We’ve all heard of the next big thing. Society is obsessed with the next big thing. But you may not have heard of the next small thing.
The next small thing is a smaller, better solution to a real problem faced by you or a business you know. The next small thing is lightweight and simple. The next small thing may not be a business but surely deserves to exist even if there are 10 other similar things just like it that are not quite it. The next small thing is an opportunity in plain sight around you that is waiting to be built and probably can be built by just you + your tool of choice.
The next small thing certainly won’t compete for features with product lines of publicly-traded companies and unicorn startups, although it might do one single thing better. Large companies still riding the wave of the last big thing won’t be stealing the next small thing’s customers away because the next small thing is well, too small, for them to pay attention.
The person building the next small thing is not obsessed with institutional venture money and valuations. Instead, they know a simple business fundamental you won’t need to read 20 best-selling business books or rack up tens of thousands in business school debt to find out: build something of value to people or businesses that makes more money than it costs.
The person building the next small thing probably won’t be at the “biggest tech conference” with $1000 tickets, or TechCrunch Disrupt or in Forbes magazine (no offence, TechCrunch and Forbes). Instead, you may find them at your local coffee shop or co-working space simply working away.
The next small thing might not scale to a billion people or even a million people, but it will genuinely make the lives of at least one to ten people or businesses you know easier. You can probably keep the lights on for the next small thing for the rest of your life, even if you have a day job.
Folks building the next small thing are good, honest people who care. They care about people and they care about building better things. They might not care so much about making the world a better place as much as they do about making the world around them better.
Builders of the next small thing aren’t driven by fame or power. They’re driven by passion & purpose. You won’t read about them in the Wall Street Journal or catch them on CNBC. But you might hear from a small handful of them on blogs or podcasts featuring bootstrapped business owners such as Practical Founders.
So, builders and entrepreneurs — let go of the heaviness of trying to build the next big thing. The era of building the next small things is here. It’s not going to “eat the world” or make you a billionaire, but it will add meaning and purpose to your work. It’s fun to build the next small thing. Maybe it’s always been the era for building the next small thing, but you were paying more attention to The Grapevines of Silicon Valley telling you to be thirsty for the next big thing instead of focusing on what was going on around you in your little world.