The Size of the Dog
Recently, I found myself extolling the virtues of being a small business owner and operator. Eventually the all-important question was asked: “I don’t see how you can compete with established, big companies in your market, though. If I’m a potential client, what’s the advantage of going with GammaWorks vs one of your competitors?”
Great question. And I’ve got great answers.
It’s Personal. Customers and Markets are desperate for businesses that can help them connect to something beyond products, services, contracts, procurement…Small businesses can deliver a meaningful story; a journey of experience that led it to that point in time. A sense of purpose can attract customers because their needs are always being considered against the need to deliver investor profits.
Partner Strength. Smart small businesses create networks of partners so they can meet the needs of clients with the best and brightest solutions each time they need to. Large companies usually have pretty comprehensive solutions that make compromises at every opportunity. You know, like “Oh, we deliver that internally…” rather than simply sourcing the best answer to the customer’s requirement. A good small business brings experience and depth to every aspect by having awesome partners.
Pushing Technology. With the advance of internet compatibility, small businesses can deliver big-time follow-up, service, measurement, prospecting, and accounting without the amount of cost overhead required by publicly held companies with huge departmental infrastructure requirements. And because technology advances so damn quickly, small businesses are naturally able to outpace big business by adopting new tech because they don’t have crap-loads of capital tied up in internal platforms.
Hard-core Focus. Small Businesses tend to do one or two things really, really well. That reputation for helping people with specific issues makes others want to do business with us. Rather than trying to solve all of the problems in an average way, get your most critical issues dealt with expertly.
Client Product Development. Small businesses grow by adapting to the needs of their clients. Collaboration with clients means that small organisations get real evaluative experiences that mean big opportunities. Don’t miss out on the chance to change the world!
Book Way vs Real Way. Who do you want addressing your problem? A 20-year industry veteran who’s always seen better ways to do things or 2 pimply faced whiz kids straight out of school and in a big consulting company? Right, me too.
It comes down to the desire to do better by your client because they MEAN more to small businesses. I think you want a company that will behave like you have a choice and will respect it.
I think big organisations have their place and serve a need, particularly in the partnering aspect, but shouldn’t be surprised if their lunch gets eaten by smaller players.
It ain’t the size of the dog in the fight after all…
Thanks for reading!
Max