In my consulting career I had hoped to help Small Businesses by giving them the tools and expertise of the large businesses at rates they could afford. Because committing resources to image making is exactly the sort of thing a Big Business can afford to do much more easily than actually becoming that sort of entity. At the same time I would be more suspicious the more the business tries to advertise itself that way. While I doubt any Big Business has really managed to capture the nimbleness and commitment of the best of the small businesses, I’m willing to admit to the possibility. Not surprisingly, few employees choose to risk their jobs on their ability to “read the mind” of the boss. But in practice, the ideas flow only from the top down, others never make it up the chain, and employees soon realize that they can act as if they owned the business only so long as they can successfully act like the CEO would in each case. A charismatic CEO seeks to impose his vision on the whole organization and talks the talk of all employees having a stake in the business and the authority to do their jobs as if they “owned the business”. I’ve seen some Big Businesses try to act like the small ones. All too often they treat the personal lives of employees as if they were somehow under the control of the business because of the presumption that they might reflect poorly on the owner. Worse still is the thought that their employees should feel honored and consider it a privilege to help the owner achieve their dreams. The confidence to strike out on one’s own is a rare and special quality which sometimes can lead to arrogant and egotistical behavior that ignores or discounts the contributions of others, and blocks consideration of any idea or advice that doesn’t originate in their own head.
Because the Small Business is typically totally owned by a single individual, or family, there are little to no checks and balances to protect against the failings of the owner. Unfortunately without the resources of the big business, wages and benefits typically suffer by comparison to the larger organization.Īt the same time, by virtue of their size, they are often exempt from many regulations put in place to protect applicants and employees from discrimination and to provide minimal employee benefits. This contact usually (but alas not always) makes them willing to treat their employees as well as the business can afford. Their close contact with their employees, who make their business successful, gives them a chance to ensure their vision is implemented correctly. They are often captained by people whose vision was ignored by their former big business employers. Small Businesses are the soul of invention and creation. (And as long as the mindless, blind faith believers in the goodness of big business don’t make too much of an impact.) While Big Businesses often do get away with treating their employees unfairly, they are the easier to force into compliance with regulations and laws due to their public profile as long as others are willing to make a concerted effort at exposing their illegal behavior. Right up until bankruptcy, the argument that following what we know has been true in the past always seems to make more sense, because it appears to be less risky and in some minds “more prudent”. The people who rise to the top in such a business tend to be unimaginative, status quo keepers. The momentum of what has worked for them in the past tends to blind management from thinking of something new. However, Big Businesses tend to be overly conservative, as in risk avoidance. Its command of capital makes virtually all significant research and discovery possible because investing in the unknown is both risky and costly, even if the payoff (admittedly most often a long shot) can be huge. The Big Business can accomplish things through economies of scale that are completely unthinkable to the small business. I admit to having a love/hate relationship with both sides of this title.
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