▁out number ▁large ▁companies ▁by ▁a ▁wide ▁margin ▁and ▁also ▁employ ▁many ▁more ▁people . ▁For ▁example , ▁Australian ▁S ME s ▁make ▁up ▁ 9 8 % ▁of ▁all ▁Australian ▁business es , ▁produce ▁one - third ▁of ▁the ▁total ▁G DP ▁and ▁employ ▁ 4 . 7 ▁million ▁people . ▁In ▁Chile , ▁in ▁the ▁commercial ▁year ▁ 2 0 1 4 , ▁ 9 8 . 5 % ▁of ▁the ▁fir ms ▁were ▁class ified ▁as ▁S ME s . ▁In ▁Tun is ia , ▁the ▁self - emp loy ed ▁workers ▁alone ▁account ▁for ▁about ▁ 2 8 % ▁of ▁the ▁total ▁non - f arm ▁employ ment ▁and ▁fir ms ▁with ▁fewer ▁than ▁ 1 0 0 ▁employees ▁account ▁for ▁about ▁ 6 2 % ▁of ▁total ▁employ ment . ▁In ▁developing ▁countries , ▁smaller ▁( m icro ) ▁and ▁inform al ▁fir ms , ▁have ▁a ▁larger ▁share ▁than ▁in ▁developed ▁countries . ▁S ME s ▁are ▁also ▁said ▁to ▁be ▁responsible ▁for ▁driving ▁innov ation ▁and ▁competition ▁in ▁many ▁economic ▁se ctors . ▁Although ▁they ▁create ▁more ▁new ▁jobs ▁than ▁large ▁fir ms , ▁they ▁also ▁suffer ▁the ▁majority ▁of ▁job ▁destruction / cont raction . ▁ ▁Over view ▁▁ ▁S ME s ▁are ▁important ▁for ▁economic ▁and ▁social ▁reasons , ▁given ▁the ▁se ctors ▁role ▁in ▁employ ment . ▁Due ▁to ▁their ▁sizes , ▁S ME ▁are ▁heavily ▁influenced ▁by ▁their ▁Chief ▁Executive ▁Offic ers , ▁a . k . a . ▁CE Os .