20-04.
Small business
Pattern description
Small businesses are privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships that have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to apply for government support and qualify for preferential tax policy varies depending on the country and industry.
Small businesses range from fifteen employees under the Australian Fair Work Act 2009, fifty employees according to the definition used by the European Union, and fewer than five thousand employees, to qualify for many U.S. Small Business Administration programs. While small businesses can also be classified according to other methods, such as annual revenues, shipments, sales, assets, or by annual gross or net revenue or net profits, the number of employees is one of the most widely used measures.
Inventive problems
The company should be large and have a complex structure to perform a large number of diverse operations for the development, production, and delivery of a complex product to the customers.
The company should be small and have a simple structure in order to:
- reduce the variety and complexity of the company activities;
- focus on a small number of core operations;
- have a small stuff;
- minimize the cost of development, production, sale, and delivery of products to customers.