Have you noticed a trend lately disparaging small businesses (especially solo-owned ones)?
It’s a bit ironic that the people who are taking chances, thinking creatively, and testing out new products and services are getting slammed for not creating jobs at a time when the economy is mired in inactivity.
The haters have it all wrong.
We’re not too big to fail. But we’re small enough to succeed.
One big thread in this conversation seems to revolve around employment. At one level, the naysayers have it absolutely right: I’m not hiring.
But that’s not my business model. My model is to partner. Which, last time I checked, generates income for other people so that they can pay bills, buy groceries, and shop at the mall–all the same stuff that salaried jobs enable, albeit at a much smaller scale. But I’m just one small business among many.
It’s not just about jobs.
There is a jobs crisis. But don’t blame small businesses for it.
I’m not an economist, but jobs don’t spring from nowhere. We need a reboot, and that’s going to require innovation, creativity, research and development, and risk-taking. (These and a bunch of other things too.)
Ashvini Saxena had a terrific post recently on how Entrepreneurship Benefits the Economy More Than Just Generating Jobs. In it, he talks about four other factors:
- Entrepreneurs invent.
- Entrepreneurs optimize.
- Entrepreneurs find hidden demand (and create plans to exploit it).
- Entrepreneurs hire people with skills.
Read Saxena’s post as well as the smart conversation in the comments.
Have you noticed an attack on small business? What’s your take?
Photo by Jan Tik (Flickr).
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Most of the people want to lead their life as a successful player.Although they want to achieve success but its a magical phenomena that they don’t want to do small task.I think business is the best way to be rich and promoted and small business is the primary step to do anything.According to your post I think the haters must be changed their mind if they read the post once.I think you should have discussed about the disadvantages of large scale business at initial stages.Do you want to publish that at the next post of yours?
Thanks,
Paine
jack paine recently posted..Brainwave Entrainment
Thanks, Paine, for stopping by. I would probably argue that there are advantages and disadvantages for both small and large businesses (they’re just different ones). Small companies, for example, are inherently more agile so we can move faster to seize market opportunities. But big companies can have a far bigger, faster impact–it just takes them a little longer to jump in the fray.
I totally agree with you that it’s doing the small tasks and doing them thoroughly and correctly that’s key–regardless of the size of your initiative.
Hi Daria,
Thanks for the mention about my blog. It is really important to acknowledge the entrepreneur because he/she is a catalyst for growth in economy. Without entrepreneurship, its hard to see how governments and big companies can continue generating jobs while not sacrificing standards of quality of service they provide.
Government encouragement of entrepreneurship is most desirable.
Have a great day
Ashvini recently posted..The importance of planning in entrepreneur’s venture
Hi Ashvini,
People forget that the ability of small-scale businesses to take real risks (which leads to that catalyzing growth you’re talking about) is critical. While big companies have been sitting on their cash during this Great Recession (and not launching new products/initiatives–or hiring), it’s entrepreneurs who have been tweaking, and innovating, and experimenting. And paving the way for the big companies to make their big moves.