‘No such thing as small business’: Mark Bouris cops heat over his latest bit of advice

Entrepreneur Mark Bouris has sparked a heated debate on social media after declaring the term ‘small business’ is “demeaning” and “blatantly inaccurate”.

Bouris posted a photo of himself to Linkedin earlier this week wearing a “there’s no such fkn thing as small business” t-shirt, advising his 356,665 followers to ditch the term.

“To call someone a small business is demeaning,” he professed.

“It’s a reference to their status. To call a whole industry small is blatantly inaccurate and a put-down.”

The post, which has since attracted 370 comments, has sparked a heated debate, splitting opinion among business owners who have responded to the post.

One business owner said she was “taken aback” by the suggestion.

“What is wrong with calling a spade a spade? It seems political correctness gone haywire,” the business owner said.

“It’s unfortunate that some people believe that calling someone a small business is demeaning,” another commented.

Others agreed with Bouris.

“Everyone will want that t-shirt,” one small-business owner said.

The Yellow Brick Road founder also drew the ire of COSBOA chief executive Peter Strong and SME mental health advocate Leanne Faulkner over the post.

“With well over 60% of us working as sole-operators of course we’re small! That’s our world and we need to remind everyone of it! Recognising who we are, understanding how we work and contribute is KEY,” Faulkner said.

There have been plenty of disagreements in the small-business space about how the community should be defined in the past.

Australian laws and regulators have varying definitions of small business, although all accept and use the term itself.

What do you think? Should the term ‘small business’ be abandoned? Let us know at news@smartcompany.com.au or comment below.

SmartCompany contacted Bouris for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.

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