1. Introduction
This chapter looks at the ways in which the debts and strategies covered elsewhere in this Handbook may need extra consideration when advising someone who is, or has been, running a small business (self-employed clients).
A small business (small to medium sized enterprise – also known as an SME) is defined by the government. An SME is any organisation with fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of less than €50 million or a balance sheet total of less than €43 million. A breakdown of the different organisation sizes is in the below table.
These figures are currently being reviewed.1 Defining an SME
Turnover or balance sheet total | Headcount | Business size |
|---|
less than or equal to €50 million or €43 million | less than 250 | medium-sized |
less than or equal to €10 million or €10 million | less than 50 | small |
less than or equal to €2 million or €2 million | less than 10 | micro |
The chapter also examines how a self-employed client’s individual circumstances can affect the level of support that non-business specialist debt advisers can provide.
This chapter should be used in conjunction with the rest of the Handbook.
It is not a guide to business credit or business viability. These are both specialist areas in their own right.