During the GFC that doesn’t seem to ever want to end, we’ve looked on as some of the world’s biggest companies became the biggest casualties. Size matters, but maybe not in the ways you imagine. As Seth Godin so sagely says … small is the new big.

Big used to be beautiful and getting big as fast as you could was everybody’s aim. We equated size with stability, growth, jobs, economies of scale, R&D.

Today small is beautiful, because small means you and your staff are at the coalface, so you’re more in touch with your market.

Small is more agile and has lower overheads. When your competition ducks you can quickly weave and change your marketing tactics accordingly. And when conditions change as they always do, it’s easier for you to review, restructure and respond.

Small has greater flexibility to customise your offering faster when opportunities open up or the marketplace demands something new or different.

But above all, small has more personality and is more personal. Your customer can talk to you direct, you know their name and their buying habits, and hopefully you’ve gained their trust and loyalty because you value them and take time to foster the relationship.

Sure you may not have the budget and resources of the big boys, and the banks and government aren’t exactly going out of their way to look after what they love to refer to as ‘the engine room of the economy’. But look at what you do have. Couple that with awesome technology, enormous e-business potential and a memorable brand, and you could be unstoppable.

So be happy to be small and stand tall … size may matter to some, but the best and biggest and brightest things are often wrapped up in the smallest packages.