One of the things I love about getting to meet CEOs of successful SMEs is that
a surprising number of them built their businesses out of a sincere desire to h
elp others.
For instance, Joanna Duarte of Big & Small st
ating that she built her business to help give jobs for "her girls" (see ou
r November-December 2006 issue). And in our upcoming March-April issue, we
feature Luchi Cabanlet of CDO Handmade Paper Crafts, who has transformed her company into an astonishing social enterprise
that even provides free education for all the children of her employee
s!
That's the great thing about owning a business. You can get the power to change
the world, so to speak. One employee at a time.
One thing that these amazing people have in common is a sense of faith in their
employees -- no cynics among this group of successful entrepreneurs. You won't
see them talking ill about their people, or suspecting the worse, or firing pe
ople left and right.
Instead, they strive to make sure that there is a give-and-take between the fir
m and the employees, and that they are both better off being with each other. S
o instead of employees thinking of the firm as an antagonist, the firm really d
oes become a partner. For better or for worse.
Many businesses seek to change the world through their products. Kind'a like Ap
ple changing pop culture through its computers and music gear.
But you don't have to come out with a killer product to change the world. Chang
ing the world can happen within your walls, in the production side, with your o
wn work force, one employee at a time.
February 2007 Archives
Click on a cover below to download videos to your PC or mobile Device<
br />
MBA Roadshow 2007 Programme
Presentations from the MBA Roadshow (April 26, 2007 at Dusit Hotel Nikko)
Customers Rel
ations Advantage
Financial Accounting as a Competitive Tool
Find You
r Competitive Advantage
Presentations from the MBA Roadshow (May 25, 2007 at Cebu Waterfront Hotel)
Customer Relat
ions Advantage
Find You
r Competitive Advantage
Sources of Financing
MBA Roadshow 2007 Programme
Presentations from the MBA Roadshow (April 26, 2007 at Dusit Hotel Nikko)
Customers Rel
ations Advantage
Financial Accounting as a Competitive Tool
Find You
r Competitive Advantage
Presentations from the MBA Roadshow (May 25, 2007 at Cebu Waterfront Hotel)
Customer Relat
ions Advantage
Find You
r Competitive Advantage
Sources of Financing
What is an SME?
We always take it for granted that people who are passing by the magazine racks
know what an SME is in the first place -- because otherwise, they may just app
roach our magazine with some puzzlement.
We don't even categorically state its definition up front. :)
But since you are reading this, then most likely it's because you do know that
SME stands for small and medium enterprises. And the next question now is, just
what exactly is a small or medium enterprise?
There are asset-based definitions and there are manpower-based definitions. For
instance, there's the rule of thumb that companies with 10 to 100 employees ar
e small enterprises, while those with 100 to 200 are medium enterprises (Those
with less than 10 are "micro," while those with more than 200 are "large").
And then there's the Magna Carta for Small Enterprises, which
states that small businesses have from 1.5 to 15 million in assets, while mediu
m-sized businesses have 15 to 100 million (inclusive of loans but exclusive of
land).
For our purposes, however, we take the above two rules as guidelines... but the
bottom line is that we just know an SME when we see it. There are, after all,
enterprises with say 30 employees... all of whom are engaged in making sewing r
ags by hand. And we have to say that they're "micro" despite having more than 1
0 employees.
On the other hand, there are firms with just a handful of people but which hand
le millions and millions of pesos in assets. Asset-wise they may be medium-size
d, but organization-wise they're actually small.
So we look at asset size, manpower size, and organizational structure.
Sharp-eyed readers may wonder, "But you did feature Martha's Cakes bef
ore... isn't it more of a micro enterprise?" True, but we were looking at it al
so from the context of growth potential. :)
In other words, we won't be too strict in our delineations -- it's more interes
ting that way! But then you won't see us giving tips on how to start your own b
usiness by making your own handbags at home. Some other magazine would be bette
r in that department. :)
