Huge sales and fast growth? No thanks.

The idea that small companies can be great companies, too, might not be a new one for metalcasters; most of you may be in one yourself. But in the wide world of business, it's the large or fast-growing companies that tend to receive the giant's share of media publicity and business textbook focus.

Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, by Bo Burlingham, goes against the grain of the common business mantra: grow or die. With in-depth profiles of 14 companies from various industries, including fashion, restaurant, construction and manufacturing, Burlingham presents his selection of small companies that have proven to be giants in their sector, exhibiting what he refers to as mojo. Besides earning a good return on their investment, Burlingham writes that these companies are "interested in being great at what they do, creating a great place to work, providing great service to customers, having great relationships with their suppliers, making great contributions to the communities they live and work in, and finding great ways to lead their lives." Small giants can do this, he argues, because they've said "no" to expanding.

All the companies featured in the book had the opportunity to grow larger but consciously made the decision not to. To be fair, many of the companies in the book have grown somewhat over the years, but that growth is tightly reined and controlled. For some, that means keeping employment at a certain number. For others, it means turning down customers. For most, it has meant keeping ownership of the company close to the chest. Only four of the 14 companies have stockholders who don't work in the business.

As editor-at-large of the entrepreneurial Inc. Magazine, Burlingham brings a journalistic style of writing to the subject, which results in a work that shows how small companies have progressed to the cutting edge, rather than defines the steps they took to get there. He argues that companies that choose to be "private and closely held and place other goals ahead of growth get two things back in return: control and time."

The goals are a mixture of things, but most point to providing a place of business of which the owners or management team are happy to be a part. These include strong customer ties, charitable relationships with the community, innovative ideas applied to the business and a healthy, happy workforce.

For example, Reell Precision Manufacturing, a designer and manufacturer of motion control products, was having problems with delays in shipping due to its inspection process. To eliminate this, the company taught the people operating the equipment to do their own quality control on the shop floor. The delays were reduced, and quality improved. Happy with the success, Reell Precision applied the same principal, "teach-equip-trust," throughout its operations.

One of the most practical sections of the book discusses how to pass on a company's mojo to the next generation of management and ownership. Through company profiles, Burlingham illustrates the stumbling blocks that the small giants have faced in figuring out how to keep a good thing going. Surprisingly, very few of his subjects have clear cut succession strategies, despite the numerous variables that can derail a successful company, such as estate planning and transfer of leadership. It will be interesting to see how many of the 14 small giants described in this book maintain their position 10 years from now.

The book does provide examples of a handful of companies that already have gone through a successful leadership succession, despite a few hiccups along the way. One example follows ECCO, a manufacturer of back-up alarms for commercial vehicles, and its principal owner's options for passing on his share of the company when he retires---sell to the highest buyer or sell to an employee stock ownership/option plan (ESOP), which would require taking on additional debt to buy the stock. In the end, the owner sold to the ESOP after extensive examination showed the company could survive with the extra debt.

The examples given in Burlingham's book are anecdotal, but several themes carry through all of the companies featured, giving weight to the notion that great companies can be found in small businesses. For someone looking for a how-to manual, Small Giants will be a disappointment, but for those interested in getting a glimpse at how hypothetical decisions have panned out in reality, the book is a satisfying read.

Shannon Wetzel, Senior Editor