What is an SME?

Pyme is the abbreviation for "small and medium-sized companies". Are those companies whose volume of business and income and workers is usually not very large compared to other companies.

The concept of "SME" itself is designated to speak of small and medium-sized enterprises and the plural can be used to speak of all of them. Likewise, it not only includes these companies, but also micro-companies, which have been designated within this category.

In the Spanish business fabric, SMEs account for a high percentage of the companies that exist (exceeding 95%). This makes SMEs the main creator of wealth in a country, with many of them providing employment and creating wealth among the population. However, they are also companies that find it difficult to compete with the rest and those that must resort to more loans to entrepreneurs.

Classification of SMEs

According to the specialized portal emprendepyme.net, The classification made of SMEs is based on the number of workers and the volume of business. We can distinguish 3 types of SMEs: micro, small and medium companies.

  • La microenterprise. It is a company that has less than 10 employees and a business volume of less than 2 million euros.
  • The small business. It has less than 50 employees and a turnover of less than 10 million euros.
  • The medium-sized company. Less than 250 workers and turnover of less than 50 million euros.
  • The large company (it is not an SME). More than 250 workers and a turnover of more than 50 million.

This classification is not exhaustive, since a company can have a very large business volume and few numbers of workers. An intermediate point must always be taken into account and, above all, the capacity of the company and the conditions that represent it.

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