Why It’s Okay to Be Small
Posted September 6, 2011 in Inspiration
Lots of freelancers go to great lengths to disguise the fact that they’re a one-man (or one-woman) operation.
They may refer to their business decisions in plural (“we decided to…“), give themselves a fancy title (Chief of Operations), or even create a fake persona to screen phone calls. It’s almost as though they are ashamed of being a freelancer.
However, being a small business isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Freelancers should not feel that being a solo professional is something they need to hide.
In this post, I’ll explore what it really means to be a small business. Next, I’ll list some advantages that small businesses offer that large companies usually cannot offer.
What Being Small Is Really Like
Picture two businesses in your town. As a skilled professional, you could choose to work at either. Here’s what you could expect as a work environment from each business.
Business A is your typical large business. It hires several thousand employees, including several dozen in your profession. As an employee here you would enjoy a regular paycheck, average benefits, and a paid vacation.
However, as the newbie on the professional team at Business A, you can also expect to get the least challenging projects or possibly the projects that no one else wanted. You’ll have to do those projects in exactly the way the company specifies. (If you want to try something different, you’ll need to get permission from your boss who may need to get permission from her boss.) You’re also expected to work regular business hours and required to adhere to the corporate dress code.
Business B is an independent freelancer. She works alone at your profession, mostly from her home. She earns a good income, but also experiences some gaps between projects when she is not paid. It’s up to her to plan her expenditures so that she can cover benefits like insurance or paid vacation.
However, as an independent professional, Business B interacts directly with the clients. She can decide whether or not to take a given project based on her interest level and abilities. Plus, if she wants to handle a project differently she’s free to innovate as she sees fit. She’s adjusted her work schedule so that she gets most of her work done in the early morning when she’s fresh and she takes most afternoons off. She only dresses up if she has a face-to-face meeting with a client.
Of course there’s no right or wrong answer, but let me ask you–as a business professional, which environment would you prefer work in?
7 Advantages of Being Small
As you probably picked up from the previous examples, there are some definite advantages that solo professionals (a.k.a. freelancers) can offer their clients that traditional companies usually cannot.
Here are seven of those advantages:
- Quick decision-making. A freelancer is able to make decisions very quickly. In fact, he or she is the decision-maker. In contrast, large corporations may have multiple layers of approval that must be obtained before a final decision can be made.
- More innovative. A freelancer is free to try new things as he or she sees fit. A corporation, on the other hand, is great about setting up procedures that must be followed–but not so great about adjusting or deviating from those procedures.
- Less overhead. A freelancer can often charge a lower price than a corporation and still earn a good income. This is because the freelancer doesn’t have as much overhead as a large business, which must also cover expenses not directly related to the project.
- More flexible. Freelancers enjoy a more flexible schedule, but they’re often more flexible about scheduling new projects as well. A large company may have a large list of projects that must be completed before a new one can be started.
- More accountable. A freelancer is more accountable because his or her livelihood depends on it. He or she knows that if something goes wrong, there’s no one else to blame. In a corporation, employees often play the “blame game,” trying to shift the responsibility for a mistake to someone else.
- More personal. Doing business with a freelancer often adds a level of service to a project that is simply unavailable from a larger entity. Since you will deal with the same individual each time, they can really get to understand you and your needs.
- A higher level of motivation. While it’s not always true, freelancers often have a higher level of motivation than traditional employees. That’s because if they didn’t love what they were doing they wouldn’t be doing it. In contrast, how many employees do you know who hate their job?
Don’t get me wrong. There’s a place in the market for big business, but there’s also no reason any freelancer should be ashamed of being a small business.
Your Turn
Are you a solo professional? Have you ever been ashamed of being a one-person show or tried to hide it?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Image by Ivan Mlinaric
Related posts:
- 7 Reasons to Consider Small Clients
- Welcome To Mason Hipp And Small Fuel – New Advertiser
- Open Thread: Do You Want to Stay Small or Grow Big?
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 20 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts. Laura is also on Google+.
The Unlimited Freelancer is Now Only $19
Unleash the true potential of your business. Get The Unlimited Freelancer and start transforming your freelance business,
now only $19.
Try searching "Getting Clients" or "Productivity"
Free Report
Sign up for our product discount list to get a free copy of Why Some Freelancers Thrive and Others Barely Survive. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Forum Discussions
- Purchase New Apple iPhone 4S 64GB cost $ 380 Unlocked with
May 21st, 2012 - 1:41 pm - Buy New Apple iPad 3 Wi-Fi + 4G.$450usd/Samsung Galaxy Note
May 21st, 2012 - 1:40 pm - Buy New Apple iPad 3 Wi-Fi + 4G.$450usd/Samsung Galaxy Note
May 21st, 2012 - 1:38 pm
Popular Articles
- SEO Techniques All Top Websites Should Use
- When a Client Can't Afford You: Why It's Still Better to Bid High
- How To Stop Scrambling For Clients And Get A Steady Stream Of Paying Gigs
- A Simple Way To Stop Clients From Rejecting Your Proposals
- 3 Reasons Your Rates Are Still Low (And How To Start Raising Them)
22 Comments
Gold
September 6th, 2011 at 9:08 amIt seems to me that the difference between the two businesses is OWNERSHIP!
Not all freelancers do work for business. Some do work for individuals.
Josh
September 6th, 2011 at 10:05 amGreat post! I always feel wierd when i’m writing a blog posting and use “we…” and “we’re….”
