Most of the world's companies are SMEs, founded and run by entrepreneurs. We all know, moreover, that company founders tend to be characterized by a certain degree of omnipotence and self-sufficiency, qualities widely described in my book Pasión Entrepreneur.
What tends to be a big differentiating feature of SMEs is their growth objective.
Most SMEs do not want to grow!
Indeed, most companies do not want to leave the idyllic world of the small. Of course, there are more flexible entrepreneurs who accept teamwork, with partners of all kinds, and there are a few who also want to grow to become corporations.
Crossing these variables we can classify four types of entrepreneurs. The names were suggested by James Botkin and Jana Matthews in their book Winning combinations and are developed in my book Clínica Empresaria.
Sorry, the figure has titles in Spanish
- the vertical axis represents the "size target" that the founding entrepreneur has, and its limits are "large" and "small"
- the horizontal axis represents the "working style", that is, the culture of the founder entrepreneur, and its limits are "Omnipotence" and "Flexibility"
- The animals are Bear, Kangaroo, Monkey, Beaver
The Beaver
The beaver corresponds to the most widespread category of entrepreneurs on the planet. Countless freelancers, traders, factory owners, service vendors, bar owners, restaurants, ice cream parlors, hairdressers, makeup artists, business representatives, the list is long. The beaver wants to do all the things in his business and delegates very little to some collaborators, who, poor of them, do not have the slightest power of decision. This is so because "nobody knows how to do it better than him/her."
He/her looks more at his/her business than at the business environment. He/she is not interested in medium and long-term strategic issues, and he/she has no interest in complicating himself with growth.
When he/she dies, his/her business ends.
As in nature, the beaver works methodically and steadily during the summer to build its den and maintain it with supplies. And in the Winter, the beaver sleeps. Every year this nice little animal does the same. His/her business is not very exciting but he/she manages to stay in business because of his/her stubbornness and hard work. The beaver does not accept partners or any type of alliance. A beaver type entrepreneur would never buy a franchise because "nobody can teach him/her absolutely nothing."
A beaver once told me "the franchisee is a frustrated businessman" (?!).
The Bear
The Bear, on the contrary, dreams of building an empire. He/she wants to be the monarch of a vast territory, probably the world, and he/she will defend it by devouring anyone who tries to invade it. He/she wants to take care of all the details of his/her business, striving to grow without a very structured plan, as he/she is terribly impulsive and aggressive.
His/her growth is relatively fast since his/her strategy is usually the purchase of companies to "not depend on anyone." The bear's genetic information is to eat everything that walks close to him/her, and expand and protect its huge territories, so he/she tends to forget all the other details that make up his/her life.
He/she would never tolerate the tool of franchising to grow, because he/she does not want anyone in his/her business giving their opinion or not doing what he/she dictates by decree. For the bear, the only possibility to grow is with his/her own businesses. He/she will never enter a society that he/she cannot fully control.
The Monkey
The monkey is the most intelligent animal in the animal kingdom. He/she lives his/her life having fun and playing with his/her friends. His/her business is a consequence of intelligently observing his/her surroundings, which is what worries him/her the most, because he/she does not want to miss anything that is happening.
Innate curious.
However, the monkey never leaves his/her natural habitat. He/she is not interested in leaving his/her territory, on the contrary, he/she wants to stay in it to develop it and to have even more fun. Running a very large and very expanded company would make him/her lose his/her fun and restless lifestyle, and that would not allow he/she to do what he/she wants and when he/she wants.
His/her main characteristic is the teamwork. His/her collaborators have great decision-making power and are focused on meeting the operation’s objectives and moderate growth, within the limits of the territory.
THE MONKEY IS THE TYPICAL FRANCHISEE.
More tan common is the archetype of the relatively small-town businessman/businesswoman who owns a bar, a restaurant, an ice cream parlor, a gas station, a car dealership, and a dry cleaner. The monkey creates employment through the creation of a pool of franchises and independent owned businesses, and becomes a very important factor in the local economy.
The Kangaroo
The Kangaroo, on the other hand, is also very concerned about things that happen in the environment, but wants to go far beyond the territory in which he/she lives. He/she wants to grow, and as quickly as possible.
He/she has no problem in considering all the tools provided for that growth. He/she works in a network and with multiple alliances, growing by leaps and bounds, because its objective is to become a global company.
THE KANGAROO IS THE TYPICAL FRANCHISOR.
The kangaroo is going to grow up selling franchises everywhere, because he/she understands better than anyone the time/capital/management/ territory relationship that franchising provides.
Well, you see, the jungle is full of surprises!
Needless to say, there is not the slightest judgment in this article.
Everyone has the right to decide not to grow up or ally with anyone. The important thing is to know how to recognize the archetypes to negotiate from a comfortable and harmonious position.
Luckily, we entrepreneurs are different between each other, and we all know how to find our business niche to contribute to our personal well-being and that of the community in which we live, coordinating efforts between the different players, as animals do in the jungle.
Thank you for reading!
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