An owner of a single digit million dollar business asks, "What are some strategies to compete with large corporations? What can we do so that a customer would buy from a small business instead of large corporations?"
For a whole range of products and services, I tell my clients, that it is not a bad idea to explore the option of buying from a small business. In nine out of ten cases, small businesses appreciate business from their customers and do their very best to retain them as customers (Related link: How to provide service that delights your customers every time?). If the owner is a member of a minority community, they not only help the owner and employees of the company, it also helps them generate a lot of goodwill in the community.
It is important to note, however, that apart from such reasons as access to capital, infrastructure, market share, etc., large corporations also have access to enormous amount of intellectual capital either through their own employees or due to their ability to hire smart consultants/thinkers. This puts small businesses at a great disadvantage because not only do they have a hard time attracting the best employees, the smart thinkers are also prohibitively expensive for them to hire.
So how can one compete with a large corporation? Think and act like one. Use your small size to create a competitive advantage through higher speed and lower cost, but by thinking like a large corporation, you can fight on an intellectual level as well. That is in fact also the mission of iProceed: to provide sophisticated tools and thinking used by large corporations for everyone else to apply in their business.
For a whole range of products and services, I tell my clients, that it is not a bad idea to explore the option of buying from a small business. In nine out of ten cases, small businesses appreciate business from their customers and do their very best to retain them as customers (Related link: How to provide service that delights your customers every time?). If the owner is a member of a minority community, they not only help the owner and employees of the company, it also helps them generate a lot of goodwill in the community.
It is important to note, however, that apart from such reasons as access to capital, infrastructure, market share, etc., large corporations also have access to enormous amount of intellectual capital either through their own employees or due to their ability to hire smart consultants/thinkers. This puts small businesses at a great disadvantage because not only do they have a hard time attracting the best employees, the smart thinkers are also prohibitively expensive for them to hire.
So how can one compete with a large corporation? Think and act like one. Use your small size to create a competitive advantage through higher speed and lower cost, but by thinking like a large corporation, you can fight on an intellectual level as well. That is in fact also the mission of iProceed: to provide sophisticated tools and thinking used by large corporations for everyone else to apply in their business.