Working for a one owner business
Discussion
Further to my last thread, I've got a new offer from a small one-owner-run business (headcount is about 45).
I'm finding the fact that the MD is the owner and very active within the business a bit offputting. In my experience, these places are always run with an iron fist, with directors all too keen to unjustly punish subordinates for the owner's sadistic enjoyment.
By comparison, the larger public companies I have worked for have all been a lot more relaxed because the money belongs to nobody within the business itself.
Have I been unlucky with my experience, or is this typical?
I'm finding the fact that the MD is the owner and very active within the business a bit offputting. In my experience, these places are always run with an iron fist, with directors all too keen to unjustly punish subordinates for the owner's sadistic enjoyment.
By comparison, the larger public companies I have worked for have all been a lot more relaxed because the money belongs to nobody within the business itself.
Have I been unlucky with my experience, or is this typical?
First company I worked for was like this. Most employees stayed for years as it was well run. When they eventually got taken over by a larger company it lost the greatness as everybody was just a number then nothing had a personal touch. The boss was approachable and fair.
Since the company eventually got run to the ground and folded, we’ve all moved on and we all say we’d love to go back and work there again.
Since the company eventually got run to the ground and folded, we’ve all moved on and we all say we’d love to go back and work there again.
Geffg said:
First company I worked for was like this. Most employees stayed for years as it was well run. When they eventually got taken over by a larger company it lost the greatness as everybody was just a number then nothing had a personal touch. The boss was approachable and fair.
Since the company eventually got run to the ground and folded, we’ve all moved on and we all say we’d love to go back and work there again.
Exactly the same for me and currently at a company where there are 7 of us, much prefer it to a large company.Since the company eventually got run to the ground and folded, we’ve all moved on and we all say we’d love to go back and work there again.
BucksFizz said:
Further to my last thread, I've got a new offer from a small one-owner-run business (headcount is about 45).
I'm finding the fact that the MD is the owner and very active within the business a bit offputting. In my experience, these places are always run with an iron fist, with directors all too keen to unjustly punish subordinates for the owner's sadistic enjoyment.
By comparison, the larger public companies I have worked for have all been a lot more relaxed because the money belongs to nobody within the business itself.
Have I been unlucky with my experience, or is this typical?
My experience has been the opposite and it’s been positive up until the business is sold and run by spreadsheet monkeys I'm finding the fact that the MD is the owner and very active within the business a bit offputting. In my experience, these places are always run with an iron fist, with directors all too keen to unjustly punish subordinates for the owner's sadistic enjoyment.
By comparison, the larger public companies I have worked for have all been a lot more relaxed because the money belongs to nobody within the business itself.
Have I been unlucky with my experience, or is this typical?
The midsize company that I used to work for was bought by a similar sized one-owner business and it went about as badly as it could have done. The owner was an unpleasant arrogant bully who took great pleasure in treating people like s
t, and unsurprisingly they had a 45% staff turnover each year compared to ours at about 8%.
It would make me incredibly wary of working for a similar owner, but I'm sure there are good ones out there.
t, and unsurprisingly they had a 45% staff turnover each year compared to ours at about 8%.It would make me incredibly wary of working for a similar owner, but I'm sure there are good ones out there.
eliot said:
My experience has been the opposite and it’s been positive up until the business is sold and run by spreadsheet monkeys
This. It is massively dependent on the attitude of the owner, but not all are out to screw their employees for their own gain or enjoyment. I've worked in a couple of owner-run businesses and they were/are great.
One was acquired by a larger company and it went downhill from then on, despite them posting daily on social media how great they are to work for and how well they look after their staff. Looking back, 75% of the staff had symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome!
When I moved to my current employer one of the co-owners took me aside after a few weeks to tell me when they say employees should not routinely work beyond their contracted hours or be contactable when not working, are free to take time off for family or disappear for a few hours at short notice they genuinely mean it and it's wasn't just the sort of weasel words I was used to.
Same here, I was part of a Company of 6, three directors and us 3 workers. It was great, good bosses fun place, very hands on and prepared to listen to the workers. We expanded rapidly and were then sold to a big corporate as part of the deal the directors gave many of us early employees a 'share' of the sale paid out by the new Corporate over 3 escalating years. Golden handcuffs in effect.
