ABSTRACT
In the USA small businesses account for 99.7% of the workplaces and employ 54% of the workforce. About 6.5% of all businesses (20% of the workforce) are in manufacturing, 98.5% of which have £ 500 employees (7.4% of the workforce) (Armstrong 1995). Typically the US Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a small business as having 500 employees.
