Small Business - Success Factors

The following factors, in my opinion, are some of the key driving factors for the success of a small organization. While it is true that the same factors are useful for an organization of any size, the factors below apply more to a smaller organization than a larger organization, due to the lack of dedicated functional resources which are usually available in a larger organization. * Cross-functional training In any organization, ‘silo’-ization of information is a problem. ‘Silo’-ization is a term I use to describe creation of distinct storehouses of knowledge / information about the company, and it’s processes. Some of it is unintended, simply because it is a tad impractical to know everything about everything in your organization. However, sometimes it is also intentional. In the latter case, there can be several driving factors: 1. Employee insecurity in imparting information which they think may be hazardous to their continued employment 2. Employee inertia to hold on to an existing skill-set and to not evolve with time. 3. Lack of good communication within the team leading to distrust, 4. Or just plain old laziness. This problem gets compounded as ‘silo’-ization increases and usually has an adverse impact on efficiency and viability of an organization as a whole. To counter these * Leading from the top While leadership from the top is key for an organization of any size, I believe it has a special meaning in case of a small company. In a small company, you typically get to know people more intimately than a small organization since one has to wear many hats at the same time. Therefore, top management personality traits can have a significant impact on the employees. * Documentation Documentation is essential for: - Maintaining project history over time. - Keeping a record of KPIs ( Key Performance Indicators ) over the years and trending them to evaluate current performance.