One of the first ways people like to measure a business is “how big are you?” or “how many employees do you have?” The size question follows popular thinking: “the bigger the business, the more successful the business.” After 44 years in the manufacturing business, we have never been a big business, so we don’t know about being big. However, we have worked with many different sizes of businesses, and our experience says that a lot of success has been found in small businesses as well as big.
Last summer, the survey of Walker Mower registered owners who were in the commercial mowing business (see Walker Talk Vol. 21, “The Price is Right”) revealed the average business was small. Yes, there were 5% who had over $1 million annual sales, but 88% reported $500,000 and under. Clearly, the majority of Walker contractors are small businesses. We see that many of these small businesses are very successful, and we are happy to be a part of their success. Many of these owners are “in business for themselves” and are making a much better income than their previous employment.
We don’t see that size is of much importance in the equation for success. We have observed the experience of companies that outgrew themselves and either went out of business or downsized with better results — handling less money but putting more in their pocket — having fewer employees but better opportunities for the remaining employees.
What is the right size for a business? First, I believe the correct perspective is that size is an outcome and not a goal. People who focus on being a certain size are getting the cart in front of the horse. The right size for the business will be the natural result or outcome of having the correct vision and positioning of the company, allowing the business to reach its own equilibrium. By vision I mean, knowing who you are, how you got there and where you want to go. If you are at the right time and place, work hard, take opportunities at hand and operate with the correct principles, your business will “find” the right size without having “size” as a goal.
Every size of business has its strengths and weaknesses, and each has the opportunity to enjoy success. Frankly, we are happy to be a smaller manufacturing company competing with giants, and we are glad to have thousands of small businesses using Walker Mowers rather than a few big companies.
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