Truth in Starting and Defining Your Micro-Business

I’m hearing more and more these days a twist on the small business name, being called a “micro-business” (or micro-enterprise). These are usually characterized as owner-operated, with five employees or less, and less than $250,000 in sales.

With the low cost of e-commence entry, and powerful Internet technologies, they require minimal capital to start, perhaps as little as $500.

When I started my first micro business in 2009, I just had our first child, and I wanted to connect with fellow corporate moms, and so I started a blog and monetized it.

Fast forward to 2015 with older kids. I was at a stage of deciding what to do next so instead of going the traditional route of getting back into the corporate world. I decided I wanted to take the side income a bit further and it was then I decided to venture into the service and product area transferring a few of my past corporate skills to my today micro business.

Online business owners such as entrepreneurs – and even coaches – can easily “open their doors for business” without a firm business plan in place.

Today more than ever people are testing the waters to see if they can attract clients and others are seeking out doing online work as a side gig while working their full-time job.

For me when I started my online project operations, I first connected with a local realtor and asked if I could help with their online operations. Lucky for me she said yes! This was the start of me validating my business idea.

These two examples of my online work were the birth of my entrepreneurial days. I started managing the marketing for other individuals who wanted to increase their online presence or needed help running their online business operations. Moreover, today, I am expanding upon these two examples adding additional services.

The most interesting part of having a micro business is that anyone can start a business online for a little as $100. I can show you how in the Start a Business on a Shoe String Budget workshop.

Now when I look back and think behind the scenes of the ideas and strategies I knew I didn't want to take out massive loans to have a business. So I created an approach of having one client's services pay for the start-up operations that lead to obtaining other clients.

In addition, in obtaining clients, I also figured I was going to have to find the time to learn a few additional skills as needed. I started searching for small business resources. It was surprising what I did discover.

I learned most of the resources catered to small business that had up to 500 employees and had millions of dollars in revenue. Running a more extensive business didn't scare me as I used to work with corporations as such. However, having an extensive business with a large team of employees is not really what I was looking to do.

I remember the day the light bulb went off for me. I was chatting with a client who was new to being online and was thinking he could start out the gate earning loads of cash when in the end he merely wanted to be comfortable and replace his salary which was a lot lower than a 500k annual salary lofty start-up goal.

This is when I declared, “I’m not a small business and that my mission was to help other people create freedoms where they could increase their quality time and spend it with family and friends! By assisting them to start up and run their micro businesses.

I’m a MICRO business – or NANO business or some might say a tiny business!!”

With this declare is when I also began to realize that the resources available just didn’t fit my needs – or what I needed for my families financial freedom situation.

Everyone's number is different, and there was at the time much talk of having six-figure months. Now I'm not saying it can't happen, but there is a lot that has to take place to make it happen.

Because of this phenomena, I ran into individuals that fell prey only to end up in the same place they started. When from the start they just wanted to replace their current salary or pay off one to two bills.

MICROBUSINESS OR MICROENTREPRENEUR

Now in being honest there very little information out there regarding microbusinesses. You can find some information scattered about the internet. Based on my experience in talking with the smallest of business owners on the Stand Out Be You Podcase and based on the definitions I have seen, here is how we will define what's a microbusiness.

What is a microbusiness?

According to Small Business Association SBA, a business with one owner and 5 or fewer employees, or a nonemployer is considered a microbusiness. They make up 75-91% of all US businesses ( this all depends on the resource stats you're reading ). Most of these businesses are operated by individuals working for themselves and their families.

The SBA further defines a microbusiness as a business with 1- 9 employees. They also state that all organizations without employees are considered “nonemployers” not a microbusiness. (Which in conclusion one could say according to SBA they don’t think entrepreneurship a business??? )

If you were to ask me right now, what a microbusiness is, my response would be any business that hires out 0 – 5 employees. From interviews with other microbusiness owners as well as other organizations who serve microbusinesses also agree with my interpretation of a microbusiness.

WIth no precise definition for micro-business, it seems the government along with bank organizations have taken it upon themselves to consider you a microbusiness if you have at least one employee and if you are working solo, then you are considered a micro-entrepreneur. Some would also call this a solo-preneur.

Other Names You Might Recognize:

Self-employed
Sole Proprietor
Startup
Non-employer
Freelancer
Main Street Business
Mom and Pop
Gigger
Solopreneur
Entrepreneur
Mompreneur

In my experience and opinion, a microbusiness serves the goal of replacing one income or generating more than one in order to bootstrap the business and live the dream they have always wanted while impacting others.

I love all the opportunities afforded to a micro-entrepreneur. It allows someone from anywhere and with the smallest budget, to create income off of their ideas. All they need is a little encouragement, help, and a strong determination to make it work.

RESOURCES: Here are a few places to find free and low-cost resources for your microbusiness. It is just a start. There are more out there, especially if you have the time to search for what you need!

Sign up for my FREE weekly email of tips and resources
Solo-preneur Mentor FB page
SHOESTRINGBUSINESS.COM
SBA Micro Business

Do you have a microbusiness?  Leave us a comment, share it and tell us more about it.

To your success!

Go socially standout!!!