What is the Small Business Administration's - SBA's definition of “Small Business”?

Size guidelines define the maximum size a business can reach to qualify as a small business for most SBA programs.

Size standards are typically a measure of a business's number of employees or its average annual revenue.

What is the SBA's definition of “Small Business”?

Size guidelines define the maximum size a business can reach to be considered a small business for most SBA programs.

Size standards are typically a measure of a business's number of employees or its average annual revenue.

Based on these criteria, the SBA has established the following common standards for a small business, according to the  "North American Industry Classification System code": North American Industry Classification System - NAICS

          • 500 employees  for most of the manufacturing and mining industries

         • $7  Million average annual income for most of the non-manufacturing industries 

There are countless exceptions, but these are the primary size standards for most industries.

For complete information on size standards, you can refer to the SBA's Small Business Size Regulations (13 CFR Part 121) or the Small Business Size Standards Table.

Size standards for major NAICS sectors

Construction

      • General Contractors and heavy construction: $33.5 Million

      • Specialty Contractors: $14 Million

      • Land Subdivision: $7 Million

      • Dredging: $20 Million

Manufacturing

      • Approximately 75% of manufacturing industries: 500 employees

      • A small number pof selected industries: 1,500 employees

      • The rest: 750 o 1,000 employees

Mining

      • All mining industries, except mining services: 500 employees

Retail Commerce

      • Most of retailers: $7 million

      • Some (such as grocery stores, department stores, motor vehicle dealers, and appliance               dealers) have higher size standards, but none exceed $35.5 million (or 200 employees for            new car dealers alone).

Services

       • Most common: $7 millones

      • Programming, computer science, data processing and systems design: $25.5                             Million

      • Engineering and architectural services, as well as some other industries, have different                 size  standards.

      • The highest annual income for any service industry is    $35.5 Million 

Wholesale

      • 100 employees  is the standard size for all wholesale industries

      • However, for federal contracts reserved for small businesses, a company that supplies a              product it did not manufacture is considered a "non-manufacturing firm." To be considered          small for federal government contracting, a non-manufacturing firm must have: 500 or                  fewer  employees.

Other NAICS Classification Sectors and Industries

Other NAICS sectors include agriculture; transportation and warehousing; information (such as telecommunications); utilities; and finance, insurance, and real estate.

Due to the wide variation in the structure of industries within these sectors, there is no common standard size pattern.