Micro business: Characteristics of home-based business in New Zealand

Abstract

Micro businesses, which represent a significant sector in most economies, are rarely studied or profiled officially. Micro home-based businesses (HBB) have been recognised as a major sector and this paper provides the first profile of these enterprises in New Zealand. Empirical survey results on business activities from 522 HBB are reported. Key findings include business work practices, size, age, registration, product/service portfolios, geographic scale, growth aspirations, marketing strategy, international business activities, ICT adoption and business performance. Although HBB are tiny, they are strongly committed to growth and have adopted business processes and information technologies to achieve their aspirations.

Keywords:

• home business
• micro firms
• business practices
• empirical evidence