I realize that people, and especially the media, like to write about trends. And with the economy in bad shape, small is in. This is not to say that there aren’t downsides to a company being small. In general though (unless you’re making something like cars perhaps) I find that the advantages of small outweigh the disadvantages.

The Harvard Business Review writes about how smaller companies have an advantage these days:

“I’ve been hearing this from many of my large clients. People in senior positions don’t trust the decisions being handed to them. And if you go one layer down, to middle managers, the distrust is palpable. I don’t know a single person who works for a large company who feels confident they’ll have a job in 6 months. Not one.”

While the uncertainty about jobs may be most relevant these days, I think in general the advice that customers are looking for people they can trust over the long haul is consistent independent of the state of the economy.

Some folks who know this inside out include our speakers at our Small and Special conference for small business owners and entrepreneur hopefuls. I hope you’ll check it out.