Great article in NYT regarding a small business that intends to stay small. I found this relevant as I try to picture what I want my own business to look like. Do I want employees, would I want to focus on one product, what if I mass-produced a design, how much wholesale work am I willing to take on...
Not that my business is need the answer to those questions yet. I'm just writing a business plan and am thinking about where I would like to be in 5 years.
Anyway, a good read about keeping your business small. The pros and cons.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/business/smallbusiness/14sbiz.html?em
via dianafayt twitter
3 comments:
What a fascinating interview! Having worked in customer service for many years, I love the idea of this couple keeping their lives in balance, keeping their priorities straight and not bending over backwards for whatever a customer may demand.
didn't read the article yet and don't have to address it yet either but have started and run 2 other businesses and the most important lesson i ever learned was to never hire an employee unless absolutely necessary because they do not and can not care about your business success the way you do. if you have to take the plunge, you have to do whatever it takes to get to someone you trust. disaster will follow otherwise.
I think it is interesting how this is a "different" approach to running a business. For me, half the appeal of my own business is being able to make time when I need to, for whatever reason.
I don't want to run myself ragged, but it seems like that is a common business model. I want to work hard, don't get me wrong. I am more than willing to put in 8-10 hours a day. But 12-16 hours a day in the studio everyday is just not my idea of a good life.
Jim, I agree that a good employee is hard to find. And I don't want to be anybody's boss. Unless it is a friend that does the occasional packing of boxes and scraping of kiln shelves. All the other stuff, I want to do myself. Because I like it.
Post a Comment