But what if you need a small business loan? There, the government’s definition is far more expansive. The Small Business Administration, which orchestrated the popular Paycheck Protection Program, generally considers any company with fewer than 500 employees a “small” one. Unless you’re in one of dozens of industries with exceptions, which are detailed in a 49-page document that can seem almost whimsical in its divisions. A company that produces gold ore is considered small if there are up to 1,500 employees. Iron miners have a limit of 750, while those who extract silver have a limit of 250.
One thing is clear about small companies: They far outnumber their larger counterparts. According to the US government, there are close to 32 million small businesses. Many of these businesses have no employees other than the owner. Their ranks include practitioners of nearly every profession — solo lawyers and accountants, Uber drivers, tutors, gig-working delivery cyclists, artists and writers and musicians and millions of salaried workers with side hustles.
Weed out those businesses and you’re left with six million employer firms, each with a payroll ranging from a handful of people to a few hundred. According to Census Bureau data, only 20,000 of the country’s companies have more than 500 employees.
Entrepreneurs in that middle can feel very fuzzy about the line between a small business or a large business. Franz Spielvogel joined Laughing Planet 20 years ago. At the time, it was a single-location, fast-casual cafe located in Portland, Ore. He and his business partner opened another Laughing Planet after it was a huge success. Then another. Today, Mr. Spielvogel manages 15 locations across three states with 224 employees.
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Mr. Spielvogel stated that his mini-chain feels more like a collection or neighborhood spots. He likes this feeling. “We’re not Sweetgreen,” he said. “We’re not saying, ‘Let’s do 100 stores in the next six months.’ That’s not our mission.”
A mid-sized company can have its challenges, such as having a limited legal and HR infrastructure to deal with the complexities of employing hundreds of employees. But Mr. Spielvogel enjoys running a company small enough that it is able to preserve that first shop’s ethos and corporate culture. He’s unfazed — and honestly somewhat relieved, he said — by the new vaccination-or-testing mandate. He has been trying hard to convince his staff to get immunized by offering them paid time off for each shot. He hopes that a mandate will convince those remaining skeptics.
Even small companies are open to the idea. Aaron Seyedian, founder of Well-Paid Maids Washington, stated that he would like to see the mandate extended for companies such as his (17-person) company.
Source: NY Times
