Small Business > Big Business

Breaking news: TURNS OUT RUNNING A SMALL BUSINESS ISN’T THE SAME AS BEING A MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION

Sometimes people come to me stressed that trying to make their solo practice or small business financially sustainable makes them a frothing capitalist. No, friend, consider the difference:

LARGE CORPS FREQUENTLY:

  • Pay less than the value people create for the company in order to make money for external shareholders
  • Reduce autonomy by using command/control models of management
  • Externalize downstream negative impacts to climate and people to focus on short-term earnings
  • Control trillions of dollars of capital internationally, centralize wealth, and influence political policies.

SMALL BUSINESS CAN:

  • Directly pay profits to workers, who are often also owners
  • Utilize input mechanisms from workers to determine how to work and what to work on
  • Mitigate or avoid negative impact on climate and people
  • Return money to local economies and individuals

Small businesses *can* do what they do in ways that are positive, because they’re small and can manage internal decisions more democratically, are not beholden to make money for external parties, and often have more localized service/supply chains.

But in order to do this, small businesses have to be able to make the money that will enable them to pay workers [including working owners] thriving wages, make purchasing decisions that are values-aligned, and have enough time to work and rest.

This means: charging enough to cover expenses – including fair wages and local suppliers.

(This also means: finding people willing and able to pay these prices.)

I run a workshop once a year for small business owners who want to design their businesses to thrive – for them and for all the good they can do: Small Business Big Life starts Sept 9, 2024 and consists of seven workshops over eight weeks on Monday afternoons until Oct 28. If you sign up with a deposit of $150 by 8/15, it’s $800 — afterwards, it’s $895.

 My face when:

The next time someone who’s barely making ends meet with their small business asks you if it’s capitalist to make more money from their business, kindly share this with them.