 The Bigger They Come - The Harder They Fail Has all the hubbub about the recent huge dot-com deals and mergers got you worried about how giga-mergers like this are going to affect your small business? Compared to the market capitalization of this new behemoth, even some Fortune 500-types could be considered "small" businesses. Will our small Internet businesses go the way of the corner drugstore, the local hardware store and the town market? Wasn't the Internet supposed to be the "Great Equalizer?" Well, dear reader, fear not! As "small" business owners, we should be licking our chops! It's deals like this that can actually help us thrive and prosper. Here's why: The larger companies get, the larger their customer service problems can become. They often lose the ability to respond quickly to the changing needs of their customers. When their competitors make a move, they are frequently unable to react with the necessary speed. They can take forever to launch new products and services. Their internal bureaucracies and politics can demoralize even the most eager employees. This presents opportunities for us "little guys" to differentiate ourselves from these giants in ways that can have them eating our dust. Here's a company that is doing just that: http://www.Paper2U.com. This Web site offers free paper samples to businesses in the U.S. What's remarkable is that every person who requests samples gets a call from a paper specialist - within one business day, usually within two hours, sometimes within a few minutes. On this call, the paper specialist learns a little about the prospect's business, and what kinds of paper samples to send out. The samples are then mailed within one business day. Can you imagine one of the big three office products companies calling every prospective customer? I can't. Now you may think that Paper2U has to charge more for this personalized service. Not! Their prices are in line with and often lower than the big three. Another thing Paper2U does is sell small quantities of specialty paper - like high-end photographic paper - as few as 25 sheets. Naturally, they do charge a premium for this, but customers don't have to buy a full ream of anything. And if you want a special paper that they don't stock, they can usually get it for you because the owner has personal connections at just about every paper mill in the country. Now ask yourself how a large company can possibly compete with this small company in these areas of personalized service? They can't. (Why it's downright unfair!) You can take a cue from Paper2U and leverage your smallness into giant-size profits: * Deliver customer service with a personal touch. If you can, try calling some or all of your customers. Send a personal email when someone buys something. Follow up with a personal email when someone has a problem. * Respond instantly when your customers' needs change. Offer a smaller or larger size. Lower your price when possible or add a surprise bonus. Take on a new product line. * Counter your competitors' moves immediately. Adjust your price. Add more for the same price. Offer something free. Offer a rebate. Offer coupons. * Based on your customers' feedback, changing market conditions or innovation, create and launch a new product or service that your larger competition doesn't offer. * And run your company with a minimum of office politics and bureaucracy - or none at all. These can be the competitive advantages of your small business that few giga-companies will be able to match - even if they really wanted to. Those of us who exploit these advantages can not only survive, we can prosper beyond our wildest dreams of avarice. Here's where the Internet is truly the Great Equalizer. For much of the world, Internet access has brought new ideas and alternative viewpoints to tens of millions of people who were unable to get them before. And for those of us in North America who think we might be affected by the AOL-TWC merger, we have one thing that no company large or small will ever be able to control - our freedom of choice. It's this freedom of choice that can allow your prospective customers to choose your company over the competition, regardless of their size. If you leverage your smallness properly, you can create a loyal base of customers who won't even consider buying from anyone else - no matter how many free-trial CDs they send out! Article by Nick Nichols |
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