Smaller Is Better

Trust me, smaller IS better.

When my business partner Matt and I started Sector45, we both had the exact same thing in mind. Do spectacular work for our clients and stay small. We don’t want to be a big company and we don’t want to ever lose sight of what we started our company for in the first place. To do it better.

I realize it sounds like we are quoting a scene from Jerry McGuire but the reality is that as companies grow, they get sloppy. They get greedy. They lose sight of what they started for in the beginning. There are literally thousands of examples of this.

• In 2000, successful veggie burger company Boca Burger was bought out by Kraft Foods. Kraft is owned by Philip Morris Tobacco Company.
• Cascadian Farms, a small cereal maker (you may have heard of “Purely O’s”) was bought out by General Mills. The sugar count in their cereals tripled.
• Ben & Jerry’s sold out to Unilever.
• Kashi cereal sold out to Kellogg’s.
• Tom’s of Maine sold out to Colgate-Palmolive.
• The Body Shop sold out to L’Oreal.

It’s the common story of your eyes being bigger than your stomach. The opportunity to grow big and make more money draws people in but almost always the quality of the product is sacrificed.
When you think about growing your business keep in mind that you started to offer a great product or service to your potential customers. The second you start sacrificing that you have already lost the essence of your offering and in time you run a high risk of losing customers and your reputation.