How can a small business survive against large competitors?
by Bruce Wade on 03/09/10 at 7:52 am
2 comments
One of our Ideate readers sent us a very interesting question through our suggestion box: “How can a small business survive and prosper in markets with larger and stronger competitors?”
In a market with larger and stronger competition a small business has the unique advantage of being able to adapt fast and position their products and services to niche points in the market place.
Today the customer is demanding fast reliable personal service and who better to be able to deliver than us the small guy. Just listening to Simon, CEO of Woolies talk about their results: they have taken 2 years to position themselves in a new market with their improved clothing line; that is an age in the real world. The small guy can design, produce and launch a new line within a week.
That has to be the advantage we need to use to capture larger slices of pie. But that said, it still takes skill for the Entrepreneur to identify these often minute cracks and then drive a wedge offering into them to gain access.
Hey if it was easy, it would not be any fun!
Bruce Wade is a survivor of the corporate and NGO world, author, speaker, business owner and entrepreneur, Bruce now runs the Entrepreneur Incubator; a member based organisation dedicated to serving those in the trenches of business through coaching, mentoring and leadership education. View more articles by Bruce Wade.
Tags: small business
michael
Sep 7th, 2010
what is the best marketing strategy of getting new contracts in the transport industry?
Bruce
Sep 7th, 2010
Thanks Michael, great question. Not the easiest sector to get a foot hold in at the moment. My advice for any market that is dominated by big players is to build relationships with the main contenders and offer work as a sub-contractor. Then build a reputation in the market through excellent service and deliverables.
At the same time look at the industry and find the cracks that require specialist requirements and go for those as and when you can. Once you are in and can operate in a non or low competitor market, you can continue to expand your footprint.