Working For A Small Company –
7 Reasons Why You Might Want To Do It.

Of course I want to work for myself and that is my overall goal. I still feel like you are not truly financially independent unless you are working for your self. However, I will concede that I have noticed some benefits from working at a small company as opposed to a larger company. Granted, I have not been at the new company that long, but here are a few of the things I have noticed.

1. More interaction with company leaders.
   One of the biggest problems I sometimes experienced at the larger company I was with was that I did not get to interact with real decision makers, matter of fact they didn’t even know my name. I could sometimes interact with mid level managers pretty well, but the people that really made decisions were hard to speak to. It’s kind of hard to learn how the real decision makers got where they are without ever getting to talk to them. When I say decision makers, I mean your VPs, Presidents, CEOs, and tech directors. I am talking about the people that don’t have to ask to permission to get something done, I am talking about the people that give permission.
2. Can help further your career.
   This might seem counter intuitive but I will explain. One thing I noticed about a lot of the younger senior managers at the large firm that I worked for was that they worked for small companies at some point in their careers. For example, one of the managers that I, and most of the younger employees, really looked up to had a great background story.
   
   One of my old managers at the large company graduated from college and worked at this large firm; he got his first promotion and quit to work for a small company. Fast forward a few years he comes back to said firm and is hired back as a senior manager to manage one of their largest new contracts. Another senior manager at this same company had a similar story. The thing is, when you work for a small company you are given a little more leeway to show off your skills and make a name for yourself. Resources are limited so you are afforded the opportunity to be creative in your quest to get things done. If your goal is to attain a high position at a huge company, working at a small firm your field will help you get valuable experience a lot quicker, if you do amazing things at a small firm, large firms will often take notice.
3. Less Rigid Roles.
   Since the company is small there are less people to do things. A small company might not have a recruiting staff, a small company might not have a staff specifically assigned to develop proposals or do product development. This lack of rigid roles will allow you to move freely and gain exposure to various things that you may not get to experience if you had a specific role, like you may have in a large company.
4. The learning experience.
   The great thing about a big firm is that they are huge and established. While you are working for a large firm you may learn things that will help you keep a company successful, but you cant see first hand what moves were made to get that company where it is, you can get that from a small company. The small company is trying to make a name for itself in its field, the owner is working hard, because his/her financial stability depends on it, you can learn
   a lot from working in that type of environment. If your goal is to build your own company, you can learn first hand about how its done by observing and taking part what is going on around you at the small company.
5. You will be forced to work harder.
   When you are hired into a small company you will be forced to be creative, and come up with ideas because there aren’t a whole lot of people coming up with ideas just because of the size of the company. People will ask you for suggestions and ideas, and you don’t want to sound uninformed. Also, it is easier for people to see if you are slacking and you don’t want to look bad. When you work at a huge company you are lucky if you get to meet the CEO or president, where as at a small company you might interact with that person on a weekly or even daily basis, you want to make a good impression. You have a chance to look good in front of the person that is really cutting your check, as oppose to a manager that can just make recommendations about promotions and raises and give you a pat on the back.
6. Your contribution is noticed and felt.
   The VP at my current job said something in a meeting once and it stuck with me. He said something to the affect of: “We want you guys to learn more about topics that you are passionate about, if you are able to become proficient in something it increases the total firms knowledge of that subject because we are so small”. Since there are so few people all contributions to the bottom line and growth of the company are noticed, its great to feel like you are taking part in the success of something. Now, once you reach a high level in a large firm you can get this feeling as well, but if you are just starting out in a big company, it can be harder to see how your contribution is affecting the company as a whole. Simply put, you can feel more important when you make a big contribution at a small firm.
7. Great chance to get in on something early.
   All large companies started out small. If the small company you are working at becomes large or a large company buys them you might get some financial gains from being in on it early. Think about where the first few employees of apple are today, since apple was a company that paid early employees in stock.