Small and midsize companies have contributed to the creation of new businesses, particularly in the services sector, despite the economic doldrums of recent years, the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency said in an annual white paper released Tuesday.
New service businesses recently created by small and midsize companies include rental of paintings, tanning salons, and direct delivery of fliers and advertising materials to consumers, the report says.
The agency is a unit of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
It says operators in those areas were listed as new business categories in telephone directories from 2000 to 2003, indicating they have taken solid root.
The paper attributes successful startups of new businesses by small companies to their sensitivity to changes in people's preferences, as well as to social changes, including the spread of information technology and the aging of society.
Most of the new businesses are generated by small and midsize companies, whereas larger firms tend to enter such fields once the markets become stable, the paper says.
For women and elderly people, small and midsize companies serve as the main job market, it notes.
Regarding the management of smaller companies, the paper says the older the managers, the lower the growth the firms tend to see.