Charles Dunstone of CarPhoneWarehouse has written an article for James Hurley’s Telegraph Business Club entitled ‘Don’t listen to the experts’Â suggesting that entrepreneurs should not listen to management consultants in the main, and goes on to suggest that small might be beautiful.
Well, small may not be necessarily beautiful. It perhaps might be in terms of people, but business economies of scale are often vital for competitive advantage.
The truth is entrepreneurs often do not know how to grow, and end up filling offices full of people, increasing the vulnerability of the business and working for little of the benefits. This is often why business people revert to a small size.
Dunstone hasn’t done this. He grew in a chaotic way, upsetting millions of telecom customers along the way, and not focusing on customer value.
I am pleased he has survived. He might have done better to have humbly asked for and accepted help from the right business consultants, nearer the beginning of his empire building. He highlights that this is difficult to do.