1. Introduction
This chapter looks at how 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 (ie, self-employed clients).
A small business (small- to medium-sized enterprise – also known as an SME) is defined by the government as an 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 table below. 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 |
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 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.