Is big beautiful?

So I'm going to start every blog now with an apology for not writing for a while. This one is HUGE! I'm so very sorry, dear reader.

Now, onwards with blogging. Serious stuff.

I have recently been taking a lot of meetings with young, entrepreneurial types. This makes a considerable change from the law firms, accountancy practices and large firms whose primary interests are in corporate responsibility and sustainability, or developing new business contacts through large-scale, multilateral marketing strategies.

So which one is better? Is that even a fair question?

Well I like the entrepreneurial thing - I like the fact that an idea and a charismatic person can give life to a profitable and sustainable business. And the thirst for success is of course admirable, but what are the differences? Individuals in large multi-national companies have the same thirst for success, so it can't be that.
Large companies are powerful, and can use their significant balance sheets to invest, develop and market new products,and carve out a larger market share. Young innovators don't get this, but aren't naive enough to assume they can. That's not what they want.

The main difference is ownership. And not ownership of equity or assets, but ownership of the ideas and the intellectual property behind a business. Giving this away seems to be something you have to be willing to do in a large company.

Someone said to me two days ago that they have started companies, knowing that the shelf life will be fairly short. This means he can put it down, sell it, and start the next thing. In the technology space this is definitely an advantage.

So I'm not sure whether one is better, whether big is beautiful. For my purposes, I need to strike a balance between large companies who will join the debate on sustainable business - I am working a lot with Mike at M&S, who runs their Plan A strategy. I need businesses like this to be involved. When it comes to delivering services, I prefer dealing with innovative and progressive companies that have the 'fleet of foot' flexibility and mentality to suit how ACEVO works. So maybe beauty really is in the eye of the beholder...

The ACEVO sustainable business forum is going very well indeed - we are coming out of the planning stages and into marketing and development. I'm looking forward to our next catch up, when our chair Oliver Rothschild has returned from his latest travels. In the last few weeks I have been meeting with BT, with Joyce at Catch22, with Ben Brabyn to discuss marketplace creation and matchmaking, and with a number of firms who are interested in joining the network. We have also added John Drummond, CEO of Corporate Culture to the steering group. John has been working on sustainable business for a number of years, advising companies such as t-mobile and BSkyB on their sustainability strategies. I'm really glad he has decided to join us.

We are also doing a project with the CBI at the moment, about how private and third sectors have created partnerships to deliver public services. This will add significantly to the dialogue around sustainable business, and there is a great deal of cross-over between the two projects. A lot of people are joining this movement to make conversations between sectors more transparent and easier - it is a really exciting time for us and our members.