Why do small businesses remain small?

Small businesses remain small for different reasons. They are almost always privately owned, some by couples, brothers, father and son, etc "ma and pa" organizations as they used to be called, where the owners own and operate the business and are not interested in expanding beyond the limits that they are comfortable with. Keeping a business in the hands of one or two owners/administrators and maintaining a work-load that can be handled by a few people and that generates enough income to pay the bills and insure the survival of your small business is not easy to do. If small businesses survive and remain small it is usually because the owner wants it that way and wouldn't have it any other way at all.