Yesterday I was driving around town, passed a CVS, and remembered that my dentist for years has been yelling at me to get a mouth guard to protect my teeth from nighttime grinding. I pulled into the parking lot to realize that this CVS happened to be inside a Target. Now I think that this was the second time in my life that I've been inside a Target. As soon as I entered I was struck by how large the store is. How can I ever find such a small item inside such a large store, I thought? After pacing back and forth frantically looking for what at this point I believed to be a made up CVS, I eventually gave up and left. What's another night of bruxism? Just don't tell my dentist.
I've worked at and visited farms of all different sizes. And I must say that the ones at which I've felt the most comfortable have been the ones at which I am able to see the entire field while standing at the center and turning 360 degrees. How else would I know whether or not there is a monster lurking at one of the corners? But in all seriousness, a smaller farm allows the farmer to more easily spot an irrigation leak. Or beds that are overtaken by weeds, disease, and pests. Or how ready a crop is for harvest. Just by standing at the center and turning around.
There might be a bit of a God complex involved with all this. Here I am, the creator of this tiny corner of the world, peering over with adoration and pride in my hard work. Perhaps doing this all from a single point makes me feel all the more powerful. "All is vanity," as the author of Ecclesiastes wrote.
Aside from the vanity under the surface, I have found that, much like Occom's razor, whereby the simplest answer is usually the correct one, the smallest business is usually the best one. Now this is of course a value statement, and everyone has different values by which they determine something to be "the best." But allow me to give you just one concrete example out of many so that you can have an idea of the values that tend to be important to me.
That is sourcing transparency. Target has sourcing statements on their website. I'm sure there is sincerity to it. But the problem is that I just don't know for sure. There simply is no way for me to verify anything. I can't just call Brian Cornell, the CEO, ask him specifically where in the world a particular item of clothing is made, fly out to witness the manufacturing process, ask the plant owner where they got the materials to make said clothing, and fly out to wherever in the world that is grown to learn about the agricultural practices. I suppose there are journalists in the world who do this sort of thing, but it's probably beyond the capability of most people, including myself. I'd just rather give up, walk out of the store, and grind my teeth while worrying about a potential monster hiding in a far off shelf that I can't see. Yea...dark...I know.
It's all different at a small shop. I can call up the CEO (hint you all have my personal number); I can ask where things are made (hint hint list below); and I can take a short drive to learn about the manufacturing process (hint hint hint we can even go together).
I hope I'm not tooting my own horn here. This is all completely objective, right? Maybe not. All is vanity, after all.