Rise of Small Business

Throughout much of history, most people have worked for what could be considered small businesses. Many were independent farmers but you had the local shop owner, blacksmith, tavern, tanner, butcher, baker, candlestick maker etc. The only comparable examples of “mega-corporations” were the lords serfdoms, king’s armies and the church.

As technology advanced a shift happened where more and more people began working for fewer and fewer organizations. By the late 2oth century, at least here in America, majority of people worked for large corporations. Offices were filled with hundreds of workers, many doing menial tasks. Working independently was risky, and as corporate power grew, more and more “Mom and Pop” shops started to close up. In this modern world, only large corporations had the  resources and infrastructure to be successful (especially against other large corporations).

Then came the internet. For small businesses, one of the largest obstacles was an adequate client base. That usually meant the people in your immediate area. Location, Location, Location so to speak. But with the internet, your client base is the digital world, which is now a reasonable portion of the entire planet.

The internet allows a business to reach a large market and has very little overhead. A small business does not need an office or a lot of employees. With tools like Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, UPS, FedEx, Webcomics, social media, etc etc a niche market becomes possible.

But even discounting the internet, more and more I’ve noticed a shift away from mega-corporations amongst people and toward independent employment. Especially among the younger generation. For our parents, working for a large corporation with their nice benefits package and the security of knowing the company isn’t going anywhere was the goal. For mine, doing something you love, even if that means on your own, is far more important.

Even people’s spending preferences have shifted.  Locally owned restaurants are much more popular now than they were when I was a kid. Who wouldn’t rather go to a local restaurant rather than a big chain restaurant? The foods better and the environment is more friendly.

Now, I might just have a distorted view of the world, as you tend to see want to see. It might just be an anomaly that many people I know are making these kinds of pursuits.  That is highly likely even since people tend to cluster around others with similar tastes and beliefs.

But I don’t think it’s just that. Just because I prefer small restaurants and shopping for handmade things from Etsy rather than mass produced stuff from Wal-Mart might influence my perception of how prevalent the trend it. But it doesn’t make those places exist in the first place.

I’d say in the 1980’s corporations reached the peak of their power and dominance, eradicating many of the small shops. Don’t get me wrong, mega-corporations aren’t going anywhere. There are many things that only they can do. But on the other side of the peak is a decline, making room for a new era of small businesses.