When you’re running your own shop, it’s easy to be afraid to open up about just how small your operation is.
Maybe you’re the one handling customer service and billing – and sales, fulfillment, bottle washing, dog walking, etc. So instead of saying that, you vaguely mention a “billing” department and use “we” instead of “I” a lot of the time.
“Our technicians are trained…”
“Our offices are located at…”
“Email our Customer Service department at customerservice@…”
For a while I thought I had to put on as if my company was bigger than just me, in my home office, on the computer way too long every day and sometimes working in my pajamas.
“Hey, is it 5pm already? Maybe I should shower…”
When prospective clients put the question to me, “how many people work for you,” I negotiated my answers carefully. “I work with a programmer and a designer.”
That was the truth, of course – I do work steadily with both a programmer and a designer. I’ve relied on both of them for years. But it so happens they’re freelancers, and I don’t exactly tell them what to do. I ask nicely. They don’t work for me; they work with me.
But I knew my competition was bigger. They had offices, printers, fax machines and big laser-cut company logos plastered on the conference room wall.
I had a bedroom I’d converted to a home office.
So I dodged the size issue a bit. I was afraid to be small – afraid it equated to weakness.
Books I read, like The E-Myth: Revisited, had me thinking I needed to plot out the entire company structure ahead of time – job descriptions, departments, the whole bit – and then act in each of the roles while remaining keenly aware they were separate entities. Talk about faking it.
I was signing documents as the “Director of Marketing” for a while. I felt like a fraud. Every time I sent off an email I felt like I needed a glass of bourbon.
I slowly snapped out of it over the last year. I gradually found myself being more open about who I was and the fact that I was the sole proprietor and only employee of this “company.” I’d been in the agency world, and I knew that I was doing better work than many agencies, cheaper.
And some awesome writing from people like Johnny B. Truant, Naomi Dunford and everyone over at Copyblogger brought a collective slap upside my head, especially in the last few months. If you had any doubt that the individual can succeed in the new economy, look no further.
There are more microbusinesses today than there ever have been before. The web has destroyed I.T. overhead - bootstrapping it is no longer just an absurd idea that ignores the laws of physics.
When you consider that layoffs have hit like tsunamis over the last two years you’ve got to recognize it: there is a load of incredible talent out there. And not enough jobs to keep them fed. And now there’s nothing stopping these talented, quirky and driven masses from getting vocal and doing their own thing.
Watch: they are going to kick the crap out of the traditional agency/corporate world. Many of us are already.
Because it turns out that in many ways smaller is better.
1. Being outward about who you are attracts like-minded people
Business can be boring. Worse than that, it can be painful.
And it has a lot to do with who you hire and who hires you.
Trust me, I’ve worked with bastards and dullards alike. Not a good time. (Where’s that bourbon?)
When you’re open about how you roll the people who connect with you know what they’re getting – and chances are, if they got in touch anyway, they like it.
Since, for better or worse, we tend to get along with people similar to ourselves, we end up attracting people like ourselves. They roll how we roll. After a while, we roll deep.
2. There’s no PR department – you can say what you think
The biggest thing that stops companies of all sizes from marketing in remarkable ways? Fear.
And in large companies, fear is the specialty of the PR department. They perpetuate it.
Big brands worry about offending the downy, innocent masses. They don’t want to get public flack because they said the wrong thing. (Though I don’t know what they’re worried about – we’ve all seen Lady Gaga’s videos.)
It happens even in small companies. I’ve heard managers of small companies say, “we don’t want to rock the apple cart,” when someone proposed even a slightly-bold venture. Fear in action.
You don’t have to be afraid. In fact, your survival depends on your ability to be bold. “Safe” marketing is suicide.
It’s alright to have some fear – that usually means you’re pushing the envelop. Just don’t let the fear paralyze you. Do it anyway.
3. Low overhead means better pricing (for your customers)
The idea isn’t to focus your marketing on your “low low prices!” That just perpetuates the race to the bottom, and it makes your price your brand – which doesn’t send the best value message (does a store with the word “dollar” in its name ring of quality to you?).
But have no doubt: overhead is always built into price.
Bigger companies with more mouths to feed charge accordingly.
You, being smaller and more agile, what without the weight of 25 years of adding extraneous equipment, services, staff and amenities to your business, can give your customers a price they can manage (without sacrificing value).
Of course, over time and with increased demand, there’s no reason not to raise your prices. But in the mean time it’s one more thing that makes you more attractive than the company building their $100k/month overhead into their prices.
4. You can change your mind (and your business) overnight
A client told me recently, “I have no problem being flexible. I run my own show. It doesn’t take much to stop the machine and get it going in a different direction.”
This is what I love to hear.
When there’s no approval process, no hour-long meetings to make sure everyone’s on the same page and no managers to delegate a “task force” to look deeper into the issue so the decision can be based on more extraneous data, things can happen fast.
Most businesses resist change with all their might. That apple cart again. All those hungry mouths.
But take a look at the music industry. The publishing industry. Newspapers.
These were among the wealthiest and most-successful corporations. Today? Sinking fast.
Things changed and these companies didn’t change with them.
But being small means you keep your finger on the pulse of your market whether you like it or not. There aren’t financial projections and credit lines to hide behind. There’s nobody else around to blame, and if the ship goes down you may not drown – but you’ll be floundering around in a soggy life preserver for a while.
Yes, the responsibilities, all of them, fall squarely on your shoulders (though partnering is a great way to share responsibilities and grow your pie).
If something goes haywire, if a customer feels they were wronged in some way, you’ll be taking most, or all, of the blame. That’s true.
