It’s the Little Things…

With all due respect to Seth Godin, small really is the new big, but not for the reasons he thinks…

Everywhere you look, small is overtaking big, as the size of choice.

– Artisans and specialty food manufacturers are growing more popular, as consumers are favoring the authenticity and quality vs. mass production and brawn. (see this week’s Business Week article - link at the bottom of this post)

– Ultra-concentrated products, like method laundry detergents, are beating back their full strength competitors

– 100 calorie packs have created a $100 million category

– Little fuel efficient cars like the mini and the prius are chic-er options than their suv counterparts, and make a lot more sense with rising gas prices and instability in the middle east

– Home owners are downsizing, rejecting McMansions as Sarah Susanka’s vision of the Not So Big House is being adopted in towns across America. (Increases in mortgage rates and the housing bubble are certainly helping this trend along.)

– Consumers are looking to reduce packaging waste. Packaging giant Landor reports that 42% of consumers are either “green interested” or “green motivated”. De-packaging and using earth-friendly substrates are becoming important business tactics in the changing marketplace. (Pangea Organics uses 100% plant based materials in its packaging and embeds all its packaging with organic seeds, so labels can literally be planted and bloom into herbs such as basil and amaranth)

– Companies are beginning to offer consumers ways to offset carbon emissions, reducing their environmental footprint.

– iPods are getting smaller…mobile phones are getting smaller…

– Entrepreneurs keep launching the small companies that are the hallmark of the American economy.

What about you? Are you ready to get big by going small?

Happy Earth Day!

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/apr2007/sb20070419_501045.htm?chan=smallbiz_smallbiz+index+page_top+stories)