For one thing, the SBA Office of Advocacy and Census finally released the 2007 firm size class numbers. Then, days later, Census released the new nonemployer numbers for 2008.

Even better, there were lots of surprises. To read my analyses of both data sets, you can go here and here and here.

I love data. Quantitative, qualitative, I love it all.

So it probably won’t come as too much of a shock to you to discover that I’m planning to head back to school in September. I’m going to be studying anthropology and I’ll probably want to specialize in cross-cultural economic anthropology when all is said and done.

I’m thinking that there are distinct limits to how much economics can tell us about microbusinesses. And I’m thinking that the truly useful stuff will come from a different way of thinking about and studying them.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to shut down my businesses or stop writing about and researching and consulting about microbusinesses.

The pace of my activities may slow ever so slightly, that’s all.

Back in February 2010, under the auspices of the Microbusiness Research Institute, I released MRI’s first full-fledged research paper (as opposed to the many white papers I’ve written).

I’m pretty excited about it because I intend it to be the start of something big. Besides, it a good paper that presents some interesting new concepts about microbusinesses.

The paper documents and analyzes empirical information and survey data collected during IssuesLive, a series of public forums billed by its organizers as a public dialogue and needs assessment for microbusinesses. The IssuesLive events were sponsored by Microbusiness Strategies, in partnership with the Minnesota Small Business Development Center network and MRI.

It’s called A Profile of Microbusiness: The 2008 IssuesLive Minnesota Regional Pilot, and it’s available for download from the MRI web site here.

For a number of years now, I have been thinking about the different way that microbusiness owners do business and trying to figure out how that fit in. My thinking was dominated by ideas of sustainability but I couldn’t seem to find a good fit because, while “sustainability” might make for a good buzz word, I couldn’t see any evidence of the economy trending in that direction.

Still, I knew that microbusinesses really do have a different way of doing business, that it wasn’t just that they are inclined to be satisfied with less money and more interested in their human legacy.

Then I came into contact with the ideas of Umair Haque, particularly his writings on the Smart Growth Economy. That’s when I was able to put it all together.

The new paper is called Microbusiness and the Human Economy: the evolution of the new business rules for the 21st century. You can read the abstract and download the paper from the Resources page of this web site.

Happy reading. Feedback is welcome.

The need is very real. Most microbusiness owners assume they are powerless to influence public policy because they have neither the contacts nor the cash to make themselves heard.

What they don’t realize is that most lawmakers want to do the right thing. And, while they may not have contact, those can be acquired. They may not have cash but they do have something equally valuable: votes.

The Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) is the national trade organization for the microenterprise development industry. Microenterprise development organizations specialize in helping low income aspiring microbusiness owners to secure the funding and acquire the skills to run their own firms.

I love what they do. I love the whole “teach a man to fish” poverty alleviation strategy, for so many reasons that I couldn’t list them all here. Microenterprise development is a win-win-win-win proposition that deserves a lot more support than it gets.

The Summit will take place in Arlington, VA this year, from May 16th to the 19th. For more information on the Summit, visit the AEO web site.

They buy things. They vote, too.

So … how much do you know about them? Is that all you really need to know?

I can bring this elusive group into sharp focus with a mixture of research, focus groups, and/or deep insight and experience that can help you understand who they are, what they care about, how they buy, how they vote.