Boutique is Beatiful

The China Law Blog recently highlighted an article about boutique law firms and why they have been doing well during this recession:

1. Better expertise in the areas they serve (international law in the case of China Law Blog’s firm, Harris & Moure)
2. Better customer service
3. Better pricing (for example, Harris & Moure will do many jobs for a fixed fee).

I feel the same way about many of the smaller automation suppliers; I feel the products are better, the service is better, and the pricing is better than  I get from the automation giants.  OK, they aren’t covered as well by the press (or many bloggers), but that’s never concerned me.  The ones that have been around a while (such as Galil) are going to be in business just as long as the biggies, with a lot fewer strategy changes.

And, when these firms get bought out by big companies, they do seem to get at least just a little bit worse (and sometimes much worse — I can think of a couple cases where I’d find it difficult to buy from them again).

In summary, I do often feel that small is beautiful.

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