Micro Businesses are not just a different size they are different in many other ways.  The global market means the smallest operation can compete in the world market.  To survive and succeed they need different motivations from their larger counter parts. 

How big is small...

A typical micro business operates from home in a rural location with the help of wife or husband. (In the US they are often called 'mom & pop' businesses).  Running a micro business myself I am always surprised at how big a 'small' (i.e.SME) business is supposed to be.  The smallest are often expected to have 50 employees.  That is huge!  In my own area, Shetland, there are only a handful of businesses as big as that but there are still around 500 businesses with about the same again of self employed individuals. The businesses may be small but they are still big business.

Do what they want, where they want...

What motivates the bigger, SME, business's workers is different from the micro business. Of course, many micro businesses are on their way to being bigger but don't assume that is always the case.

Lifestyle migrants are people who have chosen to live where there is a sense of community.  A safe place to raise their families in an environment that inspires them.  The Internet has enabled this to happen in a way that has never previously been possible.

They have to exchange one form of security for another.  To make it work they have to commit totally both personally and financially to the business.  There are risks but they are striving towards a way of life rather than simply profit.  So we see a business driven by passion rather than greed.

Good things come in small packages...

Economies of scale can work to the advantage of the micro business in a kind of inverse way.  Bigger businesses usually save costs by employing fewer people to do the same work. This means two things: they give a less personal service, they need a big market to make it pay.
The micro business focuses on niche markets too small to interest the big boys. They become expert in the narrow field they have chosen and deliver a service to it with dedication.

DIY business...

Micro Business owners must be multi-skilled. They are not big enough to have separate people or departments for marketing, finance and so on.  They must do as much of these tasks themselves.  Obviously it is not possible to become and expert in all the tasks so they must concentrate on being expert in those parts of it that affect them.   This means that when outside help is sought it must perform two functions; 1) Set up a system for them to use. And then 2) Teach them how to use that system themselves.

So often I have been to seminars and training events that tell to just scale down the advise to suit the size of the business.  This rarely works.  Micro Businesses need to be recognised as being different and the advice and training modified to suit that difference.