…That Will Give You The Small Business Warm N’ Fuzzies!
Melo, our go-to guy for SEO (another concept for other posts) keeps on telling me that maybe I should write in a more positive light- and I agree. With the innate difficulty that comes with being an entrepreneur or running a small business, it’s hard to find things that you could be positive about.
But there are plenty of things to be positive about. Don’t believe me? Here’s 5 things off the bat that everyone in small business should be happy about!
1.) Failing *does not* make you worse than anyone else
Everyone is subject to pure dumb luck. Everyone. Name one successful entrepreneur who wasn’t at least a bit lucky. There are none. Bill Gates and Paul Allen were born to families rich enough to allow them access to a computer as teens, which in the late 60s was a significant advantage.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were lucky to have found each other. You’re lucky to be born in an era where almost all the information that matters is within reach, at a moment’s notice.
Source: “Homer the Smithers” – EP17 Season 7You could have been born in another era or another country, you could have met different people. Fact is, luck factors significantly into where you are in life. Disputing this is illogical, but the desire to is understandable. This is one thing hard-working people who’ve achieved success don’t like to admit. This
essay by George Monbiot on the
self-attribution bias explains this in depth.
But it also means “successful” entrepreneurs and businesspeople, however you want to define their success, are statistically not better than you. It’s entirely possible you can get to where they are- or better. Hard work makes it even more probable. So if you’ve already started- you might be most of the way there.
2.) You’re more in control
This might seem to contradict the previous item, but you do have a lot more freedom than the average employee. You get to make your own rules, and you get to do pretty much whatever you want. Is it worth it? You won’t find too many entrepreneurs with regrets.
3.) You’re much more likely to be in a friendly working environment
Owners and employees in smaller businesses tend to be closer-knit. Not surprising, since responsibilities are shared and everyone has a much bigger stake, contrasted with how larger businesses are. There’s stress and work isn’t necessarily easier, sure.
But smaller businesses tend to not need company-sponsored team-building activities. Why? Because (unless you’re a total jerk), small business owners and employees will find themselves bonding with each other in any case, because they share a wider range of experiences.
Source: billprettyman.com
4.) Foreseeable trends in technology and the economy are going to benefit Small Businesses
As a matter fact, most of the tech advances in the past generation has allowed small businesses inroads EVERYWHERE. Even in fields previously thought of as off-limits to smaller players including defense, music record production and distribution, and even medical research.
The IT revolution in particular has been responsible for making knowledge accessible- making possible the explosion in choices we’ve got for almost everything from craft beer, antiques, clothes, gourmet food trucks- almost anything you can think of.
Think about it, no one ever wants to go back. Unless something significant happens that severely restricts the flow of information (like the aborted SOPA and PIPA), opportunities for small businesses will keep on coming for the foreseeable future.
5.) You’re probably more in touch with your customers
I personally wouldn’t go into a business that raises the net amount of misery in the collective human experience- but that’s just me. But can you imagine not providing anything that does anyone any good? Or being consigned to not knowing if you are actually making a difference?
Source: punditkitchen.files.wordpress.com
Small businesses are in a better position not only to listen to customer needs, but act on them as well as there are far fewer barriers to these actions than they are for big companies. After all, you’re probably doing most of the work as it is. Generally speaking, there are also fewer barriers to communication in small businesses, since hierarchies in smaller businesses tend to be flatter.
End result: you can see just exactly the sort of effect you’re having on people without having to second-guess if you’re getting the real picture.
Which means a lot less misery for everyone.
Got any more ideas? Think we’re full of crap? Want to write a long, angry, (grammatically and syntactically correct) comment or guest post? We’d love to hear from you!