Leading a small business is a unique opportunity with tons of upside. Small business is thriving today, and its impact is significant. So how to lead small business for the biggest growth and best results? There are a few key strategies you can employ.
Whether you work for a small business or lead one, it’s wise to consider what’s unique about small business–because the approaches you take can make a big difference in your success and the rewards you create for yourself and others.
Small Business Is Big Business
Small businesses—those with less than 500 employees—are surging. In fact, according to the US Department of the Treasury, half of Americans that work for a private business, work for a small one. Said another way, small businesses account for about half of all private employment. And small businesses have created 71% of new jobs since 2019.
In addition, entrepreneurship and small business startups are strong. The US is currently averaging 430,000 new business applications per month—a 50% increase since 2019. And business applications for organizations that are likely to hire employees have risen to 140,000 per month—a gain of 30% since 2019. All of this is according to the US Department of the Treasury.
Looking ahead, business confidence is increasing, and the job growth rate for entrepreneurs is 6% for 2018 through 2028, according to Zippia.
Interestingly, there are terrific benefits to being small—and they can lead to big gains in growth and success.
How to Lead Small Business for Big Growth
So, with all the opportunity, how do you lead a small business successfully? Here are the unique elements of a small business you can use to your advantage.
1. Agility
One of the best things about being a small business is your ability to move with speed and agility. Your locus of control is high, meaning that when you make a decision, its effects are more immediate and more visible, compared with a larger organization. In addition, you’re able to keep the time shorter for processing, pondering or pontificating—before you take decisive action.
Lead your small business by leveraging your agility. Stay informed and aware of future of work trends, your context, your markets, your customers and your competitors. Establish an open culture that encourages people to speak up and share ideas for improvement and growth.
Empower people to make decisions where they have the best visibility to the potential impacts of their decision, and ensure plenty of communication and information flow, so people are in the loop and can be proactive—and so they can respond to what’s new, what’s hot and what’s going on.
2. Accountability
Another huge benefit of being a small business is accountability. When you’re small, you tend to be more aware of what people are doing on the team, in the department and in the organization. This allows for real advantages.
- People have line of sight to others and how their work impacts them—and how it impacts on the organization and customers. This tends to result in positive obligation, purpose and fulfillment.
- People can provide feedback. When you’re more aware of what each other are doing, it’s easier to have the necessary information to provide feedback or coaching—allowing for quick and constant improvement among individuals and teams.
Lead your small business by demonstrating your own commitment to accountability. Be transparent about your passion —as well as the purpose of the organization. Be clear and compelling in communicating the vision and goals for the organization—and communicating with people about how they matter to the mission and the results.
Also demonstrate humility, be open to others’ ideas and admit your mistakes. When you are focused on constant learning and improvement, you’ll encourage a culture that is as well—and this drives performance.
3. Belonging
In a small organization, people tend to be close knit, because they have plenty of access to each other. They tend to know more about each other and have a sense of familiarity and proximity—because they’re interacting with the same relatively similar group day-to-day.
Interestingly, when you are more familiar with people, you tend to be more accepting. In addition, when you see people more, you tend to build trust more rapidly. In addition, when you feel that others know you, it contributes to your wellbeing—because feeling seen is linked with mental health.
Lead your small business by being accessible to people and getting to know them. Keep the appropriate boundaries, but also encourage a culture where people feel free to bring their talents fully to their work and be themselves.
Create the conditions for respect and belonging by recognizing people’s contributions, asking questions, listening and expressing empathy—fostering relationships between team members and between leaders and individual contributors.
4. Opportunity
Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of being small is the opportunities you provide to employees—and therefore how they grow and in turn, help you grow the company.
Small business generally requires people to wear many hats, jumping in and supporting across departments or traditional areas of responsibility. This allows for tons of learning and growth in the midst of accomplishing the work. And it also gives people plenty of visibility—working beyond a traditional lane and getting to know both team members and leaders across the organization.
Lead your small business by encouraging people to maintain a broad perspective, and stay in tune with what’s going on in other departments. Also encourage employees to ask how they can help in case there is an urgent priority or a problem to solve. Recognize people when they deliver on promises.
Also use this in your hiring practices. Attract candidates to work with your organization because of all the learning and adaptability in the culture—and based on the terrific opportunities to develop and grow their career with you.
Lead Small Business with Optimism
There have been increases in business optimism in recent months, and business leaders are confident about conditions. In fact, more than 70% of small business expect growth in revenue over the next year.
In addition, there is more diversity among entrepreneurs—with 43% of self-employed Americans who are women and with the share of Black, Asian and Hispanic self-employed Americans at a near-all-time high, according to the US Department of the Treasury.
It’s a great time to be a small business, and you can leverage what’s unique about being a small business in order to grow, succeed and enhance your impact—which is good for your people and good for you.
You can develop your skills in how to lead small business—by leaning into the quickness, agility and accountability that are inherent to a smaller size. And you can build belonging, acceptance and respect with an open culture full of learning and opportunity for employees. The opportunity for small business is certainly big.