What better time to point out the advantages of being a smaller firm than when the industry is experiencing a contraction. All the more so since we have this strange obsession with growth, captured in phrases like “if you aren’t growing, you’re dying.” You can’t fit deep thinking on a bumper sticker, and that looks like a bumper sticker to me.
Part of this comes from an economic reality in which we expect publicly traded companies to not merely be as profitable this quarter as last quarter, but the earnings must be growing at a higher rate.
No, you’re not a publicly traded company and shareholder expectations are not a factor, except for your own expectations. Those should revolve around a great work/life balance, doing honest work, and making good money. How that happens is secondary, and if you play your cards right, it’s quite possible to do that as a smaller firm. In fact, you may find it easier to accomplish as a smaller firm. That’s the introduction to the many advantages of being just that: smaller rather than larger.