What Is a Small Business? The Small Business Administration Needs To Reexamine Its Answer

The Small Business Administration's (SBA) size standards define which businesses are small and, therefore, eligible for federal small business assistance programs. SBA regulations state that, since smaller concerns often are forced to compete with middle-sized, as compared with very large, concerns, size standards should be established as low as is reasonably possible. Also, these standards should be limited to that segment of each industry that is "struggling to become or remain competitive."