The operative word in the term small business owner is ’small’.
There are many self-employed folks that think that remaining small for a long period of time reflects in lack of growth, and not being succesfull. Depending on the nature of your business, remaining small scale may be in order. It also has many advantages the ‘treadmill’ of growth doesn’t allow.
Facebook, in it’s recent public offering, has a market value now of 10 billion dollars plus! Staggering isn’t it? Wow, wouldn’t it be great to grow a business that big too?
Well, the reality of business and you being self employed is that you likely have an expertise that no one else has, and this is the reason you want to market yourself. But are you a ‘Facebook’ type business?
In the back of your mind is the desire to grow big, have lots of employees, lots of equipment or offices, and become a giant in the service or industry you are a part of. Isn’t it?
What is required to grow really big? Well, sometimes growing big is going to have a negative impact on what it is you do, and it may actually make you unhappy, and ultimately not as successful as you first thought. When you are a growing business, your talent might have to be replaced with new talent – training, administering, dealing with employees, etc. What made you happy in the industry you were in has suddenly changed. The bills are going up, the overhead climbing, and you begin to wonder why you started to grow so out of control in the first place. The profits are not there, but the need to make lots of revenues to cover the base operations is now taking priority. What you first loved of your career seems lost, like a distant memory overtaken by a monster of worry and confusion. You start to lose focus, and become out of financial control.
On top of this, you, as the owner, may have a family that is silently suffering in the background. Where is daddy? Where is mommy? ‘He has to stay late at work honey, because there are issues there he needs to deal with’ What about the ‘issues’ at home? Are we creating something of a frustration when we desire to grow big? Are the reasons for success undermining the people we want to be succesful for? Remember ‘WIN’ (What’s Important Now?) Is your life out of balance because of the hungry dinosaur you have created? There are stages in a business cycle, but if you are married, did you realize there are stages in your marriage?
Let’s get back to Facebook. Remember, it is valued at a staggering $10 billion today! But, and this is the big but, IT IS STILL IN THE RED!!!!!!!!!!!! Still trying to meet the day to day operating expenses that are growing like a brush fire. Sure, the original owner is likely getting a few dollars to put aside, but this model is food for thought. Facebook is a unique idea that had and has a huge following. But, if your business isn’t of this nature, are you building a level of frustration and worry that you will not be able to ‘cash out of’ easily? Are you on a treadmill that has no upside?
You have to wonder if growing big in your industry is truly smart. Would it be better to stay lean and mean? Could you sub contract your services out to a company that has taken on the burden of addititional overhead because it makes sense to them? When your client is ‘buying’ your services, are they really getting you, or are they getting a person working for you that cannot deliver the goods as you can.
The bottom line is balance, experience, and deciding what’s important. And, being and staying small can have huge advantages of banking profit and growing wealth. It is not the size of the operation that makes you successful. As my father always said, ‘it’s not how much you make, it’s what you save’. It rings in my ear, and I’m sure he is happy to know it keeps coming back to me time and again.
When you have a family, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to spend time with them, bank profit from business activity, and have proper balance in your life? If you find yourself on a treadill of covering bills off with no immediate profits beware. That pot of gold at the end of the rainbow may have a huge price. Is your pride worth the cost?
Please take a hard look at your talent, your clients, and your expertise, and if you are not active in what you do best, please re-evaluate your operation. It may be a hard pill to swallow, but will ultimately bring you the highest level of success and joy!
Best wishes,
Craig
Craig Ferguson operates Craig Ferguson Insurance and Integrity Insurance Planning (a ’small’ business from his home), and works with Nanette Gozutok (from her home). Staying small but doing what they do best is the focus of their operation.
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