It turned to st pretty quickly after that, Corporate politics and policies stripping out everything that made us good at what we did.
It turned to s
t pretty quickly after that, Corporate politics and policies stripping out everything that made us good at what we did.BucksFizz said:
Further to my last thread, I've got a new offer from a small one-owner-run business (headcount is about 45).
I'm finding the fact that the MD is the owner and very active within the business a bit offputting. In my experience, these places are always run with an iron fist, with directors all too keen to unjustly punish subordinates for the owner's sadistic enjoyment.
By comparison, the larger public companies I have worked for have all been a lot more relaxed because the money belongs to nobody within the business itself.
Have I been unlucky with my experience, or is this typical?
I think there are fewer places to hide and far more accountability in a small company. Given their size the owner usually has a very good idea of everybody's performance and what he's getting for every penny that's spent. Somebody who's doing a good job probably has little to worry about, whereas people who prefer to slack off are going to find things uncomfortable.I'm finding the fact that the MD is the owner and very active within the business a bit offputting. In my experience, these places are always run with an iron fist, with directors all too keen to unjustly punish subordinates for the owner's sadistic enjoyment.
By comparison, the larger public companies I have worked for have all been a lot more relaxed because the money belongs to nobody within the business itself.
Have I been unlucky with my experience, or is this typical?
The larger the company (the further the Employee is from the ultimate owners) the easier it is to skive.
Experiences can vary, it comes down to the individual. First small company I worked for, there were about 15 staff and the founder and owner - great guy, totally reasonable work environment, supportive, pub/water skiing/even gave me a new engine for my MG when it blew up as a bonus for a few weekends work. ultimatley went bust, maybe he was too nice. Another firm a few years later, two co-owners, drove a air of Astons, very arrogant, my first interaction with one of them a week after joining the ocmpany was to be barked at becaue I'd used his parking space to load a 30kg Epson printer into the back of the lavish company 1.7D Vectra provided. That ws the last time i spoke to him, and left 4 months later - the company was toxic from top to bottom, and went bust becasue they drove the decent people to leave.
I've worked for 2 one owner small businesses. Left both.
First I was taken on as sales manager. Changed the way salesman were deployed & the commission scheme. Sales up 12% next quarter. Owner didn't like the changes & told me to go back to old way of working. I left & 2 salesman left within 3 months.
Second company I just put up with for 4.years then retired 3 years early.
First I was taken on as sales manager. Changed the way salesman were deployed & the commission scheme. Sales up 12% next quarter. Owner didn't like the changes & told me to go back to old way of working. I left & 2 salesman left within 3 months.
Second company I just put up with for 4.years then retired 3 years early.
My experiences are like Mike above's.
Last but one and company prior to that were under 50 people with active owners. Both toxic. I think that people who have run their own businesses for decades don't move with the times.
On the other hand I was auditing a place of 14 staff last year. Been going 5 years. Nobody has ever left. The owner did some market research, decided he was too cheap, upped his prices and used the extra revenue as pay rises. I sense that's the exception.
Last but one and company prior to that were under 50 people with active owners. Both toxic. I think that people who have run their own businesses for decades don't move with the times.
On the other hand I was auditing a place of 14 staff last year. Been going 5 years. Nobody has ever left. The owner did some market research, decided he was too cheap, upped his prices and used the extra revenue as pay rises. I sense that's the exception.
I worked for a small family-owned company.
The pay was mediocre (mine was good for my age and development at the time), but the owners expected us to care as much as they did and be willing to put in all hours to get the job done, expected us to do jobs way outside our remit or qualifications (I was a financial controller but was expected to re-fill the vending machines in the staff canteen as I was the only 'young strapping lad capable of carrying the weight' of the coins across the site). There were a lot of weird and wonderful perks given to certain favourite employees and not others - Big Sam in engineering was allowed Thursdays off to spend time with his kids because of a messy divorce, but Sally on reception was given a disciplinary because she ate her sandwiches at her desk rather than used the canteen etc. - turns out Sally had turned down the MD's advances at the Christmas party that year.
