Speed Kills – A Lesson For Tiny Businesses From the NFL

TweetThe National Football League is known for its fast and furious action.  John Madden, NFL broadcaster, has been saying for what seems like decades –

“Speed Kills”

He is referring to the advantage that speedy teams gain over slower teams in a football game — and as a long time football fan, I can attest to the fact that speed is a definitive advantage in football.

But speed is a critical component of a Tiny & Mighty business as well.  Speed is one of the attributes that tiny companies can leverage to steal business from larger and slower companies.

It is simply a reality of business that the larger a company grows – the slower it becomes.

Slower at bringing products and services to market.

Slower at changing existing products and services.

Slower at reacting to changes in the industry.

The best large companies take this disadvantage very seriously and do what they can to increase their speed.  But, the fact remains that the more people that are involved in a decision – the slower that decision is made.

The worst of the large companies are absolutely crippled by their lack of speed.  They are paralyzed by layers of supervisors, managers, directors and executives.  They have committees, strategic plans, market research consultants and boards of directors to contend with.

But Tiny Businesses Can Be Lightning Fast

Your tiny business will find strength in its ability to move quickly.  If you are in a fast changing industry you will find this can be a major competitive advantage.

Micro businesses generally have 5 or less employees and in most cases are run by a solo entrepreneur.  There is no chain of command, no committees, and certainly no monthly board meetings to prepare your case for.

Use this to your advantage.

Make changes quickly to your products or services.  Bring new products and services to market with speed.  React to your industry quickly, as only a tiny business can.

Use your unique ability to strike quickly as a competitive advantage over your larger and slower foes and you will find that “speed kills” in the business world as much as it does in the NFL.