Positioning Your Small Business to Outcompete in a Big Business World!

Worrying about how you're going to stopgap the revenue deficit arising from shift of a large proportion of your customers to big players? Spending sleepless nights figuring out how to win back your lost customers from competitors far bigger than your company?
If you're a small business owner and above appear familiar to you, then no need to panic. In fact, it is quite normal for small business owners to find themselves in this quagmire at some point in their business life cycle. It is a tough phase which some managed to find a way out but others unfortunately succumbed to the financial powers and might of the big players in the market.
So, it really boiled down to the intriguing question of how do you compete with competitors who are much bigger than you in size, both financially and physically? The key is to recognize that a larger business is not necessarily your competitor. Ask yourself how you are different. If the competition is larger they will have a lot of advantages that you won't because of their scale and size. So don't compete on those levels. Recognize that you have a lot of potential to be better and stronger in ways they can't - likely you are more nimble and ready to make change and adapt to trends and customer requests and you can connect on a more personal level with customers. Use these differences to your advantage and compete as a different business.

Think of the case of a yacht and a jet ski. The big yacht has the ability to cross the vast ocean. However, when it gets close to shore, it is not so great at manoeuvring. That is why most yachts tow a few jet skis on back so they can navigate the shoreline. This is a great analogy that perfectly described the symbiotic relationship between big and small companies. Both add tremendous value, as long as each party appreciates what the other brings to the table. So there is no need for small companies to have an inferiority complex. Simply understand the value you bring to the table, and find the right partner who sees your value as well! What if you're head-to-toe locked in a competitive battle with your rival bigger than you? Of course, it is inevitable that your small business will have to stand fierce competition (at times frontal attacks) from your bigger rivals. But, gone are the days when small businesses couldn’t compete with bigger companies. Technological advances have helped to even out the playing field, but there are inherent advantages to being the little guy. Here are 10 ways your small business can compete with larger companies, and sometimes come out ahead.
1. Be nimble and flexible
Sure, bigger companies have a larger staff and more resources. But that can also add layers of bureaucracy to their infrastructure. The more vice-presidents and managers you have, the longer it usually takes to create, develop, approve and implement change. As a smaller firm, you have fewer internal hurdles to clear when implementing changes. You can also respond to customer queries or complaints faster because there are fewer people in your company who have to meet, discuss and approve how to reply to such client feedback. It has been proven that smaller companies are actually more efficient, productive and cost-effective than large ones.
2. Get personal and focus on customer experience
What sets many small businesses apart from large companies is their ability to build personal relationships with customers and suppliers. If you know many of those players by name and have an ongoing relationship with them, nurture it. You can do it in little ways: mention them in your company's blog, write a client case involving them and post it on your web site, ask them to take part in a roundtable on improving customer service and products at your firm. You can even publicly acknowledge their personal or corporate milestones (anniversaries, contract wins, awards, etc.) on social media. There's evidence that when it comes to forging business and sales with other small businesses, personal contacts still make a difference. It is vital that your small business focus its efforts on providing the best customer experience possible. Reports have revealed that 90 percent of U.S. consumers frequent small businesses at least once a week and 63 percent of the respondents said that they feel a strong need to support local entrepreneurs. This is mostly in part to the convenience, customer service and social equity of local businesses compared to corporations. As a result, small businesses can dominate their local market by providing incredible customer service, convenient operating hours, a friendly atmosphere and the inclusion of customer opinions and feedback into strategic decisions.
3. Make your presence online
Various studies conducted over the last decade have concluded that as much as 40% of in-store shoppers first research a product online before actually buying at a physical location. This means that your small business must have an online presence in order to compete locally. In today's world, it is becoming imperative to setup your online presence not necessarily for online sales but primarily to gain awareness, create brand recognition and ultimately drive sales in your physical outlets. Not sure what your small business can do to setup or improve its online presence? No worry as our dedicated web design team at accuSolve can assist you in setting up your web presence taking into account your budgetary and time constraints.
4. Be present on social media platforms
Social media and blogs have given small businesses the opportunity to market themselves to a massive audience of potential clients, and it seems to be working. Per a recent report from Social Media Marketing Industry Report, it was found that small businesses benefit more than bigger firms from using social media when it comes to making sales, generating leads and partnerships, increasing site traffic, subscriptions and overall marketplace exposure, and cutting marketing costs. It’s not always easy to manage a social media strategy when you’re a small business but there are technology tools to use and organizational steps to take so it's a little easier these days.
5. Getting your local SEO right is key
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is basically a methodology of strategies, techniques and tactics used to increase the amount of visitors to a website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo amongst others). Focusing on improving your small business’ local SEO will therefore help generate more traffic to your website and ultimately, more leads and sales for your business both online and at the physical outlets. With roughly 97 percent of consumers going online to search for local businesses, why wouldn’t you make SEO a priority? Additionally, Google is placing more emphasis on local search with prominent local results floating at the top of targeted search queries. To get started, make sure you register your business with Google and Bing Places. Other considerations to improve local SEO include, hyper-local content creation onsite and offsite, publisher partnerships with local websites, optimizing your website (for instance use of keywords) and strategic social media management among others.
6. Make increasing use of online reviews
Online reviews are a critical part of your local search rankings, not just on Google and Bing, but also site like Facebook. Additionally, online reviews are the modern version of word-of-mouth advertising and can persuade new customers to use your small business, or to not use your small business. In fact, roughly 67 percent of consumers reported that their purchasing decisions were influenced by online reviews. Thus, it’s important to perpetuate reviews from your customers, especially if you know they had a positive experience. Consider adding calls-to-action on your receipts or training your employees to ask for reviews on your Facebook page.
7. Tell your own story to the public