Horses for courses but for me I'd never work for a small company ever again unless it was my own.
The pay was mediocre (mine was good for my age and development at the time), but the owners expected us to care as much as they did and be willing to put in all hours to get the job done, expected us to do jobs way outside our remit or qualifications (I was a financial controller but was expected to re-fill the vending machines in the staff canteen as I was the only 'young strapping lad capable of carrying the weight' of the coins across the site). There were a lot of weird and wonderful perks given to certain favourite employees and not others - Big Sam in engineering was allowed Thursdays off to spend time with his kids because of a messy divorce, but Sally on reception was given a disciplinary because she ate her sandwiches at her desk rather than used the canteen etc. - turns out Sally had turned down the MD's advances at the Christmas party that year.
Horses for courses but for me I'd never work for a small company ever again unless it was my own.
Working for an SME.....
Pros:
The contribution you make to the success of the company is proportionally greater by orders of magnitude. The owner will recognise this and give you all you need to perform at your very best. When the company does well, you will feel a greater part of that success. And as the company grows, you will may find your progression accelerated, even to the point of owning a part of it which will give you a little pot of gold should it ever be sold on.
Cons:
There's nowhere to hide. If you're a plodder or underperform, this becomes exceptionally visible and unlikely you'll last long. Flexibility is required often to a level that makes it difficult for 'union-types' to embrace (I mean no disrespect on this but if you're the type of counts their hours, and expects to-the-letter working conditions, you may be disappointed). And smaller companies are more exposed financially to extraneous influence. They could be profitable one year and gone the next.
It then it comes down to the owner; what are they like, do you like them?; the same for the people who work there and the financial stability of the company.
Pros:
The contribution you make to the success of the company is proportionally greater by orders of magnitude. The owner will recognise this and give you all you need to perform at your very best. When the company does well, you will feel a greater part of that success. And as the company grows, you will may find your progression accelerated, even to the point of owning a part of it which will give you a little pot of gold should it ever be sold on.
Cons:
There's nowhere to hide. If you're a plodder or underperform, this becomes exceptionally visible and unlikely you'll last long. Flexibility is required often to a level that makes it difficult for 'union-types' to embrace (I mean no disrespect on this but if you're the type of counts their hours, and expects to-the-letter working conditions, you may be disappointed). And smaller companies are more exposed financially to extraneous influence. They could be profitable one year and gone the next.
It then it comes down to the owner; what are they like, do you like them?; the same for the people who work there and the financial stability of the company.
Just like others have said, the smaller the company, the more impact the MD has, both good and bad.
The company I worked at was 34 people at the time, and after 5 years of expense account living elsewhere, I needed to have my gall bladder out. Despite being 45, It was my first proper surgery, and I was st scared. The MD asked if I could see him in his office, “Oh no- what have I done wrong now?”
I sat there and he said “I can tell you are genuinely worried about this operation…” I was. “If you like, we would like to pay for a private room for you if it would help – don’t worry about the cost, we’ll find the money…” I was stunned, and I regretted not taking him up on the kind offer.
As others have said, you can’t hide in a smaller company, your efforts are visible and immediate.
I would be very wary of a small company that employs the MD’s wife, son, brother-in-law etc…
I’ve been on the receiving end of US owned companies where numbers in the UK are cut because the finance monkey 3,500 miles away thinks that’s the right thing to do.
The company I worked at was 34 people at the time, and after 5 years of expense account living elsewhere, I needed to have my gall bladder out. Despite being 45, It was my first proper surgery, and I was s
t scared. The MD asked if I could see him in his office, “Oh no- what have I done wrong now?” I sat there and he said “I can tell you are genuinely worried about this operation…” I was. “If you like, we would like to pay for a private room for you if it would help – don’t worry about the cost, we’ll find the money…” I was stunned, and I regretted not taking him up on the kind offer.
As others have said, you can’t hide in a smaller company, your efforts are visible and immediate.
