Company of One: Why staying small is the next big thing in business by Paul Jarvis Published by Penguin 2019
This was our Book Club read in July 2025. We were disappointed. At best we felt it was worth a three-star review.
We agreed that it had the hallmarks of many an American author in being much longer than it needed to be. There was too much repetition. But our biggest complaint was that the author was either not clear about his intentions for the book or lost sight of them.
Jarvis referenced small, owner managed businesses but also made a case for a company of one inside corporates. This double focus made the book confusing and harder to read than it needed to be. We felt it was mistitled.
We liked the concept of staying small and agreed that setting a cap for goals made sense. However, there were times when the book went off at a tangent and used examples from corporates or businesses with millions in turnover.
We felt that there was too much name dropping and way too much referenced research. It was like Jarvis had to show how well-read and well connected he is. This led to too many confusing and irrelevant examples.
Was it all bad?
We did agree with some of the messages in the book. For example, Jarvis made a good point about being better not bigger. We agreed that, as small business owners, our focus should be on profit not growth.
He gave some good examples of starting small and fast using profits to fund growth rather than other forms of investment. He made the point that growth can bring its own set of unwelcome challenges and reduction in control and put a business at greater risk.
We did welcome Jarvis’ recognition that long term relationships which build trust and can lead to valuable referrals are vital.
My key takeaways.
- Focus on being better rather than being bigger
- Resilience is a key contributor to success and acceptance of reality is a key quality of the resilient
- A sense of purpose is also key to being resilient as is the ability to adapt
- Simple rules, simple processes and simple solutions win in a company of one
- A company of one leader has to be an expert in saying no
- Busyness gets in the way of thinking and creativity
- The best marketing is about taking a stand
- Social capital tends to be what makes or breaks a business and you have to invest before you can withdraw
Would I recommend this book?
I can’t recommend this book unreservedly. Whilst there is some useful content it’s not an easy read and it has mixed messages. This may be a case where you ask AI to summarise the key points.
