When will we finally celebrate for small businesses?
Tzouros Ypsilantis Monday, 1 May '17
I have always been concerned in Greece with the flat depiction of things and concepts.
Every year in Greece we celebrate "Labor Day" which represents the struggles for "Eight hours of work, eight hours of rest, eight hours of sleep".
It is clear that a person must be well paid for the work he offers, have a personal life and rest well to be happy.
After all, personal well-being is the reason we work for it.
I confess that what I never understood is why a poor person must be a Worker and not a Professional, "Partner", "Self-employed", "Small Entrepreneur", "Partner", "Shareholder" or even "Entrepreneur".
It is obvious that every claim is in its time.
So I wonder, since for 8 years the 8-hour work and the corresponding overtime have been established, why in Greece, we never focused on moving on to the next logical step, that of "and why Worker?"
In fact, several times in public interventions I am reminded that the plethora of companies do not give productivity incentives to their employees, which can be shares of the company, instead of just remuneration for their work, but also that most of the time companies they do not create talents, nor do they invest in them.
If nothing else, hereditary, family succession is not the safest guarantee that the business will be just as successful from generation to generation.
So today I decided to give the example of the USA, where for 54 years, during the week, April 30 to May 6, they celebrate the "National Small Business Week".
Their goal is to honor the 28 million small businesses that create jobs and income for their 56.8 million employees. Here are some facts about them:
A small business is defined as one with less than 500 employees. Small businesses make up 99.7% of the US economy,
They employ 48% of its employees,
Their total turnover was $ 989.6 billion in 2011 (up 4.1% from 2010),
There are approximately 28 million small businesses in the US and over 22 million self-employed without additional payroll or employees (these are called nonemployers).
Small business has created over 65% of net new jobs since 1995.
About 543,000 new businesses start each month (but about as many close around the same time).
7 out of 10 start-ups survive at least 2 years, half at least 5 years, a third and a quarter at least 10 years and 15 years respectively.
52% of all businesses are based in the owner's home.
To qualify as self-employed you must have an annual turnover of over $ 1,000 or more and be subject to federal income taxes
About 75% of all businesses in the US are self-employed
Of the 22 million self-employed companies, 19.4 million have an owner, 1.6 million have more than one partner and 1.4 million are companies with more than one partner, which have a stake in the stock exchange or parallel market,
The average self-employed person in the US earns $ 44,000
After seven years of crisis, my proposal is for us as a country to institutionalize this week of small businesses, thus honoring the people who give income to almost the whole of our country, but also showing that we now understand that we need to go beyond the flat approaches in matters.
Practically speaking, no one forbids you to try to do your own small business.
Nobody tells you that you have to be a Worker.
Finally, it must be understood that the success of a business depends on its employees.
Therefore, they must be associated with the outcome of the business, whether successful or unsuccessful.
Source: marketnews.gr