Now that I’m back from the 2012 WCAF, I’ve had a chance to reflect on my conversations with fellow framers in the industry. Looking back, I can recall two questions that were asked repeatidly as I bumped into friends and picture framing colleagues:

• “How many employees do you have?”
• “How many pictures do you frame every month?”

It seemed as if people were hoping to be impressed by a big number. For some reason, we judge the success of a frame shop by the number of employees on payroll or the number of frames a shop cranks out each month. The higher these numbers, the more impressive and successful we sound.

Here’s how I see it: I could care less how many people work for me and how many pictures my shop frames each month. I’m only focused on running a tight ship and keeping customers happy. A number that I love to use to analyze my business is my “profit per employee”. I’m always searching for ways to improve this number. For me, running a small, agile shop has many advantages over running a big shop and works best for my business.

I’d venture to guess that I’m not alone in my thinking. I’m sure there are plenty of frame shops with only a few employees that make more profit each year than the big guys in the industry. I’m also going out on a limb and betting they’re happier than many of the big guys.

Running a small business means less headaches. Why expand? Unless you’re looking to feed your ego, there is nothing wrong with finding the right size for your shop and staying there — even if it means that you only have two people on staff (like I do).