We can’t take on major projects, because we’re just too small.
We don’t have time to work on our own website, because it’s just the three of us working here right now.
Marketing isn’t something that we focus on, we’re just too small to do anything but the work that’s on our plate right now.
We don’t hire account managers, so our we can’t build meaningful relationships with out clients - we’re just not big enough.
That project isn’t something we can take on - we’re way too small for it.
They won’t hire us - we’re too small.
We can’t justify buying that software, we’re too small.
A coffee machine? We’re too small for that.
We’re too small to worry about staff benefits like pensions yet.
We don’t need to plan projects out, we’re too small for that yet.
How many of these statements sound familiar to you?
I’ll let you in on a secret. Being small in today’s business environment can be an advantage, not a restriction. It means that you don’t yet have the problems of communication that come with a medium or large sized organisation. Messages don’t get lost or distorted amongst the layers of bureaucracy on the way from those who ‘think’, past those who ‘manage’, to those who ‘do’. Office politics hasn’t yet sunk in. Working from home on a whim just to see more of the kids isn’t yet a thing of the distant past. Meetings don’t yet consume your entire day. Customers still get support from those who build your tool, dream of what it’ll do or at least who have used it more than once.
Small business have the advantage of being able to scale like no other. Big projects can be handled efficiently by a network of reliable contractors, hungry for work - just like you. Your business can double in size overnight, because you’ve already got that network in your address book.
They have the advantage of being able to change strategy at the click of your fingers. Data’s just started rolling in that shows your project is about to sink, or that a different direction is going to turn a profit for you? You can change course, quickly and easily. Your business isn’t yet the size of an oil tanker that’s faster to sink than it is to turn.
You can talk to the people that matter directly - your employees, who can benefit so significantly from knowing what’s going on with every project, at all times, where you’re headed and where you’ve come from. And you can talk to those other important people - your customers, who have support enquiries that you can answer because you’re in a position to know - you built what they’re talking about! You can even listen to them and learn about ways to improve what you have (without a months worth of user testing sessions and focus groups).
Small, right now, is most definitely a great place to be.
Let me give you a quick real-world, comparative example…
Big Ugly Company
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a support question to Vistaprint (on behalf of a client). A whole week went past without them getting back to me. So I wrote to them on Twitter, on a Friday afternoon. On Monday afternoon, they replied to my Twitter message asking what was wrong. I simply told them that they took too long to get back to me, even on Twitter. Their answer? They don’t work over the weekend.
Small But Perfectly Formed Company
During the same week, I ordered a VPS account from Bitfolk. My order went through with a problem - I’d used characters in my hostname that weren’t permitted. Yes, it’s sad that their signup form didn’t validate against these. But they had a good fallback - one of their staff members emailed me within 15 minutes to tell me, and asked me what I’d prefer to set it as (with some possible suggestions). I emailed back. They made the change. It was setup 30 minutes after. This was on a Saturday morning.
Now I tell businesses to avoid Vistaprint like the plague (not just because of my problem with them, but also because their print prices are extortionate and their print quality so poor) and I recommend Bitfolk as a great, UK based VPS solution, with very helpful support, whenever I get the opportunity.
Photo courtesy of Shiny Things.
