In business, we celebrate scale. There are greater efficiencies, greater impact and access to more resources.
But size doesn’t always guarantee quality. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and they are often viewed as less than because of their size.
I remember a few years ago in the time before the pandemic, I was at a signature business gathering.
I wanted to strike up a conversation with someone I had just met. She looked at my name tag, saw my creatively named company, “Wainger Group,” frowned, and walked away without a word.
Her mental calculus was “small company, probably someone unemployed who hung out a shingle, can’t do anything for me.”
And unfortunately, that experience was not unique.
Just because a company or organization is small, doesn’t mean they think small and don’t make a big impact.
I have deliberately chosen to remain a “boutique” (code for small, after all, I started out in PR) communications and strategic planning consulting firm because I want to deliver personalized and customized services, not the cookie-cutter solution that worked for the last client.
Despite our size, we have worked with Fortune 500 companies as well as the tiniest nonprofits.
Big has its place and scale has its advantages. But let’s not dismiss small business as ever being less than.
What do you think?
