Small Firms (Cambridge (CIE) O Level Economics)

Revision Note

Steve Vorster

Written by: Steve Vorster

Reviewed by: Jenna Quinn

Reasons Why Small Firms Exist

  • In 2015, 98.7% of firms in the European Union were considered to be small firms with less than 49 employees

  • Some firms start small and will grow into large companies or even multi-national corporations (Amazon started in a garage)

  • While many firms grow, others do not or they intentionally choose to remain small

 
Reasons Why Small Firms Exist

Personalised service

Loans

Niche Market

  • They offer a more personalised service and focus on building relationships with their customers 

  • Small firms are often unable to access finance for expansion

  • They provide a product that is in a niche market - smaller market size but can be very profitable

Mass markets

Diseconomies of scale

The firms' objective

  • Many small firms operate in mass markets with low barriers to entry

  • Rapid growth can cause diseconomies of scale which can be difficult to deal with and so many owners choose to avoid these

  • Owners goal is not profit maximisation but rather an acceptable quality of life (satisficing)

Advantages and Disadvantages of Small Firms

Small Firms Experience Both Advantages and Disadvantages When Compared With Large Firms

Advantages

Disadvantages

  • They often provide highly customised goods/services e.g. pet grooming in the customer's home

  • They often create personal relationships with their customers which helps to generate customer loyalty and word-of-mouth advertising

  • They often provide very unique products which are sold in small quantities at high prices - this can be very profitable

  • Smaller firms can respond quickly to changing market conditions

  • More susceptible to changes in the wider economy than large firms, especially during recessions

  • Less financial resources available to them, including access to larger bank loans - some smaller firms are unable to access any loans at all

  • It is harder to recruit/retain staff as the wage and non-wage benefits are less competitive than those offered by bigger firms

  • Owners may struggle to take a holiday/sick leave as revenue slows/stops coming in when they stop working

  • Small firms struggle to generate economies of scale as the volume of output is significantly lower than that of larger firms resulting in lower profit margins

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Students are often examined in the Paper 2 structured questions on the reasons for differences in the size of firms. The question often takes the form of 'Analyse the main reasons for differences in the size of firms.'

While this sub-topic explains the reasons for the existence of small firms, large firms are usually driven by the profit maximisation objective which results in them exploring every opportunity available for growth. How firms grow, is covered in the next sub-topic and elements of that page can be included in answering this question.

Last updated:

You've read 0 of your 10 free revision notes

Unlock more, it's free!

Join the 100,000+ Students that ❤️ Save My Exams

the (exam) results speak for themselves:

Did this page help you?

Steve Vorster

Author: Steve Vorster

Expertise: Economics & Business Subject Lead

Steve has taught A Level, GCSE, IGCSE Business and Economics - as well as IBDP Economics and Business Management. He is an IBDP Examiner and IGCSE textbook author. His students regularly achieve 90-100% in their final exams. Steve has been the Assistant Head of Sixth Form for a school in Devon, and Head of Economics at the world's largest International school in Singapore. He loves to create resources which speed up student learning and are easily accessible by all.

Jenna Quinn

Author: Jenna Quinn

Expertise: Head of New Subjects

Jenna studied at Cardiff University before training to become a science teacher at the University of Bath specialising in Biology (although she loves teaching all three sciences at GCSE level!). Teaching is her passion, and with 10 years experience teaching across a wide range of specifications – from GCSE and A Level Biology in the UK to IGCSE and IB Biology internationally – she knows what is required to pass those Biology exams.