Why Working in a Small Company is Not a Good Idea at all?

Many a times people switch from a bigger company to a smaller company and the reason could be very many. An analysis of the reasons would typically reveal the following drivers for such a switch:

• One gets laid off from a bigger company and finding another similar position is difficult at another similar sized organization, this is all the more difficult at higher positions and senior designations.
• One can't grow any further in the bigger company because of higher competition for available positions and reduced opportunities one would find as one moves upwards in the hierarchy.
• One wants to take up higher responsibilities like handling a team, liaising with external agencies, etc. earlier than what would be probably possible in a bigger organization.

However, no sooner would one land in a smaller company, one would hit upon more intricate challenges. These challenges are important to be appreciated as they clearly indicate why working in a small company is not a good idea at all. Here are some such challenges:

• One feels trapped in the current role and sees no potential to move vertically, at times compounded by the fact that the person in the higher role one is reporting into is totally incompetent and is there because of being a trusted lieutenant of the top man and a part of the old boys club. The phenomenon of old boys club is rampant in smaller companies and owing to that they are far away from being a professional organization.
• One feels saturated in terms of the learning and growth opportunities and also sees many others lingering on in the organization (and many of them sadly because they have no chance of getting another job to move on). The canvas is simply small and one would have painted it all over in no time. Thereafter one has nothing significant to do and learn.
• One feels frustrated by the big egos in the smaller company. Yes that's the most shocking reality, the long timers in a smaller company have egos bigger than the size of an elephant and despite being a frog in the well they live under the wrong notion that they are the best. Not only that, lack of experience of working at varied organizations comes up as a serious flaw in the long-timers as they have too narrow and unhealthy perspective. As compared to this, long timers in a bigger company have a much bigger canvas and hence a much broader and healthier perspective.