One of the questions often asked is “what exactly IS a micro business?” The answer is pretty simple: any business that has between 1-10 employees. These businesses are the small of the small; the consultants, the tennis pros, the small mom and pop stores, the local electrician or plumber. They’re everywhere, and while they are considered a “small business” by many, the truth is that they are mostly overlooked as a group. When traditional media uses the phrase “small business” they could be talking about a company with as many as 100 employees, rather than just one employee. And while in some ways the 100 person business shares experiences with the one person business, in many ways they do not.

As we started to take a closer look at our customer base, what made them tick and how they ran their various enterprises, we found that more than 90% of them fell within the 1-10 employee range. Some run their businesses as a hobby, many do it for a second income and others have a full time job in addition to their business. But just because they are small doesn’t mean they are any less important to the overall economy. For example, did you know that there are roughly 25 million businesses that fit into the “micro” category in the United States alone?

What the above infographic shows is a number of common behaviors, trends and statistics that better define the micro business audience as a whole. This includes how they spend their time, how much money they make and whether or not they want to expand their business beyond 10 employees, breaking free from the “micro” tag.

But what we want to know is are YOU a micro business? If so, how do you fit into the infographic? Are there behaviors or statistics that you agree with? Or even disagree with? We’d love to hear how you fit it and if you feel like you are a micro business. Please feel free to comment below.