"What small is, beatiful is" - losing the business purpose
Many companies lose their purpose of business when they are after some improvements, meanwhile others, keep their business purposes intact. This varies from a company to a company depending how they define their “business statement of purpose”. That statement must be defined in the business plan, and clarified to avoid any issue.
The purpose of a business is not always something fixed, or something that is written in a general form.It must be found and preserved as well as it should be flexible and malleable.
Thinking about the two last paragraphs from the last post Enterprise Definition, both offer different point of views that contradict each other.To explain it, we will cite an example from a business which existed few years ago:
The company “What small is, beautiful is” was a cafeteria in a modest hood in some city. Many people from different class distinctions, used to visit this place, and despite being a small place, it had this feeling of spaciousness, perhaps the correct location and the beveled mirrors gave that illusion. This was not all the place offered, it had a reduced menu of just three meals, but what really gave the fame to this business was a variety of six different and delicious cakes. Moreover, the aromatic coffee was served in small mugs and cups, which made worth its name: “What small is, beautiful is”
Furthermore, having this quiet and peaceful atmosphere, a well selected set of music was chosen to be played as background. The most important factor was the customer service, a German family owned this business, and they consistently tried to keep comfort and elegance.
This was a beautiful place to spend those rainy days, even a site of where important businesses were carried out; several marriages remember the site in which they promised eternal love.
However, if you are a good observer you will note we are talking about the past: This was a business! What happened? Why it disappeared? Well, believe it or not, the place grew; obviously, it grew for business purposes, and yes! It looks paradoxical though, it grew and lost its purpose, it stopped being small and beautiful.
On growing the business lost some important aspects:
1. Intimacy
2. The owners stop giving customer service; they hired personnel but they never transmit the philosophy required to attend the customers.
3. The quality of products decreased. Maybe to save money and consequently, those delicious cakes that gave fame to the place stop being elements to attract customers.
We think they were more factors that lead the business to failure, but these three mentioned above were enough reasons to make it disappear.
Posted on: Business Tips
Is this was a real place or a fictitious one?
This was a real place, the names was changed though.
That's what generally happens with small businesses turning big overnight. When you keep it small, it has that homely feeling to it. Taking the cafeteria as an example, you'd go in a feel like a regular. You'd see familiar faces, that may even know your order, and you'd feel like you belong. It's very hard to transmit that to big successful businesses, because they need more employees to serve more people, and you feel like in a crowded place. I've read tons of biographies like Mark Zuckenberg, Yuri Mintskovsky, and even Bill Gates, but those were kind of internal oriented businesses and they were easier to keep successful. When you have a business that deals with people directly, like the cafeteria, it's easier to manage and keep the customer feeling like he belongs.
