Welcome back to Small Business Advice with naturalForms! Here we combine our decades of experience to help you learn the skills and find the tools you need to build your business.
In this installment, we're going to be looking at the advantages you hold against large competitors.
Punching Above Your Weight
If you are a small to middle-sized business in a market with large competitors, don’t worry! Instead, decide that you are going to be that company!
Who is that company, you ask?
Well, that company is the one that meets or exceeds the market’s needs. Be that company that does what it takes to make the customer happy.
Be that company that is growing faster than anyone in the market and is making noise and viewed as innovative and customer-focused. Be that company that drives the market share leaders crazy!
Remember, your company is as agile as you allow it to be. Your company will be as customer service oriented as you allow it to be. Your company invests in your people, products, and solutions as much as you allow it to. You have the power to shape your business exactly how you see fit when you’re an SME. (Small-Medium Enterprise)
I could go on and on, but as the owner of a small to middle-sized business, you get to lead, you get to provide the freedom to your executives to do what it takes to win. With your company, you can make big changes in a small amount of time. Don’t be afraid to move fast and break things!
The Advantage of Your Size
At the size that your business is, you have something the others don’t. Actually, you have a lot of things. Here are some major advantages as an SME:
Flexible: Your business can bend and shape itself to the needs of the market. If there’s a major shift, you won’t go through 10 layers of management, company regulation checks, testing, review, testing, and implementation. Instead, you’ll take the bull by the horns and make the changes.
Connection to Customers: People just don’t trust big business. They see these massive conglomerates as soulless, money-hungry machines with no interest in their customers. You can connect to them and know what drives your customers. And when I say you, I don’t just mean the business, you can and should. So, get out there and talk to your customers!
Clarity: The bigger the business, the bigger the bureaucracy. No matter what big business says about being lean and agile when it gets to a certain size, things get opaque. You have a direct line with your team and you need to use it! Don’t let any ambiguity get in the way! Be direct, be clear, and be the first one across the finish line to meet your customer’s expectations!
Bring the Fight to Them
Be that company that achieves its potential, and take the fight to them.
Create the strategic plan that helps identify your target market’s needs and figures out how you can service it better than anyone else and then develop the strategies that will drive your company to achieve the objectives by successfully executing the strategic plan.
Be that company that your larger competitors have to address when they are talking to their customers. Make them answer questions like “Why don’t you offer this product/feature? Those guys do!” (Hint, you’re “those guys”.) While they keep asking for more from competitors, more and more will find out about you and your business!
You’ll be growing your revenue and infuriating those big teams that can’t keep up. And once they’re done pulling their hair out, they may just need to write you a big check!
Get better on the operations and customer service side by implementing technology that eliminates the cost and expense of paper and data entry. That technology, of course, is naturalForms.
naturalForms — Smart Forms for Smart Business
About naturalForms®
naturalForms is an innovative software company based in Dayton, Ohio USA and is the leader in natural input technologies and provides an end-to-end mobile data capture platform that automates the collection of natural input (such as handwriting, photos, notes, drawings, and signatures) instantly at the point of entry. Information captured with tablets or other mobile devices is immediately converted to digital data and seamlessly integrated to backend systems. Straight-through processing eliminates cycle time delays and human data entry errors, creating unsurpassed workflow optimization and significant cost savings. naturalForms’ solutions are used around the world, delivering value in multiple industries. To learn more, visit http://www.naturalforms.com.