I would be very wary of a small company that employs the MD’s wife, son, brother-in-law etc…
I’ve been on the receiving end of US owned companies where numbers in the UK are cut because the finance monkey 3,500 miles away thinks that’s the right thing to do.
bucksmanuk said:
Just like others have said, the smaller the company, the more impact the MD has, both good and bad.
The company I worked at was 34 people at the time, and after 5 years of expense account living elsewhere, I needed to have my gall bladder out. Despite being 45, It was my first proper surgery, and I was st scared. The MD asked if I could see him in his office, “Oh no- what have I done wrong now?”
I sat there and he said “I can tell you are genuinely worried about this operation…” I was. “If you like, we would like to pay for a private room for you if it would help – don’t worry about the cost, we’ll find the money…” I was stunned, and I regretted not taking him up on the kind offer.
As others have said, you can’t hide in a smaller company, your efforts are visible and immediate.
I would be very wary of a small company that employs the MD’s wife, son, brother-in-law etc…
I’ve been on the receiving end of US owned companies where numbers in the UK are cut because the finance monkey 3,500 miles away thinks that’s the right thing to do.
I’m a finance monkey and can definitely say with certainty that sometimes cutting numbers is absolutely the right thing to do…The company I worked at was 34 people at the time, and after 5 years of expense account living elsewhere, I needed to have my gall bladder out. Despite being 45, It was my first proper surgery, and I was s
t scared. The MD asked if I could see him in his office, “Oh no- what have I done wrong now?” I sat there and he said “I can tell you are genuinely worried about this operation…” I was. “If you like, we would like to pay for a private room for you if it would help – don’t worry about the cost, we’ll find the money…” I was stunned, and I regretted not taking him up on the kind offer.
As others have said, you can’t hide in a smaller company, your efforts are visible and immediate.
I would be very wary of a small company that employs the MD’s wife, son, brother-in-law etc…
I’ve been on the receiving end of US owned companies where numbers in the UK are cut because the finance monkey 3,500 miles away thinks that’s the right thing to do.
pb8g09 said:
bucksmanuk said:
Just like others have said, the smaller the company, the more impact the MD has, both good and bad.
The company I worked at was 34 people at the time, and after 5 years of expense account living elsewhere, I needed to have my gall bladder out. Despite being 45, It was my first proper surgery, and I was st scared. The MD asked if I could see him in his office, “Oh no- what have I done wrong now?”
I sat there and he said “I can tell you are genuinely worried about this operation…” I was. “If you like, we would like to pay for a private room for you if it would help – don’t worry about the cost, we’ll find the money…” I was stunned, and I regretted not taking him up on the kind offer.
As others have said, you can’t hide in a smaller company, your efforts are visible and immediate.
I would be very wary of a small company that employs the MD’s wife, son, brother-in-law etc…
I’ve been on the receiving end of US owned companies where numbers in the UK are cut because the finance monkey 3,500 miles away thinks that’s the right thing to do.
I’m a finance monkey and can definitely say with certainty that sometimes cutting numbers is absolutely the right thing to do…The company I worked at was 34 people at the time, and after 5 years of expense account living elsewhere, I needed to have my gall bladder out. Despite being 45, It was my first proper surgery, and I was s
t scared. The MD asked if I could see him in his office, “Oh no- what have I done wrong now?” I sat there and he said “I can tell you are genuinely worried about this operation…” I was. “If you like, we would like to pay for a private room for you if it would help – don’t worry about the cost, we’ll find the money…” I was stunned, and I regretted not taking him up on the kind offer.
As others have said, you can’t hide in a smaller company, your efforts are visible and immediate.
I would be very wary of a small company that employs the MD’s wife, son, brother-in-law etc…
I’ve been on the receiving end of US owned companies where numbers in the UK are cut because the finance monkey 3,500 miles away thinks that’s the right thing to do.
It may also be that it's not just the people numbers, but other overheads, production methods, or dividends paid out, when really they should have been put back into the company, to reinvest in more modern equipment, which could then make the company more efficient/profitable.....
TrotCanterGallopCharge said:
pb8g09 said:
bucksmanuk said:
Just like others have said, the smaller the company, the more impact the MD has, both good and bad.
