MUST READ: Why businesses should think small if they must grow big

An M-Pesa outlet in Nairobi. The service started as a small experiment but is now the biggest mobile money transfer success story in the world.

In Summary

• Despite the size of your business, thinking small will help you create opportunities that define your future. It also helps a business to keep the entrepreneurship fire burning.

 Volkswagen once used the words Small is Beautiful as the Beetle brand’s slogan.

Let us focus on why businesses should think small. One study by Shell observed that the average life span of a corporate business has been declining from about 100 years in the last century to that of a human being in this century.

In the East Africa region the average human life expectancy is between 50 and 60 years. This means that for the corporate world life expectancy has reduced by half. This has been driven mainly by big corporate organisations’ failure to change fast enough in a fast paced world.

Giants like Kodak failed for not embracing digital photography which they had an early mover advantage but instead defined their business narrowly as film oriented.

Survival depends on adaptability. According to Charles Darwin, the author of Origin of Species, it is not the strongest or most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.

In the spirit of thinking small the dinosaurs come to mind, they became extinct despite the fact that they were very large.

Their big size meant that they could not easily adapt to the changing environment. Likewise, many big businesses have been failing to spot emerging competition and opportunities which affect their survival chances.

On the other hand, smaller companies grow by focusing on opportunities that look small today. Such small opportunities with potential for high growth will define the future of the business environment.

Safaricom is the largest and most respected company in a region in which it didn’t exist 20 years ago. M-Pesa, offered by Safaricom, started as a small experiment but is now the biggest mobile money transfer success story in the world.

What this means is that despite the size of your business, thinking small will help you create opportunities that define your future. It also helps a business to keep the entrepreneurship fire burning.

Maturity usually means end of growth. Growth depends on age or life stage, just like with human beings. Younger businesses and products achieve faster growth rates than older ones. Their chances of survival may also be at risk but if well nurtured they grow to big.

To grow a young business keep bringing in fresh ideas. It is impossible to grow when you are mature.

According to marketers, a product in its maturity soon gets into the decline stage and eventually dies. But there is a catch in a product like Coca-Cola which has continuously remodelled itself to avoid the decline trap.

One of the reasons some big corporates thrive is that they use a remodelling marketing concept which encourages them to create products at different stages of growth.

Coca-Cola is a good example. The firm has introduced drinks such as Dasani water, Coke Zero, and juices.

Over time Coca-Cola has been remodelling its business to suit the changing environment. One of their executives was quoted saying that they do not compete with soft drinks but for a share of throats — that is anything that goes down the throat in the liquid form.

The lesson here is to keep thinking about small opportunities that have potential to be the next big thing.

You should operate like an entrepreneur and seek opportunities wherever they can be found. Avoid defining your business too narrowly in order to be able to spot emerging opportunities.

Regardless of the size of your business, think small and like a baby you will soon realise that growth is the only constant.

Source: BusinessDaily