If you want to set-up a small business, but giants dominate the industry of your choice, can you still survive? The answer is a resounding “yes.” There are some basic tricks of the trade which need to be kept in mind.
- Expert Knowledge: If you have an expertise, be generous and share your knowledge with others. This will help them and you because you will gain recognition as an industry expert and people who value your opinion will inevitably value your product or service. The information you share does not have to be directly related to your product. However, it should be useful to the audience and fulfill their informational needs.
- Efficient Allocation of Resources: As the resources available at your disposal are scarce, you need to optimize on their use. For example, if you use call tracking, you can allocate your marketing budget according to whichever media channel gets you the most sales. You can also do a keyword level analysis to determine exactly which keywords appeal to your target audience. This way your marketing content is right on target.
- Speed of Implementation: As a small business owner you have the flexibility to implement business decisions quickly. Use this to your advantage. For example, if you find that a certain marketing channel is not yielding high return on investment, divest immediately.
- Consumer Responsiveness: The modern consumer with access to digital media is extremely sophisticated and demanding. Responding to the consumer’s tastes and preferences in real time is the only way forward.
- Differentiation: No matter how small your business, it should have a distinct identity and core strength. If you chose superior customer service as your differentiating feature, then you need to ensure that this spirit is diffused to every team member of your company. Many companies pay lip service to customer satisfaction, but far fewer are able to actually differentiate themselves in terms of quality service. The one who does manage to differentiate will get noticed and appreciated.
- Long-term orientation: Setting up and running your own business is a challenge that can only be won through persistence and perseverance. There are inevitably going to be times when things do not go as planned. The ability to overcome obstacles (and the emotional strength to keep going despite of things) eventually pays off.
Hence, acting with speed, accuracy and emotional stability can help the small fish survive with the sharks. Know your strengths and use them to your advantage with your long-term mission always in sight.