The company I worked at was 34 people at the time, and after 5 years of expense account living elsewhere, I needed to have my gall bladder out. Despite being 45, It was my first proper surgery, and I was st scared. The MD asked if I could see him in his office, “Oh no- what have I done wrong now?”
I sat there and he said “I can tell you are genuinely worried about this operation…” I was. “If you like, we would like to pay for a private room for you if it would help – don’t worry about the cost, we’ll find the money…” I was stunned, and I regretted not taking him up on the kind offer.
As others have said, you can’t hide in a smaller company, your efforts are visible and immediate.
I would be very wary of a small company that employs the MD’s wife, son, brother-in-law etc…
I’ve been on the receiving end of US owned companies where numbers in the UK are cut because the finance monkey 3,500 miles away thinks that’s the right thing to do.
I’m a finance monkey and can definitely say with certainty that sometimes cutting numbers is absolutely the right thing to do…The company I worked at was 34 people at the time, and after 5 years of expense account living elsewhere, I needed to have my gall bladder out. Despite being 45, It was my first proper surgery, and I was s
t scared. The MD asked if I could see him in his office, “Oh no- what have I done wrong now?” I sat there and he said “I can tell you are genuinely worried about this operation…” I was. “If you like, we would like to pay for a private room for you if it would help – don’t worry about the cost, we’ll find the money…” I was stunned, and I regretted not taking him up on the kind offer.
As others have said, you can’t hide in a smaller company, your efforts are visible and immediate.
I would be very wary of a small company that employs the MD’s wife, son, brother-in-law etc…
I’ve been on the receiving end of US owned companies where numbers in the UK are cut because the finance monkey 3,500 miles away thinks that’s the right thing to do.
It may also be that it's not just the people numbers, but other overheads, production methods, or dividends paid out, when really they should have been put back into the company, to reinvest in more modern equipment, which could then make the company more efficient/profitable.....
The one thing that determines the success of a company is sales. You could have the most modern equipment, the most efficient practices, the best people but if you don't have the sales, you don't have any revenue to pay anyone. And sales are influenced by any number of extraneous things that the company has no control over.
StevieBee said:
Any company would first look at production and operational efficiencies before looking at the head count. It's the last thing they want to do because it costs them a lot of money to get rid of people and money will already be tight. Dividends are only paid if there's the money available to pay them and if it gets to the point of redundancy, that money won't be there.
The one thing that determines the success of a company is sales. You could have the most modern equipment, the most efficient practices, the best people but if you don't have the sales, you don't have any revenue to pay anyone. And sales are influenced by any number of extraneous things that the company has no control over.
Spot on that man!The one thing that determines the success of a company is sales. You could have the most modern equipment, the most efficient practices, the best people but if you don't have the sales, you don't have any revenue to pay anyone. And sales are influenced by any number of extraneous things that the company has no control over.
Back to OP- other negatives of working for a small company, is don't necessarily expect to be allowed hybrid working and also be prepared to dip your hand in your own pocket to pay for tea or coffee. Actually that said I work for a FTSE 100 and we still have to pay for our own tea/coffee the scoundrels...
BucksFizz said:
Further to my last thread, I've got a new offer from a small one-owner-run business (headcount is about 45).
I'm finding the fact that the MD is the owner and very active within the business a bit offputting. In my experience, these places are always run with an iron fist, with directors all too keen to unjustly punish subordinates for the owner's sadistic enjoyment.
One man's iron fist is another's astute control of costs and performance.I'm finding the fact that the MD is the owner and very active within the business a bit offputting. In my experience, these places are always run with an iron fist, with directors all too keen to unjustly punish subordinates for the owner's sadistic enjoyment.
BucksFizz said:
By comparison, the larger public companies I have worked for have all been a lot more relaxed because the money belongs to nobody within the business itself.
It's why businesses become less efficient as they grow. The employees (in the most part) have less of a stake and can hide or coast more easily. Management of the day-to-day decisions that make or save money becomes more difficult.BucksFizz said:
Have I been unlucky with my experience, or is this typical?
No, it's pretty typical. It sounds like you are better suited to a big business role, though.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff