The Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a small business as "one which is independently owned and operated for profit and is not dominant in its field." How small must a firm be to not dominate its field?

The correct answer is: By the SBA's definition, the factors that determine the size of a business depend on the particular industry it is in.

Explanation:

The size standards define the maximum magnitude that a company can have to participate in government contracting programs and compete for reserved or separate contracts for small businesses. Size standards vary with the industry and are generally based on the number of employees and the amount of annual receipts the company has.

You must include employees and receipts of all affiliates when determining the size of the company. Affiliation with another company is based on the power of control, whether exercised or not. The power to control exists when an external party owes 50% or more of the property. It can also occur with a portion considerably less than 50% of the property by contractual agreement, or when one or more parties have a greater proportion than the others.

Annual receipts are "total income" (or "gross income") plus "cost of goods sold." These figures are usually found in the company's tax returns. Receipts are averaged over the last three full fiscal years of the company to determine the annual average of receipts. If the company has not been in business for three years, the average weekly income is multiplied by 52 to determine its annual average of receipts.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has two main criteria for classifying small businesses, but depending on the industry, these classifications can vary (be smaller). The general standard is:

a business that has between 250 to 1,500 employees depending on the industry, their total sales should be between $750,000 and $38.5 million (the gap is very actually very big).

For example, agricultural small business have total sales of up to $750,000, while small mines can have up to 1,500 employees. Small utilities companies can have between 250 to 1,000 employees. Small construction companies can have total sales of up to $36.5 million. And the list goes on to cover the 9 remaining business categories, but as you can see the parameters are not the same and vary a lot between industries.