Whether you consider it a perk to work on your couch once in awhile or renegotiate a contract on the fly, there’s a lot to celebrate about being part of a small business.[/caption] Not everyone is cut out to work for a small business—and if you’re making it work right now, you should pat yourself on the back! Small business can also mean a lot of things: It can mean a comparatively small female-led advertising agency like Mad 4 Marketing, which has now been around for 25 years and going strong, or it can be a single freelancer with a website, or an LLC. You may feel like you’re facing an uphill battle to get started, competing with companies that have greater resources to work with, and more manpower. But there are also a lot of benefits to being a small business that aren’t talked about nearly as much as they should be. The 5 Perks of Small Business you should celebrate: 1 Time Management. You’re not wasting your time in endless meetings, or answering long email threads. You can prioritize what’s important to your company on any given week, and put your energy into where it’s needed. Figure out what can be automated and what isn’t driving much revenue back into the company, as well as where you can give a little time but get a lot back—like social media posts and responding to direct leads from your website. When you’ve got a tight team—or when you’re doing it all yourself—it really shows teaches you to waste not, want not. You quickly learn how to make the most of your resources, and this skill will shine with clients and customers as well. 2 Less Red Tape. You’re accountable to a smaller amount of people, but your standards are no lower. You just have less red tape to plow through when it comes to getting something done. You’re svelte, you move faster, you can get things accomplished in a more streamlined fashion: without stepping on toes, playing politics, or losing sight of vision and voice along the way. 3 Transparency. It’s easier to express who your company is and what you do if it’s small. Big companies can feel confusing and impersonal, with a lot of turnover and way too much CC and Reply All. But in a small business, you can form relationships, talk about yourself, tell your story, and show your face—it’s more memorable, more likeable, and personalizes the company itself. 4 Flexibility. You know what a small business can usually do that a big corporation can’t? Negotiate. Compromise. Work out deals that make the most sense for individual clients and customers. Because being a small business allows you to call more of the shots and be more flexible—whether it’s about contracts, billing, timelines, or other important details. And people really appreciate working with someone who’s willing to figure out how to work with them. On a larger scale, you can also pivot and take your business in new directions—scaling up and adapting to new opportunities—more easily, when it’s suitable for you, than a clunky huge business is able to do. Move quick and stay current, grabbing those chances they can’t. 5 Trust Matters. You might think that clients are often swayed by recognizable brand names and fancy logos. But clients are just people—and they’re more likely to trust other people than brands. A small business gives them the chance to get to know the team and form relationships with them. They can get to know you over time; and yes, they’ll come back again and again because they know that your employees are people they can rely on—not a cast of titles at a larger company that’s generally considered trustworthy. So if you’re a small business that’s feeling a little, well, little—hopefully you’ll rethink your status when you consider all of the upsides. And, of course, if you’re wondering how to market all of these wonderful benefits to potential clients and customers, as a fellow small business, we’ve got you covered.]]>
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