Maybe i’ll just say “screw it” and start using “my” and “I”. :)
David Y
September 6th, 2011 at 10:17 amGreat article, personally I’ve had the issue in the past of saying “I” or “We”, but in the end it comes down to personal choice.
Overall I think that by having true business honesty, those working with you will end up having a greater appreciation for the work you do and most importantly value the fact that they are receiving a individual level of service catered to them.
Laura Spencer
September 6th, 2011 at 10:53 amGold, I’d agree. Ownership is definitely a perk of freelancing. Freelancing allows many of us to become business owners without spending a small fortune…
Josh and David Y–Well, I didn’t mean to make a huge point about “we” and “I,” but rather about whether a freelancer feels that he or she must appear bigger than they are to get business. Some would say “yes,” to that last point.
Freshpage
September 6th, 2011 at 11:43 amI think probably the main reason why people want to appear bigger is that size is an indicator of success.
Mary
September 6th, 2011 at 12:44 pmSorry, but I really don’t think this article is very clear about the point it’s trying to make. The middle section seems to be listing the advantages to the freelancer, not the client, and why would a business only employ ‘several dozen’ of a particular profession among ‘several thousand’ employees, particularly if that profession is its core business?
I’d also question how far a freelance is in fact ‘free to innovate’ – this may be true for some sectors, but many companies are actually more rigid with the brief they give to their freelances because they want a consistent product.
Akapain
September 6th, 2011 at 12:46 pmAlso, a freelancer loses out to a studio; a big brand didn’t think I could handle the work, but now I talk as ‘we’ I’m not dismissed as quickly. I’ve got more jobs and bigger pay when I run like a small studio. Acting big gets me the dough.
Kristine Putt
September 6th, 2011 at 1:51 pmI agree with Akapain, I’ve had similar experiences. Also often times, when a prospective Client believes you’re a one-pony operation working from your home, they’re more inclined to ask for “discounts” or take advantage of your time, something they would never do with a studio or agency (Can you hear it now? “Heck, after all, you don’t have a huge studio and tons of overhead. You’re just working at home in your pajamas, right?” lol). Nothing wrong with saying “we.” Everyone from my printers to my consultants are part of my success team, and there’s nothing deceitful about that.
Gold
September 6th, 2011 at 3:39 pmKristine- (Can you hear it now? “Heck, after all, you don’t have a huge studio and tons of overhead. You’re just working at home in your pajamas, right?” lol).
My answer to that, “I thought that you were interested in buying I can do for you. I didn’t know that you were really interested in paying for a huge studio and tons of overhead.”
One should have an answer to the price is too high routine.
60% of seller when given that your price is too high routine will drop their price. So why shouldn’t the prospect try it on you?
If the prospect is going to buy you have to continue to sell. If you are going to drop your price, you should have a reason for it. Maybe you can change the specifications or something to justify your lower offer.
Laura Spencer
September 6th, 2011 at 5:50 pmGreat answer Gold! I’m sure those clients exist who are impressed by a big organization, but there are plenty of others who are willing to give a solo professional a chance–especially once they realize that it makes good business sense to do so.
Personally, I never deliberately try to mislead anyone about the size of my business, although I do confess that I sometimes use “we” when I intend to generalize about a group that includes me (we who are involved with Freelance Folder, we freelancers, we writers, etc…).
For those of you who do pretend to be larger than you really are, what happens when your client finds out it’s just you? (Just wondering…)
Gold
September 6th, 2011 at 6:29 pmLaura – Do you really think about the size of the organization when you go to buy a new automobile or do you think about what the auto will do for you?
It is about what you are going to do for the prospect that matters to the prospect.
I suggest when you use “we” that it refers to you and the prospect. It is what your going to do together to achieve the prospects goals.
Laura Spencer
September 6th, 2011 at 6:36 pmGold–Interesting example.
Actually, we did buy a car recently and we deliberately chose to buy from a dealer rather than an individual (such as through an ad in the paper) because of the support (maintenance agreement) that the dealer could offer us.
However, there are plenty of times when I’ve bought things and the size of the organization producing that item (or service) didn’t matter.
Kristine Putt
September 6th, 2011 at 7:25 pmThe term “freelance” by definition does not mean you are a single man or woman operation. It simply means you do not have a single (payroll) employer.
Laura, how do you define “pretending?” I hire other freelancers on a contracted basis regularly. So if I said “it’s just me” all over my web site and then brought in a team for a more complex project, couldn’t that be construed as “pretending” also?
Ultimately, it really does depend on what you want to do with your business in the end. What’s the exit strategy? Do you want to sell the business one day? If so, saying “me” is not going to get you much value on the dollar when that day comes. On the other hand, if you’re just creating a job for yourself, then “me” is all you should ever need.
Hasegawa
September 7th, 2011 at 1:00 amSometimes, it’s better to start off in large corporation to learn the foundation in a specific field before jumping into freelancing. I seen a lot of student freelancers helping spoiling the market instead of the actual marketing.
Karen Marcus
September 7th, 2011 at 12:35 pmThanks for this post! Our culture seems to have a “bigger is better” mentality, when–as a colleague of mine likes to say–”better is better.” I think sometimes we freelancers have to remind ourselves of the many perks (including those you listed) that become less possible if we decide to grow.
Laura Spencer
September 7th, 2011 at 4:58 pm“Better is better.” I love that saying Karen Marcus. Thanks for sharing it. :)
Trackbacks