DIGIDAY—On Oct. 15, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued the nation’s first small business classification guidance for content creators. This comes just a few months after the organization, which helps Americans build and scale small businesses, proposed amendments to simplify the classification so that the millions of creator-led businesses could come into the SBA tent.
Creator-led businesses will now be classified under the Motion Picture and Video industries portion of the SBA. Though they have been eligible for support from the organization for years (when they meet the program requirements which include citizenship, business location, size, and credit availability), it’s been unclear which North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) they should use when applying for programs.
What does this classification mean about the state of the creator economy, and does it actually serve to help creators or is it just window dressing? We break it down for you.
What does the SBA classification signal about the state of the creator economy?
The creator economy’s rapid growth has creators, companies, and agencies scrambling to build the infrastructure up underneath it to sustain that growth. The SBA classification helps with both sustainability and legitimization.
“For over a decade, creators have shaped culture, commerce, and consumer behavior, yet have largely been treated as marketing expenses rather than businesses,” said Daniel Abas, founder and president of the Creators Guild of America. Now, they can be seen in the same light as traditional businesses.
“When a federal agency formally recognizes millions of creator-led businesses, the people who decide where money goes start to treat creators as an asset class,” said Lauren Lyster, vp and head of social media at Go Fish Digital. “That includes banks, CFOs and procurement teams.”
