Many small business owners have worked for a larger company at one time or another. And, in some cases, this is precisely what drove them to go off on their own in the first place. They just got sick and tired of the - well, let's use an off colored description here - they got sick and tired of the crap that they had to put up with. They knew they could do a better job, if they were the one calling the shots. They knew they could be more responsive and generally make themselves, their employees, and their customers happier. And they knew they could make better money and have more personal freedom in the process.

There are a lot of things big companies say they do, but really don't. They say they are customer focused - and then they organize the company in the way that is most efficient for them, whether this makes things easier for their customers, or not. They say they are bottom line oriented - and then they waste untold amounts of money by creating duplication of effort and fiefdoms for individuals. They say they think about the long term - and then they worry most about how the markets will hammer their stock after the next quarterly earnings release, if they don't meet their target and if they invest too much for the long term. And worst of all, virtually every large company says in one way or another that their employees are their most important asset - but anyone who has worked for most large companies knows that these are just words.

The problem is, when many small business owners walked away from the large company they were part of, they walked away from some of the good stuff too - and maybe even stuff they didn