Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big - Insights for Business Owners from Bo Burlingham

Twenty years after its release, Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big by Bo Burlingham remains relevant. In a world dominated by mega-corporations, the book’s insights- that it’s not about becoming the biggest, most well-known and fastest-growing company, but about building something meaningful, value-driven, and connected to the community- is a breath of fresh air. 

Controlling Their Own Destiny 

Each of the fourteen companies featured in Small Giants confronted the same choices of any successful company: Will we grow? If we choose to grow, how will we do it?

Each of these businesses made a conscious decision to choose people over profit and prioritize integrity, transparency, and connection instead of rapid growth and expansion. 

They chose to remain privately-owned, either by an individual or a small group of like-minded individuals, in order to maintain control over the products, services, brand, image, and culture. This strategy has given them the freedom to make bold, innovative decisions that align with their vision, not the demands of outside shareholders and investors. They understand that big doesn’t always equal great. 

Those decisions then became the framework for all future decisions as new opportunities and relationships emerged.

Characteristics of a Great Business Leader

Each of the 14 businesses highlighted in Small Giants  are led by individuals who:

• Has a sense of who they are and what they want for themselves and their businesses. 

• Has a passion for what they do.

• Understand the distinction between being leaders and professional managers and have chosen to be the former. 

• Creates relationships that are mutually supportive. 

• Has a vision of how they want their businesses to be in the world and then follows through on their decisions to honor that vision.

Relationships Are Key

Whether it’s employees, customers, the community, or suppliers, relationships are everything. These businesses operate on trust, communication, and transparency. Instead of trying to be and do everything, they focus on being the best at a few things and cultivating strong relationships. 

 “They say what they are going to do and do what they are going to say.”

Employees Are Their Most Valuable Resource

Employees aren’t just workers- they’re vital contributors to the business’s success. These successful businesses understand that to retain good talent, they have to provide outlets for growth, education, and advancement. These companies foster cultures where employees can operate autonomously and are heard, involved, independent, and proud of where they work. This strengthens their brands, products, and relationships in ways that have a direct benefit for customers. 

“Empowered, happy employees contribute to happy customers.”

Connection With the Community is a Priority

Great companies are embedded in their communities. They don’t just “give back” to the communities,  the communities help shape who they are as a business. From school partnerships to neighborhood engagement, these businesses get involved and foster relationships.  

A great example of this is CitiStorage Inc. in Brooklyn. In 1994, founder Norm Brodsky made the decision to move CitiStorage out of Manhattan into a struggling Williamsburg. He initially installed a security system and implemented policies to protect his facility and employees against the assumed dangers of a “bad” neighborhood.

To his surprise, the community was responsive to the new business. Recruiting was easy because quality job opportunities were scarce; thereby helping to create employee loyalty. Employees who made the move with Brodsky from Manhattan to Brooklyn were re-energized by the sense of community and changes within the company. 

In response, Brodsky reached out to the community and worked to develop relationships by inviting the “neighbors” to tour the facility, inviting community members to company parties, and making space available for community theater. As a result, employee loyalty, community connection, and a strong business reputation were established.

Today, when potential customers are given tours of the facility, it is the employees’ happiness and engagement in the business that garners the most comments and often is the reason potential customers decide to become actual customers.

Another example is Righteous Babe Records in Buffalo, NY. They were one of the few businesses to move into a struggling Buffalo in 2004, revitalizing a beloved historic church and turning it into a dynamic business center for themselves. Since then, they use local talent to create and express their creativity in the music industry and support local businesses by using the low-cost competitive services available. Everyone, from the business owner to the employees and the community members, benefit from the company culture and mission. 

Supplier Partnerships

Another standout theme is the way these successful companies treat their suppliers. For example, Zingerman’s Community of Businesses not only sources from local suppliers but highlights their stories through tastings at their deli, their newsletter, ZCOB, which regularly features suppliers and reports on interesting aspects of their businesses, and highlights the process of the food so customers can understand where their food comes from.

Great businesses like Zingerman’s don’t just make one-time deals, they make commitments to suppliers and build relationships based on trust and communication and continue to collaborate. They make sure they work with suppliers who follow through on their commitments just as they do.

Growth Through Innovation

Growth doesn’t always mean replication. 

For instance, the Union Square Hospitality Group and The Goltz Group chose to grow in creative, innovative ways instead of duplication. Founder of Union Square Hospitality Group Danny Myer decided to create additional unique restaurants, each with their own identity, theme, and market share, despite already operating a successful business that he knew worked. 

Jay Goltz, owner of the Goltz Group, began as a premier frame shop for artists. In an effort to keep himself and his employees fresh, dynamic, and engaged, he opened complimentary, yet independent, businesses. Today, he has a successful garden store, wholesale framing company, and art gallery. 

These businesses understand that growth can be accomplished by combining what they have already done with creativity and innovation to capture new opportunities.

Creating Growth Through Resilience and Innovation

Kingston Family Vineyards is a perfect example of evolving through innovation, risk-taking, resilience, and creativity, all while embracing their rich history. 

Kingston Family Vineyards’s story starts over a century ago. In the early 1900s, Carl John Kingston traveled from Michigan to Chile in search of  gold, and ended up yielding a cattle ranch in the hills of Casablanca. Five generations later, the Kingston’s are still farmers, but they’ve since expanded their ventures. Their founder, Courtney Kingston, decided to take a risk and create a new market of farming organic red-wine grapes in a region of Chile known for its white wines (a risky decision that paid off). Kingston Family Vineyards has achieved great success as a small business and has become a tourist destination, earning TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence multiple years in a row.

The creative, hard-working, and pioneering spirit of the Kingston family has led to a successful, lucrative, and family-oriented, multi-generational small business. They are proof that oftentimes, the most successful companies don’t take the most logical next step, but instead spin off with new ventures, sometimes becoming completely different in the process. Most importantly, they remained aligned with their history and values. 

My Takeaway

Small Giants was a five-star read. Bo Burlingham has done an excellent job of taking volumes of information and distilling it into an informative, entertaining publication. Burlingham gives great insights for business owners that you wouldn’t normally consider when looking at businesses and how they operate, grow, and succeed. 

We’ve all heard the saying, “Don’t recreate the wheel.” Until reading this book, I would have assumed that if you had a great business, the natural choice would be to expand by recreating it. Now, I see how that strategy could lead to stagnation, reduced creativity, and how it becomes easier to lose control. By thinking outside the box, there are infinite possibilities for taking a successful business and expanding creatively while adhering to the original values and business culture.

I recommend this book to those who run and work in their family's business, entrepreneurs, founders, and anyone building a business rooted in connection, values, and purpose. Bo Burlingham provides a great framework for building a company you can be proud to lead. 

In the end, for many, being great instead of big can be the most rewarding…adding value to their lives, relationships, and communities.