The Petty Capitalist in American Business History

Extract

The oldest business man genetically, and still the most important in numbers, is the petty capitalist. He is that man who owns and manages his relatively small business and often does some or all of the work himself—today we see him as the small contractor, garage-owner, storekeeper, banker, the commercial farmer, individual realtor, and so on. He is the only business man who is owner, administrator—that is, policy-maker and manager—and worker all in one. He is not always the worker, however, and at times he delegates part of the management, but he at least combines ownership and the top administration of his business.