How to Manage People in a Micro Business

© iStockphoto
StockRocket

Micro businesses can still present major challenges.

What's the biggest business in America? If you answered "Wal-Mart®," you would be technically correct, according to this year's Fortune 500 list. The international retail giant has an astonishing 1.3 million employees in the U.S., and more than two million worldwide.

But, arguably, the dominant private sector employer in the U.S. business landscape – as opposed to the biggest single organization – is the humble micro business.

So, what is a micro business? The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics defines it as an organization with fewer than 10 employees. It can be anything from a well-established, sole-trader neighborhood florist, to an energetic software start-up.

And there are an awful lot of them! The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that, in 2013, America's 3.7 million micro businesses represented more than 75 percent of all private sector employers, and accounted for nearly 11 percent of all private sector jobs.

In this article, we'll look at the challenges and opportunities presented by working in a micro business, and how to manage a very small, close-knit team – whether you are in your first management role, or you are an experienced team leader moving into a new environment....