Have we lost the passion in small business?

April 14, 2009 · Filed Under Business Ideas & TIps, Small & Medium Businesses · 4 Comments 

Have we lost the passion in small business?

Recently I heard a comment that we have lost passion in big business.  The person went on to compare the CEOs of the some of the large businesses in the US vs the founder of Sony.  This comment has got me thinking and asking the question whether we have lost the passion in the small and mid-sized business community.

Maybe I should rephrase the question – has the passion for money overtaken the passion for business?

Why do people go into small business? There is a myriad of reasons but I suspect that the passion for a certain product or service does play a part for some, however I am not sure that it is the large majority. Unfortunately in this age of consumerism there have been some small business owners who are purely there for the money. But in the harder times this will be revealed. These are businesses that will not have an enthused team of people providing great customer service. That only comes with having passion for your business, for your products and services.

I am sure that unfortunately some people who go into small business with passion for their area sometimes get it beaten out of them because of inefficient systems, lack of planning, not understanding how to use the numbers in the business. These are people we need to work with because the underlying passion is still there – just covered up at the moment.

We desperately need passion in small business so that we will have inspired and innovative products and services.

Do you think we have lost the passion in small business? Do you believe that it is necessary in small business?

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Small business will succeed through innovation

April 3, 2009 · Filed Under SME Businesses, Small & Medium Businesses · Comment 

There has been an excellent study been released by Intuit titled “Small businesses will innovate today to succeed tomorrow”.

This study shows that Small Business is the natural innovator of the economy. Through the forces that drive small business owners to look for the development of the business and market they are inspired to innovate.

This study found that small businesses have a number of innovation advantages that enable them to more readily identify opportunities, quickly react to changing conditions and remain competitive. The six innovation enablers include :

  • Personal Passion – as it is there own money on the line, small business owners are willing to try new approaches.
  • Customer connection – in a small business there is a stronger connection between the business and the customers. This helps small business understand customer needs, identify new opportunities and fix problems quickly and efficiently.
  • Agility and adaptation – unlike large corporations, small businesses can quickly adapt to changing market conditions and implement new business practices.
  • Experimentation and improvisation – when pursuing new opportunities, many small business owners and managers aren’t afraid to experiment and improvise, accepting failure as a part of the path to success.
  • Resource limitation – small businesses are adept at doing more with less. And these resource constraints lend to their innovative mindset
  • Information sharing and collaboration – small businesses traditionally rely on strong social networks to share information and inspire innovative thinking.

These enablers listed above succinctly summarise the life of a small business.

It is key for the future of small business to be continually innovating. To do this it is necessary to ensure that the business is focused on the customer. The business needs to be listening to the customer and ensuring that their product or service is serving a need of the customer. It we keep doing what has always been done then the innovation will die and the business will follow.

Focus on what matters to the customer. Measure what matters – measure what is important to the customer.

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