Category Archives: Micro-Business

This is sort of an advanced concept for some people. They may have such difficulty staying ahead of the game themselves, that they find it hard to conceive of sharing the best bits of their business with others.  Others I have known were able to share their game without losing control of their business. It can be a real win-win situation when handled correctly.

Making your business into a game big enough for others requires an exterior viewpoint of your business and your reasons for establishing it. It also helps if you are a coldly analytical, yet compassionate judge of people. And finally, you must enjoy your work, if you want to share it.

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Bill, at Writelife, recently wrote a thoughtful post on the social aspect of work. It is well worth reading. His viewpoint on micro-businesses was interesting and I feel it is worth an extended discussion.

Bill wrote: "Much depends on the kind of micro-business you choose, but I think to a large extent you work in isolation."

I think that connectedness or isolation is determined more by one’s personality than one’s choice of business. It may also have to do with the social patterns of the time and of the area in which you live.

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There is a delicate balance between producing and organizing. Too much attention on either one is bad for a company in the long run.

At the same time, in a micro-business they are almost mutually exclusive. You are either doing one or the other. If your business is growing, there is always pressure to produce or to spend time with prospects and customers. Organizing under those circumstances takes a lot of determination and will power.

You should not flog yourself if your workspace fails to resemble a spread in Architectural Digest. Most of the successful small companies I worked in had some clutter in all areas along with a purposeful bustle. The main focus was on getting products out and secondarily on improving efficiency through organization.

The secret lies in finding out how little organization you can get by with and still consistently meet your targets. You achieve improvement by getting your work done however you can (coping) while keeping your eyes open for opportunities to organize.

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Can your micro-business become a virtual corporation? The virtual business model may make sense for many micro-businesses.

A micro-business has a core competency, limited finances, and operates as a bare-bones organization where a few people wear many hats. There are few resources available for building up inventory, developing new markets, and expanding production in case of increasing demand.

Forging temporary alliances with suppliers, distributors, and complementary no-fat operations enables a micro-business to offer products and services that it would not otherwise be able to afford. This flexible working alliance is based on trust as there is usually no formal agreement.

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