For so many of us, staying the course is how we assume our businesses will thrive and be successful. And in most cases, this is true. I also think that walking that line too straight, not allowing room for adjustments that address your clients or customers’ needs can pose a bigger problem for us as small businesses.

The beauty of running a small shop is that we are not big business. We have the flexibility to work closely with our clients and really drill into the core of their problems to get them what they need, sometimes even what they want, and a whole lot quicker too! Bigger companies need money and large teams of people to achieve one thing.

At first glance, this is alluring and we can get trapped thinking going bigger is better and this is the way we should go about running our business. And I can’t blame you for thinking this way. I get there myself from time to time. I have to remember all of my years spent working in large firms running accounts for some really big brands.

The lessons I have to remember from being on teams with upwards of 10 people at times, and those people are reporting to 5 or more people on the clients’ side to get approval on just pieces of the project. And if think about that for a second. It can take upwards of 15 people on a project to get one thing done. 15 people means 15 different opinions and levels of bullshit you have to weed through before we can even get down to the point of the problem and start addressing the reason we do this in the first place, the people.

Big companies have to spend as much time managing the people as they do tending to their clients. Staying the course for them equals less focus on the tailored client experience. Less focus on the end user and long drawn out deadlines, designed to support the salaries of all everyone involved. The advantages of us smaller companies is that we can work hard, work fast, and still take the time to serve our clients’ needs in the process.

Not staying the course does not have to mean changing your plans and goals regarding how you want to run your business. Just remember so situations may call for your to deviate some when your clients’ needs change. Lastly, run your small company as a small company and not a big one.