eSoup

Mojo, buzz, intimacy and why a bigger biz isn't necessarily better

I was browsing through the book store when I saw the title "Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big" by Bo Burlingham.

The book caught my attention, because I keep on hearing small biz folks talk about their desire for huge growth. They keep on asking me if my ultimate goal is to someday to have an Virtual Assistance empire with bunches of VAs working for me.

My answer: Not really. That doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. My ultimate goal is to have a very, very small biz with no more than 4 clients. That's it. No fantasies of a grand empire a la Donald Trump.

It's not for everyone, but I think there's a beauty and an advantage to being small, and Bo Burlingham's book helped me understand why. Here are some of the qualities he says some small, great businesses have that their larger counterparts have lost:

• Small, hot companies have a buzz around them, a feeling of excitement, of aniticipation, a feeling of movement, purpose and direction. Call it mojo, soul, buzz, whatever you like. It's hard to define and easy to lose, but you know it when you see it.
• Small, hot companies have unusually intimate workplaces that function like little societies. They address their employees' need for community, family, health, creativity, and a feeling that the role they play in the biz is extremely important.
• Small, hot companies have strong ties to the community around them.
• Small, hot companies have an active, meaningful dialogue with stakeholders: employees, customers, community, suppliers and investors.
• Small, hot companies have passionate leaders who are easily accessible to staff and customers.
• Small, hot companies have leaders who have deep emotional attachments to the business, the folks who work there, the customers and the suppliers. They are the opposite of tradional professional managers.

Burlingham points out that it's extremely difficult to maintain these qualities when a company gets big. The bigger a company is, the clumsier it gets, and the more removed its leaders are from its staff and customers.

So, the next time you find yourself wishing you could trade your small biz for a grand empire, think twice. Being small may be one of your greatest strengths.

 

Free Live Teleseminar with E-myth author Michael Gerber!

On Wednesday, August 9 at 12pm Central, small biz marketing guru John Jantsch will be interviewing Michael Gerber, author of the E-myth books.

How exciting! You have to register in order to reserve a spot on the call, but the teleseminar is free. I can't wait--I actually teared up when I read certain parts of "The E-Myth Revisited" and "E-Myth Mastery". His stories about finding, losing, and reclaiming your entrepreneurial spirit just hit home with me. (I can so relate to Sarah the Pie Lady!) Both of these books are classics for small biz owners, so if you haven't read either of them yet, get on that! But certainly, take advantage of this opportunity to participate in a live interview with Michael Gerber.

Michael Port helps me laser beam my marketing

My post a few days ago about defining a Target Market, a Niche, and an Ideal Client profile (based on Michael Port's book "Book Yourself Solid") started to take on epic proportions ;-), so I cut it in half. Here's the rest of what I wanted to tell you. I hope that seeing what my outcomes were will give a great illustration of how effective Michael's techniques are. My business is not the same as it was last week...