How is a small business defined or categorized?
A. A business is considered small if it meets or is below an established monetary or number of employees “size standard”. The size standard is based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. NAICS replaced the old SIC codes in October 2000. The size standard is determined based on the product or service the Government is buying. For example, in the IT services industry, you are considered small if your average annual revenue is $21M or less. However, to be considered small for architect-engineering services, your revenue must be $6M or less. In some instances the same company would be considered small on one buy and large on another. Again, the NAICS is driven by the product or service that is being purchased. To obtain additional information on the NAICS go to: http://www.sba.gov/size, then click on, Table of Size Standards.
