If you say I want my business to be the biggest I would say why? I’ve tried to run a big business and have found that I can make more money staying small and have more fun while doing it. There is a huge difference between being the biggest and the best. Most times they are not the same company. The challenges that you are faced with each day to stay on top may make you rethink the direction of your company.

Stop and think about the biggest companies in your industry. On the outside they appear very successful. Employee’s driving nice new vehicles, making big salaries, all the high tech equipment, and they are the ones always getting the big deals. They are the go to company for the big projects. Everybody knows their name but don’t let that give you a false impression that you want your company to be like them.

Here are some of the downfalls of being the biggest. All the competition tries to discredit
the integrity and reputation of that company. The company typically is so focused on revenue to stay the biggest they will take on unnecessary risk and try to do everything to boost that top line.

The employees are managed by the numbers rather than what is important to them. Soon the company culture is so unhappy that performance of the employee’s declines and the only employee’s left are the ones that care about a large paycheck rather than fulfillment of the position.

My philosophy has changed over the years. I don’t want to be the biggest or even close
to the biggest. My focus is that I want my company to be the best and most profitable. If you're the best and you have built that reputation, then you become a desirable workplace that people want to work for. At the same time if your highly profitable then you can pay your employee’s more, offer more benefits, and build the type of culture that people enjoy the work that they do.

Staying small with a great reputation allows you to evaluate each customer, type of
service, and projects that you will take on. If we have a high maintenance customer, or a project that isn’t profitable, we gladly pass it on to our competition. I would rather focus on the bottom line than just making my revenue larger. At the same time this will reduce your risk of the customers that suck your time and money and you will never make happy regardless of what you do.

As the economy shifts you will need to change with it. Having a smaller company with
less people you can identify those shifts and adapt quickly. Communication is streamlined with engaged employees can allow you to move under the radar of the big companies to focus on target markets that they aren’t working on. This leads to having niche markets that become very profitable.

Focus on being the best, when you’ve achieved that reputation over many years you can also charge for that reputation. At the end of the day, it’s how much money is left over, great employees that enjoy their job, and you are having fun owning the business. Put those together and it’s all worth the battle you take on each day to stay in business.

 

 

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