If you’re a small or not-yet-large business, this article is for you.
Read carefully — because the gap between surviving and scaling often comes down to the strategy you apply when money is tight and options are limited.
What Alex Hormozi Says — And Why It Matters to You
In a recent video, Alex Hormozi outlines why many businesses, especially service providers, should focus on large or wealthy clients. His reasoning is clear:
Limited Resources
Small businesses don’t have enough capital or manpower.
Slow Decisions
Despite smaller size, internal delays are common.
Risk Aversion
Fear of failure keeps them from taking bold moves.
Owner Dependency
Too much relies on one person’s vision or bandwidth.
Weak Market Position
Competing with larger brands is tough.
Transactional Relationships
Long-term strategic partnerships are rare.
In other words: many experts won’t work with you — not because they’re snobs, but because your business conditions make high-impact work hard to execute.
The Hard Truth: When You Hire Help, It’s Often Inexperienced or Low-Quality
If you’re a small startup with limited funds, understand this:
Top-tier professionals usually avoid your segment. It’s not personal — it’s economics.
So when you hire help, you’re likely getting:
- A beginner (who lacks experience)
- Or someone who cuts corners (even if they look impressive online)
This doesn’t mean you’re doomed — it just means you need a strategy to navigate this reality wisely.
The Smart Strategy for Small Businesses: Creative + Intentional Outsourcing
Here’s how to get the support you need without pretending you’re a big fish.
Hire students who need portfolio work
- Use platforms like Behance, design school boards, or even Instagram DMs
- Expect slower turnaround and guidance needs
- Give clear briefs. Make it easy for them to shine
Tap into skilled family or close network
- Got a cousin who’s a UX designer? Or a brother-in-law with SEO skills?
- Offer non-cash value: e.g., free childcare, vacation stays, or even barter deals like cooking for their family
- Family wants to help — but they need to see value and boundaries
Hire offshore via Fiverr, Upwork, or OnlineJobs.ph
- Always vet with small paid test tasks
- Ask for before-and-after examples or loom videos explaining their work
- Use country-specific forums to understand pricing and norms
Learn to do things yourself
- This isn’t about becoming a full-stack developer
- It’s about becoming dangerous enough to do, direct, or delegate well
- Learn the basics of design, funnels, email, or even video editing — enough to judge quality and bridge gaps
When to Do Things Yourself: How to Decide
Use this as a quick filter to know what you can take on personally:
- Does it directly generate revenue or grow your audience? → Learn to do it
- Can AI tools accelerate or automate most of it? → Learn the tool and get started
- Is it repeatable, scalable, and not super technical? → You can probably master it fast
- Would doing it yourself help you manage future hires better? → Worth learning
Examples:
- Learning Canva or Figma? Yes
- Writing your own landing page copy with ChatGPT’s help? Worth a try
- Doing your own legal contracts? Nope. Hire a pro
What to Pay Full Price For — No Discounts, No Bargaining
Some things are not worth skimping on. Here’s a good rule of thumb:
If it defines your brand or is a high-trust item — pay full price.
- Logo & brand design — If done wrong, you’ll redo it multiple times
- Website development — Avoid template messes that break
- Legal, tax, and financials — Amateur mistakes are expensive
- Core software infrastructure — Bad tools slow you down more than you realize
Be frugal — but not where it costs you your credibility or compliance.
How to Leverage Self-Study and Pick the Right Guides
If you’re doing it yourself, do it well. Here’s how to find quality self-study resources:
- Look for practitioner-led content — Not theory, but from those who do the thing daily
- Avoid YouTube rabbit holes — Instead, buy 1–2 solid, structured courses
- Ask: does this guide show me how to think and make decisions? If it just shows buttons, it’s incomplete
- Leverage AI to accelerate learning — e.g., paste in course outlines and ask AI to explain key concepts or help create a checklist
- Follow creators who build in public — You’ll learn from their process, not just their product
Examples of good self-study platforms:
- UpGreatly (Created by a small business for small businesses)
- Skillshare (great for creatives)
- Udemy (look for highly rated, recent courses)
- AI + YouTube for execution support
Final Word
If you’re reading this and you’re still small — own that.
Small is not weak. It just demands smarter plays.
Big businesses buy speed. You buy resilience, creativity, and personal skin in the game.
You don’t need to pretend to be bigger. You need to be sharper.
No responses yet