A Tiny business is as vital as a Huge Conglomerate

Tiny businesses have not changed since this photo was taken in 1956 - a tiny business is owned [usually] by one person, a solo-preneur, who offers one type of product [usually] using a person-to-person selling model [again, usually].  Now that it is 2010 and we live in a global economy the tiny business - still one entrepreneur with basically one type of product - can reach out to many different markets. 

The flower vendor in the photo enjoyed the patronage of both the people who lived in his community and knew about his business and the chance passer-by who made a spur-of-the-moment purchase.  Members of his community maybe traveled across town to purchase from him because they knew his prices were fair and his products of fine quality.  They may have chosen him as their flower vendor because of his business standing in his community.  For a tiny business, the business' reputation rests on the reputation of the owner/operator.

I got to thinking about the vitality of the tiny business in relation to the vitality of a national economy the other day by observing two different types of single-owner concerns.  One is the single-owner long-haul trucker.  In the United States commerce moves by rail and truck.  I currently am living in an area of a western state near a major freeway...an artery from the central valley of the state to the huge coastal shipping ports.  This freeway is full of trucks...huge semis and hundreds and hundreds of medium to small cargo and delivery trucks.  Sometimes you see on the sides of the big rigs notices about them being 'owner-operated.'  I found an interesting site, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association that gives these numbers on their About page, "...The nearly 160,000 members of OOIDA are men and women in all 50 states and Canada who collectively own and/or operate more than 240,000 individual heavy-duty trucks and small truck fleets...."

These might be owners of a single big rig or the owner of a small fleet of smaller trucks - my point is that by definition these are businesses that fit into the small business category.  And without them commerce would grind to a halt.  In my own neighborhood in the past few weeks I've seen delivery trucks bring everything from furniture to electronics to homes in trucks owned by small business people.  One good-sized delivery truck had the name of the owner as the name of the business...kind of like 'Joe's Trucking.'  These small businesses fill vital slots in the daily movement of goods and services.  They provide a living for the owners and allow other types of businesses to move their products in the marketplace.  Here's a thought: without delivery truck service companies like UPS or FedEx, companies like Amazon.com could not move product.  Yes, those are big enterprises, but little businesses like 'Frank's Office Supply' need trucking companies like 'Joe's Trucking' to get their business done locally and economically.

Another type of owner-operated business I see much of are the individually owned landscape services.  Our community has lots of them.  Many of the residents of my community commute long hours to jobs in high tech and maintaining their yards just isn't something they have the time for.  These small, single-owner landscaping concerns fill the void by offering competent and affordable service - they come by once a week and mow the lawn, pull the weeds and trim the hedges.  In a culture that prizes a front lawn and garden, these little businesses fill a great need.  Is it vital?  Well, it provides a living for the owners of the landscaping businesses and it fills a perceived need for the consumers.

I was also thinking about this recently because I heard someone make a comment about the good fortune of those who begin as a tiny business and grow to become a conglomerate.  Who would fit that description?  I can think of a couple of computer industry examples.  However the truth is that the huge majority of tiny businesses stay that way:

• the hair salon with two hairdressers and a nail expert
• the auto mechanic and his partner
• the delivery truck owner and his one vehicle
• the seamstress and alterations expert working out of a dry cleaner business
• the landscape service who is the owner and his immediate family
• the typing service who is the typist at her kitchen table
• the single professional office [whether it is a dentist, doctor or attorney]

There are so very many that it would be impossible to have a fully functioning economy without tiny businesses.  Think about it.

Comments

[Used pickup trucks]

Nice piece of information with an example of small businesses flourishing to strive in the world of industrialization. I have also seen small organization becoming big with their key feature of customer support and customer centric.