Small is beautiful.

I am one of those lucky few that follow their intuition in life – and in business.

We are often accosted by a philosophy of ‘bulk’ in our community. Check out the popularity of Costco, or value-adding at McDonalds. The underlying value is that bigger, ‘more stuff’ is better. Better because being part of a large company represents strength and (by default) protection. Better because maybe it means cheaper for us as consumers.

This is certainly a sense of false economy. Having worked for both big businesses and small, I remember how the latter of these two constantly wanted to downplay their ’boutique’ nature. The big boys they were competing again (we were told) would CERTAINLY cast fear into the hearts of the clients. ‘Why would you go with a small firm? They don’t have the numbers. They don’t have the experience.’

My experiences of managing identity online for small businesses have further clarified to me that being smaller necessarily means being in better control of your output. It means not being faceless to your clients, and it means (hopefully) an intimacy with your community. Ruby Assembly Consultants has the privelidge of discussing your business with your clients in a casual, online format. This is a delight! My clients are certainly small businesses, and they are definitely engaged in the thrust to be larger.

But it doesn’t mean that they need to expand, expand, expand to feed the ever hungry mouth of big corporate greed. World domination? Not so much. Success and respect as quality service providers who are specialists, with a great repeat and referral base? Yes please! These owners remain immersed in their businesses, representing them dutifully and with pride. They know (as I do) that engaging in a meaningful fashion with their clients is where their real, ongoing strength lies.

They are small. They are beautiful.

They are to be congratulated.