What is ‘business success’? Less is more.

What is ‘business success’? Less is more.

I was travelling home from Buenos Aires when I read a fascinating article by Paul Jarvis, the author of ‘Company of One : Why staying small is the next big thing for business’.

Paul’s piece resonated with me as a fellow ‘small but beautiful’ business owner, as I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been asked ‘why have you never scaled up and taken on external funding ?’

Personally, being successful doesn’t necessarily translate to new hires, mergers or take-overs. In fact I’m a great fan of truly effective alliances, collaborations and consultancies – just as I did 16 years ago when I joined ITRA Global, one of the world’s leading commercial real estate alliances dedicated exclusively to representing corporate occupiers.

So what is ‘business success’ ? It’s certainly not worrying how can I afford to pay dozens of staff, training younger talent or enduring sleepless nights over hikes in business rates and escalating office rents. As Paul Jarvis eloquently observes ‘investor interests won’t always align with what’s best for the end customers’.

I’m proud to have been in the commercial office market for over 40 years and have run a successful, profitable, sustainable international business for more than 25 of them and based everything I’ve accomplished on three words, ‘trust, value and respect’.

I don’t need to transact 100 deals a year to justify a percentage of market share – I’m far happier working with a select few clients at a time who get the very best of me and everyone I know that will benefit them.

Believe me I work hard and occasionally some ridiculously long hours (global time differences tend to do that) which can be disruptive to a happy home life but I love running a small, agile business that’s devoted to my clients and one that can slip into top gear in a heartbeat and is not mired in committees, procedures, protocols, corporate structures and complex cash flow forecasts.

If I want to do something I do it virtually immediately.

Over time I think I’ve made one or two really good decisions but equally have the humility to recognise where I’ve made mistakes and where I’ve needed to adapt, accept and embrace change especially when it comes to technology and the importance of social media.

To be honest, I’ve also probably overpaid for some services – my website for one but I’m really proud of it (www.thelevygroup.london) and enjoyed working with a richly creative team who I’d known for years and who ‘got’ me.

I’ve had my ups and downs like all business owners do and certainly don’t profess to have all the answers but 40 odd years staying small and independent has worked successfully for me plus I’m blessed with 4 brilliant lieutenants who are simply great at all the things that aren’t particularly my areas of professional expertise. We’ve developed a real esprit de corps, covering for each other whether it’s a vacation, maternity leave or a bereavement but always happily dipping into each other’s experience pool to the benefits of our clients.

We’re proud to advise a myriad number of start-ups, charities, associations, Fortune 500 and FTSE 250 companies and since I travel abroad for business a lot – probably 2-3 months of the year one way and another – I take time to personally meet potential new and established clients face-to-face, to learn about their business, what inspired them to start in the first place, what’s changed and where they want to go, way before we’re invited to present Terms of Engagement.

Staying small and beautiful hasn’t hindered us in any way and we consistently punch well above our weight and enjoy the freedom of choice in who we’re delighted to represent as well as reluctantly accepting that on very rare occasions we’re probably just not the best fit for everyone.

I’m more than happy being the Master of my own Universe and to coin Paul Jarvis our clients also seem to enjoy the ‘Company of One’.