SME,s

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             The European Commission (EC) initiated a set of definitions of SMEs. The following table explains this but does not take into account agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing. .
             Minimum Employees Maximum Employees.
             Micro Enterprise 0 9.
             Small Enterprise 10 49.
             Medium Enterprise 50 249.
             While there may seem to many different ideas on what the definition of SMEs are there is no universally acceptable definition of a small firm. Definitions tend to vary with context and between sectors. For example, a small motorcar assembler might employ several thousand people, while a small retail outlet will typically have only a few employees. The Bolton Commission of Inquiry into Small Firms in the UK (1971) used several different definitions when describing small to medium business even for a restricted range of sectors. Bolton characterised small to medium firm as:.
             Having a relatively small share of its market.
             Being managed by the owner rather than through a formulated management structure.
             Being independent of larger companies or organisations.
             Independent firms with up to 249 employees are thought of as being a medium sized business.
             Preparing for the International Effort.
             The small size of the Irish market means that many Irish companies have no choice but to extend their market by trading internationally and exporting. While this is always a risky decision, it may be the only way for company to achieve growth. The benefits to an SME deciding to trade internationally are numerous and these are discussed in a more detailed manner later in the paper. Once a company has decided to trade internationally it will face two major decisions. First, what are the appropriate export markets and second, what is the best way to generate sales in that market? There are many problems and difficulties that a company will encounter if and when they decide to sell to overseas markets.
             In order for a business to succeed in its domestic and export markets its product or service will obviously need to have a unique competitive advantage over its rival competitors.