TI CEO Podcast · episode 12
Why small companies may have big ambitions too
1-minute summary
In this episode of his CEO diary, Christoph Standl talks about why small companies are allowed to have big ambitions too. We often associate size with resources – many employees, big budgets, international locations. But that is exactly what is changing fundamentally: in the digital world, a small team has possibilities that ten or twenty years ago were available only to large companies – cloud technologies, software offered worldwide, automated processes, partners all over the world, and artificial intelligence expands these possibilities enormously once again. Tourismus Interaktiv is no corporation but a small company from Austria – yet why should its ambitions be small because of that? What matters more: which problem do we solve, how well do we solve it, and can we scale the solution? If a digital solution works for one customer and is standardised, automated and made available as self-service, the same foundation can help ten, a hundred or a thousand customers. You don't automatically need ten new employees for every step of growth. But one point is important to him: big ambitions do not mean pretending to be big already – you have to know where you stand, know your numbers and weaknesses and accept that growth needs work, capital, the right people and time. Yet a company's current size should never determine the size of its vision. His recipe: start small, work smart, use technology, think internationally, grow step by step. His question: if the size of your team were no limit – how big would you think? Big changes often begin with small daily steps.
Description
Does a small company automatically have to think small too? I don't believe so. In this episode of my CEO diary I talk about why, especially today, small companies are allowed to have big ambitions. Cloud technologies, software-as-a-service, automation, self-service and artificial intelligence open up possibilities for small teams that used to be partly reserved for large companies. At Tourismus Interaktiv too, one central question therefore occupies me: How can we, with a small team, develop solutions that are scalable and can reach a great many customers in the long run? Thinking big does not mean pretending to be big already. On the contrary: you have to know your current situation, look at the numbers, recognise weaknesses and accept that sustainable growth takes time. But a company's current size should not automatically determine the size of its vision. Topics of this episode: Why small companies may have big goals Technology as an opportunity for small teams Scalability and automation Software-as-a-service and self-service Artificial intelligence as a productivity factor Thinking internationally Big ambitions with both feet on the ground My central message: Start small. Work smart. Use technology. Think internationally. And grow step by step. And my question to you: If the current size of your team were no limit – how big would you actually think? Big changes often begin with small daily steps.