1.
micro enterprise; very small business; small-scale enterprise
A very small business, typically family-run with few employees and limited capital.
零細企業を経営している。
I run a micro enterprise.
零細企業は資金繰りに苦しむことが多い。
Micro enterprises often struggle with cash flow.
政府は中小・零細企業を支援するための補助金を用意した。
The government prepared subsidies to support small and micro enterprises.
The term 零細 means 'tiny, minute' and emphasizes the extremely small scale. In Japanese business classifications, 零細企業 is smaller than 中小企業 (small and medium enterprises). Many are family businesses like local shops, restaurants, and workshops. Japan's economy has a very large number of these businesses.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 零細企業の経営者: owner of a micro enterprise
- 零細農家: small-scale farmer
- 中小零細企業: small, medium, and micro enterprises
- 零細企業向け融資: loans for micro enterprises
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 中小企業: small and medium enterprises (SMEs) — larger category; the standard term in business and government policy
- 個人事業主: sole proprietor — a legal term for a person running a business individually
- ベンチャー企業: startup; venture company — implies innovation and growth ambition, unlike 零細 which implies small scale