Small Business (Small Business)
A business that meets the SBA size standard for the applicable NAICS code — typically a revenue threshold or employee count.
Definition
The SBA Table of Small Business Size Standards defines "small business" by NAICS code. Most NAICS use a revenue threshold (e.g., $34M for many IT services) or an employee count (e.g., 1,500 employees for many manufacturing categories). Size status is self-certified on SAM.gov and can be challenged via SBA size protests. Affiliation rules can include related companies' size in your calculation.
When it applies
Small-business status enables eligibility for small-business set-aside contracts (the largest set-aside category) and small-business preferences in full-and-open competitions. The federal government has a 23% statutory goal for small-business contract dollars.