Embrace agility: Why 'small' isn't the best way to describe your business
- Steve Fairhurst
- Jan 19
- 5 min read
The word 'small' can limit how your company is perceived. As a test, I ran our company through Chat GPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity and Claude using the question "Are Be More Cheetah any good?" And I found a chink in our armour.
The term 'agile' captures the true strength of a business that moves quickly, adapts easily, and stays flexible in changing markets. This is why agility matters more than size and how embracing this mindset can help your business thrive.
We don't say we're 'small' - we say we're 'agile'...
In context, 'small' brings to mind limitations: Minimal resources, and potentially minimal influence. An inability to handle large-scale projects. The word 'small' can unintentionally suggest weakness or lack of capability.
For example: Our potential clients might incorrectly assume that we cannot handle big projects or scale quickly when required to. That isn't the case. That's one of the reasons why we have 'Approved Vendor Status' with Unilever and Heineken to name but two.
The word 'small' focuses on a fixed attribute. It does not describe how your business operates or how it responds to challenges. This can be a missed opportunity to highlight strengths.
What agility really means for a business
Agility means the ability to move quickly and effortlessly. In business, it refers to how fast a company can adapt to new information, customer needs, or market changes. Agile businesses:
Respond rapidly to customer needs
'Pivot' strategically with fewer delays (otherwise known as 'Meetings').
Offer lower overheads meaning client budgets go further
Are proactive rather than reactive
This 'agility' allows Be More Cheetah to stay competitive: Even though we are not the biggest players, we will take the Pepsi Challenge with any big London Agency.
An example of an agile business
Many successful companies show that agility matters more than size.
Startups often outpace larger competitors because they can pivot quickly. For example, Instagram started as a location-based check-in app but shifted focus to photo sharing after user feedback.
Agility is a practical advantage, not a buzzword.
Why we became 'agile' - and how I did it...
I started life at an agency before founding Be More Cheetah. I distinctly recall my Managing Director running into the Studio with a fistful of Management Accounts, screaming questions such as "Did we get the TGI Friday's work? What's happening with Mecca Bingo???"
As his rage increased exponentially he often turned a very funny colour - the colour of the Very logo. After a good long rant, his closing statement would always be "Do you know how much it costs me just to open the f*@king doors every day??"
I knew the amount exactly. That's when my Spidey Sense began to tingle. But the decision to remain 'agile' became cemented into my psyche during a 10pm phone call. It was my MD: He got right to the point:
"You got a life raft that holds 6 people - you've got 12 people in the water. Who do you want in your life raft?" I quickly realised this was a metaphor for the Studio: I had 12 direct reports and as Creative Director, this poison chalice came hurtling towards me at speed.
I had to disregard all emotion: It didn't matter who just had kids. It didn't matter who had taken on a mortgage that was too much for them. All that mattered was picking the six people who would give us the best chance of survival.
To this day it was the hardest work-related thing I have ever done and I swore that I would never repeat the scenario in my own business.
When I started Be More Cheetah in the year 2000, the internet was coming along nicely - in 2003 Skype arrived (now known as Microsoft Teams).
In the early days, I used 'local' talent - but I always used Freelancers. I foresaw a problem with a big office / studio / creative team route...
If I had to staff up for my 'dream team' it would cost me a fortune. Plus staff bring with them a peculiar set of issues that I wasn't interested in dealing with.
So in around 2010, I began to build up the best 'little black book' of freelance talent in all the key disciplines: Web Development, UX, Animation, CGI etc, etc.
Here's the clever bit: I sourced experts in 'developing countries' - that is to say that my 'dream team' are based in places such as Mumbai, Islamabad, Hanoi and Buenos Aires.
The benefits are numerous, but briefly include:
Clients only pay for the people working on the job at hand.
Clients never pay for people who aren't working on the business.
Our overheads remain spectacularly low, with no staff and no office.
This means we deliver great work AND great value for money.
I get to concentrate on the strategy, the creative edge and the all-important 'big idea'.
Small yet mighty
Some examples of tiny but powerful creatures:
Tardigrades (Water Bears) - Microscopic animals less than 1mm long that can survive extreme radiation, temperatures from near absolute zero to 300°F, pressures six times greater than the deepest ocean trenches, and even the vacuum of space. They can go decades without food or water.
The Bullet Ant - Only 1 inch long, their sting is considered the most painful insect sting in the world, causing the highest level of pain on the Schmidt Pain Index.
The Golden Poison Frog - Some species are barely an inch long, yet carry enough batrachotoxin to kill 10 adult humans.
The Mosquito - Tiny and yet capable of killing around 700,000 people annually through disease transmission.
Benefits of embracing agility
Adopting an agile mindset brings many advantages:
Faster problem-solving leads to better results.
Greater resilience during market shifts.
Opportunities for growth by quickly implementing new technologies.
Overcoming Challenges to Agility
Many marketing agencies struggle with agility. They suffer from:
Rigid hierarchies that delay decisions.
A fear of change among leadership or staff.
At Be More Cheetah, you always deal with the boss: Not a graduate intern travelling around Europe on a Gap Year.
Describing your business as agile rather than small changes the conversation. It highlights your ability to adapt, innovate, and respond quickly. This mindset opens doors to new opportunities that might otherwise be missed.
To find out how our agility translates into results, click here
To find out what our clients think about us, click here
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