Moving* from a BIG company to a wee one - who's done it?

I think only you can decide whether you want to give it a go.

I went from a FTSE25 company in to a much smaller company and didnt like it. Processes were just too qwerky, or there to suit one individual not the best way to do things, and then you had fall outs because everything is a bit more personal. Rules tended to broken a bit more too ie bending rules / corners.

You also need to be prepared to get stuck in to everything and anything that might be what you signed up for, and work odd / long hours, sometimes because its what suits the owner, or because the owner has swanned off MIA.

They can be a great place though to broaden your CV very quickly.

Predominantly I've worked for big orgs, but have also worked for a couple of sub 30 folk companies.

Same issues across all TBH, just need to work out who's the Boss 🙂

And a small business doesn't automatically mean it'll be more flexible, unless you're the Boss 🙂

Its the Big Fish, Little Pond vs Little Fish, Big Pond.

Done it both ways. I prefer the smaller companies, you can direct things better from within (position dependant) as long as you have the character/confidence to pull it off. If you dont you can get trodden over pretty quickly.

Whereas you can get lost in a big company - as in would they notice you if you werent there 😀  turn up, do the work, get paid, rinse/repeat.

Depends on what you want/can handle as FunkyDunc says

Yes. Pro's and Con's

The company i left was stifled by / obsessed with process - no-one cared about the outcome, it seemed, as long as you followed the steps and didn't seem able to move out of lane when the actual situation wasn't exactly the same as the processes were written for. The sort who'd lose a patient on the operating table but claim the operation was a success because every step was followed exactly.

The small, family owned company - much better for that (there were no processes really) but also worse because if you did something the boss didn't like it was too easy to be accused of doing it wrong. Great for rapid decisions - you could walk into his office with an idea and 15 mins later walk out with agreement and the funding to do it. Bad for the same reasons, if he was in a bad mood / didn't get the idea then there was no route to persuade the 'Board of Directors' (him, his Dad and his Dad's mate) otherwise. I had to try it, in the end I couldn't deal with it (also boss was a bit of shyster and it didn't end well)

I'm now back at a company that is very process focussed - too much in some cases - but also recognises that some of what we do (being science research) doesn't exactly fit into a process - some is 'do it and find out / modify as you go'. Easy for science research to adjust to that but there's a willingness in general to reduce process and admin and employ good leaders who are empowered to be flexible and make decisions based on incomplete evidence. just a bit of old guard thinking to be cut through before it really starts to happen.

TL,DR - pros and cons.

Goldilocks for me. Not too big, not too small. 80,000 to 20 will be tough. But maybe you’ll flourish (against the odds).

Pension ?  Think seriously about that one

Why do you want to leave the big Co? What attracts you to the small one?

My wife is just leaving a big multinational law firm for a small city niche one. In the big corp her team is small, undervalued and processes are designed for the big departments. The small niche firm is just her area of expertise, she likes the people and would be senior there. It’s a pay cut but a much nicer place to work.

I moved from British Rail (as was) to a small consultancy firm, but I was a very small fish in both places, not one of the movers and shakers. Looking back, the move was fairly painless, but that's probably becuase I had no preconceptions of how it would turn out. Very different working practices though...

I’ve employed quite a few people who are used to much larger organisations and a lot of them struggle to adapt to a small company.  17 is a bit of a tricky size - just about the time they start hitting growing pains from managing that many people - I’d want to know if they are aware of that and how they will mitigate it.  One lost contract is the sort of thing that can see them slash their workforce and if that happens the pay off is almost certainly better in your big company than the small one.

all that said there’s no way I’d want to work for a huge company again.

Pension ? Think seriously about that one

Yeah - aside from the above on the day to day, which all seem about right imo, 'benefits' will possibly be quite different, pension, critical illness etc. Having had a mate recently who's made use of a large company's critical illness insurance (75% of salary until retirement is typically standard) I'd be looking at ensuring you've got those areas covered.

FWIW I've worked in 20, 200, 2000, 100000 headcount companies. My current 2000 person employer is a nice sweet spot - all the large company benefits with some of the small company agility and personal relationships.

I went from global company, to one of 14 people. Now in one of around 400.

Echo some of the above. In the global company it made no difference what I did. Which did allow me to run some pet projects but also incredibly frustrating when major projects just faded away because of another re-organisation. There were plenty of mediocre people but some great ones and I learnt a lot.

14 people was a change in role which I didn't like. Otherwise it was great. Nice people, all technical consultants so huge expertise, enthusiasm and ability. I learnt loads and enjoyed the atmosphere.

Went to 400. It's a bit dysfunctional so maybe not the best example. I'm now the most experienced chemist. They have no procedures but enough people it's hard to find who understands the process. I get pulled into things which aren't my responsibility. Largely because I have a reputation for being able to sort things out. There are enough people that some aren't very good but not enough that I don't still have to rely on them. There is zero formal training and development. Fine for me as I just sort myself out by broadening experience. But it is really obvious junior staff are missing out compared to a large company.

So, it can work. It probably is more about the company than the size. It will also depend on your experience and level. I'd say mid manager level it can be good to get involved in all areas. Junior bad, if there is no development support.

I work on my own - 17 is a big company! 🙂

i moved from a giant one (100K plus) to one = 200 but as i mainly work from home i don't notice much difference. I do most of the employees by name and their top half.

Have someone on my team that came from a Startup.

You will be doing a bit of everything, not just your Job

Hours long

Pension poor

Getting product out quickly, good experience and getting Rich off the IPO are main drawers I guess.

I wouldnt do it in late 40s'

Thanks for all the input so far. A lot of confirmation of what I was thinking, and some good extra points too. I think the biggest risk/worry is that the company could be 1 cancelled contract from death for the foreseeable. Happy to muck in (one of my Bog Co. problems is that I'm seen to do that too much) but at the same time need a degree of flexibility at the moment that I'm not sure will be a fit for the Wee Co. (for now).

Maybe the Goldilocks analogy is a good one. Just a shame that most of the jobs suitable for me around here tend to look incredibly boring compared to what I currently get to work on

Nothing much more to add, made similar move myself 5 yrs ago (20 people then, now 100 people).

My biggest learn - success of the firm and the enjoyment you extract from it is 100% dependant on the owner and/or CEO. So investigate the shit out of that before making a jump.

(should clarify, went from 130,000, to 20 people that grew to 100 in the 5yrs I was there)

worked at a small firm for 17 years , probably 40 when i started, now over 100. Still don't know my proper job role, i just do stuff !

I went from a big company to a small company and struggled, although it was quite a change of role and industry.

I went back to big company land and then had a happy year in a 60 person company until the work ran out. Now in a global megacorp.

Biggest difference I found in my roles in big companies is that the work comes to you, and the battle is staying afloat. In my (admittedly limited) experience of small companies, the onus is on you to be a self-starter and to create your own work.

I went from small engineering consultancy working, to larger consultancy, back to small and now have my own small consultancy and love the freedom that provides.

I much prefer working as part of a small team. Nowhere to hide, less politics and corporate bullshit, more opportunity to be yourself and carve your own path, but more expectation to work harder and outside of your 9-5/less conventionally.

I guess it very much depends on your personality, passion and ambitions as to what kind of environment you prefer?