Dawn Rivers Baker

In a working paper recently released by the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy (August 2008), Census economic data confirmed what those of us on the ground already know: employer businesses are measurably different from nonemployer firms.

Which means, in short, that studying the nation’s approximately 6 million employer firms tell you little to nothing about the nation’s 20.8 million nonemployer firms.

That working paper joins a growing body of research that establishes beyond doubting that small businesses are different from large ones and that microbusinesses are different from non-micro small businesses.

What this means for you is simple. Almost all small businesses are microbusinesses but generically studying small business won’t help your clients to understand microbusinesses. Similarly, expertise in small business does not give one expertise in microbusinesses.

And, speaking much more broadly, it’s difficult to design a study of anything without a frame of reference.

That’s where I come in.

I have been studying and writing about microbusinesses for a decade — long before anyone was even calling them microbusinesses — giving me a wealth of knowledge about existing data and research.

In addition, I own and operate my own microbusiness and have interviewed scores of other microbusiness owners, which adds even more depth to my analysis of raw data. I will help you to put that data into the context of its real-world applications to the microbusiness demographic.

So, when you prepare that proposal to answer you client’s questions about the vast and potentially lucrative microbusiness market, consider including a microbusiness research consultation. I can map the microbusiness landscape for you, so that your research is accurate, genuinely useful for your client, and cost efficient for everyone.

I look forward to working with you.