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Small Office, Home Office Information |
| Standing Out and Fitting In One problem that many small businesses face is how to stand out from the crowd. Branding and market recognition all cost a lot of money and so many small business people either give up or look for some other way to be the name on everyone’s lips. How they go about that says a lot about the person and can really be quite dangerous for the business that they are running. Instead of increasing sales it can have the totally opposite effect. One method that some small businesses use is to put down their competition in public. They denigrate the competition, belittle them and dismiss them as worthless every chance they get. They do it in public and in private. They pour scorn on the competition when dealing with potential clients and even go so far as to heap abuse on them in public forums. Industry related forums on the Internet are often targeted by small business people who want to use this method as a way of making their business stand out and be attractive to potential clients. You will also see this method used by some small businesses in small towns too. I saw it at work in one country town where I lived in for some years. Two sand and gravel businesses were located on either side of town and were competing in a very small market place during a period of low economic growth. One business used the method I mentioned above. You could always guarantee that if you went to that business the owner would spend 5 minutes telling you how you just could not trust the guy on the other side of town. And he wasn’t slow to spread rumours around town about the other guy either. But when you went to the other business you were met with a cheerful and helpful husband and wife team who took pride in their great customer service. If they didn’t have what you wanted and had no chance of sourcing the product in the timeframe that suited you they were quick to let you know. And surprisingly they would suggest that you tried the competition to see if that business had what you were looking for. Over several years I watched as one business slowly grew, despite the bad economic times while the other declined and eventually disappeared when the owner was forced into bankruptcy. I’m sure that you don’t need me to tell you which business was the one that failed. Sometimes
you can gain the biggest advantage and become the name on everyone’s
lips just by fitting into your marketplace and letting your customers
do the promotional work that will make your business stand out from the
crowd.
29 Aug 2005 |