Small Business Growth Characteristics
Open Access
- 1 January 1981
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in American Journal of Small Business
- Vol. 5 (3), 33-43
- https://doi.org/10.1177/104225878100500307
Abstract
Financial characteristics are presented for small firms whose sales increased at a rate greater than the inflation rate over the period 1974–1979. It is noted that these characteristics differ somewhat depending on whether they were a retailer, manufacturer or wholesaler. A growing small firm is generally characterized as one which increases its leverage, decreases its liquidity and incurs a heavy investment in operational assets. Interestingly, it is also shown that these same characteristics, if taken to extremes, are typical of the failed companies in the sample. The reward of growth is success; the risk of growth is failure.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Financial Differences between Large and Small FirmsFinancial Management, 1978
- The Corporate EconomyPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,1971