Comments on: Is Bigger Really Better?

By: Leslie Portner

Leslie Portner — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:10:30 +0000

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By: Chris Ramey

Chris Ramey — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:56:16 +0000

Bigger is better if you’re referring to the bottom line. The disconnect is that isn’t always proportional to the top line. For years my company made more than General Motors!

By: bigger is better

bigger is better — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 17:30:49 +0000

[...] posted on June 19, 2007 at 4:07 pm and is filed under Inzider. You can follow any responses to …Is Bigger Really Better? | Jane Atkinson, Speaker Launcher …At my very first NSA conference back in the early 90's, I remember hearing a speaker named Barb [...]

By: Fred E. Miller

Fred E. Miller — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:34:33 +0000

Jane:

I used to be in a business that a good friend, in another city was also in.

We kept asking each other, “How many accounts do you have?” What were you sales last month?”

NEITHER of these matter if you’re not profitable!

Your points are well taken and the advice on hiring 1099s for specific assignments makes sense.

This is the era of ‘Gig-anomics!’

By: Greg Schinkel

Greg Schinkel — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:44:03 +0000

Interesting article Jane. My thoughts, having lived the pros and cons over 20 years is that having a “staff” is warranted where you have a somewhat predictable and stable cash flow. So for those speakers who have product systems with a built in renewals/updates it can make sense to have employees. For the rest of us, where our revenues go up and down from season to season, we need to keep our costs flexible. I wonder if the VA model is always the best choice if they require an certain number of hours as a minimum. That is still overhead, just in a different form.

Our biggest concern as speakers is that we need every dollar that we spend to support bringing in more revenue. Even a VA who doesn’t generate results (or free up our time so we can make more money) is really a drag on our bottom line. In fact, if the VA isn’t particularly efficient or effective, all they are is another staff person – their higher hourly rate is equivalent to having an employee with benefits.

By: Jennifer Ledet

Jennifer Ledet — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:34:28 +0000

Jane,
Good point! Coming from corporate (and HR no less!)to owning my own business, I vowed NEVER to have employees! I don’t want the hassle, responsibility, liability, etc. I work with contract professionals and that suits me just fine. For me, bigger is definitely not better!