As a result, many opportunities remain for specialized offerings targeting a niche market that isn’t being served by the largest companies. Those types of changes are much easier for small businesses to make.īig businesses are focused on high-volume opportunities that can generate significant revenue. If, for instance, you’re a major general contractor and you realize that you’re better off focusing on certain types of projects, it may be a major challenge to pivot because you likely already have a large number of employees and resources tied up in the other types of projects. The lack of complex chain-of-command allows employees to have direct access to the owner, who can quickly address whatever problem a worker encounters, whether it’s a product malfunction, a demoralized workforce or accounting errors.įinally, because of their flexibility, small businesses are in a better position to quickly adapt to market changes or to target certain types of customers. Similarly, smaller companies can more quickly identify and react to problems. If you’ve only got 10 employees, it doesn’t take much to convene a meeting of the entire workforce – even if it’s a mobile workforce.
Small businesses, in contrast, can make big changes much more quickly. If you, as the business founder and owner, want to make a company-wide change, your decision has to be filtered through multiple layers of leadership across different departments. As a result, big companies are not nearly as agile as small businesses or as able to quickly change. Even the most efficiently-run major companies comprise large bureaucracies in charge of different aspects of the business. As it grows, however, it will move into its own conventional office space, add white collar staff ( human resources, bookkeepers etc) and put in place more concrete rules and policies that weren’t necessary when it was just a few friends working together.Īs a company grows, it necessarily becomes increasingly compartmentalized and bureaucratic. For instance, a roofing company might begin with a few experienced roofers operating out of a subleased space.
The larger a company becomes, the harder it is to maintain the distinct culture that characterizes many small businesses. That culture not only sets the company apart as a workplace, but it may very well be part of the brand that customers buy into. The employees are bound by a common story about the company’s founding and likely share a certain philosophy about the job that leads to a distinct work culture. There’s something special about a company that is run entirely by people who have been there since the start. However, it’s important to recognize that there are a number of key benefits that small companies offer their employees and customers that their larger counterparts can’t. If you’re a small business owner, it’s natural to hope that the company you founded will one day become a globally-known corporation. Guest post by Bob Drainville, President, Timesheet Mobile
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