People ask: “how many staff do you have in your company?”
It’s a short question. The answer obviously is about me, my hard work and all the headaches and challenges that I had and still have to make this company survive. I know that if I say we are small with less than 10 staff they would say: “Oh, that’s nice, good luck.” But if I say a number more than 50 or 60, they would react with awe and say:”WOW! Really? That is really great!”
The former reaction is being polite and the latter is compliment.
Why we measure business by these numbers? What is wrong about being small and remaining small?
Maybe the perfect size for your company is 5 or perhaps 50 or 200 people. Or maybe only you and a laptop! You should not think about how big you might get in the future in advance. Grow will come and you will grow gradually, do not rush it.
While many startups and SMEs are dreaming about getting big, many big companies are complaining about losing their startup spirit when everything is less complicated and everyone is motivated and work hard, and their relationship with customers were strong and products had better quality.
I always compare these big companies with lazy overweight giants. Yes they are big, wealthy and powerful, however they are too lazy that they cannot move properly and change their path fast enough in market turbulences and when a big problem comes up.
So their products will not change in long term and their customers will lose interest in buying them. The number of angry customers will grow day by day. And instead of seeking a proper solution, usually their management blames HR for not recruiting real professionals and again they feed this giant and make it more overweight and obese.
Your goal does not need to be getting bigger. Sudden growth does not only mean having more people aboard but also it equals increase in costs, rent, infrastructure maintenance, furniture, etc.
It is up to you as a startup owner to not let such headaches happen to you and your business.
Being small equals being simple. And simple is smart. It means you do not need a 200 pages business plan and you only create your business model is try to improve it latter.
Do not feel bad about being small. Everyone who has a successful and profitable business whether small or big should be proud.