.987. The record holder for the number of SMEs is Moscow: 451,979 micro-organizations, 170,000 entrepreneurs: comparable to the population of a small European country.

Who is the driver of small business in Russia?

Approximately every 10 able-bodied people in the Russian Federation work for themselves. Moreover, the vast majority of self-employed people (about 70%) are not registered as individual entrepreneurs and operate illegally. The reluctance to formalize the status is associated with bureaucracy, high contributions to the Pension Fund and uncertainty about one’s own future. Another factor is that people simply do not see where their money is going, which causes legal nihilism.

Small and micro businesses are based on the following areas:

Construction, repair and finishing (at least 20%);
Programming, computer repair and related industries (about 11%);
Interior design (10%);
Hairdressing and beauty services at home (6%);
Tutoring (5%).

Small business in Russia - powerless and illegal?

In the Russian Federation, approximately a third of the population are citizens who are of working age, are not registered as unemployed, but are not employed at any enterprises. Approximately half of these people do odd jobs; people have been employed in organizations for years, but receive “salaries in an envelope.” This is more typical for the province, where there are no other conditions for employment and employment.

However, another 8-9 million are representatives of small “gray” businesses who work either in splendid isolation, or in small teams. Let's compare this with the number of legal individual entrepreneurs - 3.7 million people - and we get real figure shadow market. After all, all the money that the self-employed earn is in the economy, but for objective reasons cannot be invested in banks, equipment and further development own business.

Problems of small business in Russia

Difficult access to support, subsidies, loans, new technologies;
Administrative measures from outside government agencies(high fines for violations of the law);
Difficult competition with large organizations in certain areas (trade, production, transport);
Incorrect tax policy, leading to too much withdrawal from the new enterprise large quantity resources.

Differences between small and medium businesses

MB - mainly self-employment or seasonal recruitment of workers to perform unskilled tasks: harvesting, transportation, packaging. The company or individual entrepreneur is localized in one locality and collects small profit. Medium-sized business is a must to attract more personnel (both qualified and unskilled workers), investments, and active investment in the development of the enterprise.

Summary

So, small business is a pioneer in those areas in which the state and large companies difficult and risky to invest. People come up with original models, and although many entrepreneurs “burn out,” some businessmen earn start-up capital for further growth.

Real government assistance should consist in creating conditions under which it will be easier for the self-employed to legalize themselves than to work “in the gray way.” In other words, people just need to be left alone for a while and wait to see what happens.