subject: Why Small Businesses Arent Small After All [print this page] The very idea of starting your own business is daunting; actually doing it could prove to be even more frightening. It's a huge and courageous leap from the seemingly stable structure of a job in a corporation - one complete with benefits and bonuses.
Think about everything that you need to put together to just get started. Even if you have a brilliant idea that you are most certain would sell and succeed, above all else, you need to figure out how to finance this intended venture. Next, you have to carefully plan, research and iron out the kinks in the details. Along the way, you might need to deal with government policies and other tedious steps that you might be unfamiliar with.
Still, owning your own business is an enticing, not to mention interesting, prospect and here are a few reasons why.
Nurturing Innovators and Driving Innovations
Those who dare to undertake a venture are, quite obviously, self-motivated and risk-taking achievers. Entrepreneurs have to take into consideration so many details that they are, undoubtedly, multi-faceted individuals capable of injecting excellence through passion in their work. This passion organically trickles down to their endeavors - best witnessed when a business is a tight financial bind.
Small businesses generally don't have that much capital to back them. Because of tremendous monetary constraints, they are driven to map out effective strategies and to efficiently execute these strategies. In seemingly unbearable times, these companies do what they do best: adapt and innovate to survive.
Unlike their larger counterparts, small-scale companies can transform and redirect their efforts easily. They can independently go with their own ideas and focus on successfully establishing their niche without having to scramble through complex bureaucratic ladders.
Service-Oriented and Personal
It is precisely the lack of knotty bureaucracies that make small businesses more appealing to their customers. Think about when that telephone tune just drove you nuts as you waited for an available customer service representative to answer your call. This is something that rarely happens when you call or visit a locally owned shop. Unless it's a really busy day, someone who knows how to deal with your concerns is promptly on-hand.
Customers seek a degree of connection beyond that of just a product or a service. Small businesses recognize this need of a dynamic relationship between the provider and the market. They have a feel for their customers mainly because they are typically in close proximity to them.
Keeping the Economy Afloat
Small companies generate employment and provide a practical training ground for people who work in them. As mentioned earlier, ingenuity it born out of limitations. When you come to think of it, today's large corporations were once small businesses.
Additionally, small businesses tend to rely among each other for certain commodities - for instance, a home-based bakery purchasing eggs from a local farmer. This inherent interaction creates an enduring profitable relationship. And it might not seem like small businesses make a lot of money, but they can still be profitable. Their lean operations inevitably lower overhead costs.
Ultimately, it is in an entrepreneur's struggle to successfully create and maintain a trustworthy reputation for his small business where he finds fulfillment and satisfaction.
