Part 4: Accepting what you are can be very powerful

Part 3 of this series showed how we remembered to live within our means which brings us to this post on the power of  embracing your SMB status instead of looking at it as a temporary situation.

Kevin Casey, Chief Idea Officer of The Idea Factory, gave a presentation to the St. John’s Board of Trade in May where he declared “Small is the new big.” He said the marketing firm embraced its reality of being a company of two in a basement from the beginning. They chose not to worry about their competitors and demonstrated confidence in what they were able to do which helped them bag a client on day one that is still around.

We approached the application process thinking we needed a bigger staff, more products and services, and big investors to grow Infomatix to the next level. Instead, we hired one more person and shifted our dynamic so everyone could focus on their unique ability. This doesn’t mean we aren’t going to grow; we’re just no longer aiming for a 12 person team by December.

Having three people on staff means we’re all very involved with the projects and tasks of the rest of the team. This makes it really easy for our clients to call and get an issue resolved even if someone is out of the office. There’s a good change we can all troubleshoot any issue or at least know who to call if we don’t.

Keeping it small is also great for company morale. We have held family bake-offs, movie days, and museum visits to boost morale and have fun together instead of just sitting in the same office for 40 hours a week.

Watching Kevin’s speech inspired us to continue as a smaller group and approach those big deals with confidence because we know we can provide a great customer experience.  Expanding our team quickly wouldn’t change that.

Part Three: There’s something to that K.I.S.S. rule
Part Two: Stick to your guns
Part One: Why a meal of crow can be very satisfying