微型企業的大挑戰：要大還是要小？
The Microbusiness' Challenge: Making the Leap or Not?

閱讀暖身

在美國，員工少、資本低的公司都稱為「微型企業」。微型企業主管永遠都在煩惱資金問題以及不斷思考公司經營策略，台灣的中小型企業經常也面臨同樣的問題。如果你也經營一家小型企業，你會選擇擴大經營？還是繼續小下去？

進入本文前，請想想以下單字：
(A) 微型企業
(B) 起伏不定的
(C) 開支

(A)Microbusinesses typically have fewer than five employees and less than $1 million in sales. The owner of a microbusiness has much to worry about. The big problem is money, even though the capital investment is small, and there are not many employees.

典型微型企業就是擁有少於5名員工，以及銷售額低於100萬美元。一位微型企業主管有許多煩惱，縱使投入資本和員工數相對較小，最大的問題還是在錢。

The other big challenge with a microbusiness is (B)lumpy sales. You move between extremes. One day you’re busy serving customers, and a week later you’re trying to figure out where your next job will come from.

另外一個大挑戰則是起起伏伏的業績，常在極好及極差之間波動。有時候分身乏術，過沒多久卻要開始擔心下一份訂單的著落。

That’s what happens when a microbusiness owner tries to do everything. Among other things, the microbusiness owner is the marketing manager, the sales representative, the service provider and the person who runs the company. It’s the moving from doing work to (1)landing work that causes the roller-coaster ride in terms of cash coming in the door.

這些小老闆必須親自處理每件大小事，常要身兼數職，除了是行銷經理、業務及客服人員，更是一間公司的經營者。執行及尋找工作的過程就如同一趟雲霄飛車，將錢送進公司門口。

If you want to expand a small business, you have to have (2)access to capital. That means you have to develop systems so that you can start to scale your operations. You will need a system for managing your sales process. You have to be able to judge when to add (C)overhead and when that would be a mistake. These issues and more are what keep traditional small businesses from (3)making the leap. Making the move to a middle-market business will make your life more complicated and your business more complex.

如果你想擴大手上的小生意，就必須找到更多資金，也意味著你必需發展一套能擴大運作的系統，還要有銷售管理系統，更要有決策能力，判斷何時增加開支以及判定決策的正確與否，這些都是企業轉型前的要件。踏進中階市場，隨之而來的是生活及事業更加複雜。

When owners choose this route, they often find that their larger competitors have deeper pockets. The larger companies know that this is a fight they will win in the end. The good news is that the larger companies usually can't compete with the personal service that a traditional small business can provide.

當你決定邁開腳步，通常都會發現競爭者口袋比你預期的還深。規模大一點公司知道最終他們最終會贏，然而微型企業的優勢在於能夠提供完整客製化服務，這也是大公司無法比擬。

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