Employment
Bigger Isn’t Always Better
Be your own boss. Own your own business. Control your own destiny. Many people have grown up believing in that American dream, which is undoubtedly part of why there were about 650,000 new small businesses launched in America in 2007, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
Additionally, the SBA defines a small business as having less than $6.5 million in annual revenues for most service industries. But how does that apply to the electrical construction industry? According to the 2008 Profile of the Electrical Contractor, 69 percent of electrical contracting firms are small firms, which each carry less than 10 employees.
ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR spoke with three small business owners, each with about 10 employees or less. None see the small business phase as something to simply pass through on their way to becoming bigger. All three own multidecade-old firms that are smaller by choice because the owners prefer the benefits of being that size.
