Micro Biz – What dat?

May 14th, 2008 Chris

So, what is a micro biz and why is it different. There are a bunch of definitions floating out there:

• State of California: A small business that, together with affiliates, has an average annual gross receipts of two million seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($2,750,000) or less over the previous three years; or a small business manufacturer with 25 or fewer employees.
• From YourDictionary.com: An enterprise (i.e., for-profit commercial business) with fewer than 10 employees.

There are lots more definitions. But the thing I think that really hit me: In a Micro Biz you have to become knowledgeable in pretty much every aspect of the business. I am not suggesting that you have to be an expert in every part. Whether you do stuff yourself or outsource, you have to know enough to make sure you are getting work done that makes sense for your business. You can’t afford to not be engaged everywhere.

In the past year, I’ve taken on more and more of the day-to-day operations from Colleen. In the process I’ve gotten to know about web design, payment processing, email marketing, SEO, accounting, etc… For example, I’m not an web design expert but I know how I want our site to look and what needs to be done to do it. I can’t run Quickbooks to save me life but I’ve got an idea how I want the books to look so we can track performance.

In short, I think you’re in a Micro Biz when you have to be a micro-managing renaissance man or woman. Could be three employees – could be 10. Here’s a test – ignore some part of your business for a month. If you are in a Micro Biz – you can pretty much be assured it will be screwed up by the time you check back in.

C.

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