Break out of the traditional marketing and publicity box of simply issuing a press release that shills your latest product and recounts why it’s so amazing. Those formulaic quotes don’t sound real, and thousands of other companies are doing the same thing every day. But only you can tell the unique story of your business: how you started and grew your business as well as all the personal bumps you encountered along the way. A 2010 study by the University of Chicago found that products marketed using “brand biographies” highlighting passionate entrepreneurs overcoming the odds were chosen 71 per cent of the time over products that weren’t promoted that way. Just think of all the category killers whose branding is strengthened by their leaders’ back stories. There’s a reason The Social Network drew in millions of moviegoers with the story of Mark Zuckerberg. It’s the same reason they’ve made a biopic about Apple’s Steve Jobs. People love to hear personal stories.
8. Email Marketing is still an important marketing tool
Email marketing is an undervalued resource for small businesses. It gives you a scalable tool to communicate with current, previous and potential clients. In fact, it seems like most small businesses put more energy into social media than email, even though email marketing is estimated to yield three times higher results and a 17 percent higher value in conversion. Consider using a free email marketing resource like Mailchimp or Constant Contact.
9. Targeting your efforts to chosen customer segment
With local search getting increasingly difficult, it might make sense for your small business to consider pay-per-click (PPC) options like AdWords. PPC is when you pay for each individual customer that visits your website after clicking a specific advertisement. The best part is, you can optimize PPC campaigns to target affordable, yet actionable keywords in specific geographical areas. PPC lets you get your advertisement in front of highly targeted keywords in your local market, which will increase your conversions.
10. Become more active & involved in the community
Small businesses are often considered to be “backbones” of their respective communities. As a result, local companies can differentiate themselves by staying active in local affairs. In fact, 82 percent of consumers consider corporate social responsibility as an important factor when making purchasing decisions. As a start, you can join your local community to find relevant events in your target market. If you really want to make a splash, consider sponsoring a local event or charity. Social activism in your local community is an excellent marketing tool and a great way to gain positive PR.
Eventually, as with all things in life, there is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution and hence each small business owner will have to tailor the above to suit their business demands, and if required, to re-assess their effectiveness post implementation.