What is a small business?

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In this election we are hearing a lot of talk about small business and it's impact on the economy and how they should be taxed. According to Wikipedia: "A small business is a business that is independently owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. The legal definition of "small" often varies by country and industry, but is generally under 100 employees in the United States" Using this definition, how big would a business have to be to generate income above $250,000. Since we now have the "Famous Joe the Plumber" I will use a skilled business to illustrate my point. In most states you have to be a licensed person or work under a licensed person to perform jobs that require an inspection or a building permit issued by the local government. Often these licenses are limited in number and you only have a few licensed contractors and they hire people to work under them. If I own a small plumbing business and employ 15 people (10 Plumbers, 2 Office workers, 2 Sales People and 1 Bookkeeper). My payroll would be (based on National averages rounded to nearest $1,000) Plumbers $51,000 with benefits $74,000 Total $740,000 Office help $31,000 with benefits $47,000 Total $141,000 Sales $51,000 with benefits $74,000 Total $148,000 Total Salary Costs $1,029,000 Hourly rate needed to be charged to cover salary $ 50 You also have to figure in the cost of supplies, trucks, tools, advertising and equipment. It does not take a very large business to generate an income of $250.000 per year. In the above example if you just had 3 plumbers and one office person to do all the billing, scheduling and answering the phone would put you over the magic number.