Small business - Reisai Kigyo

This term refers to particularly small-scale small and medium-sized enterprises, and is found widely in every industrial field. Because the conditions differ from industry to industry, it is not always clear what the specific size of the enterprise is, but according to the Small and Medium Enterprise Basic Act, a small enterprise is defined as one with 20 employees or less in manufacturing, and five employees or less in commerce and services. Focusing on the ratio of self-employment and employed labor, a company with four employees or less, where self-employment is overwhelmingly prevalent, is defined as "micro = laborer," while a company with five to nine employees, where the proportion of self-employment is around 35%, is defined as "small = intermediate between laborer and capitalist enterprise," and both are collectively referred to as small and micro-enterprises.

By industry, they are most prevalent in manufacturing (business types include publishing, printing, metal products, general machinery, clothing, miscellaneous goods, etc.), real estate, transportation and communications, and wholesale and retail. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' "Basic Economic Census Survey" (2009 edition), small businesses account for 84.4% of manufacturing establishments and 24.8% of employees, while in retail establishments with 5 or fewer employees account for 70.4% and in wholesale establishments for 5 or fewer employees.

Compared to enterprises with 10 or more employees, these (small) micro-enterprises are privately managed, mainly using their own labor and capital, and have a strong subsistence nature with management and household finances not being separated, and have a weak ability to raise capital from financial institutions. For this reason, their capital equipment ratio and technological level are low, and many of them are labor-intensive with low productivity. Their management "strength" (and at the same time "weakness") is that through the "commodification of the family labor force" (i.e., the business owner's self-employment and the "employment" of family labor), operating profits and the compensation (equivalent to labor) of family labor, including the business owner, are directly linked to the household. Even when employed labor exists, it is low-wage labor such as part-time work by middle-aged and elderly people, women and children, or students, and the working environment and working conditions are generally poor. They also have weak information gathering and sales capabilities, and are forced to rely on limited local markets and specific business partners.

On the other hand, the "strength" of microenterprises is their creative and flexible management, targeting markets with small demand units. Since the mid-1990s, with the development and spread of information and communication technology, a new type of microenterprise known as SOHO (short for Small Office Home Office), which operates from home or a small office using a computer and the Internet, has been on the rise. In terms of policy, it will be necessary to develop more finely tailored policies in areas such as finance, taxation, mutual aid systems, and management guidance (management guidance by chambers of commerce and industry, and the Small Business Management Improvement Fund system and Small Business Mutual Aid System, which provide unsecured and unguaranteed loans for management improvement through these institutions).

[Shinichi Tonomura and Michiyo Kasumi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中小企業のなかでとくに小規模なものをさす用語で、各産業分野に広く存在する。産業ごとに条件が異なるため、具体的にいかなる規模以下の企業をさすかはかならずしも明確ではないが、中小企業基本法によれば、小規模企業の定義は、製造業では従業員20人以下、商業・サービス業では5人以下となっている。自家労働と雇用労働の比率に注目して、自家労働経営が圧倒的に多い従業者4人以下を「零細＝勤労業者」、自家労働の比重が35％前後を占める5～9人規模を「小＝勤労業者と資本家的企業の中間的存在」と規定し、両者をあわせて小零細企業とよぶ場合もある。

　産業別では、製造業（業種としては、出版、印刷、金属製品、一般機械、衣服、雑貨など）、不動産業、運輸通信業、卸・小売業に多い。総務省の「経済センサス基礎調査」（平成21年版）によれば、製造業における小規模企業は事業所数で84.4％、従業員数で24.8％を占め、小売業では5人以下の事業所が70.4％、卸売業では57.2％を占めている。

　これら（小）零細企業は、従業者10人以上の企業と比較すると、自家労働と自己資本を中心とする個人経営で、経営と家計とが未分離な生業的色彩が強く、金融機関等からの資本調達力が弱い。このため、資本装備率や技術水準も低く、生産性の低い労働集約的経営が多い。経営上の「強さ」（同時に「弱さ」）は、「自家労働力の商品化」（つまり事業主の自己雇用selfemploymentと家族労働の「雇用」）によって、営業収益と事業主を含む家族労働の報酬（労働相当分）が家計と直結していることである。雇用労働力が存在する場合でも、中高年齢者や婦女子ないしは学生アルバイトを含むパートなどの低賃金労働で、労働環境や労働条件も一般に劣悪である。情報収集能力や販売力も弱く、限られた地方市場や特定の取引先に依存せざるをえない。

　一方、零細企業の「強さ」の特徴は、需要単位の小さな市場を対象に小回りのきく創造的な経営を行うことである。1990年代なかばごろから、情報通信技術の発達・普及により、自宅や小規模なオフィスでパソコンやインターネットを活用して事業を行うSOHO(ソーホー)（Small Office Home Officeの略）という、新しい形態の零細企業も増加している。政策的には、金融、税制、共済制度、経営指導などの助成政策（商工会議所や商工会の経営指導や、これらの機関を通じて無担保・保証人なしで経営改善資金を融資する「小規模企業経営改善資金」制度や小規模企業共済制度）などの政策がよりきめ細かく展開されることが必要となるだろう。

［殿村晋一・鹿住倫世］

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