Legally, a small business can take a number of forms. You could, for instance,

• start your own from scratch - if you have an original idea, 
• buy an existing business or
• to buy a franchise.

All of these business entities could exist in various shapes and sizes. Where do you stand? It's useful to check in which industry category you fall, based on the definitions given by the National Small Business Act:
Source: www.seda.org.za

Sector/sub-sectors in accord with the Standard Industrial Classification	Size or class	Total full-time equiv. of paid employees Less than	Total annual turnover Less than	Total gross asset value (fixed property excl.) Less than
Agriculture	Medium Small Very small Micro	100 50 10 5	R 5.00 m R 3.00 m R 0.50 m R 0.20 m	R 5.00 m R 3.00 m R 0.50 m R 0.10 m
Mining and Quarrying	Medium Small Very small Micro	200 50 20 5	R90.00 m R 10.00 m R 0.40 m R 0.20 m	R23.00 m R 6.00 m R 2.00 m R 0.10 m
Manufacturing	Medium Small Very small Micro	200 50 20 5	R51.00 m R13.00 m R 5.00 m R 0.20 m	R19.00 m R 5.00 m R 2.00 m R 0.10 m
Electricity, Gas and Water	Medium Small Very small Micro	200 50 20 5	R51.00 m R13.00 m R 5.10 m R 0.20 m	R19.00 m R 5.00m R 1.90 m R 0.10 m
Construction	Medium Small Very small Micro	200 50 20 5	R26.00 m R 6.00 m R 3.00 m R 0.20 m	R 5.00 m R 1.00 m R 0.50 m R 0.10 m
Retail and Motor Trade and Repair Services	Medium Small Very small Micro	200 50 20 5	R39.00 m R19.00 m R 4.00 m R 0.20 m	R 6.00 m R 3.00 m R 0.60 m R 0.10 m
Wholesale Trade, Commercial Agents and Allied Services	Medium Small Very small Micro	200 50 20 5	R64.00 m R32.00 m R 6.00 m R 0.20 m	R10.00 m R 5.00 m R 0.60 m R 0.10 m
Catering, Accommodation and other Trade	Medium Small Very small Micro	200 50 20 5	R13.00 m R 6.00 m R 5.10 m R 0.20 m	R 3.00 m R 1.00 m R 0.90 m R 0.10 m
Transport, Storage and Communications	Medium Small Very small Micro	200 50 20 5	R20.00 m R10.00 m R 2.00 m R 0.15 m	R 6.00 m R 3.00 m R 0.60 m R 0.10 m
Finance and Business Services	Medium Small Very small Micro	200 50 20 5	R26.00 m R13.00 m R 3.00 m R 0.20 m	R 5.00 m R 3.00 m R 0.50 m R 0.10 m
Community, Social and Personal Services	Medium Small Very small Micro	200 50 20 5	R13.00 m R 6.00 m R 1.00 m R 0.15 m	R 6.00 m R 3.00 m R 0.60 m R 0.10 m