The Key Advantages of Small Business – It is All in Your Personality

How many times have you watched a movie and cheered for the underdog? That seemingly insignificant character that usurps the villain's plans?

Recently, I watched Food, Inc. which pits the large food corporations against the small business operations. I am a bit of a cynic when it comes to “big business conspiracy cover-ups,” and I came away thinking about the advantages of small business over the corporate greedies.

One a side note: I recommend watching the movie before you take your next bite of beef or chicken. The movie only highlighted one side of the story, but that side was down-right scary.

What could I have possibly learned from the big corporations’ systematic apathy for the health of their customers?  Especially after one meat processing factory boss proudly declared that they had captured (if my memory is correct) upwards of 75% of the fast food market in the United States?

Where does that leave the small business owner who is trying to crack into the fast food market? Or the small town hardware store that has to compete with The Warehouse or Bunnings?

It's simple: Try to compete head-on with the big boys and your business will die. You can try to compete on price if you are part of a national buyer group network. However, the rest of us need to explore alternate opportunities which aren’t covered by the larger corporations.

As a small business owner, you can usurp them by offering premium products, specialized services and excellent customer service.

Let me explain. There are five broad categories where you can compete, including:

• Cheaper price
• Range of products or services
• Quality of your products or services
• Better customer service

Specializing in a niche market with your product or service

So where do the big boys hang out? The majority of the time they hang out on the corner of Price and Selection, with occasional trips down Quality and Service lanes.

There are two areas that they just cannot compete with you; specialization and personality.

They cannot compete on specialization primarily because they work off of a slim profit model – cheap prices, low margins and high volumes.

More importantly, and this is where you have the advantage, they cannot compete on the personality of the business owner. Sure they can have a spokesperson, but that is not the same thing.

That means you need to start expressing your personality in your business!

When you fail to put your personality into your marketing materials, you are making a huge mistake. So use your photo and your language on your website, in your brochures and anywhere else you advertise.

Just think about Colonel Sanders (KFC), Dick Smith (DSE), and Michael Hill. When you think fried chicken, does a certain bearded face appear? I thought so.

People do not want to buy from cold, faceless corporations. They want to buy from someone they have a relationship with. You’ll give them that when you put your personality or “fingerprint” into everything you do.