It can be daunting to compete with larger businesses as a smaller company or sole trader. Larger businesses have marketing advantages, money to burn and an army of employees to boot. So, what can small businesses do to compete with bigger businesses?
There’s usually no long process to starting a project
Larger scale companies have to go through any number of processes in order to actually begin a project, so much so that it might just be more time-efficient for the client to hire you instead. For example, consider companies on a large scale that provide tech support.
Standard practice for a tech support company would be to call them up, wait on the phone, tell them your issue, and possibly not even get it solved. You might then have to send off your phone for example and not have access to that device for a week at minimum. Now, the difference if you were to go to a small repair shop?
They can look at the device while asking questions, and fix it there, you get your phone back the same day, with no fuss.
You can compete with bigger businesses by taking risks
Bigger companies don’t have the benefit of being able to put much else but money wherever they please, which you can take advantage of. You don’t have to put years into decisions to act on them.
Keep in mind that while smaller businesses can just as easily lose things, larger businesses have far more to lose. If they mess up in a bad way then it can cost them millions, it’s needless to say this isn’t the case for smaller businesses and goes the same for things like reputation.
The client will always know who does the work
When working with a larger business, it’s easy to get lost with which employee your work has been passed onto. Common reasons as to why this may occur include; the employee leaving, finding a better job, or being let go. What this means is that the client can never be certain that the work done is of consistent or high quality.
How can you use this to your advantage as a smaller business? Make a display of the fact that it will almost always be the same individual giving out high-quality work with the same consistency, where the client can happily build a rapport.
Show how easy it is to communicate with the client
The client also always has someone they can directly talk to if necessary. Something that might not, if ever, be available from a larger company.
Compete with bigger businesses by using the latest advances
Whether it be through hardware, software, or strategy, using the latest tech advancements is a viable strategy because smaller businesses can change far quicker than large ones. A big example is E-Invoicing, which allows for quick and easy invoices which sort themself and are payable through a card.
The best part is that it’s available instantly from the Invoice24 app which is easily accessible through your mobile device.