Apparently small is the new big.  Seth Godin’s been writing about it for a while now, I hear.  And those guys over at 37Signals have certainly been long-time evangelists.  Here at Epsilon Concepts, it’s been our key mantra.  By focusing on producing the biggest outputs (projects, clients, products, legal insulation, advertising, etc…) for the lowest costs (time/money/resources), you can develop lean habits that will serve you well in business.  All to often, large companies and venture-backed start-ups simply lose sight of a $1.  These $1s add up and before you know it they’ve gone through the garbage disposal of careless spending.

It’s not just about cash.  Sure, in this scary economy we call ours, “cash is king.”  But being small is about more than money.  It’s a paradigm.  It’s a strategy.  It’s having workers telecommute when it saves money, increases productivity and helps the environment.  Or keeping them closeby when it’s quicker, helps the client, or aids communication.  It’s not a black and white point of view; being small is all about gray.  There are countless gray areas in life and business and the smaller you are the more ability you generally have to interpret a gray area and follow-through with a response that fits your paradigm.  In larger organizations a good idea can be shot down quicker than the pace of our government debt.  And the larger you get, the more money, time, and resources you throw at endeavers that maybe make sense on paper, but not in real life.

Being small allows you to wear a kind of glasses that filter your decisions with an eye for improvement.  When you’re small, every opportunity counts, every improvement aids the bottom line, and every weakness is a pounding infection demanding a root canal.  You feel it more when you’re small and this feeling keeps you on your toes and quick, ready for the next problems (opportunities).

In continuation of my points, a few words of wisdom from heroes of mine:

“The media and the tech blogs glamorize businesses that act big. They write about the big checks VCs hand out and they lionize the organizations that make a splash. The untold story is in the organizations that are close to the customer, close to the product and close to each other. Thinking small always pays off.” – Seth Godin

“Another thing I want to take issue with is this notion of “good times.” What was so good about the times a few months ago or even a few years ago for these companies? If you had to keep borrowing to stay afloat, were those good times? If you were running a business with no revenue coming through the door, were those the good times? If you were hiring more people than you really needed, where those the good times? There’s nothing easier than spending other people’s money. So fun and frivolous times, maybe, but good times, no.” – Jason Fried

“Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful” – Warren Buffett
RB’s note: aka now is the time to break out of the race if you can.  Be greedy when others are fearful and insulate yourself or your business while the times are tough and most are avoiding new opportunities!

-Robby Berthume
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