Isn’t that another good reason to be open with them in the first place?
This is great food for thought Mike. I too have been guilty of using the “we” in conversations with customers, talking about our “buyer” and our “marketing dept”. I was trying to sound “professional”
But lately, I’ve been talking to clients more about how we’re a small family business. And lo and behold, they’re not thinking any less of me.
It’s tempting to try and look bigger than we are, but the reality is it forces us to be vague. And being vague means sucking the character out of your marketing.
This post from Johnny B. Truant sums the character part up pretty well.
Nice article, and I agree, you need to be more open and honest about who and what your organization really is.
To look at it from the other side for a minute. I think what some customers might fear/think is “what happens if this guy disappears?”. This is a legitimate concern when dealing with a company that consists of one person. Most times the concern never plays out to actual circumstances, but I’d be willing to bet it has on one or two occasions.
It’s an interesting conversation though.
Thanks man.
There’s definitely that concern – the fear of the “fly by night” service provider who vanishes along with all original files and data.
I think it has a lot to do with what you’re selling. I don’t sell infrastructure or services that my clients can’t operate without. I use open source platforms most of the time – so even if I can’t make site updates for them down the line there’ll be plenty of people who can.
The idea that an agency is inherently more permanent than a freelancer should be shattered by the economy we’re seeing now – agencies are closing their doors everywhere. They can’t sustain the overhead.
And I don’t think that assuaging that fear in clients is good enough cause to BS them. If someone is adamant about working with an agency with a big office, the fancy conference room and all of that overhead then I’m just not a good fit. I’d rather make that clear immediately so neither of us wastes time.
Great points. I think you’re right, the lure of a big office and many “people” working has just as many pitfalls as a “one-man-band”. Very thought provoking and I think we’ll start seeing a lot more of the smaller shops and the use of expandable workforce style businesses.
There are definitely more freelancers out there, more microbusinesses, than ever before. The web enables it, and this economy is giving plenty of people the kick they needed (whether they like it or not).
I agree – we’re going to start seeing more work, especially creative and web-based work, handled by freelancers, or groups of freelancers. They’re cheaper, hungrier and no less talented.
Not to coopt your thread comments Mike, but I had to jump in on this.
Ignite, you make a really great point. And it’s yet another good reason for smaller shops to be as transparent as possible. To not keep “secret techniques” but instead, engage the client from the start with open conversations about the exact strategies you will be using.
Not at all – this is an open forum as far as I’m concerned so by all means jump in.
ps The “reply” link beneath a comment will keep your comment nested (so the conversation is easier to track).
Doh! [smacks head]
I agree, being transparent is key. I’ve found that over the years the more open and honest you are the better you feel about what you are doing and the more invested the client seems to become.
I have however seen the open and honest policy backfire. Just recently had a client decide not to give us a project because we were being honest about the timeline and availability. They made the right call for them though, and at the end of the day, as long as my client is happy then I’m ok with missing one or two projects for being open and honest.
I’ve come to completely agree with Point 1. You can bust your ass to convince people who have massive reservations, only to end up with a reluctant and difficult customer, or you can work with the people who want to work with you.
I look at it this way:
1-MAN (OR WOMAN) SHOP
Clients deal with you directly, recognizing that you have certain time and resource constraints. If you go on vacation, etc., they have to wait.
10-PERSON SHOP
Even with 9 more people, the client would only deal with one person directly. If that person goes on vacation, etc., the other 9 have no idea what they do (in my experience).
1000-PERSON COMPANY
The client doesn’t get to work with the expert, but lower-level people who act as a buffer between them and the expert. Those people are always around, but the expert is always in short supply.
I don’t think there’s a “right” or “wrong” to any of those, but there are always trade-offs. Instead of apologizing for being small, we need to play up the strengths.
That’s a good way of looking at it.
I haven’t worked in a 1000-person company myself, but I can vouch for the 1-person and 10-person operations. And I’ve seen good and bad in both.
I was just about to go meet a prospective client yesterday when I read this post. I offer a full slate of web marketing services, including web video, so I usually make vague references to my “team” or my “people.” I do have a couple people I shuffle work to, but it’s me, for the most part. Anyway, after reading this post (and having seen a few other similar pieces), I figured, “f**k it, I’ll just be square with them.” Mostly, they were impressed and interested how I do as much as I do. They did have concerns about my ability to get it all done, but my track record speaks for itself. So, basically, you’re spot-on. Full disclosure is the way to go and rolling solo is an issue, let ‘em pay more for a larger firm and check back with them in a few months to see if they are satisfied.
Well then, my work is done ;)
Seriously though, doesn’t it just feel better being upfront that way?
Fantastic write up! you really hit the nail on the head (I especially like your reference to e-myth, a book im sure most folks read when starting out).
In these unstable financial times of recession small businesses have really come into their own – being able to offer incredible value compared to large corporates.
Some businesses can be unsure of using smaller 1 to X man operations but I would ask them to look at the work produced as that is really what it should all be about.
Love this description below. This is me! I enjoy your sense of humor…
For a while I thought I had to put on as if my company was bigger than just me, in my home office, on the computer way too long every day and sometimes working in my pajamas.
“Hey, is it 5pm already? Maybe I should shower…”
Thanks Megan. I’ve improved a bit – now I shower by 2pm the latest. Baby steps.
I have found too, that it is best to be up-front. Especially when attempting to get hired by other small web-shops or freelancers – they are used to the idea of the “small man” and take interest in your unique abilities.
Also, there are those (like myself), who actually prefer to shift work to the smaller guys; The flexibility of larger companies is often limited.