It could be mentioned here that for the convenience of the discussion, small and medium enterprise, small and medium industry or small and medium business etc. terms will be used interchangeably.
1.6 Background of SME
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), particularly small enterprises are the age old form of business enterprises in our civilization. Small business enterprise appeared in our civilization more than 4000 years ago (Siropolis, 1998:04). Since then, small and medium business enterprises have contributed enormously to the benefit of customers and the human civilization. Societies have been enriched through the continuous pouring of infinite variety of products and services by the small and medium enterprises. SMEs flourished in almost all ancient civilizations. The Arabs, Babylonians, Egyptians, Jews, Greeks, Phoenicians, and Romans excelled at small business enterprises (Siropolis, 1998:04). The shoddy and slipshod products and services of the small and medium businesses sometimes cheated and defrauded the customers. The code of Hammurabi, King of Babylon in 2100 BC, proclaimed a code of 300 laws to protect customers and small businesspersons against fraud. Yet, it was largely through the small business that civilization was spread to all four corners of the then-known world. Roman Catholic Church held small and medium business, and as such all types of businesses at low esteem because they branded the retailers as sinners that did nothing to improve a product.