It’s not just big companies that can thrive, be successful, delight their customers, and make a healthy profit. Small businesses are just as capable of doing all these things, too. In fact, you may be surprised to find that small businesses actually have multiple competitive advantages over large corporations.
Here are 8 of them.
You can adapt quickly
When you are small, you can adapt quickly to new opportunities, challenges and changes in the market and industry. You might recognize a new trend that will profit your business or new technology or legislation you need to act on. Even a Black Swan event could occur, meaning you need to pivot.
Larger companies may have a bigger budget to implement change but generally require a longer lead in time before they can make permanent changes, and that’s before you take into account staff training, product launches, marketing, etc. They also have a longer chain of command, which means decision-making often takes longer.
All things that a smaller agile business can capitalize on.
You can make good use of versatile and free online tools
You don’t need expensive CRMs or complicated software to run a small business. Instead, you can use the multitude of online tools to help automate workflows and optimize efficiency. From calendar schedulers to project management tools to eCommerce software, there’s something to suit everyone, whatever your business.
You can also make excellent use of free invoice software tools like Invoice Ninja to get paid as simply and quickly as possible. Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for small business invoicing, online payments, tracking expenses, and billable tasks. It also includes attractive, professional invoice template designs you can customize with your logo and brand colors.
Try it for free here.
You can add a personal touch
As a smaller business, you are more likely to interact directly with your customers and clients, so you can add that special personal touch. Because you are not a large faceless corporation, you can build brand loyalty by being at each step of the customer journey. You’ll be able to better customize your clientele’s experience and, therefore, boost the perception of your brand.
Big branding budgets don’t necessarily translate to big bucks; it’s about how you make the customer feel. By providing direct customer service, you are adding your unique touch, which will go a long way toward making your brand memorable.
You can identify (and deal with) operational issues fast
Because you have your boots on the ground, you can better identify operational issues that need to be dealt with that directly impact your business and customers, from outdated tools to improvements in customer service.
For larger businesses, these types of issues can take longer to filter up through the traditional business hierarchy, and some may even go unnoticed or unreported.
By being where the real work is being done, you can quickly resolve issues and keep everyone happy.
You don’t have large retention or recruitment costs
Generally speaking, as a small business, you won’t have an army of staff to deal with and the corresponding retention, churn or recruitment costs and HR issues that come along with them.
The more staff you have, the more regulatory, red tape, and tax and remuneration issues you have to deal with. Also, having a smaller team means you can deal with any productivity or personal issues fast and become aware of them quicker.
You can make a profit quickly
A healthy cash flow is vital to any business. As a small business, you can market and launch your product or service quicker than a larger business and have fewer overheads, so you can more quickly make a profit.
You can also better experiment with products and services and quickly pull the ones that don’t work out. A larger business will have a longer decision making process, might not foster this type of innovation, or ideas simply get lost due to so many teams and departments getting involved.
You can run your small business as a side hustle
Your small business doesn’t have to be your full-time role. It might even be that the business is cyclical – for example, a bar at a holiday resort that’s only open in season.
You can even run a part-time business or several small businesses—how you run your small business is entirely up to you. You are also free to take time off on your schedule and not be beholden to an employer.
Having the freedom to run your business as you see fit will lead to a better work-life balance, reduce burnout and stop you from getting into a rut. This will enable you to focus on doing what you love and helping your clients.
One of the best things about running your own business is that you can do whatever you want with it – including making it even better!
You can make sustainable decisions
Smaller businesses tend to be more environmentally friendly than larger operations because of their size. If you work from home, you have less of an impact on the environment by not commuting from the get-go (and less overheads).
As a small business owner, you can take sustainable decisions into your own hands and make budget and environmentally-friendly decisions; you can even become part of the circular economy. You can find more about how to cut costs at our blog post here. You can also contribute to your local community by getting involved in community projects you are passionate about and adding to the local economy by choosing local suppliers and complementary businesses.
Being environmentally aware will also make you more attractive to deal with. As a small company consciously making impactful decisions, you will be viewed as more trustworthy than a larger corporation whose actions may be perceived more skeptically.
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At the end of the day, small businesses can still be big profit. Your size doesn’t limit your innovation, passion and purpose. Providing a quality service or product, being agile and having lower overheads all go toward a healthy cash flow and a successful business. Small can be beautiful, too!
