We all interact frequently with SMEs of different types, characters, and offers. I am not exception to that. Some of my conversation partners are active in the outdoor industry, others in textiles in general, others in consumer goods or FMCG. All of them committed to their business. All of them very much aware of their social responsibility towards their employees, the jobs they offer to local communities.
And yet: in all these conversations I have come to realise that very coarsely, these companies fall into one of two fundamental categories:
- Those with an idea, a vision for the bigger picture. That see their business as a means to contribute to a bigger whole. Who follow their own, fairly principled path. Companies that truly try to forge their own path.
- And then those that are a big like play dough: subject to the trials and tribulations their clients inflict on them. Companies that are caught in a ‘victim’ state of mind.
Of course reality is not quite as black and white as I purpose describe it here. But you get the gist.
These types of companies are very different in character from one another. Down to the company ADN. Even if, or maybe despite, them being roughly of the same size, and in some cases indeed active in the same industry.
That SMEs experience economic reality and influence differently than large companies is known. Some of these experiences translate into challenges, neatly outlined in this report by the OECD on the topic of Due Diligence implementation (exec summary: here).
But how different the ‘vibe’ and ‘grit’ is that resonates from such companies, is to me a never ending field of fascination. And also of inspiration.
Walking the Talk, Living the Values
To complement the view outlined in the above mentioned report: There is a positive flip site to being an SME too. Namely, the opportunity to focus, to go very niche, to build something rather quite unique, to create expertise. To create genuine, targetted value add in a society. To live values, rather than talking about them. To do got, and being able to talk about that has meat to the bone. But for that vision and aspiration are indispensable.
Some positive examples of SMEs I am thinking about as I write these lines are:
- Kalani Home (Belgium): home textiles
- Rotauf (Switzerland): outdoor apparel
- Choba Choba (Switzerland): chocolate
- Comistra (Italy): fabrics and textiles
- Studio Tammam (United Kingdom): couture
- Smyle (Netherlands): toothpaste
- Satgana (Luxembourg): startup investments & venture building
- Anact (US): bath towels
- Stadtrand Keramik (Switzerland): crockery
to just name a few on the fly.
What is common to all of them: a clear vision, a clear and unique niche, a clear added social and community value (above and beyond the commercial one), and the fact that for them ‘a job truly well done’ is in the focus, rather than fast growth, high profits, and globalisation. Doing the right things and as good as possible while always improving, rather than just doing things right and good enough.
And yet. They are rare businesses. Most SMEs mould themselves to whatever they feel the demand of the moment is. Victims of the ask of the moment by their clients. Of course they are not totally wrong – after all surviving is a good enough reason for many things. But I observe that much of what they do is without genuine passion. Not without commitment in most cases, but the spark lacks to tell us why they are (still) in business to start with. As a company.
Yes, ownership and management structures play a role in this, yet it is not a sine qua non: after all it is the job of the senior management – whether or not they co-own the company or indeed are ‘just’ hired to run it – to ensure that the ‘raison d’etre’ is crystal clear , lived at every step of the way.
The long and the short of it
Why all this rambling?
Because having a ‘larger than me’ commitment and vision, a raison d’etre, is critical to not fall into the trap of ‘being the victim’. Of living a pro-active approach rather than a re-active approach. Of forging the company’s destiny however and whenever possible, rather than just surfing along the waves of third party decisions and demands.
It sounds complex. And fuzzy. And in a sense it is.
But then again, once you think about all the business you know and interact with on a daily business: it is not.
‘The spark’ is what makes the difference. And the spark is something that is while not physically tangible, and sometimes difficult to put in words, entirely palatable. It is the ‘vibe’ very specifically SMEs resonates with every interaction.
Because they’re small.
Precisely because they are still very personal and human in size.
