A micro-enterprise, or microbusiness, is a small business that employs nine people or fewer and has a balance sheet or turnover below a set threshold, such as two million euros or three million Philippine pesos in some definitions. The terms microenterprise and microbusiness are largely used interchangeably, though microenterprise is more often applied to a business financed through microcredit, while microbusiness more often describes a small venture that has not relied on such financing. Most micro-enterprises worldwide are family operated businesses with only one or two workers, and their owners typically aim to earn enough income to support themselves and their families rather than to grow the business further, unless their circumstances change and require higher earnings. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Core MechanismA micro-enterprise operates as a very small business, typically nine employees or fewer and below a set turnover or balance sheet threshold, most often family run and financed through microcredit rather than conventional commercial bank lending, with owners primarily seeking a stable living rather than rapid growth. 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia, Micro-enterprise
History of the concept section, on Yunus and Grameen Bank in 1976
The concepts of micro-enterprise and microfinance were pioneered in 1976 by Nobel Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank (Bank of the Rural), in Bangladesh.
Lead paragraph, on the employee and turnover thresholds
A micro-enterprise, or microenterprise, is generally defined as a small business employing nine people or fewer, and having a balance sheet or turnover less than a certain amount (e.g. €2 million or PhP 3 million).
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