At Global Resources, we work with small to medium-size businesses located throughout the United States. 

Throughout the last several years, we’ve often encountered business owners unsure about what size category their business fits into. The federal government doesn’t formally recognize a mid-size category, so there’s no official definition of what companies do and don’t qualify. That being said, several sources provide general guidelines that you can apply to determine whether your small business has “graduated” to mid-size:

• Federal Criteria – In the United States, you’re either a small business, or you’re not. This matters because government programs offer all sorts of programs to help small businesses. The federal Small Business Administration sets the definition, which varies by industry and usually depends on how many employees your company has or how much revenue it has. Check the agency’s “Table of Small Business Size Standards.” If you’re in the upper reaches of the size criteria for your industry, it’s fair to call your company mid-size.
• Academic Definition – Ohio State University’s National Center for the Middle Market is one of the leading sources of research on issues of interest to mid-size companies in the United States. The center defines a mid-size company as one with average annual revenue — not profit, but revenue — of between $10 million and $1 billion. As of 2013, the center estimated that about 197,000 U.S. companies met that definition, making them mid-size companies.
• International Standards- International economic organizations generally recognize mid-size companies as a separate category, and they even have a shorthand term, “SMEs” to refer to small and medium-size enterprises. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, most countries define a small business as one with 50 or fewer employees, and a mid-size business as one with between 50 and 250 employees. Some countries set the limit at 200.
• Impact – If you qualify as a mid-size firm, your company is in good company. The National Center for the Middle Market calculates that mid-size companies account for about one-third of private-sector jobs and one-third of private-sector gross domestic product, a rough measure of the size of the U.S. economy after taking out government spending. Mid-size companies formed the only category with a net increase in jobs between 2007 and 2010, a period that included the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

To learn more about us and / or to schedule your appointment with the business consultants at Global Resources LLC, call us at 855-338-0266.