How big does your small business need to look?

Posted on | November 21, 2008 | 3 Comments

I got a message recently to let me know about the launch of a new product for microbusinesses and, specifically, for home based businesses wanting to look bigger than they are.

Do people still do that?

Is it still necessary for small businesses to pretend that they are big businesses? And is it still necessary for home-based businesses to make excuses for being home-based?

Of course, the message was full of stereotypes about home-based business owners trying to sound professional while they answer the cell with one hand while holding the baby with the other. It asks how such a home-based business owner can deliver a message that says, “We’re organized, we’re professional.”

Seems to me that the obvious answer to that is to be organized and professional, instead of paying somebody a monthly fee to help you fake it well.

But maybe that’s just me.

I suppose a lot depends on what you do for a living and what kind of clientele or other business contact you have to deal with in the course of your day-to-day business life. As a reporter, I’ve never had a problem with being an unapologetic home-based business owner. Corporate consultants, working their way up the decision-making food chain and dealing with corporate executives with no sense of humor might be in a different situation.

You can call it smoke and mirrors or presenting a good appearance or whatever you like. It still feels like lying to me. And, on some level, it still conveys that old idea that having a small business is something to be ashamed of.

And that not something that anybody has to do in order to run a successful business — even a home-based one.

I would rather dazzle my clients with jaw-dropping expertise in my field, remarkable communications skills and amazing customer service. Having all that, and assuming I do simple things like return voice mail messages, I doubt my customers will decide to drop me for a competitor with a receptionist.

Or even a faux receptionist.

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